Clem Labine wants to know what is the big deal?
as does Larry Sherry, Mike Marshall, Steve Howe, and even Bob Welch. A lot of attention has come to Kenley Jansen for getting seven outs, and I guess in today’s game he deserves it.
From a historical perspective, it wasn’t that special but we know better.
It made me curious just how many Dodgers have done this. To start with Rollie Fingers only did it once.
I’m going to focus on Dodger pitchers who got at least nine outs and also finished the game.
Some of these games were the biggest games in Dodger postseason history.
Normally I don’t wander back to the Brooklyn franchise but since we are going to talk about 1955, I’m going to make an exception.
In the 1955 World Series Clem Labine twice got at least nine outs and to top it off, Clem did it in back to back games. Much has been made of Johnny Podres pitching the gem in game 7 to win the Dodger franchise their first World Championship but without Clem Labine saving games four and five, Podres never gets to pitch in game 7. In game four Labine entered the game in the top of 5th with the bases loaded and two outs. The Dodgers were ahead 4 – 3 and the game was on the line. Labine got Joe Collins to hit a ground ball for the 3rd out. Labine would then pitch the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th innings for the win. Labine did give up two runs in the 6th, but the Dodgers had scored three runs in the 6th. The final score was 8 – 5. Labine was not done, in game five which was played the next day on Oct 2nd, 1995, Labine entered the game in the top of the 7th. The score was 4 – 2 and a runner was on 1st, the tying run at the plate. Labine got a double play from Irv Noren, and a ground ball from Gil McDougal to get out of the jam. Yogi Berra led off the 8th with a home run making it a 4 – 3. With one out Eddie Robinson hit a single and the tying run was on 1st with one out. Labine got another double play this time from renowned manager Billie Martin to finish out the 8th. The 9th was three ground ball outs, and Labine had saved his second straight game.
In relief, he got a total of 22 outs in back to back games on back to back days.
Larry Sherry is next up. Most LAD fans know the story of Larry Sherry. He won the World Series MVP because of the amazing work he did in relief. He was only a rookie but he saved the Dodgers bacon time and time again in 1959. Still, I was surprised to see just how long Sherry did pitch. Game two of the 1959 series was just a run of the mill nine out appearance. Sherry entered the game in the bottom of the 7th with the score 4 – 2. He would finish the game while giving up one run in the 8th. Game six was a different beast. The Dodgers were blowing the game open, having scored six runs in the top of the fourth to take an 8 – 0 lead. Podres however quickly gave back three runs and Alston went to Larry Sherry with just one out in the 4th and the score 8 – 3. Sherry would pitch the rest of the game in scoreless fashion and win game six and end the World Series. The 17 outs he recorded in relief were more outs than most Dodger starters could get in 2016.
Mike Marshall got nine outs or more twenty-two times during his Cy Young 1974 season. He would do it one time in the 1974 series. Unfortunately for Mike that game is known as the Joe Rudi game, because Mike gave up a home run to Rudi with the game tied at 2 – 2 in the 7th inning. Mike would finish the game with three innings but the home run marred his effort. That was game five and the last game of the series as the A’s won four of the first five games. That is not indicative of how close the series was or how brilliant Mike Marshall had been in the Series. Marshall pitched in all five games of the series piling up nine innings in five games. The only run he gave up was the Joe Rudi home run.
Charlie Hough got at least nine outs twice while finishing the two games but one was not the same as the other. Charlie was a knuckleballer so the stress on Charlie was not same stress other relief pitchers have. In 1977, game three was 5 – 3 when Charlie entered in the 7th inning. The score would also end 5 – 3. Charlie was brilliant going three innings, no runs, only one hit. Strangely enough, he didn’t walk anyone. In game five things’s didn’t go as well. The Yankees were already winning 5 – 2 when Charlie came in to bail out Lance Rautzan in the fourth inning. Hough allowed one inherited runner to score. Lasorda left Charlie in, and in the bottom of the 7th, he was battered for four runs. He would finish the game having gotten 13 outs, but also gave up five runs on ten hits.
