It’s Yasiel Puig‘s world and we are just living in it. The Dodgers have won three straight and have tied the St. Louis Cardinals for the 2nd wild card and have pulled within 1/2 game of the Rockies for the NL West lead. The San Francisco Giants snapped an 11 game losing streak against the Rockies last night. Today Rich Hill took on John Gant in the third game of the four game set.
The Dodgers struck quick and often in this game. In the first inning, Justin Turner singled. Turner is the get on base machine. Manny Machado followed that with a two run shot and the score was 2-0.
MANNY, GONE!
Machado's 35th HR of the year and 11th with the @Dodgers puts LA up 2-0 early! pic.twitter.com/r3Rezh76oC
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) September 15, 2018
In top of the fourth, Yasiel Puig hit a solo shot, his third of the series but his day was just beginning. The score was 3-0. In the bottom of the fourth, Rich Hill walked three straight hitters. Then Patrick Wisdom hit a grand salami. The red birds took a short lived 4-3 lead. In the top of the 5th inning, JT hit another single to start things. Max Muncy then walked. Yasmani Grandal then walked ending Jon Gant’s night.
FOUR HOME RUNS IN 24 HOURS
🔥🔥🔥PUIG 🔥🔥🔥
(via @MLBONFOX)pic.twitter.com/eDKi3JmxjY
— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) September 15, 2018
Cody Bellinger then singled in two runs and the Dodgers took the lead for good. Yasiel Puig then came up and smacked a three run shot and the Dodgers led 8-4. The route was on. In the top of the 6th, JT singled again. Max Muncy would single him in to make the score 9-4. Yasmani Grandal then walked followed by a Cody Bellinger single to score a run. The score was 10-4.
In the top of the 8th, Max Muncy walked followed by a walk by Cody Bellinger. Yasiel Puig smacked a three run shot and the score was 13-4. Puig’s third homerun of the day and fifth of the series. Rich Hill left after 5 innings. Dylan Floro pitched the 6th inning. Pedro Baez pitched the 7th inning. Ryan Madson pitched the 8th inning. All scoreless. In the top of the 9th, a sighting of Brian Dozier as he doubled.
Enrique Hernandez then walked. Andrew Toles came and reached first base on a Cardinals error. Hernandez scored on the play. Cody Bellinger then hit a three run shot and the score was 17-4. In the bottom of the 9th, Julio Urias pitched a scoreless frame and the Dodgers won. The Dodgers now lead the 2nd wild card race by one game. The Dodgers will conclude the four game series with the Cardinals tomorrow. That game is important for if the Dodgers win they will hold the tiebreak over the Red Birds. If Colorado Rockies lose tonight the Dodgers will be in first place.
James Moya
Hi I’m James Moya. I am an avid Dodgers fan. I graduated Cal State Fullerton with a Bachelors in Communications. I used to freelance at the San Bernardino Sun. I’m excited about this opportunity to write for LA Dodger Report to gain experience. I’m a straight shooter on my opinions and I hope to get some good conversations going. My dream has always been to report on the Dodgers because Baseball is the National Past-time. I hope you enjoy the ride with me.
Follow Me:
FOX coverage is the pits. Is that the best announcers they they could find?
Puiggy is locked in. He, Bells, and JT have to play every day. Spreadsheets, out the door. Lefty/righty matchups, out the door. Lock in your every day playoff lineup. It is do or die time, Dodger Fans. Which Machado will show up at game-time… the “Tiger”, or “The Smirk”?
Good to see Urias back. Had a nice unstressful, easy inning.
Still a bit worried about pitching. Will they revert to a 4-man rotation in playoffs? Starters not as strong as I would like them to be. Baez makes a good mop up man… perfect janitor to eat up an inning or two. Will Jansen be ready?
One game at a time.
I think they ride whomever it hot. Puig is obviously blistering hot right now, JT always (as usual!) and Belly seems to have righted his ship yesterday. Let’s hope that holds.
It almost seems like 2017 when they got things right and just stepped on the accelerator. We’ll know more after today’s game. If the bats go quiet and they seem comatose that bodes BAAD for post season success.
