The Dodgers took the field in an early game today, attempting to take 3 of 4 from the Cardinals. The big blue offense was shut down yesterday by good pitching, so the question was, “Will the bats wake up and score some runs today?”
The other big question surrounded Dodgers starter Brandon McCarthy and how well would he fare? McCarthy tossed 15 pitches in the first, and they were all variations of his fastball. He got away without giving up a run, but his luck didn’t hold out for long.
In the second inning Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright tagged McCarthy for a two run bomb in the second to put the Cards ahead 2-0.
The Dodgers just couldn’t much going offensively. They managed to land occasional base runners, but could not put together any real rallies, or extra base hits with someone on.
There was a bit of a rules rhubarb in the Cardinals half of the third inning. Priscotti was caught in a run down between third-base and home. He made it back to third, but another Cardinal was already occupying it. Arguments over how the play should be ruled took place on the field and in the broadcasters booth. The umps ruled Priscotti was out, and in the end it was all for naught, as the Dodgers ended the inning with nobody scoring. Something they’re starting to do on both sides of the ball.
McCarthy wasn’t pitching particularly badly, but he was losing 2-0 after five because of that home run pitch, and the Dodgers offense was boring the hell out of the Cardinals.
Yasiel Puig led off the fourth inning with a base hit. Once again the skipper lifted his pitcher for a pinch-hitter. And once again the Dodgers did absolutely zero with their chance. Once again, The Dodgers dipped into the bullpen after sitting a pitcher who wasn’t really in trouble. That said, McCarthy was at 85 pitches. I suppose if you’re counting pitches, that’s as good a reason as any to sit the guy.
The Dodgers teased once again in the 7th, with an Austin Barnes lead off walk. They left him out there.
8th inning. After 11 pitches, Chris Taylor walked to lead off the evening. The Dodgers failed to bring him home.
Leading off in the ninth Adrian Gonzalez was called out on strikes on a 3-2 pitch that was several inches off the plate. The Dodgers didn’t get their leadoff runner on this time, but would it have really mattered on a day like today? Turns out it might have mattered, as Chase Utley followed that with a base hit. Gonzalez barked from the dugout and the home plate umpire threw him out of the game. The File Cabinet then stomped onto the field to get his money’s worth for being tossed.
Yasmani Grandal was up next (batting LH) and he had the same obviously outside pitch called a strike on him as well. Grandal held his tongue, was eventually called out on strikes, and gave the umpire a piece of his mind while walking away from the plate. The umpire immediately tossed Grandal, who then loudly confronted the ump. You could see Grandal vividly waving two fingers, as though underlining the fact two pitches were clearly outside that were called strikes.
In the end, none of that mattered. The next Dodger batter quietly popped up to underline how the offense has performed in the past two games…weak and underwhelming.
Dodgers lose 2-0.
Atta boy: Cody Bellinger made a wonderful run and sliding catch to steal a base hit in the fourth.
Oscar Martinez
I was born in the shadow of Dodger Stadium and immediately drenched in Dodger Blue. Chavez Ravine is my baseball cathedral, Vin Scully was the golden voice of summer all my life, and Tommy Lasorda remains the greatest Dodgers manager ever. My favorite things are coffee, beer, and the Dodgers beating the Giants. I also blog about my baseball card hobby at All Trade Bait, All the Time.
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Rhetorical Question, for Oscar: what happened to the Big Blue Steamroller?
(By the way: Big Blue is a nickname long applied to the New York Giants of
the NFL, well before Los Angeles was even discovered!!!!! That’s how I came to be an ardent Giants’ fan:-).
Chase has been great of late. Zipped my lips. Will he have anything left when the Real Season
starts?
Well, even steamrollers run out of gas from time to time 🙂
Yeah, and a shout out for the good pitching we’ve received. Shame it was wasted, but….
Two games of good pitching, in fact. Looks we’re going back to second.
1/2 game back. Not like they are in Siberia or anything. Milwaukee has a pretty good offense. So it will be another test before they head home to play the Nationals. I guess I am surprised the whole musical chairs pitching staff is holding up as well as it is. McCarthy deserved better………I cannot believe I am saying that! But it was nice to see Dayton get out there and look a little like he did last year. Bats were MIA again. But a lot of that is because StLoo outpitched us.
I’ve never been a believer in hitting coaches, but if you have one and your team isn’t hitting, it might be a good thing to change.
