Results tagged ‘ Furcal ’
Like Groundhog Day, Dodgers Lose Again, And Again
The Dodgers hadn’t lost more than 4 in a row all year, until tonight. It’s almost unbelievable at this point to say it…but the Dodgers lost again. I feel like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. It just keeps repeating over and over. Dodgers lose. Dodgers lose. Dodgers lose.
I said a few days back that the Dodgers would have to go 0-7 and the Rockies 7-0 to win. Well, the Dodgers are 0-5, and the Rockies are 5-0. The Dodgers are well on their way to a record setting failure to clinch with a magic number of 1.
Manny Ramirez played the biggest role in the failure tonight, I must say. He came up every at bat with runners on base and struck out 4 times. The Dodgers lost by 1 run. Come on, Manny, the team needs you bad, man. And can the Dodgers please stop using Jim Thome? Yes, he could slug one out any at bat now and be a hero, but the stats show he’s most likely going to make an easy out and be done for the night. Why take the risk?
But, there are still a few positives tonight worth noting despite this being just one step closer to epic failure.
One, Randy Wolf was shaky off and on but he pitched 5 decent innings allowing just 2 runs. Randy Wolf has consistently kept the Dodgers in ballgames he’s started. He’s got the no decisions to prove it. He got the loss tonight though unfortunately.
Two, the Dodgers offense woke up a little, though not quite enough to help out poor Randy Wolf. Furcal and Ethier both had good nights with 2 hits a piece. This only compounds Manny’s failure though, but let’s stay positive.
Three, the Phillies and Cardinals both lost. This means if the Dodgers somehow manage to win 1 of the final 2 games then they will not only clinch the NL West but they will clinch the NL best record at the same time. If the Phillies go 2-0 they’ll reach 94 wins. The Dodgers need just to tie the Phillies to win the tie breaker. The Cardinals could only reach 93 wins, just short of a tie.
So you know what you have to do, LA. Win a game. This isn’t funny anymore.
Dodgers Take Rubber Game, Win A Close One
While the Giants were getting under way out West and the Padres were tying up the game against the Rockies, the Dodgers were busy trying to catch a break in a surprisingly close Game 3 against the Nationals.
Padilla had possibly his worst start as a Dodger but it wasn’t quite so bad and he left winning 6-4. That didn’t last long though as the Nationals plated 2 against Belisario in the 7th. The Dodgers finally got the lead back on a Furcal solo shot in the 8th and then Sherrill and Broxton gave the Nats the old one-two punch.
The Dodgers have now won the last 5 series, going 11-4 in that stretch. The loss tonight pushes the Nationals to the century mark. They have lost 100 games and won only 52. In the battle for 1st round draft pick, the Nationals are ahead of the Pirates by a nose.
The story of the series has to be Furcal who was absolutely feasting on Nationals pitching. Furcal in the 3 games went 10-14 with 5 runs scored, 5 runs driven in, and even 1 walk. Raffy has struggled for the most part this year but is heating up at just the right time.
The Dodgers had another night where they stranded a lot of men and failed to hit with RISP, but they still got the win and at this point that’s all that matters. They’ll pack up and head to Pittsburgh to finish off the season series with the Pirates before they fly to San Diego.
The win tonight twists the knife in Atlanta and San Francisco. The Dodgers would have to go 0-9 and the Giants and Braves 10-0 just to tie the Dodgers. The Braves are off tonight so they can’t be eliminated from competing with the Dodgers in the Wildcard, but that’s not the case for the Giants who now teeter on the edge of NL West elimination.
Dodgers Take 2 Of 3 From Reds While Giants Sweep Colorado
The Reds series for the Dodgers had lots of different facets. It had a heart breaker loss in Game 1 where the Dodgers left the bases loaded down just 2 runs in the 9th. It had a laugher, 1 sided Dodgers victory in Game 2 to even the series. Finally today it had a close pitchers duel in Game 3 that the Dodgers came out on top of after 12 innings to finish the series 2-1.
Meanwhile in San Francisco the Giants were busy paying back the Rockies for that 1-3 series the Rockies treated them to in Colorado last week. The Giants crushed the Rockies late in today’s game to get the sweep.
The Dodgers won 4 of the last 5 games while the Rockies were losing 5 straight and all of the sudden the Dodgers are right back in the comfort zone, 6 games ahead in the NL West.
The story for the Dodgers has been for the most part fantastic pitching. The Dodgers are averaging just 2.3 runs allowed per game over the last 10 and they won 7 of those 10. The bullpen hasn’t allowed a run in 21.1 innings stretching back 5 games. The last run allowed was the walkoff single the Rockies hit in the 10th inning 6 games ago.
