Results tagged ‘ Cubs ’
Dodgers Lose 6th of Month and 2nd In a Row
The Cubs series and Furcal’s return got off to rough starts. Not only were the Dodgers shut out for the 6th time this season but they had as many errors as they had hits in the game. Two of those errors were at the hands of a clearly rusty Raffy.
Kershaw pitched his 4th gem in a row though. He’s been going deep into games and allowing very few runs to score for several starts in a row. This time out he pitched 6 innings and allowed just 1 unearned run. It’s just a shame that LA couldn’t score to either keep him off the hook or even earn him a win.
Oh well, I suppose. Coming back down to Earth was inevitable after such a strong stretch of games. They’ve just got to go out tomorrow and try to start another stretch of wins. They have 6 more games to play so they can finish the month strong.
A loss by San Francisco and San Diego tonight would make things a little easier.
Padres Top Rockies In 8th, Cubs Stun Giants In 9th
The Dodgers won their game on the East coast but the jury was still out on the West coast for the Rockies and Giants.
The Padres, who are strangely hot lately (they’ve won 8 of the last 9 series), got to the Rockies in the 7th and 8th and held on to win it. This pushed the Rockies to 6 games back in the NL West and the Dodgers magic number to clinch the division fell to just 4.
The Cubs were down to their last strike in the 9th before they jacked a 2 run shot to turn the tables and lead by 1 instead of trailing by 1. They took care of the Giants in the 9th to kick the Giants back to 10 games out, officially eliminating them in the NL West. The Giants can still pass the Rockies for the Wildcard but they can’t pass the Dodgers.
The Cubs victory means the Cardinals have a chance to clinch their division with a win instead of it happening on their off day had the Cubs lost tonight.
The Rockies who just won 8 in a row a few days ago have since lost 7 of the last 11 and are fading fast in the NL West. It’s looking again like the Dodgers could clinch the division against the Pirates but most fans I see are hoping they wait until at least San Diego where there will be so many more Dodgers fans.
Here are the predictions again for fun, this time with the Cardinals and Phillies added to see who will top the National League.
Dodgers: 4-5 finishing 96-66
- Phillies: 8-2 (.800) to reach 97 wins: +6
- Cardinals: 8-1 (.888) to reach 97 wins: +7
- Rockies: Elim (Need 11 wins with 9 left)
- Braves: Elim (Need 15 wins with 10 left)
- Giants: Elim (Need 15 wins with 9 left)
The Dodgers can easily maintain their NL best record and home field advantage in the playoffs if they win just 4 out of the next 9 games.
Dodgers: 0-9 finishing 92-70
- Phillies: 4-6 (.400) to reach 93 wins: -2
- Cardinals: 4-5 (.444) to reach 93 wins: -1
- Rockies: 7-2 (.777) to reach 93 wins: +5
- Braves: Elim (Need 11 wins with 10 left)
- Giants: Elim (Need 11 wins with 9 left)
Only the Phillies, Cardinals, and Rockies can pass the Dodgers now in the National League. The Braves could tie the Dodgers if the Dodgers went 0-9 and the Braves went 10-0.
Rockies Salvage A Win, Keep Dodgers At 5 Games Up
Giants waited too long to come back I guess. They scored 3 in the 9th but lost 3-4. The Rockies sit at 5 games back in the West and 1st place in the Wildcard. The Giants are 8.5 games back in the West and 3.5 games back in the Wildcard, their hopes for a comeback taking a hit after missing an important win in a close game.
The Dodgers, Rockies and Giants all get the day off. This is the first time in a while that there wasn’t at least 1 game of interest on every day so it’s a strange feeling.
Starting Friday the Giants will be in Los Angeles to knock heads with the Dodgers for probably the last time this year. The Rockies play the D-backs in Arizona and will try to pad their Wildcard lead against a lame duck Arizona team. The pressure is on the Rockies big time this weekend. Any game they lose will cost them in the standings to the West or the Wildcard.
