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Dodgers Take Game 1 in A Classic Series

I have been looking forward to this weekend since the schedules came out.  This is my birthday weekend, as my birthday is Sunday.  I had friends/family looking to put me on a plane to NY with LAD/NYY tickets.  I had to decline because I just cannot walk with my knees.

So I succumbed to watch the games on TV.  I was not looking forward to Apple TV providing the feed.  But I concentrated on the game and not the coverage.  As it turned out, the coverage was fine. Maybe because I really do like D-Train’s schtick.  I know most do not, but I like him.  I actually prefer Wayne Randazzo to Stephen Nelson.

This was as much fun of a game as I have watched all year.  Sorry Scott, NYY will not sweep the Dodgers.  And they are now 2-2 while you were predicting an 0-6 road trip.

I have never been a fan of players being mic’d up to talk with the announcers.  I prefer the players concentrate on the game.  Sure enough with Kiké mic’d up, a ground ball found him just as the announcers were asking a question, and he made an error.  He basically kept his mouth shut the rest of the inning.  I know Dontrelle felt horrible, but the error was made.  Fortunately NYY did not get a run out of it.

To make matters worse for Kiké, he got picked off 1st by Cody Poteet in the 3rd.

Poteet was as advertised.  He kept the Dodgers hitters off balance even with the multitude of 3-2 counts.  He mixed his pitches all night, and was on the edges which led to the high pitch count.  I do not recall one pitch that he missed in the strike zone for someone to punish.  I am sure that someone will remind me of one.

Poteet’s 4-seamer average 93.8 and his sinker averaged 93.1, so he did not overwhelm the batters.  He allowed 2 hits, with 3 BB, and just 1 strikeout.  He got 6 whiffs on 34 swings, so he was pitching into a lot of soft contact.  It was a good bit of pitching against the Dodgers hitters.

On the other side, Yoshinobu Yamamoto was even more dominating.  He allowed two hits, one a soft double by Aaron Judge, two BB, and 7 K, in 7.0 complete scoreless innings.  Like Poteet, Yoshi has a lot of soft contact.

Yamamoto was amped.  He threw 6 pitches on the night.  Every one of his pitches averaged from 1.2 MPH to 1.9 MPH increase.  His spin rate was up for every pitch except for his splitter, which is always low spin.

After the Trent Grisham single in the 2nd, Yamamoto struck out Jose Trevino.  He then retired the next 11 batters before walking Judge in the 6th, but striking out Stanton.  He walked Gleyber Torres with one out in the 7th, but got DJ LeMahieu to hit into a 4-6-3 DP.  Yamamoto was finished after 106 pitches, with 13 swing and misses.

Yamamoto pitched to 25 NYY batters.  He allowed 4 hard hit balls all night, and only two > 100 MPH.

  • Anthony Rizzo – 95.5 MPH flyout
  • Trent Grisham – 106.8 MPH single
  • Jose Trevino – 97.6 MPH groundout
  • DJ LeMahieu – 100.1 MPH GIDP

 

 

 

 

 

This was a superbly pitched game by both starters.

Poteet came out with two outs in the 5th and runners on 1st and 2nd and Shohei Ohtani coming to the plate.  NYY countered with former LAD LHRP, Victor Gonzalez.  On the 1st pitch up and out of the zone, Shohei hit a soft ground ball to Rizzo at 1B for the 3rd out.

Caleb Ferguson also got a chance to pitch against his former team, and got Ohtani, Freeman, and Smith in order, with Smith looking at strike 3.  Yes, Ferguson was excited as he left the field.

LHRP Anthony Banda relieved Yamamoto in the 8th and struck out the first two batters he faced.  Anthony Volpe and Alex Verdugo followed with two bloop singles.  Doc brought in Blake Treinen to face Aaron Judge.

Hudson got Rizzo, Torres, and DJLM in the 9th to take the 0-0 tie into extra innings.

Both pitchers got the outs in the 10th.  Michael Grove continues to impress, leaving the runner stranded at 2nd.

It was in the 11th when the offensive action started.  With Ohtani starting at 2nd, Freddie drew a BB.  Smith hit a soft liner to Grisham in CF.  But Teoscar Hernández hit one to the left center field wall for a 2-run double, and a 2-0 lead.  I do not recall who was getting tired of Teoscar’s act, but how do you like him now?  Nice short swing to the ball.  No swing from the heels.

 

Dennis Santana relieved Ian Hamilton, becoming the 3rd former LAD reliever to pitch against his former team.  He pitched as well as the first two.  Jason Heyward struck out, Andy Pages drew a BB, and Gavin Lux hit a routine F9 to end the inning.

