Results tagged ‘ Mets ’
Dodgers Starting Pitching Making Up For Tepid Offense And Questionable Bullpen
The Dodgers starters have allowed only 1 earned run in the last 37 innings. It feels like the they have only scored 1 run in the last 37 innings. LA has now won 4 of the last 5 games though, after dropping 6 in a row.
The Dodgers bullpen is still in question. With Belisario still on the restricted list and Sherrill being an enigma this season, it’s been up to Broxton and Kuo to carry the squad. Kenley Jansen has arrived and is making a big splash now though and could be the answer the team has been looking for. It would be nice to see LA trade for a reliever as well to try and get some more quality in there.
The Dodgers 3-1 series win over the Mets sets the stage for a showdown between the Padres and the Dodgers starting on Tuesday. The Dodgers have won 4 of 5 this season against San Diego. If the Dodgers can avoid a sweep they’ll be OK. If they can win or sweep they’ll be headed in the right direction. Considering how good the Dodgers have been against the West this season it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Dodgers end up just 3 games out before they head to San Francisco for the weekend.
All in all the Dodgers still have 13 games left against the Padres. How they do in those games alone will be key to whether the Dodgers make the playoffs or whether they just fade into the offseason disappointed.
Prediction: Dodgers @ Mets – Advantage Mets
The Dodgers are having a disastrous season on the road so far. The Pirates, Marlins, Reds, and Nationals have all taken 2 out of 3 to put the Dodgers record away from LA at 4-8. This is clearly not where the Dodgers wanted to be considering they’re facing teams that they typically are very successful against.
What the Dodgers saw in the Nationals series was a huge improvement in pitching but a massive drop-off in hitting. They were averaging 6.53 runs scored per game before hand and during the series they scored a total of 5 runs in the 3 games, 4 of which were in the 2nd game alone. On the other hand they were averaging 6.33 runs allowed per game and during they series they allowed just 9 runs total which is a big improvement.
The Mets have a significant advantage over the Dodgers right now in pitching. This is particularly noticeable while comparing the Dodgers 5.64 bullpen ERA to the Mets’ impressive 2.77. The Dodgers starting rotation has an ERA of 4.91 compared to the Mets’ 3.59.
Though the Dodgers have done poorly over the last few games they still have an advantage on runs scored overall this season. The Dodgers are averaging 5.72 runs per game right now while the Mets are averaging 3.95. For the Mets that is just slightly above their 3.17 team ERA which explains their 10-9 record on the season much like the Dodgers 8-10 for the very same reason. It’s just hard to chain together wins when you keep allowing as many runs as you score.
Prediction
I think the Mets will easily win 2 out of 3 or even sweep the Dodgers which is something I hardly ever predict in one of these posts. But the truth is the Dodgers tend to have either good pitching or good hitting lately but not a combination of the two. The injuries are piling up, the defense is still a weak spot, and there is pretty much nothing consistent about the way they are playing.
But on a positive note this Dodgers team isn’t going to just lay own and take a beating. LA can win the series but they’ll need to rewrite the story of the way they’ve played so far on the road this year. The Dodgers best chance in this series will be a strong start by Kuroda tonight. If they can’t right the ship early on though I won’t have much confidence in this Dodgers team to be successful in New York.
Also rain could mess up the series a little. It’s been very wet today in this area and the weather shows it could rain lightly the rest of the night. I guess we’ll just have to see.
Dodgers Rough Up Mets, Win One For Wolf
Dodgers 11 – Mets 2 | Box Score | MLB | LA Times | ESPN
Trying to make it seem as if Game 2 didn’t happen, the Dodgers bounced back from a frustrating loss to rout of the Mets in Game 3 and win the series. The Dodgers went 8-for-23 with RISP and got 17 hits and 11 runs and stranded only 13 men of around 28 total on base. That’s a pretty drastic turnaround for LA, but I think that’s the kind of Mets baseball fans can expect until their veterans make it back from the DL. They may still have plenty of time to make a run at the playoffs in the 2nd half since they aren’t that far out of 1st.
Randy Wolf struggled a bit early but pitched through a couple of jams allowing only 2 runs and pitching into the 7th inning and earning his elusive 4th win of the year after about a dozen no-decisions from good outings. Matt Kemp was red hot in the series reaching base multiple times in each game and being a very hard out to record.