Dodgers: 7-8 finishing 95-67
- Rockies: 13-2 (.866) to reach 96 wins: +11
- Giants: Elim (Need 17 wins with 16 left)
- Braves: Elim (Need 19 wins with 17 left)
- Marlins: Elim (Need 18 wins with 16 left)
- Cubs: Elim (Need 21 wins with 18 left)
The Rockies are the only one left in the action for a Dodgers team playing well above .500, but of course people keep telling me that it ain’t over until it’s over. If the Dodgers in some absolute nightmare scenario go 0-15 from here on out, here is what the other teams would need to do to pass them:
Dodgers: 0-15 finishing 88-74
- Rockies: 6-9 (.400) to reach 89 wins: -3
- Giants: 10-6 (.625) to reach 89 wins: +4
- Marlins: 11-5 (.687) to reach 89 wins: +6
- Braves: 12-5 (.705) to reach 89 wins: +7
- Cubs: 14-4 (.777) to reach 89 wins: +10
Yes, the Dodgers could go 0-15 and the Giants could go 10-6, but if I were Frank McCourt I’d be buying a bunch of Champagne right about now. Go Dodgers.
Dodgers Drop Game 3 But Leave Town Ahead
Brad Penny pitched a good game and the struggling Giants offense took advantage of Chad Billingsley and a rusty Jeff Weaver to take away the Dodgers dreams of a sweep. I wanted to see the Dodgers sweep for sure but think of this as the Dodgers 2009 farewell present to the people of San Francisco. We know the Giants probably aren’t going to make the playoffs so here’s one last “BEAT LA” for you until next year.
Meanwhile the Padres were beating up the Rockies. Where have the Padres come from? All of the sudden they’ve won the last 6 series going 13-5 over that stretch. Too little too late, but still impressive. The Dodgers aren’t going to complain about it any since it let them gain ground yesterday on the Rockies and prevented them from losing ground in their loss today. The Padres play the Rockies 3 times and the Giants 3 times before it’s through so let’s hope their hot streak continues.
The Rockies went from winning 8 in a row to losing 2 in a row. Even given that long winning streak in the last 20 they are just 12-8. Impressive in general but not when you compare that to the Dodgers 11-9 record. They needed 8 wins in a row just to climb 1 game in the last 20. Interestingly enough the Padres have a better record over the last 20 games than even the Rockies going 13-7. The Rockies are playing good either way but an 8 game winning streak would be more impressive had it not been sandwiched between a 5 game losing streak just a few games before and then a 2 game losing streak presently.
So, anyway. The Dodgers head home from another successful road trip to meet the Pirates in LA. The Dodgers are 8–4 in their last 4 road series and they have won all 4. It’s a shame to be going home when they’re having good luck on the road but at least it’s the Pirates they’ll meet. The Bucs are 4-16 over the last 20 going 2-8 over each 10 game stretch. Ouch. On second thought maybe the Dodgers couldn’t check their luggage at SFO fast enough.
The question is once again about Chad Billingsley. He’s lost 4 of his last 5 starts and he got a no-decision in that 5th one. He hasn’t been terrible in any game but you can clearly see that when he gets the team off on the wrong foot letting the other side score early then it’s hard for the Dodgers to bounce back. Let’s hope the crew gets this thing figured out soon. We’ve seen him pitch well this year and he’s not completely ineffective now. He just needs to get back to the way things were somehow earlier this year.
To conclude, here is the usual split prediction now with just 18 games to go for the Dodgers:
Dodgers: 9-9 finishing 94-68
- Rockies: 13-5 (.722) to reach 95 wins: +8
- Giants: 18-1 (.947) to reach 95 wins: +17
- Marlins: 19-0 (000) to reach 95 wins: +19
- Braves: Elim (Need 20 wins with 19 left)
- Cubs: Elim (Need 22 wins with 21 left)
Dodgers Roll Over Giants, Rockies Win Late Again
The Dodgers finished off the Giants 10-3 just in time for the Rockies to come from behind with 2 outs and 2 strikes in the 9th to win it 4-1 against the Padres. This put a double whammy on the Giants who lost ground in both the division and the wildcard race.
This was the Rockies 8th win in a row, trying so hard to finally overcome the lead the Dodgers have held most of the season. They have whittled it down to just 2 games and are showing no sign of slowing down. The Dodgers aren’t sweating it though. The Giants are the last real threat and they are fading fast.
Once again here is the most recent split prediction showing the damage the Dodgers did with their win tonight.