Steve Howe was involved in what I still think was the most exciting World Series game ever played at Dodger Stadium that didn’t involve Kirk Gibson. The NYY had a 2 – 1 game lead and Bob Welch didn’t get an out to start game four. With the bases loaded and no outs the much-maligned Dave Goltz replaced Welch and managed to keep the NYY from scoring only one more run. By the time Steve Howe entered the game in the top of the 7th the score was tied at 6 – 6, after the greatest inning that didn’t involve Kirk Gibson took place in the bottom of the 6th. Howe would give up one run in three innings and collect the win as the Dodgers won 8 – 7 but it wasn’t easy. You think yesterday was stressful? In the top of the 9th, the NYY loaded the bases before Howe got the final out to preserve the victory. Trust me, it was stressful and just as much fun when stress turned to victory.
The biggest surprise for me on this list was Bob Welch. Because I was around for it and did not remember his great work. It came in the first game of the 1978 NLCS against the Phillies. Burt Hooten started and the Dodgers whomped the Phillies to take a 7 – 1 lead. Hooten couldn’t hold it, though and was knocked out in the bottom of the 4th as the Phillies scored three more runs off him. Welch came in with the score 7 – 4 with a runner at 2nd and HOF Mike Schmidt at the plate Welch retired Schmidt to end the inning. Welch would pitch the rest of game getting thirteen outs and giving up only one meaningless run in the 9th as the Dodgers won 9 – 5. Unlike the others on this list, Bob Welch was a starting pitcher who had made thirteen starts during the season. He was also a rookie, this would be like Julio Urias finishing a game after coming in relief for a starter who got knocked out early. It was still an impressive outing but it wasn’t done by someone used to only getting three outs at a time.
1000 questions, 1000 answers
Who needs an Echocardiogram when you have a Dodger postseason game to test your heart?
I’ve watched a lot of Dodger postseason games, but from a pure stress level from beginning to end the game last night might have been the most stressful and fulfilling this century.
The Lima game was fun, but you knew in your heart it would be only a hiccup against eventuality.
The Uribe game was fun and stressful and had much of what yesterday’s game had, but yesterday had more stress because of the bullpen issue. The Joc home run will certainly rank with Juan Uribe in NLDS lore.
The Mark Loretta game was pretty exciting, but was it this stressful, this intense? Maybe? But it didn’t complete an exciting five-game series, and it didn’t send the team to the NLCS.
This game had it all because of all the uncertainty.
How long would Rich Hill go? The answer came much too quickly. Not long at all. Trea Turner led off the 3rd with single, stole second and seemed destined to score. The Dodgers were already down 1 – 0, a second run would seem like a huge hill to climb with Max looking so strong. Hill got Harper, but Turner went to 3rd. Hill struck out Werth in a huge moment leaving Turner on 3rd with Murphy coming up. Dave Roberts made his choice, Hill walked Murphy, and walked off the mound having gotten eight outs.
With 2nd and 3rd, could Blanton keep the game in check? The answer was yes, as he got Rendon to fly out to Joc Pederson.
Once Rich Hill was relieved by Joe Blanton in the top of the 3rd the question had to be asked. Who was going to pitch the 7th or 8th? Not who you might have expected.
Max Scherzer struck out the side in the 4th. Was Max going to throw a no-hitter? The odds were stacked against him because of one particular at-bat by Justin Turner. Even though Max struck out the side, Justin Turner walked, and it was no ordinary walk. Turner was down 0 – 2 but ended up making Max throw 13 pitches. That one at-bat might have paved the way for what happened later in the game.
Blanton finished up his work going 1 – 2 – 3 in the 4th. The Dodgers managed their first hit off of Max on a bloop single to RF by Reddick. Joc followed with a sharp single to RF, and when Toles managed to hit a blooper just over the outstretched glove of Murphy the bases were loaded with one out.
Who would Dave Roberts turn to in such a crucial situation? Dave went with Andre Ethier and with the bases loaded one out, down 1 – 0, Andre ………..stuck out. Chase grounded out and the Dodgers headed to the bottom of the 5th still down 1 – 0.
Dodger wonderkid Julio Urias entered the game among so many questions.
