Is the Good ship LA Dodgers sinking? It is no secret that the Dodger starting pitching is thin. Make that extremely thin. Kershaw, Glasnow, Stone, not available in the foreseeable future. Kershaw might be ready by the playoffs, but he won’t be any help the next six games.
The bullpen is extremely overworked. The offense can explode at one minute and then totally disappear at times. Then before today’s game, one of their main power sources, Max Muncy was scratched due to soreness in his side.
Yamamoto, who is being depended on to be a big contributor this postseason, was less than inspiring today. He lasted 3 innings. He gave up 3 runs in a very stressful first inning and allowed another in the third.
Meanwhile the offense has already missed some golden chances to catch up with the Rocks. In the first, Ohtani and Betts singled. The usually reliable Freddie Freeman hit into a double play and Hernandez struck out. All of this against a pitcher just back from TJ surgery and making just his second start of the season.
Smith walked in the second, but Lux flied out and Edman hit into an inning ending double play. Yoshi gave up a run in the third and was done. Rojas was called out on strikes in the top of the third, but Kike singles, Ohtani singled and Betts walked to load the bases. And what happened? Freeman hit into his second inning ending double play of the game.
Kelly got the side out in the top of the 4th. Hernandez led off with his 31st homer in the bottom of the 4th. But the next three hitters grounded out. Brasier came in and allowed a leadoff double to McMahon. He then struck out the side.
Rojas led off the bottom of the 5th. He flew out to CF Hilliard. On the second pitch, Kike grounded out to third. Ohtani came up with the bases empty. He had earlier got his 54th stolen base. Ohtani grounded out too.
Ben Casparius came in to pitch the 6th inning. Meanwhile in San Diego, the Sox took a 2-1 lead over the Padres in the top of the 6th on a homer by Miguel Vargas.
Casparius struck out the first hitter, Nolan Jones. He walked Jake Cave. Goodman doubled in Jones and the Rockies led 5-1. He then walked Blackmon. He was pitching backwards. Throwing a lot of balls to begin at bats. He then gave up a infield single to Tovar. Battling McMahon over an 8 pitch at bat he finally struck him out. He then struck out Toglia to close out the inning.
The Rockies brought in Jeff Criswell to pitch the 6th inning. Betts would fly out to deep left. Freeman singled and Teo walked. Smith struck out and Lux hit a long fly out to center.
Casparius stayed in to pitch the 7th. He got a ground out and then struck out the next two hitters. That gave Casparius 5 Ks in 2 innings. The Rockies have struck out 14 times in this game. They struck out 15 times the first game, and 14 yesterday.
Hill took over for the Rockies. He got Edman to fly out and he walked Rojas. Kike then homered to left, his 11th making it 5-3. Ohtani singled on the first pitch and then stole second, his 55th steal. Mookie struck out. Freeman singled to right and Ohtani score the 4th run. Teo struck out to end the inning and it was 5-4.
Down in San Diego, the Padres scored 3 in the bottom of the 8th to go ahead 4-2. If the Sox happen to lose, it will be their 120th loss of the season, tying the 62 Mets. And the Sox lost. Right now, SD is just 2.5 games behind the Dodgers which makes this game highly important.
Casparius again took the mound for the 8th inning. He allowed a single to Cave but got Goodman to hit into a double play. Blackmon flied out to end the inning.
Smith, Lux and Edman coming up in the 8th against a new Rockies pitcher, Chivilli. Smith hit a line drive to left that Jones caught. Lux then walked. Edman hit a ball down the line that Toglia dived for and threw to first for the out, Lux went to second. Miggy then walked. Kike then popped out with 2 out and 2 on. This is where Muncy not being available hurt the team. Had he been healthy. he would have hit for Kike. If they trusted Kiermaier, he would have hit for Kike. They really miss Jason Heyward’s bat off of the bench.
Treinen came in to pitch the 9th. Treinen struck out the side. 17 Rockies struck out this game. a season high for the staff. Top of the Dodger order coming up in the 9th to try and tie or win this game. Halvorsen came in to pitch the 9th for Colorado.
Ohtani homered to tie the game. # 53. Mookie Betts then homered, and the Dodgers came all the way back to win the game. This was huge. Had they lost, they would have had only a 2-game lead with the Padres coming in on Tuesday. Now the best the Padres could do it be tied with LA if they were to sweep LA this week. No pitchers have been named for the series yet.
OKC won their final game of the season, 3-1 over the Bees in Salt Lake. Michael Grove got the win. Bobby Miller pitched 5 innings allowing 3 hits, a run, 1 walk, and he struck out 6. That had to be a huge confidence builder for Miller.
Note: This was Betts second career walk off homer and his first as a Dodgers. As it stands now, the Dodgers magic number is 4. Any combination of wins and Padre losses equaling 4, the Dodgers in the division. They need to win 2 of 3 against the Padres.
I think Casparius might have pitched his way on to the post season roster. He proved he could go at least 3 and I could see them piggybacking him and Gonsolin or Knack. Buehler has to be on that roster. Despite early problems on Saturday, he settled down and pitched well. Yamamoto should get one more start.