Dodgers: 10-10 finishing 94-68
- Rockies: 13-7 (.650) to reach 95 wins: +6
- Giants: 19-2 (.904) to reach 95 wins: +17
- Marlins: 20-1 (.952) to reach 95 wins: +19
- Cubs: 23-0 (1.000) to reach 95 wins: +23
- Braves: Elim (Need 22 wins with 21 left)
It’s not official until actual elimination but it’s not hard to see that the Giants are essentially finished for 2009.
Speaking of elimination, the Dodgers win tonight coupled with losses by Arizona and San Diego officially eliminated them from the division race. By this time tomorrow they could be eliminated from the wildcard race as well.
The win tonight for LA brings the Dodgers back into a tie with the Cardinals for leader in NL Wins. The Rockies are 3rd in the league while the Phillies are 4th. This is almost certainly the 4 teams that will meet in October. Now 142 games down, just 20 to go. This has been a great season for the Dodgers. I’ll be sad when it’s over.
Costly Error By Dodgers Lets D-backs Avoid A Sweep
It was a battle of bullpens for a few innings tonight in Arizona. Haren and Garland had both left with the game tied 3-3. It didn’t take long for Troncoso to get in trouble in the 9th. A routine play turned into an error that let the D-backs get on 2nd with nobody out and a sacrifice moved the runner to 3rd. Two intentional walks and then an unintentional walk later and the game was over.
It had to happen sometime. The Dodgers bullpen hadn’t cost them a game in I don’t know how long so maybe they’ll get one out of their system before they face a tough series in San Francisco.
What is it about off days lately that always seem to mean a Dodgers loss? It’s bad enough for fans to see their team lose but to have to wait 24 extra hours to see another game? Well, that’s just not fair.
The Rockies won their game in dramatic fashion to make it 6 in a row, hard charging again and cutting the Dodgers lead down to just 2.5 games as it was a few games back. They play on the Dodgers off day and hopefully the Reds will salvage a win so LA ends up 3 games up instead of just 2. The Giants lost their game though so there’s really no sweating leaving Arizona having won 2 of the 3.
Both Arizona and San Diego survived another day without elimination in the NL West. The Dodgers finished the season series up 11-7 against Arizona, the first Western team the Dodgers are done with. They have 6 against the Giants, 3 against the Padres, and 3 against the Rockies before it’s all said and done.
Speaking of the Giants, unfortunately the Dodgers have lost the use of Wolf and Kershaw in the Giants series this weekend but at least the Giants have lost Lincecum on their end as well. The injuries are piling up for LA while the Rockies are apparently unaffected by their loss of one of their best starting pitchers and their good closer.
The Dodgers loss means the Cardinals take over the NL lead in wins. If the season ended today it would be Phillies @Dodgers and Rockies @Cardinals. That is a little better than the Cardinals @Dodgers and the Rockies @Phillies matchup that would happen if the Dodgers win more games than the Cardinals.
I’d much rather see the Dodgers face the Cardinals in an NLCS where they’d have 4 losses to work with instead of just 3. Let’s not put the cart before the horse though with 21 games to go.
I leave you with the updated split of the remaining 21 games, the Dodgers falling back a win from yesterday requiring their opponents to only win 94 games:
Dodgers: 10-11 finishing 93-69
- Rockies: 14-8 (.636) to reach 94 wins: +6
- Giants: 18-4 (.818) to reach 94 wins: +14
- Marlins: 20-3 (.869) to reach 94 wins: +17
- Cubs: 23-1 (.958) to reach 94 wins: +22
- Braves: 23-0 (1.000) to reach 94 wins: +23
Dodgers Rally To Win Frustrating Game
It looked like the Dodgers were headed to another frustrating loss tonight but after hitting into a franchise record 5 double plays the Dodgers burned the D-backs bullpen for 4 runs in the 8th and held on to win it.
Billingsley didn’t have his best stuff yet again but the Dodgers took him off the hook and won the series early. What on Earth is wrong with him? Hopefully he figures that out before October.
The Dodgers bullpen has really been keeping the team in games lately and tonight was no different. After Billingsley left McDonald and Kuo kept the D-backs in check and Jon Broxton got the save. The bullpen rarely allows runs lately and when they do it’s even more rare that those runs cost the Dodgers the game. The Dodgers are just getting pretty much the most solid output by their relievers that any team could hope for. They have a 1.44 ERA over the last 20 games, to put it in perspective.