Would the 20-year-old be rusty having not pitched in 15 days? Would Urias by unfazed on the big stage? How long could he go? Roberts said one out or ten. He was lucky he got to start his postseason career against Max Scherzer and he started with a flourish striking him out on five pitches. Trea Turner would be key, and Urias got him on a high bouncer back to the box. It was almost the last pitch Urias would throw because he turned his ankle while making the play. Urias stayed in but walked Harper. Facing Werth he threw over to first a few times, and on the last throw he picked off Harper. Urias led the major leagues in pickoffs even though he didn’t even pitch 100 innings. It was a huge mistake by Harper and another big play in a big game. More so because Urias would start the sixth inning by walking Werth. Now it was the kid against Babe Murphy, and the kid got Murphy to line out to RF. Rendon popped up to Gonzales. Urias was sailing, he had gotten through the thick of the Nationals lineup. And then Ryan Zimmerman shot a double down the line into the corner. Andrew Toles quickly got to the ball fired to Seager who fired to Grandal and ……………..Werth was out by twenty feet and the Dodgers were still only down 1- 0 heading into the top of 7th.
Urias was due up fourth. He had gotten six outs, would he stay in the game?
Would the Dodgers score or be destined to lose 1 – 0? Joc Pederson answered that question very quickly by driving the pitch by Scherzer over the fence in left field to tie the game at 1. Scherzer had been brilliant but would leave this game without a chance to win. Marc Rzepczynski replaced him and he was left-handed.
Could the Dodgers score against a left-handed relief pitcher? Dusty must have felt his stomach turn when Marc walked the slumping Grandal to put the go-ahead run on 1st base.
Could Dave Roberts out-manage Dusty Baker? Dave Roberts went into manic managing mode. Howie Kendrick pinch hit for Toles. Dusty countered with the tough righty Blake Treinen. Howie singled to left field. Roberts replaced Grandal at 2nd with Austin Barnes. Roberts pinch hit Charlie Culberson for Urias. Culberson’s only job was to bunt to put both runners into scoring position. The Dodgers had two on, no outs. Charlie failed and ended up striking out trying to bunt with two strikes. One out, two on. the game in the balance. Managers got busy. Sammy Solis replaced Treinen. Clint Robinson went into play 1st base for Zimmerman and was put into the 9 spot. Roberts countered with Carlos Ruiz to hit for Chase Utley. Roberts had now used all his catchers in one inning. This is why they put Barnes on the roster instead of Kike Hernandez because they wanted to use Carlos Ruiz as a pinch-hitter.
IT WORKED
Carlos Ruiz slapped a single that hit the glove of 3rd baseman Rendon and caromed into left field. Barnes scampered home with the go-ahead run. Cory Seager flew out. Two outs, two on, Dodgers now lead 2 – 1 with Justin Turner due up. Big decision for Dusty.
Will Dusty go righty on righty or lefty on righty with Turner? The normal strategy would be to bring in the right-hander to face Turner, but Turner has eaten right-handers this year while struggling against left-handers. Dusty goes with the book and brings in right-hander Shawn Kelley to face Turner. The hitter of the postseason for the Dodgers calmly blasted a two-run triple off the wall in CF and the Dodger lead was now 4 – 1.
Now we need to set the new Dodger defense. Carlos Ruiz stayed in at catcher. Howie Kendrick stayed in the game in left field. Charlie Culberson stayed in the game at 2nd base. The Dodgers had no more catchers if Ruiz gets hurt. Dave could have used Barnes at 2nd to handle that possibility but that would have undermined the infield defense. Oh, and Grant Dayton the rookie was asked to pitch the 7th which partially answered the question we asked back when Joe Blanton was pitching the 3rd. I say partially because Dayton wasn’t around long. Grant walked Espinosa to start the 7th, and Dusty countered with ex-Dodger Chris Heisey. Dusty won this round, as Heisey slammed a two-run home run, and all of a sudden that three-run lead was down to one and the Dodgers still needed to get nine outs. Clint Robinson singled to RF. The top of the lineup was coming up. Things looked dire.