So the Dodgers finished off the Mets 6-1 on the season series. I used to be a bigger fan of the Mets than I am now because of Mike Piazza and several other former Dodgers that made it to New York. These days I root for the Phillies over the Mets but I think that’s because I’m living in Phillies country.
The Dodgers extended their record to 54-31, 23 games over .500 again, 7 and 8 games in the lead over San Francisco and Colorado. The Giants and Rockies both won again last night.
Next up the Dodgers play the Brewers before the All-star break. They can’t fall out of first place even if they lose the next 3 straight so for the first time in a while the Dodgers have a strong 1st place standing at the break.
Dodgers Leave A Dozen, Lose 1 Run Game
Dodgers 4 – Mets 5 | Box Score | MLB | LA Times | ESPN
It’s become all too common lately to see the Dodgers strand a bunch and lose a close game. The Dodgers struck first and last but an unearned run on a Dodgers error ended up being the difference in the game.
The bullpen was good again though so there’s that at least. Practically all the hits and runs came against starter Kuroda who has been knocked around by the Mets in the past as well. The Mets starter Perez didn’t have his best stuff and the Dodgers did a good job working the count and getting him out in the 5th but they couldn’t catch up to the 1-5 deficit Kuroda left them in.
Several Dodgers struggled all night including Hudson, Manny, and Ethier. That killed the offense each time one of these guys came up. Manny finally hit a home run in the 9th leading off and it looked like the Dodgers were going to rally. It’s frustrating watching the Dodgers get 9 hits, 9 walks, leave 12 men on base, but go 2-11 with RISP lose by 1 run with the tie run on 2nd in the 9th because of a double play. Oh well, I guess.
The Dodgers send out Wolf to face the Mets’ Hernandez. Wolf should be the favorite to win the rubber match but if the Dodgers can’t cash in run opportunities then it gets hard to win. The Dodgers have lost the last 5 middle games but they’ve been pretty good in rubber match situations, winning 5 of the last 7 series because of that.
Dodgers Extend Mets Scoreless Streak 9 More Innings
Dodgers 8 – Mets 0 | Box Score | MLB | LA Times | ESPN
When the Dodgers came to town the Mets had already been blanked the game before and hadn’t scored a run in the last 13 innings. The Dodgers were happy to help the Mets extend that 9 more with a good 6 innings from Kershaw and then 3 more scoreless innings from the bullpen.
The Dodgers worked the pitch counts well in the first few innings getting lots of men on base and in scoring position. Manny Ramirez drove in 3 before getting tossed for arguing about what appeared to be the 2nd bogus out call of his night. Pelfrey exited early as well, going just 3 innings having given up 5 runs, 2 coming after being pulled in the 4th in a jam. The Mets bullpen gave up 3 more as the game went on.
So as is the trend lately the Dodgers won game 1 of the series and look to somehow break the streak in game 2. It will be Hiroki Kuroda vs. Oliver Perez and the Dodgers will look to keep the Mets scoreless innings coming.
So the Dodgers extended their winning streak against the Mets to 4 straight on the season. This game clinched a season series victory and made their NL East record 11-5. The Dodgers already beat the Phillies 4-3 in their season series. The Dodgers have won 2 in a row and are back to 23 games over .500 at 53-30.
Dodgers @Mets – Advantage Dodgers
The Dodgers have already swept the Mets in Los Angeles this year but this time the Dodgers are in the Big Apple for their first glimpse of Citi Field. Neither of these two teams have been playing outstanding ball lately but the Dodgers are getting the job done while the Mets have gone 2-8 over the last ten. It’s not looking good for New York.
The Dodgers and Mets are scoring about the same number of runs per game lately, around 4 with the Dodgers doing slightly better. Pitching is the major difference in this series though. The difference between LA and NY pitching is almost 2 whole runs. Two runs can really swing a game when you’ve got a team like the Dodgers who love to play in 1 run situations.
Dodgers And Mets By The Numbers – Last 25 Days
AVG Runs Scored: 4.10 Dodgers, 3.70 Mets
AVG Runs Allowed: 3.95 Dodgers, 5.26 Mets
Starters ERA: 3.70 Dodgers, 5.23 Mets
Bullpen ERA: 3.20 Dodgers, 5.53 Mets
Team ERA: 3.43 Dodgers, 5.14 Mets
Game 1 – Clayton Kershaw, LHP (5-5, 3.49) vs. Mike Pelfrey, RHP (6-3, 4.26)
Kershaw hasn’t allowed more than 3 runs in his last 9 starts and 3 of his last 4 have been shutout performances. He hasn’t pitched as well away from Dodger Stadium this year so that could be a problem for him. Kershaw’s problem is the same as lots of young pitchers. He throws too many pitches and exits early.