Well, Evan Phillips was not available.  Doc had already used Blake Treinen and Daniel Hudson. So who is he going to bring in to close it out and get the save?  He chose Yohan Ramirez to face Verdugo, Judge, and Stanton with the speedy Volpe at 2nd.  Yohan struck out Verdugo, but Judge hit a hanging sweeper for an RBI single.  I bet Judge will have nightmares not obliterating that pitch.  Ramirez got Stanton on strikes, and then got Rizzo to foul out to Will Smith.  What Ramirez was doing almost getting in the way is inexplicable.  But it was such an exciting game, you can almost understand why he was trying to make the catch.  Not a good choice, but Smith stayed with it, and the Dodgers took Game 1 in this very exciting 3 game series in the Bronx.

 

 

It has been a different Yohan Ramirez since this!

 

 

 

 

Game 1 was equal to the national hype.  It matched arguably the top two baseball organizations in 2024.  Perhaps the two most storied MLB teams in history.  Two classic teams with the two most classic uniforms perhaps in all of sports.  At the end of the season, this game, this series, will not be season changing. If the two teams meet in the WS, neither team will have an advantage due to this series.  What a start to a great matchup.  Of course I am hoping for a sweep on my birthday.

 

MiLB GAME SUMMARY REPORTS

 

OKC Baseball Club 5 – Round Rock Express (Texas) 3

OKC sent out Bobby Miller in his 3rd rehab assignment against Texas’ AAA affiliate ant RHP Owen White, Texas’ #8 prospect.

Miller got through 4.0 IP but could not record an out in the 5th.  Miller gave up a run in the 2nd on 2 singles, a 1-out BB and sac fly.  In the 5th, Andre Lipcius dropped a foul pop fly.  That batter and the next reached on singles.  Kevin Gowdy relieved Miller after 85 pitches (50 strikes).  A strike out, and two walks produced an unearned run before a DP ended the inning.

 

 

Kyle Hurt came in for relief in the 7th.  He struck out the 1st batter he faced before giving up a single.  Two wild pitches put the runner on 3rd.  After a walk, Hurt struck out his 2nd batter of the inning, but was relieved by Jack Dreyer.  Dreyer gave up the run scoring single, but got the next four out.

Michael Flynn got the final three outs for his 2nd save.

OKC used three solo HRs and some RR wildness to plate their five runs.

Andre Lipcius hit his 16th HR in the 1st.  He is now one HR behind PCL leader Ryan Ward.  Hunter Feduccia hit his 3rd in the 3rd.  Chris Owings hit his 6th in the 6th.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the 4th, Kody Hoese and Trey Sweeney led off with singles.  With 2 outs, Hunter Feduccia walked to load the bases.   Hoese scored on a passed ball.  Jonathan Araúz drew a walk to re-load the bases, and Drew Avans walked to force in a run.

  • Andre Lipcius – 2-4, 1 run, 1 RBI, HR (16)
  • Chris Owings – 2-4, 1 run, 1 RBI, HR (6)
  • Hunter Feduccia – 1-3, 1 BB, 1 run, 1 RBI, HR (3)

 

Box Score

 

 

Tulsa Drillers 17 – Amarillo Sod Poodles (Arizona) 4 – Game 1

Orlando Ortiz-Mayr was staked to a 2-0 lead but surrendered 4 in the bottom of the 1st.  Three singles plated 1 and then a 3-run HR gave the Sod Poodles a 4-2 lead.  Ortiz-Mayr allowed only a BB after the HR through 4 innings.

Juan Morillo, Christian Suarez, and Michael Hobbs pitched 3.0 scoreless/hitless innings to secure the lopsided win.

Tulsa scored 17 runs on 12 hits, 11 BB, 2 HBP, and 1 error.  Every Tulsa batter reached base.  Five Tulsa batters had 2 hits.

  • Alex Freeland – 2-4, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 4 runs, double (6)
  • Taylor Young – 2-5, 2 runs, 3 RBI, 2 doubles (15)
  • Dalton Rushing – 2-4, 1 BB, 2 runs, 2 RBI, double (8)
  • Brandon Lewis – 2-3, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 1 run, 5 RBI, double (5), HR (6)

 

 

 

  • Yeiner Fernandez – 2-5, 2 runs
  • Chris Alleyne – HR (4)

 

Box Score

 

 

Amarillo Sod Poodles (Arizona) 6 – Tulsa Drillers 1 – Game 2

Kendall Williams allowed 4 runs in 3.2 IP, with Jack Little and Braydon Fisher each allowing a run in 1.0 IP each.