Dave Roberts and his big balls didn’t hesitate and he brought in the Dodger closer Kenley Jansen to pitch in the 7th inning with no outs and the big part of the National lineup coming up. Jansen got Trea Turner to fly out to Reddick. Baker decides to pinch run for Robinson with a pitcher Joe Ross. Harper slaps a single to LF, and Ross scampers to 3rd base. 1st and 3rd, one out, score 4 – 3 and Jayson Werth is coming up. Everyone has to be thinking about that monstrous home run that Werth hit against Jansen on Monday Night. Jansen needs a strikeout to keep Ross from scoring and tying the game. A DP would be better. Werth battles to a full count. Harper goes, Werth strikes out. 2nd and 3rd, two out, but now Daniel Babe Murphy is up. Easy call to walk him so now bases are loaded with Anthony Rendon up. Three pitches, three strikes, sitdown Mr. Rendon. Classic Kenley. Jansen had closed out the 7th but the Dodgers still needed six outs and Jansen had worked his arm hard in the 7th.
The 7th inning was finally over and I heard it clocked in at just under one hour. Possibly the most intense and enjoyable postseason inning this century.
Could the Dodgers get another insurance run in the 8th? Dusty makes a plethora of moves. Trea Turner goes to 2nd base. Murphy goes to 1st base. Severino goes in at catcher, Michael Taylor goes into CF. The 8th was no seventh but the Dodgers did make Dusty Baker go to his closer in the 8th, and Melancon got it done by getting Charlie Culberson to ground out with two on and two out.
How long could KJ go in the 8th and if he wavers who saves him? We hear rumbles that Kershaw has left the dugout but they were just teasers. He’s in the dugout. He’s not going to pitch tonight. For Jansen, he was going to face the bottom of the National lineup but he made it tough on himself by walking the first batter Stephen Drew and Drew made him work before walking. Espinosa, however, did the Dodgers a huge favor by bunting his bunt attempt into the air, Jansen called for it but Adrian Gonzalez flew in front of him to snag it for the first out. Jansen then blew through the next two hitters.
As the game went onto the top of the 9th, the announcers show us, Clayton Kershaw, walking toward the bullpen. Holy shit, he just pitched on Tuesday, and that was on three days rest. Decoy?
As Kershaw starts to warm up, the Dodgers go down 1 – 2 – 3.
Will Kershaw pitch the 9th? This is crazy Orel 1988 stuff of legend. Not yet, Kenley Jansen starts the 9th. Have to figure Kershaw is getting ready to face Harper but first Jansen has to get Trea Turner. Turner is the key to the inning. If he gets on, that is a basically a double because anyone can steal on Jansen and Turner is not anyone, he’s the fastest player in baseball.
Jansen bears down and strikes out the rookie.
Is Clayton coming in to face Harper? Nope, Jansen stays in but walks him. One on, one out, Werth coming up. Yikes. Once again Werth makes the pitcher work taking Jansen to a full count and walking. Jansen is clearly laboring, he’s given everything he has.
Is it Kershaw time? Yes
Damn
I have such mixed feeling. I love seeing Kershaw here but what if he fails? What if he can’t close this out like he hasn’t been able to close out his 7th inning? What if he adds to his October misery?
What if? what if? what if?
Flip the narrative, flip it. flip it big.
Y’all know what happened. Yeah, it was like that.
ONTO CHICAGO
Going down the checklist
Last night I noted what the Dodgers might need to do to win a game five. How did they do?
Corey Seager to get a hit outside of the 1st inning – negatory
Rich Hill to get fifteen outs and a lead – negatory
Yaz Grandal to not leave the bases loaded – another bad game
Adrian Gonzalez to continue on the hot streak he started Wednesday – negatory
Turner to continue to break postseason records – Booming game-deciding triple
Trea Turner to never reach base – only once in five at-bat, and did not score
Daniel Murphy to stop tormenting the Dodgers – it took Kershaw but it worked
Werth to remember he’s an old shaggy dog left fielder – he was still a bit of a thorn but he did get thrown out at home in an important play of the game
Josh Reddick to not make Dodger fans wish Puig was starting – I think we all felt Puig would have thrown out the Nationals first run of the game
Toles a chance to use his speed – he did get to the ball faster than the 3rd base coach expected and his relay to Seager was a big part of why Werth was dead meat at home
The bullpen to continue to do what they do – it was not conventional and there was one hiccup but all in all, THEY KICKED ASS
Joc to connect = BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
Tonight would be a good night for
Corey Seager to get a hit outside of the 1st inning
Rich Hill to get fifteen outs and a lead
Yaz Grandal to not leave the bases loaded
Adrian Gonzalez to continue on the hot streak he started Wednesday
Turner to continue to break postseason records
Trea Turner to never reach base
Daniel Murphy to stop tormenting the Dodgers
Werth to remember he’s an old shaggy dog left fielder
Josh Reddick to not make Dodger fans wish Puig was starting
Toles a chance to use his speed
The bullpen to continue to do what they do
Joc to connect
Good time for the FO manuevering to pay off
The Dodger front office has their hands all over this fifth game. Their top trade deadline acquisition will be starting and trying to prove that trading three pitching prospects for a blister on a hill was the right move. All Rich Hill has to do is what he did last Sunday but for more than twelve outs. Or maybe twelve outs is all they need today as long as it is a great twelve outs.