Pelfrey had a good start his last time out after a couple of borderline outings. He doesn’t go deep into the game either so the bullpen matchups could come to bite the Mets since the Dodgers, despite two shaky games in a row, have a strong bullpen while the Mets bullpen has been anything but.
Game 2 – Hiroki Kuroda, RHP (3-4, 3.91) vs. Oliver Perez, LHP (1-2, 9.97)
Kuroda hasn’t dominated too much this season but he’s getting the job done overall. He’s pitched pretty well his last few times out and the Dodgers will look to Kuroda to stop the pattern of losing the middle game of the series.
Perez has been trouble for the Mets. He doesn’t go deep into the game, he gives up a ton of runs and he’s got a 9.97 ERA. This may be the Dodgers best chance to achieve their elusive middle game victory.
Game 3 – Randy Wolf, LHP (3-3, 3.49) vs. Livan Hernandez, RHP (5-4, 4.56)
Randy Wolf has been pretty consistent for the Dodgers all year. He consistently leaves the game in the hands of the bullpen for a no decision. Keeping the team in the game is plenty fine with Wolf but he still deserves a win or two. His 3-3 record is very deceiving as per his performances this year.
Hernandez goes deep into games but he hasn’t won a game in a while. His last outing was a 3 inning disaster with 10 hits and 7 runs given up. The Dodgers will hope to see that kind of performance again so they can try and feast on the Mets bullpen.
Prediction
The Dodgers will miss both of the Mets best starting pitchers and the Mets will face off against the Dodgers 2,3,4 guys. Given the difference in the bullpens I’d say the Dodgers should have the advantage in most games if they can tighten their defense back up and if their bullpen has better luck in New York than it did in San Diego. I think the Dodgers can easily win the series and given their luck against them already this year and the way the Mets have struggled lately look for the Dodgers to try and get their elusive 7th series sweep of the season. If the Dodgers bullpen falters again though it may not be a walk in the park at all. I predict the Dodgers win at least 2 out of 3.
I haven’t posted graphs in a while so here you go.
Graphs Of the Matchup
James Loney Makes Up For Second Straight Bullpen Breakdown
Dodgers 7 – Padres 6 | Box Score | MLB | LA Times | ESPN
On a day when even Chad Billingsley hit a home run it seemed like things were going the Dodgers way. Chad Billingsley breezed through the game with very little resistance until the 9th inning. Poised for his 10th win, he gave up a home run and a double and had to leave the game with a still comfortable 6-2 lead.
A closer never likes to come in with the odds already stacked against him in the form of base runners with no outs, but that’s exactly what happened and Broxton couldn’t close. Slowly but surely the Dodgers watched their hard fought 6-1 lead crumble into a 6-6 tie but got out of the 9th on a base running mistake by the Padres. This was a rare blown save for the newly selected All-star closer but they have been few and far between this year.
After the 9th the bullpen started a new scoreless streak, going 4 innings and sealing the deal after a solo shot by James Loney in the 13th inning. It took nearly every available player from both sides to complete the game.
What looked like an easy Dodgers victory turned into a what-if guessing game in extra innings with every Padres batter at the plate being a potential walkoff run. It didn’t matter when the Dodgers were ahead 6-1 that they had squandered so many chances to score. Looking at a 6-6 tie was a different story and it had to be pretty frustrating sitting in that Dodgers dugout.
The Dodgers were a decent 5 for 16 with RISP but they left 14 men on base and blew several bases loaded situations without scoring. Nevertheless the Dodgers came out on top and took 2 out of 3 in the series, so it’s best just to not think much more about this game and focus attention on the much tougher pair of teams coming up before the All-star break.
Colorado and San Francisco both lost so the game today was a key victory for the Dodgers putting them back up to 7.5 and 9.5 games up in the standings. The month is young still but the Dodgers are liking it so far. They are 3-1 in July while the Giants are 2-3 and the Rockies are 1-3. Also the D-backs are 2-3 and the Padres are 1-4.