Knack or Flaherty will open the series with the Padres. I also think it is highly possible that James Outman will be brought up, and possibly replace Kevin Kiermaier on the playoff roster. He is almost as good a defender as Kiermaier, and he has a lot more pop in his bat.
Guys I feel bad for, Bruce Avans, who has proved he is a hitter. Cody Hoese, he had his best season this year and has been solid defensively and offensively. Andre Lipcius. The guy had an amazing season considering he was brought over in a trade in March with the Tigers. He played multiple positions including 1st, and second base. He ended up with a .271 BA 25 homers and 89 RBIs.
And finally, Ryan Ward. Ward finished with 33 homers and 101 RBIs. He hit .258 and had an .860 OPS in 120 games. What else did the guy need to prove himself? He played solid defense and was the biggest offensive power threat on the team.
Born June 14th, 1948, in Los Angeles California. AKA The Bear
This game 3 with the Rockies is a snapshot of the Dodgers only path they can follow to advance in the playoffs with their weak starting pitching.
Their star hitters (and some other select players) must perform… LIKE BATTING-STARS!
It’s daunting and a very long-shot script for a WS run… but you never know.
This month, not counting the bullpen games on September 7 and September 20, the Dodgers rotation has a 6.21 ERA with as many starts of three or fewer innings (four) as starts of six or more innings.
At the end of your article, Bear, you were mentioning guys you felt sorry for. The following will all be available in the Rule 5 draft this winter unless AF adds them to the 40 man roster: Avans, Lipcius, Hoese and Ward. I’m guessing none of those 4 will be protected, although it’s possible Andrew will manage to include them in a trade before the draft.
Others who might be protected include pitchers Edgardo Henriquez (definitely), Jack Dreyer, Jose Rodriguez, and Jeff D. favorite Jerming Rosario and infielders Yeiner Fernandez and Austin Gauthier.
There simply isn’t enough room to fit all of those guys on the 40-man. With the exception of Henriquez, I have no clue who else might get the call. Maybe Jeff can weigh in at some point and mention any names I might have skipped over.
How many guys stuck in OKC would be in the majors for another team?
Right now, the Angels have several guys up who are probably no better than Ward, Hoese and Lipcius. And the Angels are better than the White Sox. I’m grateful that Barnes got enough of a boo-boo to give Feduccia an opportunity.
These OKC guys must be encouraged by how well their old teammate Trey Sweeney, blocked on the Dodgers, is now playing for the Tigers. The Tigers’ second-half surge could be the Cinderella story of the season. They are now tied with the Royals for the final Wild Card spot, one game up on the Twins. The expanded playoff format provide a lot of drama down the stretch.
The Dodgers just had another storybook finish, with back-to-back blasts by Shohei and Mookie resulting in a walk-off win against the Rockies. This was reported as Mookie’s second walk-off HR in his career, and first as a Dodger. The offense is en fuego.
Pretty cool comeback–but not as impressive as the Brewers rebounding from an 8-0 deficit to beat the D’backs, putting the Snakes’ WC chances in jeopardy. The Brewers are dangerous. Over in the East, the Mets are now 1.5 games up over the Braves for the WC. Good news, i think.
On the bad-news front, Yamamoto did not pitch like an ace today. But it still seems clear that he and Flaherty are already penciled to start the playoffs, with a third SP to be named later.
My heart wants Kershaw, but my head is thinking Knack.
Maybe this team is dysfunctional enough to pull this off.
Save it for later
For me as a life long, die hard Dodgers and Rams fan this probably was the best Sunday ever. Dodgers walk it off on consectuive homers and the Rams beat the hated ones with a furious, stunning, unbelievable finish. What a day!
Yamamoto not sharp today and as @Wayne wrote in his OP this game in a microcosm showed what team the Dodgers are at the moment.
Questionalble starting pitching, an overused bullpen but a very good lineup that can score runs in bunches.
A formula that can work in the postseason but over the history of the game it usually does not work that way. Rangers last season were the outlier not the rule.
But we have no other choice but to hope it will be enough for our boys in blue .
Bobby Miller looked very good in OKC last night. Maybe, maybe that was the turnaround game for him ? Sometimes it only takes that one game to get you back on track.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If Munce had been healthy, he would have started, not batted for Kiké later in the game.
Someone mentioned the starting pitching has been giving up alot of first inning runs. Maybe using an opener should be considered. Especially for Buehler, Knack and Yoki.
Nick Ahmed will be with the Padres when they come to Dodger Stadium tomorrow. Reds fired David Bell.
*After the early deficit, I kept thinking there’s a lot of game left. We needed a crooked number. Through 3, Freddie killed us hitting into 2 double plays.
But we look so flat and haven’t been crisp defensively lately. Freddie hasn’t picked a number of tweeter hops from infield throw that he usually eats up. Will Smith and Feduccia have had too many throws on steals, sail into center, the pitchers can’t field their position. And Will Smith has too many wild pitches get away. He’s down on that knee that restricts his mobility and the balls ricochet away.
*But it was Ohtani and Betts and Casparius who bailed us out.