If Hill stumbles again many fans will be pointing to the nice Sept that Mr. Cotton had for the A’s, and Cotton was the least hyped of the three prospects sent to the A’s. The FO certainly had to make a move for a rotation piece, but unless Rich Hill can win one of his two starts in the NLDS, you have to question if they got the right piece.
For some reason, the Dodger front office put Julio Urias on the postseason roster as the fourth starter. Which might have made sense if they had used him in Sept like a fourth starter instead of doling out a start here and there while limiting his innings. Urias made four starts in Sept but only three after Sept 5th, and in none of those starts was he allowed to go beyond 11 outs. I think to be a post season option you have to be stretched out beyond 11 outs.
I’m a little befuddled by my friends and bloggers who think Urias can simply pull a five-inning game out of his little used 20-year-old arm. Not just a five-inning game, but an effective five-inning game. Today, Urias will be the emergency pitcher if Rich Hill blows out early, either by blisters, punching walls, or home runs. Can’t say I’m thrilled that the emergency pitcher is someone who last pitched 15 days ago, and all of three innings when he did. My expectations if Urias were to pitch would be to see a very rusty and wild twenty – year – old trying to save a team’s season. Seems too much to ask and I would not expect success. I’ve been his biggest fan, but this does not seem to be the right time.
This is how I hope this game plays out:
Hill – four shutout innings, gives up two singles in fifth, Lobaton up.
Baez – strikes out Espinosa, Lobaton, Scherzer to finish fifth
Dodger score one run in top of 6th
Baez starts 6th, strikes out Turner, Dayton replaces Baez
Dayton strikes out Harper, Roberts replaces Dayton with Fields
Fields gives up a double to Werth, walks Murphy, Roberts replaces Fields with Blanton
Blanton strikes out Rendon to finish the 6th
Dodgers score one run in top of 7th
Blanton strikes out Zimmerman / Espinosa / Lobaton
Dodger score one run in top of 8th on a pinch-hit RBI, Murphy makes key error
Avilan into pitch, Nationals send up Heisey to pinch hit. Avilan gets him on a deep fly ball to CF
Turner gets an infield hit. Avilan walks Harper
KJ comes in to face Werth. Epic at-bat after 10 pitches ends with a DP rocket to Turner to Chase to Adrian
Dodgers go quietly in 9th.
Murphy leads off 9th with a double
Rendon gets an infield single
Zimmerman hits into a DP, Murphy scores.
Espinosa strikes out
On to Chicago
Remove the home ump
from making calls on balls and strikes?
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel took a look at it.
While Major League Baseball claims that its umpires get nearly 97% of the calls right… Professor Moskowitz found that since 2013 the umpires are actually only about 88% accurate… that they get 1 out of every 8 calls wrong… piling up more than 30,000 mistakes a year.
And that’s including the easy calls… the many pitches that go right down the middle… or way off the plate… that scarcely require a decision.
When the umps have to actually make a decision … when the pitches are anywhere near the border of the strike zone … they miss at an even higher rate… much higher.
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel segment investigated this technology and its place in the game. The full show is available on HBO Go, HBO Now and HBO On-Demand.
The interesting parts of this show are the interviews with umpire Jerry Crawford. Even though the league thinks they are tutoring umpires on how to get the calls correct, the umpires may be turning a deaf ear to these attempts. According to ex-umpire Jerry Crawford the umpires are simply throwing away the information. At least that is what his group of umpires did. If that is true for a majority of crews, that is some arrogant shit going on.