Tulsa could only muster 1 run on 6 hits and 7 BB.  Tulsa was 1-11 WRISP.

  • Damon Keith – 2-3, 1 BB
  • Doubles – Alex Freeland (7) and Austin Beck (7)

 

Box Score

 

Great Lakes Loons 6 – Cedar Rapids Kernels (Minnesota) 0

Christian Romero started and completed 4.0 scoreless innings, allowing 3 hits, 2 BB, and 6 K.  Three relievers combined to finish the shutout on 1 hit over 5.0 IP.  Jose Rodriguez had 5 K in 3.0 IP to get the win.

Great Lakes had 6 hits and 8 BB to score 6 runs.

Kyle Nevin opened the scoring with a run scoring single in the 3rd.

In the 5th, Thayron Liranzo, Nevin, and Chris Newell led off with BB.  Sam Mongelli singled home Liranzo and Nevin.  Newell stole 3rd and Mongelli stole 2nd.  Nick Biddison singled home Newell and Mongelli moved to 3rd and scored on a ground out.

Noah Miller had a run scoring single in the 8th to finish the scoring.

Noah Miller was the only GL hitter with a 2-hit game.  Great Lakes had 6 stolen bases including 3 for Jake Gelof.

 

Box Score

 

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 8 – Visalia Rawhide (Arizona) 4

Logan Wagner smacked a go-ahead grand slam and the Rancho bullpen enjoyed a fantastic night, as the Quakes dropped the Visalia Rawhide on Friday night.

With the Quakes trailing 3-2 in the third, Wagner launched his second homer of the year down the right-field line, a grand slam to give Rancho the lead for good at 6-3.

Rancho added two more in the eighth to put it away, as Samuel Munoz and Jordan Thompson had RBI hits, making it 8-3.

Visalia scored an unearned run in the ninth, but that’s all they could muster against the Quakes’ bullpen on Friday, as Felix Cabrera and Callum Wallace each tossed two scoreless innings. Christian Ruebeck gave up an unearned run in the ninth to finish it off.

Rancho starter Christian Zazueta allowed three runs in the first inning in his Rancho debut, but settled in and gave the Quakes four total innings.  In case some of you do not remember, Christian Zazueta came to the Dodgers in the Caleb Ferguson trade.  Zazueta was dominant in the ACL in his 18.2 IP before getting the promotion.

  • Kendall George – 3-4, 1 BB, 2 runs
  • Samuel Munoz – 2-3, 2 BB, 2 runs, 1 RBI, double (5)
  • Jordan Thompson – 3-4, 1 BB, 1 run, 3 RBI, double (10)
  • Logan Wagner – 1-2, 2 BB, 1 run, 4 RBI, HR (2)

 

Box Score

 

ACL Dodgers 10 – ACL Guardians 1

Wyatt Crowell got his 3rd start and completed 2.0 shutout innings, allowing 1 hit with 3 Ks.  Sean Linen followed with 3.0 innings allowing only a solo HR and 6 Ks.  Two other relievers finished up the game.

The Dodgers scored 10 runs on 12 hits, 5 BB, 1 HBP, and 1 error.

Alexander Albertus was the hitting star with 3 doubles and 4 RBI

  • Nicolas Perez – 3-4, 1 BB, 3 runs, 0 RBI, double (2)
  • Eduardo Quintero – 3-4, 1 BB, 4 runs, 3 RBI, double (2)
  • Alexander Albertus – 3-5, 1 run, 4 RBI, 3 doubles (6)
  • Jose Meza – 1-4, 1 BB, 1 run, 2 RBI, HR (3)

 

Box Score

 

 

 

A glimpse into the future???

 

Ko Ching-Hsien

 

 

 

 

 

Jeff Dominique

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Oldbear48

Exciting game. As for micing up a player, I do not like it. They did it to Miggy last year, and he did ok. There was a grounder hit to him and he said, excuse me, I need to make this play. Kike is no Miggy Ro!!!! There was a story on Yahoo news about how the White Sox are actively pursuing deals for Robert Jr. Personally, I think the Dodgers should pass. To injury prone and he is going to cost a ton.