Ohtani is just amazing. He captures the spot light in the big moments like no-one I’ve ever seen in any sport.
What a great, exciting win.
*Who in the hell is Ben Casparius? He was great. I’d never seen him pitch but I knew his name. A closer look revealed he was 4&3 at OKC, starting 14 of his 16 appearances, with a pedestrian 3.36 ERA, in 67 innings with too many walks at 35 but 72’ks. Gotta like that. So, he came to the Big Club 8/31 and had 1 inning, before back to OKC.
Well if yesterday is any indication, he looks like a 5th playoff starter to me. We’d never have a bullpen game anymore if this kid’s available to start. I know I’m being hasty but we’re out of starting pitchers!
*I really don’t mean this disparaging, but it was reporting Muncy pulled himself because he felt “something in his side”. I really hope it’s nothing serious. We need his bat. But I have to chuckle about today’s players. Big money, big investments. Back in my generation, if you pulled yourself out of the line-up in a tight pennant race, coming down to the wire, you’d better have a bone sticking out. I’m not picking on Max. Just pointing out how things are different.
*This umpiring crew begged for ABS.
There was much conversation recently about the poor umpiring.
Dave and Sam Oyed all made very good points yesterday about the umpires not having the information the viewers have with the superimposed strike zone on the TV screens. This entire crew has big zones and there is no excuse for Jeremy Rehak’s strike zone.
But the point is well taken that the HPUs don’t have the same information fans have.
I have talked about the use of ABS ad nauseam.
I’m all in on the ABS for the reasons we’ve seen lately. And our pitchers have been the beneficiaries for the big zones, as well.
But somebody mentioned the challenge system. I am NOT in favor of that despite the fact that it seems inevitable.
I have points about ABS, and I seem to be the only voice that wants a full blown ABS in place for every pitch. It’s easy, just get every ball / strike call correct. It doesn’t need to be complicated. People seemed to have compromised that a Challenge System is better than nothing.
Here are 3 scenarios:
Why is this so HARD?
Here’s the latest from Mark’s site…..
“It took me a long time (I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer), but I realized (finally) that the morons who only have negative things to say are not people I want to be around. You have made your choice. Stay at http://www.LaDodgerChronicles.com and wallow in your swill. Do not come back here. I am done with you. Good riddance to bad rubbish. I will delete your comments. Free at last. Free at last! Free at last!”
And……
“You have no access. You are bitter old men who don’t know jack shit. Goodbye! Stay away!”
Seems like every other post over there now is calling anyone over here, or anyone who doesnt agree with him, or anyone who has anything critical to say about Friedman, Roberts, Dodgers management is a moron.
Pitching matchups for Padre’s series. Tue: King-Knack Wed: Cease-Flaherty, Thur: Musgrove-Buehler
Hey guys, there won’t be a new post from me tomorrow. I am getting my new tower for my desktop today and I will be spending most of this afternoon and evening setting it up. There is no game until tomorrow, so this should not be a problem. And so, you know, I appreciate all the support Jeff, and I get from you guys. We do not think the way they do over on LADT. We don’t ban people simply because we do not agree with their opinions. All are welcome here and all are allowed to say and think what they want. Since I am also a site administrator, I could do precisely that. But neither Jeff nor I are that petty.
G 17 22. 1. 9. 29
w-l. 6-2. 9-6. 1-0 2-4. 15-3
era. 2.96. 3.49. 3.38 3.95. 2.91
IP. 85. 134. 5.1. 43.1. 173
k. 99. 168. 9. 40. 174
whip. 1.13. 0.95. .56. 1.15. 1.02
Can you figure out who these pitchers are?
clue- 2Dodgers 1 Met, 1 Ranger, 1 Cub
who has buyer’s remorse?
if u could who would u take for 2025?
Add me to the list of folks who want a full ABS not just a challenge system.
But……………….since we know we won’t get our wish, here’s a thought.
Current setup says if a team misses on 3 challenges they can’t challenge again.
How about if an ump is ruled wrong on 3 challenges all the umps rotate and we get a new home plate ump for the rest of that game. (yes, I know the ump’s union would never stand for that)
Got the new tower up and running, now I need to add all of my websites and such.
Ohtani named player of the week.
For the season with RISP:
Dodgers: BA .264 – OBP .355 – SLG.431 – OPS.786 – 30 GIDP – 50 Sac Flies
Padres : BA .274 – OBP .341 – SLG .431 – OPS .771 – 46 GIDP – 30 Sac Flies
Shohei needs 9 more total bases to become the first player since 2001 to reach 400 total bases. The only Dodger to ever post 400 total bases in a season was Babe Herman in 1930. He hit .393, the Dodger record and had 416 total bases.
A quote from Mark today:
“Test me! Our commenters have gone down, but our readers are growing like crazy! We add 3-10 new readers every day. I think I am on to something: Readers don’t enjoy morons.”
Nobody knows how many people read his blog besides him. Or am I wrong about that? That’s an easy thing to lie about.
Charlie Blackmon, aka, Chuck Nazty, has decided to call it a career and retire after this season is over. Good, guy had LA’s number.