The Rockies won so the Dodgers kept pace just 3.5 games in 1st still. If the Dodgers win tomorrow they will eliminate the D-backs from the NL West race. A Dodgers win tomorrow coupled with a Padres loss and they’ll be eliminated as well. Yes, folks. It’s that time of year. October is just around the corner.
I established my argument the other day that the Giants are the only threat left to the Dodgers playoff hopes. The Dodgers victory tonight coupled with the Giants loss put the Giants in an even tighter spot. The Marlins, Braves, and Cubs all won but their victories were dampened by the Dodgers win.
The Dodgers, who are 12-8 over the last 20 games, look to easily be able to split their remaining 22 games 11-11 finishing 94-68. Throwing the Rockies in just for good measure, this is how split would look after tonight’s action:
- Rockies: 16-7 (.695) to reach 95 wins: +9
- Giants: 19-4 (.826) to reach 95 wins: +15
- Marlins: 22-2 (.916) to reach 95 wins: +20
- Braves: 24-0 (1.000) to reach 95 wins: +24
- Cubs: 25-0 (1.000) to reach 95 wins: +25
You can see the Giants are down to just 4 losses left before they end up needing to win all their remaining games to beat a .500 playing Dodgers team. The Marlins have 2 wins while the Braces and Cubs are out of losses.
But remember this whole calculation is based on the premise that the Dodgers will win at least 11 of the next 22 games, and even .500 split. An extended losing streak by the Dodgers would essentially erode the Dodgers estimated final win count and give these teams some available losses again.
That being said, the Dodgers haven’t lost 2 games in a row in about 2 weeks while they have won 2 in a row three different times over that same time span. Playoff hopes for the Giants, Marlins, Braves and Cubs slip further out of reach every day it seems.
Why The Dodgers Aren’t Panicking
The Dodgers message lately is “We’re not panicking! We’re not panicking!” The team is saying it so often on their own site and in the media that covers them that it’s almost as if they’re trying to assure themselves more than their fans or critics. But then again maybe there isn’t much to panic about.
When you stop thinking about the division and you add the wildcard into the mix it becomes clearer that the Dodgers are in pretty good shape. It becomes less about the Rockies alone and more about what the Rockies, Giants, Braves, Marlins, and Cubs are doing.
The Dodgers are playing .500 ball lately again after a strong series against the Cubs. This puts them back on track to maintain a pretty good advantage down the stretch. With 36 games left to play, .500 is 18-18 finishing 92-70. To beat 92 wins this is how it needs to go for the other teams below them:
- Rockies (72-54): Need 21-15 (.583) to reach 93 wins: +6 wins
- Giants (68-58): Need 25-11 (.694) to reach 93 wins: +14 wins
- Braves (66-59): Need 27-10 (.730) to reach 93 wins: +17 wins
- Marlins (66-59): Need 27-10 (.730) to reach 93 wins: +17 wins
- Cubs (62-61): Need 31-8 (.795) to reach 93 wins: +23 wins
So you can see that if the Rockies stay hot they can very easily overcome the slim 2 game lead the Dodgers have left in the West but then LA simply falls back to the Wildcard lead where the next best team is the Giants right now.
The only reason the Dodgers would want to win the division other than for bragging rights is to have a chance at home field advantage. Yet, if they keep struggling while the Cardinals and the Phillies inch closer and closer to having more wins than LA then it won’t matter either way.
On another note when I think about the Rockies hot streak I wonder if they can maintain it or if the Dodgers will be fine in the division after all. It’s hard to imagine the Rockies keeping up this hot streak for 36 more games. Because of that I have to say the Dodgers are still in my mind the favorite to win the division.
Dodgers Guarantee At Least A Series Split Against Cubs
It was all Randy Wolf tonight for the Dodgers. He allowed only 1 hit, 2 walks, and 1 run to score in 7 innings and the Dodgers bullpen finished it up. Wolf also drove in the Dodgers only 2 runs of the night. He picked up his 3rd win in 3 starts and he’s averaging about 1.6 runs scored per outing over that short stretch. Now if only Billingsley or Kershaw could chain together some wins like that.
Meanwhile on the bullpen front Broxton recorded his 27th save of the year, trying to stay on track. It seems like maybe his bad stretch was just a bad stretch and not signs of an injury or something worse.