To look on the bright side after a stressful conclusion to today’s game, here are some numbers the Dodgers are still looking good with. Aside from still leading baseball with 52 wins and 30 losses, the Dodgers are now 8-2 in extra innings games, 18-8 in 1 run games, and 30-12 inside their division. They are by far the best in baseball in those categories.
The Dodgers are also 7 games above .500 on the road, 2nd only to the Phillies who are 11 games over. Unfortunately for Philly they are 16-22 at home. The Dodgers are 28-13 at home, also the best in baseball.
The Dodgers board a plane for New York City right away before the off day tomorrow. Luckily once they get there they’ll be able to sleep in and rest up for the game Tuesday night.
Dodgers Keep Mets Cool, Extend Division Lead
The Mets might have been one of the hottest teams in baseball heading into LA but they left the city anything but hot. Starting the series in 1st place, the Mets ended the series back 1 game in 2nd place to the Phillies in the East and with a 4-6 losing record in the last 10 games.
Almost universally fans and commentators going into the series said this was the biggest challenge for the Dodgers so far. While the Dodgers didn’t play the best ball of the season they were able to capitalize on the Mets’ mistakes and on key opportunities to score in order to secure a series sweep and extend their lead in the west to 8 ½ games.
The Dodgers as usual scored in the 1st inning each of the 3 games but they somehow managed to prevent the Mets from scoring in the 1st themselves. This has to be the most important aspect of the series I think. Game 1 and 3 were 1 run victories for the Dodgers and Game 2 was a 2 run victory. With that in mind you can see how important it was to keep the Mets from scoring early. Also of some importance is that the Dodgers only let the Mets score 1 time in the 8th inning, an inning I’ve noted several times now is a bad inning for LA. The bullpen faltered a bit in Game1 but in Game 2 and 3 they protected the Dodgers slim leads and Broxton picked up 2 more 9th inning saves.
Pitching matchups helped the Dodgers a lot in this series. Starting their 2 best pitchers and having a strong start by Weaver in game 3 was pretty good. The Mets brought good pitching and kept the Dodgers from getting a ton of hits but missing the start of Johan Santana by just 1 game helped the Dodgers.
The Dodgers have to really be silencing some critics who have said the their success is only because of their weak division. The Dodgers have now played and beaten several of the toughest teams outside the NLW both at home and on the road. This Dodgers team is the real deal and I don’t think many critics can refute that anymore.
It’s a long season though and even this month isn’t going to finish any easier. They’ll face the Angels at home this weekend then head back out on the road to face the Rockies and the Cubs to finish up May.
The Dodgers have earned a day to rest now though and can reflect on what is shaping up to be the one of the strongest season start for the team in decades, certainly in my lifetime.
Former Dodgers: Where Are They Now?
After getting stung (again) by former Dodgers players Jayson Werth in Game 1 In Philly, Cody Ross in Game 3 in Florida, and Gary Sheffield in Game 1 against the Mets, I got to wondering where all the active former Dodgers are working right now.
I was surprised to find the Mets who usually seem to have a bunch of former Dodgers only have three on their 40 man roster right now: Gary Sheffield, Alex Cora, and Ramon Martinez.
The team with the greatest number of ex-Dodgers? It’s the Red Sox who currently have J.D. Drew, Julio Lugo, Brad Penny, and Takashi Saito.
Many Dodgers fans may not even realize a guy like Craig Counsell played for the Dodgers. It was so long ago and so few games. A great number of Dodgers fans might wish certain men hadn’t played for the Dodgers at all, such as Andruw Jones.
Another interesting thing about this list is that it is shorter by 3 men since the Dodgers re-signed former teammates Jeff Weaver, Randy Wolf, and Guillermo Mota.