The Dodgers hitting is starting to wake up a little too, though. Manny seems to have more good games now than bad while James Loney and Furcal have started to make things happen in a big way as well. Combine that with Kemp and Loney who never seem to slump lately and the Dodgers may just run away with the division after all.
Today’s game ended one of the more successful road trips in a while for the Dodgers having won 4 of 6. They head home to face the D-backs for 4 games and will try to get some revenge for the D-backs taking 2 of 3 last time they the two met.
The once hard charging Rockies have now lost 5 in a row and find themselves back in a tie for the Wildcard instead of looking at taking over the division lead from the Dodgers who they once trailed by only 2 games. The Dodgers will try to get a win tomorrow and finish the month of August with a 15-14 record.
Dodgers Earning Some RISPect In Cinci
Balls were jumping out of the park in Cincinnati today. It got the Dodgers on the board early with a 2 run shot by Manny but it burned Haeger in the 3rd who had to leave after a solo and a 2 run jack got the ball rolling for the Reds to help them tie the game up 4-4 . Furcal got the Dodgers back on top with a solo homer in the 5th and then they got 4 more runs as part of a 6 run 7th on a huge 3 run shot by Kemp and a solo shot by Hudson.
Jeff Weaver did a great job of holding the Reds after Haeger left, even though he often pitched in a jam in his 3.1 innings. The Dodgers bullpen hasn’t allowed a run in days now and has kept the Dodgers very much in the games they have played to the relief of Joe Torre who has had to sit and watch his Dodgers team often fail to score runs in a lot of situations.
That brings us to the story of the day. The big relief was the Dodgers getting hits with RISP, or as I like to call it, RISPect. The Dodgers earned a lot of RISPect in Cinci today going 5 for 7 with RISP and only stranding 4 men in their 11-4 route of the Reds.
The Dodgers did what they needed to do in the end. They evened up the series 1-1 setting the stage for a rubber match early tomorrow and they also halted a hot Reds team who had won 5 in a row. They also protected their 4 game lead with a chance to make it 5 if the Giants can take care of the Rockies for a 2nd day in a row.
The Dodgers have now won 6 out of the last 9 games and are trying very hard to right the ship and to finish August with a winning record. They’ll need to win the next 2 to do that though.
Dodgers Drop Game 1 To Red Hot Reds
Chad Billingsley didn’t have his best stuff tonight giving up 4 runs in 5 innings. You have to wonder about that leg considering it looked so much like Bills was having velocity issues tonight. Homer Bailey on the other hand kept the Dodgers well in check for 8 shutout innings. The Dodgers scored 2 runs though in the 9th but ended it with the bases loaded when Manny was caught looking at strike 3.
You have to love seeing Furcal heat up a little. He had a 3 for 5 night. He’s been known to heat up in the 2nd half sometimes so this one would be better late than never. Loney hit another road homer, further teasing the LA locals who haven’t seen James hit a home run at Dodger Stadium in about 10 years. Manny got a single earlier in the game but the Dodgers would have loved to see him single again in the 9th.
The bullpen cleaned up well for Billingsley going 4 innings and not allowing the Reds to score again. That’s three straight outings for them with their last run allowed being the Rockies walkoff hit last Tuesday night.
If the Dodgers had one major failure tonight it was not being patient at the plate. You can’t help it when you face strong pitching that isn’t giving up lots of hits or runs but you can shorten that outing a bit if you work it right. Had the Dodgers gotten Bailey out just 1 inning earlier then this might have been a completely different game given the amount of drama in the 9th and how shaky the Reds bullpen looked.
Oh well, I guess. The Reds are playing good ball but hopefully the Dodgers can bounce back tomorrow and not run into a buzz saw. Now Dodgers fans are looking for Tim Lincecum to shut down the Rockies so the Dodgers can protect the 4 game lead they worked so hard to get yesterday afternoon.
The Dodgers have a day game tomorrow with knuckleballer Charlie Haeger going head to head with lefty Matt Maloney.
Incidentally, this loss tonight means the Dodgers will have to win the next 3 in a row to avoid finishing August with a losing record, something they’ve avoided each month of this season so far.
King Of The Walkoff, Ethier Slams Huge 3 Run Shot
“From the looks of things, and from the sounds of things, the crowd is not disappointed that they won’t see Manny Ramirez.”