I never thought I’d want to get rid of the home umpire but after watching how successful the replay system is, I’m beginning to waver. I think they need to fix a few things, I think being safe is beating the throw to the bag before the tag or force, and is not rising off the bag for a split second. Some agree, some don’t.
I like human interaction in the game, but if the umpires aren’t interested in getting better, maybe they should find umpires who are or possibly go full boar with the ball/strike technology.
It does seem strange now to watch a game knowing full well if a pitch was a ball or strike but the hitter or umpire do not. If they do switch to the technology will they show the box on the big screen after every pitch?
Might be a game changer in terms of viewing the game live.
The absolute best thing about the Giants losing
was that I won’t have to listen to whiny Dodger fans explain how lucky the Giants are over and over to justify how they and the Cardinals have pretty much owned National League 21st century baseball.
How lucky have the Giants and Cardinals been in the 21st century?
Three World Championships for the Giants, Two World Championships for the Cardinals
Four World Series appearances for the Giants, Four World Series appearances for the Cardinals
If anyone has ruined postseason baseball more for me it has been the Giants. Not because they have won their Championships, and the Dodgers have not, but because the whole “the postseason is a crapshoot” has become such a common comment now to explain away the success of teams in the postseason. Winners never use that comment only losers.
It is such a cop out.
I enjoy the Dodgers beating the Giants when it means something. I guess the rivalry simply isn’t as strong with me because in my formative baseball years the Reds/Houston/Braves were the teams we had to beat. Rarely was it the Giants.
Maybe it is the internet, or maybe it is the success of the Giants, but the hatred Dodger fans feel for the Giants these days seems all out of proportion. The success of the Giants has only affected me in one way. I can no longer win friendly arguments with Giant fans by talking about our World Championships because they now have not one, not two, but three. That is annoying. But that is about it.
I’d rather spend my time worrying about my team’s success then what my rival is doing. Most of all I wanted to play the Giants in the postseason a la the Red Sox / Yankee postseason rivalry that has sprung up since Wild Card play was introduced.
A good many Dodger fans who hate the Giants expressed their fear of facing them in the postseason. I have a name for those fans.
Murphy drives in four
but Dodgers still manage to eek out a one-run victory to send both teams back to the Nations Capital for the deciding game five on Thursday night.
On Monday the Dodgers held Murphy in check and lost handily 8 – 3, on Tuesday Murphy, drove in four of the Nationals five runs and yet the Dodgers won 6-5. Go figure.
This was a stomach twister of a game. It started off well enough when I witnessed the best edition of the National Anthem I’ve ever heard. Just to make sure I wasn’t out to lunch on this assessment I asked my friend Joe and his group what they thought of the anthem. They replied “best they ever heard” without any input from me.
Since I was firmly in the start Kershaw camp I was hoping he’d show why he was the right choice. Then Turner singled and I knew he’d score, he’s just that good at finding the plate once he’s on base. During the regular season Turner got on base 119 times and scored 53, and that was the team missing their best hitter for two weeks and Harper in a slump most of that time. And sure enough, Danny Murphy brought him home.
Adrian Gonzalez revved back up the smallish postseason crowd with a two-run jack and once again the Dodgers had scored in the 1st inning. Inexplicably Cory Seager did not figure in the scoring it was Justin Turner on base after getting hit by Ross.
The Turner / Murphy combo would strike again in the 3rd and the Dodgers were tied 2-2, and worse, Kershaw was at 52 pitches and was seemingly struggling as he did on Friday.
The game turned on a Kershaw double down the left field line. Chase would fail once again just as he had failed this whole series. Seager continued his struggles after the 1st inning making the second out. With two out and Kershaw still standing at second, Justin Turner lofted a fly ball into left-center field, I thought for sure the speedy Turner would get to it, but he didn’t and as the ball dropped between Turner and Werth, Kershaw cantered home with the go-ahead run. That seemed to rattle Ross who then walked Adrian and Reddick to load the bases. Joc was hit by a pitch and the Dodgers had a 4 – 2 lead and had knocked Ross from the game. Grandal left the bases loaded again, possibly a record in a short five-game series.