I don’t want to jinx it but Dodgers fans may not have noticed exactly how good George Sherrill has been for LA. He’s now been in 10 games for the Dodgers going 10.2 innings without allowing an earned run. He hasn’t been perfect and he’s allowed a few inherited base runners to score but in general you have to love what he’s doing for the Dodgers.
So for the first time since beating the Giants on August 11 the Dodgers actually gained ground in the standings. The Giants knocked off the Rockies to start their 4 game series and hopefully they can keep on track and slow down Colorado a lot before the Dodgers head to Denver for a series of their own. The Dodgers edged up to 9-11 on the month trying to balance the books with just 9 more games left in August. The Rockies are an impressive 12-7 and the Giants are 11-8.
The Dodgers have a good chance of actually winning this 4 game series after taking the first 2. Either way they have at least a split now and that’s pretty good given their recent struggles. They’ll try to make it 3 in a row for the first time since they won 5 in a row back on July 22.
Life In The NL West, August 1st, 2009
Another month has passed and the Dodgers sit atop the division by 8 games over the Rockies and the Giants. They lead the National League by 6 wins and all of baseball by 2 wins. It’s been a very good season so far for the Dodgers.
Despite strong June months by the Rockies and the Giants, July wasn’t particularly good for either team. The Rockies (15-11 .576 +4) did better than the Giants (14-13 .518 +1) but matched the number of games the Dodgers (15-10 .600 +5) won. The Giants finished just barely over .500 after being several games under most of the month. Neither team gained ground on the Dodgers in July and in fact the Dodgers are up 1 game from 7 games on June 1st to 8 games on August 1st.
Standings
- Dodgers: 64-39 – 59 Games Left – 5-5 over last 10, 11-9 over last 20
- Giants: 56-47 – 59 Games Left – 6-4 over last 10, 10-10 over last 20
- Rockies: 56-47 – 59 Games Left – 5-5 over last 10, 12-8 over last 20
- D-backs: 45-58 – 59 Games Left – 6-4 over last 10, 11-9 over last 20
- Padres: 42-62 – 58 Games Left – 5-5 over last 10, 7-13 over last 20
About That Other Third
Apparently Tommy Lasorda once said:
“No matter how good you are, you’re going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you’re going to win one-third of your games. It’s the other third that makes the difference.”
So how are the Dodgers doing in that other third of their games? Pretty good. With 103 games down and 59 to go, the Dodgers have a winning PCT of .621. Having won 64 games, that’s just 4 games shy of winning the entire 3rd portion. A 100 win season is in reach for the first time since the 1974 Dodgers won 102 games, a franchise record.
Trade Deadline Changes
The Dodgers picked up George Sherrill to add a new arm to the bullpen. They couldn’t land an impact starter but that is just as well since it would have cost a lot anyway. The Dodgers have what it takes to make it to the post season and then we’ll see how things will need to stack up. Sherrill already has made an impact coming in against the Braves yesterday with 2 men on striking out 2 then walking to load the bases and then getting a 3rd strikeout making Bobby Cox throw his hat. Good stuff.
The Giants have plenty of good pitching so they were looking for offense. They pulled Freddy Sanchez from the struggling Pirates and Ryan Garko from the Indians in order to add some pop to their lineup. The Giants have the fewest allowed runs (379) in all of baseball but the 4th worst runs scored (407) overall. The Giants have already tweaked their lineup to fit Sanchez who could make his debut today against the Phillies. Garko so far isn’t fairing too well in San Francisco but could heat up for his new team.
The Rockies focused on their bullpen as well getting Rafael Betancourt for setup, Jhoulys Chacin for long relief, and Joe Biemel as a lefty for the late innings. Betancourt so far has pitched 3 scoreless innings helping the Rockies hold their leads in 3 straight games.
So How’s August Going To Play Out?
August could very well determine the outcome of the race for division champion. The Dodgers probably wouldn’t clinch the division until the last week of September but if both the Giants and Rockies continue failing to close any ground then it will be hard to make up the difference in the last few weeks. The Giants and Rockies seem to be setting their sights now more on the wild card than the division. The Wildcard is going to be hard to win though with the Cardinals, Cubs, Marlins, and Braves all seemingly in the running while the Giants and Rockies set tied for 1st in the race.
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