-Vin Scully (August 6, 2009 after Ethier’s 3 run walkoff homer with Manny on-deck)
It looked like one of those games for Randy Wolf again against Atlanta. He pitched decent and went deep into the game but was always in a jam and allowed 4 runs overall. Former Dodger Derek Lowe seemed to catch a few breaks when it mattered but the Dodgers scraped out 2 runs none the less. Both pitchers went into the 7th but when it came down to the bullpens Lowe was in line for his 2nd win against his former team.
All through this game I kept thinking about the poll on the side of this page asking which former Dodgers player fans missed the most. Derek Lowe is leading by a long shot and I have to say I miss him too. I keep picturing Lowe in the Dodgers lineup instead of Schmidt and I would like to think the front office is kicking themselves for not doing whatever they needed to do to keep Lowe in town.
After chasing Lowe and facing the bullpen the Dodgers missed chance after chance to tie the game in the 7th and 8th and it looked like the game was headed for a sad end. In the 9th though they didn’t even need an out to get the win. Back to back singles by Pierre and Furcal set the table for Ethier who’s homer made him the true king of the walkoff this year. This was his 3rd walkoff homer and his 5th overall walkoff at-bat this season.
Coincidentally Etheir hit the hard half of a cycle but wasn’t quite hot enough at the plate tonight to get the double and single that would have completed it. Still, his triple early in the game would end up being as important as his walkoff homer.
So the Dodgers squared their record to 5-5 over the last 10 games and 11-9 over the last 20. They added on to their lead for the first time in long time it seems, gaining 1 game on Colorado and a half game on the idle Giants. They sit atop the West now 6.5 games over the Giants again and 7.0 games over the Rockies.
For pride’s sake the Dodgers maintained their most wins record in baseball with the come from behind victory, just 1 game ahead of the Yankees who are sporting a 4 game winning streak. This was the Dodgers 21st 1-run win of the season, the best in baseball as well.
The Dodgers have bounced back from losing 4 in a row to win 5 of their next 8. This win brings the Dodgers back up to a .500 record in August with them going 3-3 so far. The Giants are 4-1 and the Rockies are 3-2. The Dodgers will roll out their 2, 3, 4 starting pitchers in the next 3 games of this 4 game series so they have a pretty good chance of splitting or even winning the series 3-1.
Dodgers Blast Reds, Set Table For A Possible Sweep
Reds 3 – Dodgers 12 | Box Score | MLB | LA Times | ESPN
It looked like it was going to be one of those nights early on. Furcal and Hudson got on base leading off in the 1st and a rare Manny Ramirez triple scored them both with nobody out. The Dodgers next 3 batters failed to pick Manny up though. The Reds cut the early lead in half the next inning but the Dodgers quickly made up for not scoring Manny from 3rd.
The Dodgers made it 9-1 by the 4th inning. By the end of the 5th it was 12-1. Furcal had a big night with a home run and 4 RBI going 3 for 5. Hudson was back and had 1 hit and a run scored. The Dodgers have now outscored the Reds in the series 19-8 with 1 more game to go.
Randy Wolf pitched 7.1 innings allowing just 4 hits and 2 runs and gave the bullpen a little rest as they used Claudio Vargas the rest of the way. The Dodgers have now won 11 in a row against the Reds at Dodger Stadium and they extend their overall winning streak to 4 in a row. Randy Wolf finally won another game decision but it only took 12 runs to secure it.
For the first time since the Dodgers beat the Angels in Game 2 weeks ago the Dodgers won Game 2 of another series, this time setting the table for a possible sweep. The Dodgers once lead the majors in series sweeps but it’s been 15 series since the last sweep so they’ve fallen behind some of the other teams lately.
The Dodgers will have to get past the Reds ace though to get the sweep so they’ll send their own ace, Billingsley, to counter. It will be Manny Ramirez bobble head night but Manny may not play. He left tonight’s game early after being hit by a pitch and is listed day-to-day with no major damage done.
Tonight was the Dodgers 60th win of the season and their 60-34 record puts them 26 games above .500. The Rockies and Giants both lost so the Dodgers gained a game on each and now lead by 9 and 9.5 games. The Giants are now 1 game under .500 on the month and the Rockies are just 3 over compared to the Dodgers who are 6 games over in July and starting to increase their lead for the first time in a long time.
Dodgers Win 50th Game, Take Series From Rockies
Rockies 0 – Dodgers 1 | Box Score | MLB | LA Times | ESPN
The Dodgers can’t count on too many 1-0 victories in a row but when they combine strong pitching with the Rockies inability to hit with RISP then that’s apparently what they end up with. Dodgers pitching held the Rockies to 2-for-19 with RISP in the series.