They are not getting rid of Turner Ward. And the team has been hitting. Averaged almost 6 runs a game in May. They have a couple of guys who are underperforming that’s for sure, and their best hitter is still on the DL. Besides, changing hitting coaches before mid season and trying to switch directions never works. They have done that before. And they actually have 2 hitting coaches on the staff. Turner Ward is one, Tim Hyers is the other……..this day in Dodger history, 1955, Duke Snider becomes the first Dodger to homer 3 times in a game on separate occasions in the 2nd game of a doubleheader against the Braves at Ebbets Field.
It’s comforting to talk to someone who knows for sure what the Dodgers are going to do or not going to do…. FAZ is about as predictable as lottery numbers.
The Dodgers are going to win the West. I’m 90% sure of that. Ok, 80%. What happens between now and then could be a flippin hoot. I’m enjoying it so far. McCarthy pitched ok, for 4 innings. Surprise! The Dodgers faced a true stud pitcher and didn’t get blown out. To split on the road against a team over .500 is not a bad thing.
I still don’t see this team with 95 wins, but others who are supposed to know these things do, so I’m on board for the ride. If the Cubs don’t wake up that leaves the Nats, and we already beat them, right?
I’m not gonna think about what could wrong. Dammit. I just did.
It is not that I know for sure Jonah, it just is not the kind of move a team makes this early in the season. I have seen teams change hitting coaches at the All Star break a few times, but usually it is an off season decision. As for Ward, Roberts went out of his way to get him from Az. And he has had some success. Guys like Charlie Lau are just not around anymore. You want McGuire back?
I don’t want anybody back. I just don’t believe in hitting coaches. The sign players who have shown they can hit. Why hire someone, especially someone who did not have an outstanding career himself, to mess with the talented person you signed?
Charlie Lau wasn’t a great hitter. But he was a great teacher.
Because, they can see things in game you might not. Lau was not that great a hitter in his career, but his players raved about him. Charlie Manuel and Reggie Smith are two others players said definitely helped. We all know how talented Puig is. But that natural talent has not kept him from being prone to slumps the last couple of years. Guys like Mays, Mantle, Rose, they needed very little coaching. But even Hall of Famer Duke Snider went through a period early in his career where he was striking out too much. The hitting coach made him stand in the batters box and call pitches as they were thrown to give him better strike zone awareness. You want to get the most out of the talent you sign. So utilizing every asset you have is just common sense. There are times when coaches get too much credit, or too much blame. Not everyone is cut out to help hitters. You sign hitters who can hit, but they obviously do not hit all the time. Every player has slumps. Coaches there to help in the bad times.
You can’t win if you don’t score.
I’m still concerned over Gonzalez. One homer. One.
That said, the fact that the team has played this well without Turner is heartening.
I’m encouraged. He’s OPSn .792 in the last 7 days.
I can’t help it, I’m thinking this won’t be Turner’s last trip to the DL. Others to follow as well. Hey, don’t accuse me of negative thinking. It’s this damn crystal ball I picked up at Feifei’s Occult in Kowloon. It’s never been Wong.
OPS of .792 is not good in and of itself for a key hitter!
It’s what Kendrys Morales and Josh Reddick have been OPSing for the entire year.
Much less as a short sample high-point.
If you had told me that Gonzo would be the low man on the totem pole in HR’s by June, I would not have believed it. He is getting on base more, but he is still not hitting the ball hard. That being said, the only real power being generated from the left side is Bellinger. Grandal has hit a few from there, but nothing substantial. Depending on a rookie who’s BA is sliding down is not ideal. Corey has not hit a homer in a couple of weeks.
Michael
In the last two games no one has hit me me out, left or right.
Well MJ, they have been out pitched the last 2 games. Martinez and Wainwright just flat shut them down. Of course the umpire yesterday was lousy. But it does not change the fact that they were over matched. They also wasted a couple of good outings by their own starters. But over the course of 162 games that stuff usually evens out a little.
Their lefty’s have not been hitting much of anything lately except Bellinger. Most of the RH power has come from Taylor. Nobody is crushing the ball. Pederson, Gonzo, Forsythe, Turner, all have 1 dinger. Eibner and Barnes have 2 Puig 9, Bellinger 11, Taylor and Seager 6. Grandal has 5 Gutierrez has 1. SVS hit one before he went back down. So the guys they expected power from are not producing it. Utley has 3. I expect Turner will produce more as the weather heats up and he is healthy. Pederson, I have no clue when his power will return. He probably should spend some time in the minors. There is no one down there who plays the outfield who is crushing the ball. Dickson was, but he has tailed off a lot. Verdugo is hitting over .300, with no power.
You are right MJ, he hit a solo shot not long before he went back on the DL..my bad……
Bluto
Morales hits with much more power then Reddick does.
Reddick’s OPS must be from singles and OBA.