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Oldbear48

Jays DFAd Cavan Biggio. Guess the Hall of Famers kid was no chip off of the old block. Not surprising though. He has never reached double digits in homers since his rookie season and his OPS only topped .800 once. Someone on another site suggested the Dodgers trade for Justin Turner. I believe that boat has sailed. JT is not having a good year, he is 39 now, and he really has no position. If anyone was counting, five former Dodgers appeared in the game for the Yankees. Verdugo, Gonzalez, Ferguson, who was way too pumped after his last K, Santana, and the one who flew under the radar even to the announcers, Jamai Jones. Spent two years in the Dodger system. Stros placed Kyle Tucker on the IL with a contusion on his shin. They also lost Jose Urquidy to season ending TJ surgery. Pham is also on the IL. Alex Manoah of the Jays will also undergo a season ending surgery. The Angels are listening to offers for Taylor Ward. He most likely would not be dealt to the Dodgers. We all know what Moreno thinks of LA. Rangers are DFAing OF Derrick Hill. Dodgers outrighted Elieser Hernandez to AAA. All teams passed up on him in waivers. The Brewers GM reiterated that a trade of Willy Adames was very unlikely. He will no doubt be a QO type player in the fall and would bring Milwaukee a compensation pick if he leaves. The Cubs will be looking to upgrade at catcher at the deadline probably. Both of their catchers are hitting below the Mendoza line and neither has been very productive. Rays designated Harold Ramirez for assignment.

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Jeff

This was a game I was not expecting to watch. Two power house teams that rely on all or nothing hitting locked in a pitching duel with no scoring going into extra innings. We’ve become used to seeing the slumping Dodgers hit meagerly in games, but two power houses colliding should have produced more sparks than it did. I was excited to get the win. I was excited to see Yamamoto pitch well for so long. I was not excited to see Shohei struggle and most of the batters unable to hit anything. We really need to see a change in the hitting mindset. Letting it play out for so long is not a good sign and will come back to bite us. If we are going to change the channel for hitters, we need some fresh blood and a different coaching team that can make it happen. Not sure if our home growns even know the difference or can change. Taylor and Kike need to be gone. They’ve outlived their usefulness. Even Rojas is contributing regularly. We need to make sure that Outman, Vargas, and Pages, are not all or nothing guys.

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Dionysus

Lipcius stands kinda hunched over the plate like Steve Garvey.

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Bisonjones

I was at the game last night with my 86-year old Dad (he is the reason I am a Dodgers fan)! The Dodgers offense was so anemic — they are really struggling to put hits together. When thy failed to even get a runner to 3rd base in the 10th, I thought we would lose. But boy did the pitching ever step up. Yamamoto was not at all afraid of the big lights. He looked so confident out there.

Some highlights/key plays:
(1) The entire pitching performance — just OUTSTANDING.

(2) The duel between Judge an Treinen that eventually ended up in a walk was so fun. The whole stadium was rocking on every pitch, and it reminded me about what makes baseball special. I don’t think any other sport has these prolonged one-on-one (in the middle of a team battle) intense spotlights.

(3) Our old pal Trent Grisham (who I have seen put down good bunts numerous times on the Pads) spits the bit and can’t get the bunt down in the 10th . I do not like Grisham, very much dislike his “too cool for school” act is catching fly balls. Some players just rub me the wrong way.

(4) Teoscar who looked very much like he was going to strike out fights off a nasty 0-2 pitch and just gets a piece of it to stay alive, and then delivers the game-winner on the next — Wow!

(5) Ramirez taking on the 11th. My Dad and I looked at each other and said. “Oh boy, this is not going to be easy.” Ramirez showed some major cojones. The atmosphere was crazy, and he did not buckle.

My dad and I were jumping up and down when Will Smith caught the final out!

I am a baseball fan for moments like these. That’s what being a baseball fan means (to me) — enjoying the moments. If the Dodgers win the World Series, so much the better, but that’s just one more moment.

Cheers.

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Badger

As anemic as the Dodgers have looked recently they are 7-3 over their last 10 and the only team better than that is the team they beat last night. How fortunate are Dodger fans to have a team so good they can look like crap and still win?

Lipcius and Ward look ready for prime time. So does Outman. So did Vargas when he was banging at AAA. Sure would be nice to see what those guys could do. All it would take would be phantom injuries to Taylor, Lux and Kiké.

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Claude Osteen

Happy birthday Sunday Jeff. That happens to be my birthday as well. Going to a Sacramento Rivercat game that my kids are taking me to. Game last night was exciting but worried about our bats for playoffs. This weekend will be good test of that.

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Phil Jones

On Friday night I couldn’t watch the Yankees -Dodgers, which Jeff described as the most fun game of the season. Sad to miss it but I don’t subscribe to Apple TV. I do have two iPods, two ear buds, an iPad, an IMac 24, and a MacBook Pro. But not Apple TV.