Here is the complete list of currently active ex-Dodgers players sorted by the teams they play on:
Nomar Garciaparra – I – Athletics – With LAD For 298 Games [2006-2008]
Derek Lowe – P – Braves – With LAD For 137 Games [2005-2008]
Buddy Carlyle – P – Braves – With LAD For 10 Games [2005]
David Ross – C – Braves – With LAD For 118 Games [2002-2004]
Craig Counsell – I – Brewers – With LAD For 50 Games [1999]
Trever Miller – P – Cardinals – With LAD For 2 Games [2000]
Dennys Reyes – P – Cardinals – With LAD For 25 Games [1997-1998]
Joe Thurston – I – Cardinals – With LAD For 37 Games [2002-2004]
Milton Bradley – O – Cubs – With LAD For 216 Games [2004-2005]
Koyie Hill – C – Cubs – With LAD For 3 Games [2003]
Matt Herges – P – Indians – With LAD For 151 Games [1999-2001]
John Meloan – P – Indians – With LAD For 5 Games [2007]
Adrian Beltre – I – Mariners – With LAD For 966 Games [1998-2004]
Cody Ross – I – Marlins – With LAD For 29 Games [2005-2006]
Gary Sheffield – O – Mets – With LAD For 526 Games [1998-2001]
Alex Cora – I – Mets – With LAD For 684 Games [1998-2004]
Ramon Martinez – I – Mets – With LAD For 149 Games [2006-2007]
Joe Beimel – P – Nationals – With LAD For 216 Games [2006-2008]
Chad Moeller – C – Orioles – With LAD For 7 Games [2007]
Danys Baez – P – Orioles – With LAD For 46 Games [2006]
Cesar Izturis – I – Orioles – With LAD For 590 Games [2002-2006]
Mark Hendrickson – P – Orioles – With LAD For 57 Games [2006-2007]
Henry Blanco – C – Padres – With LAD For 3 Games [1997]
Chan Ho Park – P – Phillies – With LAD For 275 Games [1994-2001,2008]
Jayson Werth – O – Phillies – With LAD For 191 Games [2004-2005]
Delwyn Young – O – Pirates – With LAD For 110 Games [2006-2008]
Andy LaRoche – I – Pirates – With LAD For 62 Games [2007-2008]
Andruw Jones – O – Rangers – With LAD For 75 Games [2008]
Dioner Navarro – C – Rays – With LAD For 75 Games [2005-2006]
Willy Aybar – I – Rays – With LAD For 69 Games [2005-2006]
J.D. Drew – O – Red Sox – With LAD For 218 Games [2005-2006]
Julio Lugo – I – Red Sox – With LAD For 49 Games [2006]
Brad Penny – P – Red Sox – With LAD For 118 Games [2004-2008]
Takashi Saito – P – Red Sox – With LAD For 180 Games [2006-2008]
Edwin Jackson – P – Tigers – With LAD For 19 Games [2003-2005]
Paul Konerko – I – White Sox – With LAD For 55 Games [1997-1998]
Wilson Betemit – I – White Sox – With LAD For 139 Games [2006-2007]
Brett Tomko – P – Yankees – With LAD For 77 Games [2006-2007]
Angel Berroa – I – Yankees – With LAD For 84 Games [2008]
Dodgers Scratch Out Win Against Mets
Last night the Mets, who had only 21 errors in 39 games, added 5 more official errors in a nightmare game against the Dodgers. You can’t score an official error while running the base paths but if it were possible the Mets would have done it for sure.
What would have been the game leading run turned out to be an embarrassing base running mistake by the Mets runner who missed stepping on 3rd while rounding to go home. A throw to 3rd ended the top of the 11th for the Mets. With the Mets’ 5th official error in the bottom of the 11th the Dodgers walked off with a win.
How sad would this have been for the Mets ballclub and their fans had they been playing in New York and were cheering a walkoff only to have their run taken away? If you’re a Mets fan you have to feel sick at your stomach at the way Game 1 turned out but you know your team is good and they’ll come out for Game 2 and try to get over the loss and force a rubber match in Game 3.
The Dodgers have to feel good for scratching out a win on a night when the Mets pitching held them to just 5 hits after being accustomed to an average of nearly 10 per game. Now they are in position to win the series tonight when they send out their best starter Chad Billingsley. Also it looks like Stults will indeed pitch Game 3.
The Dodgers maintained the best record in baseball and on a night when the Giants were idle, the Dodgers win extended their West lead to 6½ games, the biggest gap for any division in baseball still.
And in a final note, in a game that was approaching it’s 4th hour Vin Scully unintentionally summed up the life of a Dodger fan on the East Coast with this quote about New York viewers:
Well, it’s almost 2 o’clock in the morning in New York, so I’m sure they’re enjoying this telecast. I bet they are…
Luckily on this occasion I had gone to bed about the 2nd inning and got up early this morning to watch it on the MLB.tv archive. What a game…
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