I said before the series started that they needed to win at least 3. Mission accomplished and now they have a 4 game winning streak. Need to lay the lumber on Waino tomorrow. Go home with a 5 game win streak and the bats on fire, works for me. I laughed when a lot of fans said earlier this year that the Dodgers should trade Puig. One of the most exciting players in the game and certainly THE most entertaining. Tongue out running the bases, smooching his coach, doing a little dance in the batters box, and of course, licking the bat. The man has style and panache. The BP did the job, even Madson who has been less than impressive. Rancho and Tulsa won their league titles. Congrats to them. Sticking true to the new Dodger way, they bludgeoned their opponents. Scavuzzo and Peters homered for the Drillers, and Rancho won a laugher, 9-1. John Axford pitched in the AA clincher. He is on a re-hab assignment.
A frustrating season that has been offset for me by the Red Sox’.
Dodgers probably the most talented and deepest in the NL.
So just get into the post-season and see what happens.
Our bats can easily go into the freezer. This team is just inconsistent.
Giants up on the Rockies.
I would hate being a Cards fan right about now. 3 in a row to the inconsistent, underachieving Dodgers. 17-4? That’s embarassing. That’s without their all-star Kemp playing. WTF?
I can’t imagine wtf the FO is thinking about Kemp especially in a run up to the playoffs.
I guess my criticism of Puig worked! Let’s see if it carries over more than a day or two and to facing lefties.
Bluefan, try listening to the Cardinal announced game if you can. I rarely listen to the homers Joe/Orel if I can avoid doing so. They are milk-toast. The only thing Joe has going for him is a good voice for announcing. He’s useless when it comes to BB. Orel is living in the past, mostly. You should compare Tim McCarver (Cards) with Orel and see what a good commentator sounds like. Dodgers have a pretty weak group.
One of the HR’s he hit on Friday was off of a lefty. Charlie was at the mic on Friday because Joe was in Texas doing the Houston-Texas Tech game. Smoltz is a pretty good analyst, but their play by play guy is rather blah. I listened to the radio feed. I do like Ken Rosenthal and his analysis sometimes. But Orel, well, Orel is boring. Joe reminds me of Joe Buck a lot and that guy just drones on and on. We had Vinny for so long we were just spoiled. Nobody will ever be that good again. But Joe is way better than having to listen to the Rockies announcers which is what I will have to do during the Rockies series since I can only watch it on their network.
Jeff
How about Muncy getting on base 5 times, and with a RBI too.
YF and Jeff,
You are right, it is hard to believe in this team when they are so inconsistent.
Because most of these same Cardinal pitchers, just kept these same hitters, very quiet in LA.
One thing that the Dodgers have pushed to their players, that I don’t agree with, is trying to work counts with pitchers.
And in the last two games, most of the best hitting, came from the first pitch, or early in the count.
If you watch Turner and Manny, they will swing at the first few pitches if they are good pitches.
And they are far more equipped then the other hitters on this team, if they get in a deep count with a pitcher.
Non of our hitters should be getting in deep counts with pitchers, unless a pitcher has command issues, because the deeper a hitter gets in a count with a pitcher, the odds usually go to the pitcher.
Puig hit at least two of his HRs, off a first pitch this weekend.
The better hitters, don’t try to get in deep counts, they swing at the first few best pitches in the strike zone.
And our average and below hitters, should be the last hitters on this team, getting in deep counts with pitchers, unless the pitcher is having command issues.
Because any time a hitter gets down with two strikes, their odds go way down.
Even good hitter’s numbers usually go way down after they have two strikes, so why is Turner Ward, stressing this to our hitters, when the best hitters on our team, will almost always swing at a first pitch, or the first few pitches, if they are good, and in the strike zone?
The odds go to the pitcher almost every time the count gets deep.
Joe is better when he is not paired with Orel, because Orel talks to much, and their buddy talk, is just anoying
Nomar doesn’t talk incessantly like Orel does, and Nomar is no homer, he tells you like it is, and that is why I like Nomar much better.
I do not think, MJ, that working the count means not swinging at hittable pitches early in the count.
Surely, you cannot be leaping to that conclusion. And I know your name is not Shirley. It means to
The average batter sees roughly 31 3-0 counts in a season, which works out to around five percent of all plate appearances.
And once they get to that point, batters own a huge advantage. In a recent year in the American League, hitters posted a .748 OBP after pushing the count to 3-0. That same year their National League counterparts are even more successful with a .761 OBP. Plate discipline, combined with a little patience early in an at-bat, pays.
This is why framing is so highly regarded. If batters have good eyes, and they do, and they know they will have an advantage when the count swings in their favor. “Stealing” a strike can have significant statistical advantages.
Bluto
A pitcher only needs three strikes to get a batter out, and hitters have to wait, until they get four balls.