The baserunning or scoring seemed to re-energize Kershaw who pitched the 4th-5th-6th like the Kershaw we all knew. Pitch count was no longer a factor, he had gone six in 80 plus pitches. Joc Pederson had hit an opposite field double to give the Dodgers a 5 – 2 lead in the bottom of the fifth so headed into the seventh all seemed going according to plan.
Kershaw headed out to start the 7th, and I’ll to admit I was shocked to read all the Dodger bloggers and beat writers tweeting about how surprised they were. Really? He had been mowing down the Nationals, hadn’t yet thrown 85 pitches, the bullpen was exhausted, seemed like a no-brainer to put Kershaw back out.
Kershaw had handled Espinosa easily the whole series but he started the 7th off with single to left field but I wasn’t worried. He struck out Severino for his 11th strikeout. The whiny Chris Heisey flew out to leftfield. Two out, one on, but now Turner was up and he had hit the ball hard twice off of Clayton. I saw Harper on deck. The last thing I wanted to see was Harper as the tying run. Turner hit a ball to the left of Seager who made a nice play to get to it but had trouble getting the ball to second and Espinosa beat the force. Now I was worried. Dave Roberts went to the mound but it was brief and he was going to let Kershaw face Harper.
2014 MVP facing 2015 MVP. This was Kershaw in his ill-fated postseason 7th inning facing the reigning MVP who had struggled most of Sept. One of them could change the dialog, but instead of something to write about, Harper simply walked, and the bases were loaded for Jayson Werth. That was it for Clayton, he left with having pitched a solid game, but once again was unable to close that 7th. A better shortstop makes the play on Turner and he never has to face Harper. On three days rest, he had given the Dodgers exactly what they needed, vindicated the choice by the front office, and the ovation as he left was the Dodger fans saying thank you.
Pedro Baez came in to face Werth and promptly hit him. This was a double killer, it left the bases loaded, moved the Nationals to within 5-3, and brought up Dodger postseason killer, Danny Murphy. Murphy did not disappoint, driving a two-run single into CF against Avilan and tying up the game. After all the hard work by Kershaw and the offense the game was tied 5 – 5. Dave went to Joe Blanton, and with the game on the line, Joe Blanton did what he’s done all year. He came through and struck out Rendon on three pitches.
Dodgers went meekly in the 7th but not without some controversy. Puig was called out on a questionable check swing call. My vantage point was horrible but it didn’t look like he had even come close to swinging. Video supported that, it was as Donald Trump would say “the worst call in the history of baseball, simply the worst”. I felt for sure that Puig would get tossed but somehow he managed to stay in the game and trotted out to RF for the top of the 8th. Joe Blanton would set the Nationals down in order. Have I said how amazing Joe Blanton is? Well, he is. Simply amazing.
Bottom of the 8th looks much like the 7th. Joc strikes out, Grandal grounds out. Two out no one on and Treinen hits Toles. Speed is on the bases. Andre comes up to pinch hit and drives a single into left field. Two on, two out but Chase Utley is up and up to this point Chase has been horrible. Not just this game with his three outs, two by strikeouts, but the whole series his bat and glove have been MIA. The count goes 1 – 2 and it seems inevitable that Chase will leave these runners.
Hah
Chase drives a shot past the lunging Murphy into RCF and Toles scampers home with the go-ahead run. The Ravine explodes.
Time for Jansen redemption and he blows through the Nationals first two hitters, striking out Drew and Turner. That brings up the 2015 MVP again. On a two and two count, he hits a dribbler to 2nd that Chase flies in on and nips Harper at 1st.
Game over.
Sure glad I didn’t stay home for this game.
The announced attendance for the game was 49, 617. That was 5,000 below any NLDS game at Dodger Stadium last year. You can blame the game times but the reality is that the Dodgers normally sell out the retail side of the tickets for any postseason game. They did not, and the empty Reserved sections were a glaring reminder of the price the Dodgers are paying for not figuring out their TV problem.
David Ross shoves Bob Boone aside
Driving home from the exhilarating Dodger game I had a hard time finding the Cub/Giant game but finally zeroed in on .830 on the AM dial to hear Dan Schulman and Aaron Boone. A few minutes later Ex-Dodger David Ross slugged a home run and the only thing notable about it was that it had tied the game.