Because I believe Reddick only hit twenty HRs one time, in his career.
I once saw Morales hit a HR right handed, and Left handed, in the same inning.
Michael
You mentioned only the leftie hitters, but like I said, no one hit one, out.
And it sure wasn’t a fun game, to watch.
Like you said yesterday, they looked a sleep, through most of the game.
Michael
I believe that Joc has two HRs.
Bluto
I think your concerns about Agone in the power department might be ok now.
I thought Agone would hit Wainwright, because are teams in the past have been able to hit him, but Agone didn’t have good career stats against Wainwright, so it must of been Hanley and Kemp that hit him, when we played them before.
But really not many are expecting Agone to have the power that he had, but when he hit that HR to straight away center, at Dodger stadium, that gave some hope at that time.
My concerns were always OK! They were my thoughts.
Perhaps you meant my concerns may have resonance with you.
The Dodgers lineup is based on depth, with select power. Two of those power sources were suppose to be Joc and Gonzalez.
Bluto
I guess I wasn’t quite woke up yet, because I looked at a couple of my posts, and one post, had one to many words, and I could have expressed my thoughts, to you better.
I guess I should have said your concerns in the power department, were justified.
With Joc, I know he hits with power, but I don’t see his bat, as important as Agone’s.
But I guess anywhere we can get some offense, will help.
I am a bit surprised that Joc has been out, this long.
And I don’t know if this is bad or good for Joc, right now.
Blister Boy #2? Report was that McCarthy has been having blister problems…
.792 over the last 7 days was meant as sort of a joke. And it didn’t include last night’s 0 for 4. I was being irreverently jocose. I said I would give him to June 1. It’s June 2 and he’s still playing at a negative WAR. He is a pro. And I’m a forgive and forget kind of guy – most of the time. I’ll give him til summer.
McFrangible with a blister? That’s new. I wonder it it’s in his AC joint. Yeah, I’m referring to Wood who is allegedly going to miss a second start. The inexorable starting pitching shuffle carries on.
Badger
I wish people would educate themselves better, and not only look at one source, or at least, check their sources.
In school you are never allowed to only use one source, for that very reason!
Often people source only that which support their position, even when said position and source are weak. We rally amongst right fighters. It’s important to stay principled, remain informed and stand your ground when you know the facts support your argument. Now we must deal with alternative facts in the interplay of morality and power, which mistakes management techniques for wisdom. Where does it all lead? Stand by.
Badger
Alex Guerrero leads the Japanese league, in HRs.
He is hitting 270 and he has hit 15 HR, at this point, of the season.
And his slugging percentage, is much like it was, in AAA.
He is slugging just under 570, I believe.
Not surprised by this. Japan ball is about AAA. Alex can hit. He was only given 240 plate appearances with the Dodgers. I believe he was never really welcomed here, so if he tears up Japan I could see a team considering him for a DH job. Not likely, but he’s only 30.
It was reported on Dodger Insider that he was pulled with a blister in the 6th inning. Roberts wanted him to go another inning.
Badger
I know that too, and that is why I have been waiting to see, what he would do, when he signed on, to another team.
He could have learned to play left better, because he had only played there, a few times in AAA.
But it was his contract that was keeping major league teams, away from him.
Japan was the only place he could really play, until his contract ran out.
The Brewers have that player, that played in the Korean league, that was hitting so well, at the beginning of the season.
I don’t know what he is doing now, but the Japanese league, is suppose to be closer to the majors, then the Korean league, right?
It will be interesting to see how that guy plays tonight.
Not really true, MJ. When the Dodgers gave him his release, any other MLB team could have signed him for Major League minimum, about $500K. That much would have been subtracted from what the Dodgers owed him. I think if the Dodgers had dumped Crawford at that point and played him regularly, he would have earned his money. And I don’t think he was as bad at third base and the outfield as some people said. The Dodgers, whether it was FAZ or Mattingly, didn’t want to give him a chance.
Jonah
He had in his contract that he could become a free agent, at the end of the year, if he wanted to.
It looks like not many of the Brewer players, have faced Kershaw.
I hope Kershaw will be more careful with his first pitches, to hitters today.
Giants DFA Justin Ruggiano who has a good rep for hitting lefties. Any thoughts on the FAZmeister picking him up?
Been there and done that. You would have to DFA someone to get him, who do you want to cut? Joc transferred to 10 day DL…
Didn’t say I wanted to, just mentioned he was available. FAZ will make that decision, it’s above my pay grade.
Jonah
You were late to the conversation today.
I went and did my big shopping today, so I just got back on here.
I guess you see what I meant.
If we need an outfielder we have a good one at AAA.
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