Right there, there is already an advantage to a pitcher, before the game even starts!
How often have we heard the big difference between a 2-1 count, to a 1-2 count, for a pitcher, or a hitter?
And those counts are about the first three pitches, just like I mentioned above.
And your 3-0 count, falls under when I said, it is only good to work a count, when a pitcher is having command, issues.
Of course a hitter has the advantage on a 3-0 count, but how often does a hitter get a 3-0 count, not that often!
Hitters get far more good pitches to hit, in the first three pitches usually, unless a pitcher is having command problems.
Because once again, we are still talking about the first few pitches a hitters gets, including when the count is 3-0 , like you brought up.
Even when the count is even, it isn’t even, because pitchers still have the advantage, even though they call a 2-2 count, an even count.
And that goes back to what I said at the top, pitchers only need 3 strikes, while hitters, have to wait until they get 4 balls.
Even when the count is full, the pitcher still has the advantage in most cases, because most hitters, don’t hit as well, with two strikes.
And because of that, from the start, pitchers already have the advantage.
And that is why I said, the pitcher almost always has the advantage, when the count is deep, as long as they are not having, command issues.
And have you watched most on this team, when they have a 3-0 count?
We are talking about a lot of players that are only getting hits, 25 percent of the time, or less.
And you said on an average, hitters are getting to a 3-0 count , 5 percent of the time.
In most at bats, it is about the first few pitches, a hitter gets.
And remember, the pitcher has all the power, because only pitchers can walk hitters, or get behind on hitters, it isn’t like a hitter can get up on the count, all by themselves.
Same lineup as yesterday. Kemp has not started a game in almost a week. To be fair, his career number against Waino are pretty abysmal. But Rockies come into town tomorrow and 2 of their 3 starters for the series are lefty’s.
Is Kemp hurt or something?
No, not that has been reported. He has pinch hit all 3 games.
Thanks Michael!
MJ
Just dodging power outages here. Florence is about to kill me, I tell ya. You know why Kemp has not played. He is not one of the chosen few. What a shame.
Package
I wasn’t sure, because a week is a very long time.
I didn’t realize it had been that long!
And they are really going need him in this next series, against the two leftie pitchers.
How do they expect Kemp to remain sharp?
If Kemp looks bad, it is on them!
He is use to only playing everyday.
I hate this favorites thing.
Where do you live, because as you probably know, I am in Southern California.
How do you pay someone so much money and not play him? Someone is giving him the evil eye.
MJ
Myrtle Beach S.C.
Package thanks!
That explains everything!
I am just glad it wasn’t as bad as some thought.
But you might feel a little different about that.
I didn’t think Waino would be hard to hit, but he is a good pitcher for this team.
Because our young hitters, are more fastball hitters, although they did say Cody was hitting off speed pitches well.
Turner is our best off speed hitter on this team, and our best hitter, overall.
Jeff. I think a lot has to do with the FO. Originally, Kemp was told he is coming back to LA, but it only for salary dump, and trade bait for another deal. They basically told him to come to LA, but don’t unpack your bags. Well, Kemp proved to them that he belonged back in LA, and he surprisingly made the team.
In order to save face, FO is sitting Kemp, and drastically decreasing his playing time. They do not want to have him do well, and end up with pressure from media and fans, to resign him. Having to resign Kemp would be a hard pill to swallow for FO.
Honestly he just hasn’t been hitting much in the second half. Other than those clutch hits in the AZ series and he’s had some hits in the last few weeks, but only one home run in the last month I believe. He’s hit .235 since the all-star break. He’s still great with runners in scoring position, but generally he hasn’t hit much since the break. I think that has more to do with it than anything. Although you would think he’d get a bit more playing time than he’s received over the last several weeks. Plus Joc is hitting well, Puig is hitting well of late. Heavy match-ups, (I don’t like the match-ups but you know the Dodgers do). He’ll still be on the playoff roster if they make it because they would have to be really stupid to not at least put him on the postseason roster. Going forward I would expect the outfield alignment to be Puig in right, Bellinger in center, and Joc in left against right handers. Against lefties, they’ll likely shift Bellinger back to first and play either Taylor or Kike in center, and Verdugo in left. Or possibly Kemp gets some reps. My lineup would have Puig in right, Bellinger in center, Joc in left. With Muncy at first, Taylor at second and Freese or Kike first righty bats off the bench. But we shall see.
LOL.
Where did we find this guy? Is he package under a different name?