An inning or two passed when Dan Schulman with much glee in his voice announced that the home run by David Ross made him the oldest catcher to ever hit a home run in the postseason. He let that sink in and then announced that the previous record holder had been Aaron’s dad, Bob Boone.
If you don’t know, the Boone baseball family had a heck of a run in the major leagues from Ray Boone (1948 – 1960) to Bob Boone (1972 – 1990) to Aaron Boone (1997 – 2009) with PED poster child Brett Boone thrown in (1992 – 2005).
It was amusing to me. Much more amusing than the 2004 Aug/Sept that David Ross put up for the Dodgers after Paul Depodesta handed him the starting catching gig by trading Paul LoDuca. That 2004 season was the worst of his career until 2015. Twelve years ago it would have been hard to imagine that David Ross would still be catching in the major leagues much less starting in October for the best team in baseball.
Much more amusing than the 2004 Aug/Sept that David Ross put up for the Dodgers after Paul Depodesta handed him the starting catching gig by trading Paul LoDuca. That 2004 season was the worst of his career until 2015. Twelve years ago it would have been hard to imagine that David Ross would still be catching in the major leagues much less starting in October for the best team in baseball but David Ross might be the best backup catcher of the 21st century. Only one time in fifteen major league seasons has Ross caught more than 100 games.
Only one time in fifteen major league seasons has Ross caught more than 100 games but he has always caught at least 36. Maybe Gregg Zaun holds the title though the mark against Zaun was that he caught 133 games in 2005, and over 100 games four times so I quibble in that I don’t think he was only a backup catcher as David Ross has been.
The decision awaits
Dodger fans had to wait until almost midnight to find out when the Dodgers would be playing today but that decision was based on a specific outcome.
The Dodger front office has a bigger decision to make as they consider multiple variables and ramifications. They have a 20 team analyst staff, numbers will be crunched, but this might be a gut call.
If Dave Roberts has the biggest vote this will be his biggest decision of the year unless they get to play on Thursday.
Start Kershaw on three days rest after he struggled considerably in game one and seemed to have given maximum effort in his five innings.
or
Start Julio Urias in an elimination game.
The bullpen has to be a big part of the consideration as they play their 3rd game in a row. The front office is backed into a corner with the inability of Kenta Maeda to go more than three innings, and Rich Hill only getting 13 outs on Sunday. The key players in the bullpen will probably need to pitch for the 3rd game in a row just to get to Kenley Jansen who didn’t inspire confidence with his performance yesterday.
The Pros of starting Kershaw:
- He’s Clayton Kershaw, and until his start on Friday still looked very much like the Clayton Kershaw before his DL spell.
- Kershaw gives the team the best chance to win today
- Kershaw gives the team the best chance for some length, you know he will at least go five, he could go six, and seven could be on the table
The Cons on starting Kershaw:
- If you use Kershaw today, you won’t have a fully rested Kershaw to face Scherzer on Thursday.
- Do you waste Kershaw on a day when the Dodgers have their best chance to bring their bats into play
The Pros of starting Urias:
- You save Kershaw for Scherzer
- He’s been solid since his debut, he might be ready for this big moment in the spotlight and give the Dodgers five good innings on a day the Dodgers might bring their bats into play
The Cons on starting Urias
- His max would be five innings, and a decent % chance he can’t even do that.
- Urias has shown some impressive composure for someone his age, asking him to save the Dodger season might be asking too much of him and his young arm
- The Dodgers have taken care of his arm all year. Do you change all that for one game? He has thrown only 13 innings in Sept, do you ask someone who hasn’t pitched five innings since Sept 5th to pitch five innings? I guess he wouldn’t be on the postseason roster as the 4th starter option unless the answer was Yes.
- Nationals could make his inning limit a moot point by knocking him out just as they did Hill and Maeda, and almost Kershaw.
I’m tenuously going with Kershaw, give your team the best chance to win today, and worry about tomorrow on Thursday.
I’d be shocked if the Dodgers don’t go that route, but it will be exciting if they try the kid and give themselves the best chance for Thursday.
Dodgers, Yesterday and Today 