The Dodgers stretched their scoreless inning streak to 16 innings before they manufactured a run in the 8th. Brad Ausmus had his 2nd hit of the day with a leadoff single in the inning. Castro sacrificed him to 2nd and Martin came in as a pinch runner while Furcal replaced Troncoso at the plate. Furcal’s clutch single drove home Martin just in time for Broxton to come in for his 19th save of the season.
Kershaw had a strong start giving up just 1 hit and no runs but lasted only 5 innings. The bullpen backed Kershaw though and kept the Rockies shut out. As a whole the Dodgers bullpen was fantastic in the series. They didn’t allow a run in 12 and 1/3 innings. That extends their streak to 15 scoreless innings stretching back 4 games. The Dodgers pitchers have lowered the ERA of the bullpen in 8 consecutive games.
So the Dodgers took 2 out of 3 in the series and extended their Rockies season series to 10-2 and 28-11 overall inside the division. The win today clinched a winning season record against Colorado. The Dodgers face them 6 more times and can do no worse than 10-8.
The Dodgers won their 50th game of the season on the 50th game of Manny Ramirez’s suspension. Manny’s return couldn’t come any sooner. The Dodgers are in drastic need of a dangerous hitter in their lineup, one with some real pop.
The Giants just lost to the Cardinals as the Cardinals walked off with a homer in the 10. This pushes San Francisco back to 7 games out just in front of the 8.5 games back Rockies.
Ethier Wins It Again, Can We Say His Slump Is Over?
For the 2nd game in a row Ethier won the game with a walkoff 2 out 2 strike hit. Ethier deposited the last pitch of the game just a few feet over the wall in straight away center field and secured the Dodgers at least a split in the 4 game series. After averaging about 1 home run every 2 games over the last few weeks the Dodgers slammed three solo shots and won another 1 run game 3-2. A clutch home run by Furcal in the 9th tied the game 2-2.
If May was miserable for Ethier, then June has been very good. Batting just .211 in May, Ethier is batting .391 so far this month. Today’s 3 for 5 game with 2 home runs puts him at 9 for 23 in June with 5 RBI and 4 runs scored.
Dodgers fans have to love how the pitching is lifting up the Dodgers struggling offense. Kuroda’s second start after returning from the DL was a very successful 6 inning, 2 hit, no runs outing. Despite giving up the Dodgers lead as soon as Kuroda left the game, the bullpen would go on with 5 scoreless innings to give the Dodgers batters a chance to win it. The Dodgers are showing signs of improving with the bats but against a very good Phillies team it’s hard to tell what the fault of these low scoring games is.
After going 15-8 in April and 20-9 in May, the Dodgers are off to a great start in June so far going 4-2. They are 20 games over .500 at 39-19.
In the wishful thinking category this Dodgers team with their impressive .672 winning percentage is on track to beat the 1974 Dodgers franchise record of 102 wins and 60 losses by winning 108 games and losing only 54.
Fans Buy Tickets For A Dodgers Game, See The Cole Hamels Show Instead
Cole Hamels put on another world class performance against the Dodgers in LA to open up the 4 game series with a win for the Phillies.
Juan Pierre got a leadoff hit in the 1st and things looked good for LA for just a few seconds. Pierre easily had 2nd stolen quickly but missed out when Furcal fouled off the ball. A few pitches later Furcal grounded into a double play and that would set the tone for the rest of the game.
It seemed like Hamels only threw strikes and the Dodgers weren’t sticking around long to work the count. Hamels only needed 97 pitches in 9 innings to seal the deal and give the Dodgers their 2nd shutout of the year after going almost a 3rd of the season without any. Hamels held the Dodgers to just 5 hits and struck out 5 without giving up a walk.
The Dodgers squandered another impressive outing by Kershaw who allowed only 2 runs in 6 innings. The bullpen kept the Dodgers essentially in the game allowing only 1 run. This wasn’t a case where the Dodgers failed miserably with RISP and stranded runners though. They had only 4 chances with RISP and missed every one but stranded only 2 base runners.
Unfortunately the Giants beat the Nationals in both games of their double header today and the Dodgers lead in the west was cut down by 1½ games. All and all though things are OK. The Dodgers lead by 8 games and still hold the MLB leading record of 37-19. This is one of those games the Dodgers will try to forget about quickly and go out and try and score early in game 2.
The Dodgers need to work hard to try and break out of this offensive slump they are in. It would be easier to handle the Dodgers getting shut out by great pitching if they weren’t 4-4 over the last 8 games scoring 2 runs or fewer in 6 of the 8 being shut out twice and two times scoring only 1 run in the game. Their average runs scored over the last 8 games is just 2.5.
The Phillies evened the season series up 2-2 with 3 more games to go.
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