So instead, I ended up trolling channels and watching the Blue Jays and the A’s in the bottom of the 8th, tied 1 to 1. Chris Bassett, of the Jays was on the mound, and they listed his pitches on the screen:
1.Sinker. 42%
2.Curve. 18%
3.Cutter. 12%
4.Sweeper. 11%
5.Splitter. 6%
6.Changeup. 5%
7.Four-seamer. 3%
8.Slider. 3%
Yup, that equals 100%. And apparently he throws 8 different pitches.  

Are you shitting me? Why would a guy need 8 pitches?
As best I can tell, Bassitt must have perfected close to a pitch per year in his 10 years in MLB. The catcher, without pitch-com, would have to drop his mitt and use both hands to call all of his pitches.
As near as I can tell, these days, RHP can have the following arsenal at their disposal:

  1. 4-seam fastball – the old #1. The high heater!
  2. 2 seam arm side runner
  3. 2 seam glove side runner – perhaps called a cutter?
  4. Cutter
  5. Sinker
  6. Slider
  7. Slutter
  8. Curve
  9. Slerve
  10. Sweeper
  11. Screwball
  12. And change

Ole Chris is only 4 shy of having them all. Maybe he will play 4 more seasons and have them all?

Now somebody has to identify the differences between all these pitches. 
I don’t think I’m able to identify the differences between these pitch shapes. I’m pretty good with fastball, cutter, slider, curve, change and then, I’m done. Even the pitchers can’t agree on what their pitches are called.
So, is there an MLB pitch recognition person? I’ve seen guys with laptops behind the dish at spring training games paying attention. Are these the experts that determine which pitch it is and put it in the computer? Or does a computer and in-house cameras determine the pitch type?  
If so, that might be a good way to determine the pitch type and also whether the pitch is a ball or strike. Let’s call it the ABS System.
I’m inclined to take the pitch % and pitch recognition displayed, with a grain of salt.
Well, I can at least watch the next 2 games.

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Sam Oyed

Wasn’t aware of this,

Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement calls for a player to receive a $10,000 stipend for wearing a two-way microphone for at least one inning of a regular-season game. The amount rises to $15,000 in the postseason.

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Singing the Blue

Some reports out there today saying that AF is interested in Tommy Edman of the Cards. Hasn’t played yet this year because of an injury but expected back around All Star time.

He’s extremely versatile and a very good fielder. Would certainly be a better alternative (if healthy) than are CT3 and/or Kike, but it would be nice to see what we have in Lipcius or even Gauthier before spending prospect capital on Edman. Supposedly, though, he’d play shortstop if we traded for him. He’s played everywhere on the diamond except pitcher, catcher and 1B and will reach free agency after 2025.

My preference would be to go after Brendan Donovan, who can play 2B, 3B and left field, three positions of need for us. He’s a better hitter than Edman but not as good a fielder and doesn’t reach free agency until after 2027. He’s off to a fairly slow start this year but still far better than any of the guys we have playing those positions and his lifetime batting numbers are very nice.

Edman is 29. Donovan is 27. The Cards are going to need pitching going forward. We have pitching that we can use in a trade.

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Bumsrap

If the Dodgers had a regular with this line .198.286.287.573 what would we be saying?

I say, trade for him but then I know who he is.

I can’t get myself to get down on Lux. I am willing to include him in a trade if the return is also young. But if it were not for a few others getting off to bad starts, Lux wouldn’t be such a sore thumb.

Last edited 1 year ago by Bumsrap
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Bluto

This Phillies game reminds me how even heavy slug lineups can be fun to watch when they are on a roll.

Yesterday’s game reminded me how heavy slug lineups can be fun to watch even when they are not.

I wish we had more of both.

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Jeff Dominique

I think every pitcher would want to find their way to Cleveland. They always seems to develop pitching. The latest? 32 year old RHP Ben Lively. He has been a questionable pitcher since he first appeared as a MLB pitcher with Philadelphia. He also had mediocre seasons with KC, Cincinnati, and in the KBO. In December 2023 he was signed as a FA by Cleveland. For 2024, Lively is 5-2 in 9 starts and 50.2 IP. He has a 2.84 ERA, 1.164 WHIP, 47 K, 15 BB. His 2024 ERA is almost 2 runs less than his MLB average.  

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Bluto

Not ce

Last edited 1 year ago by Bluto
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OhioDodger

Taylor starting in LF. Why in the hell did they bring Vargas up? They should be playing Vargas and see what he can do. We know what KT3 can do. Virtually nothing. I don’t get it.

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Badger

Better built for October, Yankees or Dodgers?

The 3 former American League announcers say the Yankees. They also agree Friedman will make changes.

Last edited 1 year ago by Badger
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Bluto

Two nice wins, good to see Teoscar coming through

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