It is somewhat stunning to see Clayton Kershaw serve up three long balls in a month, let alone one game! Like I said yesterday – peaks and valleys! Yesterday we were on pace to win 97 games. Today we are on pace for .500. The Rockies are a juggernaut… running away with the division. Alas, all is lost! Now back to reality. It was pretty amazing that it took Clayton 10 years to give up back-to-back homeruns.
The Dodgers are first in the NL in team ERA at 2.60 and WHIP at 0.94. They are 16th in batting average and 3red in runs scored in all of baseball, but almost half their runs came on opening day. Since then, the bats have been silent. This too shall pass. Peaks and Valleys. It’s about 30 days short of hitting the panic button.
Actually, some of it is just plain bad luck. When the Dodgers hit the ball hard, it was often at someone or someone made a great play. This will pass. So, maybe Maeda can keep the boys above .500 today. I don’t want to face elimination by April 15th!
Franklin Gutierrez is starting to hit the ball well. A-Gon is getting hits, even though he is favoring his elbow and Toles got a jack. Puig looks good, but just about everyone else is lost or missing in action. They couldn’t jump out of a boat and hit water. Speaking of that…
MINOR LEAGUE REPORT
Just a few highlights and the Boxscores. I’ll leave the details to AC.
Cody Bellinger went 2-5 with his first HR and Verdugo and Dickson both had 3 hits, while Pedro Baez got beat like a rented mule.
Fernandez had 2 hits and Ahmed had 3
Nothing to see here folks… move along.
Davis was 2-3, Cruz had 2 hits and Ruiz scored 3 runs
Today’s Music
Discussion (8)
Disagree, not disagreeable
The Rockies are always tough at home and with their outfield dimensions need guys who can go and get the ball and they do. They have beefed up their pitching and always seem to hit. The Dodgers have limited the damage and kept the games close, no reason to panic. Kershaw has given up 3 HR’s in a game 3 times in his career, twice to the Rockies. This is the first time ever he allowed back to back dongs.
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How Maeda pitches today and Wood and Urias fare tomorrow give us a pretty good idea of where the top 7 starters are now effectiveness wise, the bullpen has been consistently good. The bats have been up and down and Roberts has rested everyone except Puig which tells me something about his attitude so far. Next time Seager needs a rest maybe try Forsythe at SS?
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Hatcher is getting opportunities and has pitched pretty well, Fields struck out the side in his one inning and had good velocity, Dayton has not allowed an earned run. Who goes down when Baez is activated?
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Rockies and DBacks atop the Division and the Giants in last? Rockies are streaky and prone to both long winning and losing streaks-Peaks and Valleys! DBacks will falter and probably pretty soon and Giants will get back on track before long. Dodgers will be tested in Chicago bit it will be good to see how they handle the challenge. It is important to win today and avoid a sweep at Coors and climb back above .500
Speaking of tanking, a lineup of Ball, D’Angelo Russell, Brandon Ingram, Julius Randle, and Ivica Zubac has the potential to do some great things down the road.
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I wonder if the Lakers could trade their 1st round pick they got with the Williams trade plus another player to get back their own 1st round pick they gave for Nash?
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They will eventually lose that latter pick when they arent picking in the top 3 and they have a 50% chance of losing it this year.
Pretty much saw the whole game last night, and it was a classic National League game with good defense and good pitching on both sides. The Rockies look better this year pitching wise, and you have to tip your hat at some of the defensive plays they made in the outfield to rob us of some hits. We had a few hiccups, but I didnt’ see any slumped shoulders in the dug out. We will be fine. Hatcher still scares the crap out of me.
with Howard Kendrick and wih Mat kemp we would not any problem. Great trades!!