Today's game
Same lineup as yesterday, with Kuo in Penny’s place. Let’s hope he pitches as well as Penny did.
The sun has come out, so as Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks would say, let’s play two! Nevermind, let’s just play one and get back to LA with a 5-5 record on the trip.
Oh, and Tommy Lasorda is leading Wrigleyville in Take Me Out to the Ballgame today, so tune into WGN if you can.
Inside the Dodgers 
Harold… Glad to hear nothing exciting weather-wise out your way. Are you able to tune-in this game today? Should be fun with Kuo finding his stuff again last week. Andre’s not being punished for poor play… just being rested. He’ll start against the Padres. Grady’s writing is on the wall on this one.
Tommy is likely to say “…root, root, root for the Dodgers…” like he always does. The Cubs fans hate it when he does that!! Way to go Tommy!!
Make them Cub fans cry today boys! (I sure that Tommy will! – hahaha!).
And don’t worry about Andre – He will go 3 for 4 on Friday night with a long knock.
GO DODGERS!
PS: Grady – DO NOT LET HENDRICKSON INTO THE PARK!
Hey joeyp – Thanks for the laughs.
nice one joey – furcal is more valuable than some guy that cant get down for groundballs and wont score runs. last time i checked raffy has 102 runs scored. first time weve had a good leadoff hitter since butler. its not about getting on base, its about stepping on home plate. at least talk about players in the bigs. where is choi by the way?
The sun rises and sets on Tommy Lasorda!!
Consistency in the lineup – guys who know they’re counted on and trusted to get out there and perform. Go Dodgers! Here’s to hoping Kuo can put another building block on place for his career as a starter.
good to see the same line up 2 days in a row!! Did Grady make it out by himself?
I’m looking forward to seeing Kuo again today…..it’s always fun watching a young player trying to prove his worth.
I think Drew needs to be moved out of the cleanup spot. He has a great OBP, but he goes up looking for a walk every at bat rather than looking to drive in runs. When we have runners on, we need a clean up hitter that is looking to drive them in rather than looking to get on base (that’s the job of the 1 and 2 hitters). I think this is what is causing Drew’s drop in power this year and his many strikeouts looking.
Someone needs to talk to him about getting aggressive. I would trade a few extra strikeouts swinging for some more homeruns and doubles from the 4 position.
I expected Hall to be in the lineup, seems like Martin gets the start.
good line up i guess, Tommy singing in the 7th inning in Chicago never gets old, i think he did it last year also.
Oldbear,
I don’t know what conversation you are having, or where these comments are coming from, but I would happily take Lofton over Bradley any day, and to think we got Ethier for him. I don’t care about the potential work he could do, Bradley was no good to the morale of the team, and I think we got a steal.
Oldbear, put down the pipe. Or Depodesta’s… nevermind.
Furcal has been the 4th best offensive shorstop in the national league according to BP, and the only one of those 4 to be a positive defensively (Reyes, Hall and Hanley Ramirez are all below-average defenders this year). I’d say that Guzman had little to no chance of being a +.800 OPS shortstop and a positive defensively – Furcal has provided fantastic glovework, and is probably a GG candidate.
if you talk to oldbear the terrerist have won.
Scorless tie in Cincy after 6. Padres have 2 on nobody out, bottom of the seventh.
Ooops… bases loaded, top of the seventh for the Padres. Mike Cameron just singled in a pair of runs. Padres 2, Reds 0, 0 Outs, top of the seventh. BOO!!!
Padres a big 4 runs in the seventh. Ouch… let’s go Big Blue!! Kuo will be the man today.
Kevin – I am tuned in on the computer. Go Dodgers.
Marlon the Masher!!!
Looks like Ethier is gonna platoon the rest of the way with Anderson hitting like this!!!
Billingsly is scheduled for Sat., does Stolts get sent to the pen???
Kuo as a starter is looking better & better
Maddux is pitching friday right?
yep…MAddux and DAvid Wells Friday night at the Ravine
JD Drew puts the Dodgers up Five to Two!! I was a poet and didn’t know it!! :o)
Kuo is fantastiKUO !
Good job Kuo. 93 pitches – 65 strikes. Good job JD. OK bullpen. Put this one in the win column.
Also, way to go Marlon. Someone mentioned yesterday in a post that Anderson would be a hidden weapon. Good call.
Tomko better not blow this…everytime he goes in the game i get really nervous
well…Tomko blew it
Yes, every game Tomko touches turns to coal. He’s been the man coughing up the game how many times in a row, now?
Mr “Wannabe closer” is not even a mop-up man.
Tomko!! You freakin’ stink!! Grady… pull your head out and make the changes you KNOW you need to make!!!! BEFORE the big hit… ****!! I hate this!!
Tomko is ****, knew it was a mistake when we took the Giants trash.
Too bad for Kou.
Why can’t Grady ever make a pitching change, in the middle of an inning, when everyone knows what’s coming next? I mean, is it really that important to have a relief pitcher FINISH an inning? I’ve lost count at how many times this has happened this year to us. Grady obviously has the memory of a sieve.
Another brilliant managing job by Little. Tomko should have been pulled right after Theriot got the first run in. Broxton would have been my choice to bring in then. Tomko just doesn’t have it any more, and we have him under contract for yet another year. He’s not happy having to pitch in the seventh inning according to reports. Well, for my money he’s washed up and unable to pitch effectively in any inning, but will Little learn that? What a wasted game AGAIN.
Drew is having a good game and this is not over yet.
When you have a 32 HR guy up with 2 guys on base, you better bear down a little bit more. Throwing the ball waist high over the plate doesn’t cut it at this time of the season. Looks like it will be a long flight home.
Tomko needs to join Hendrickson on the “Should NOT pitch again this year” list.
We threw away the two games to the Cubs on this trip, and lost two to the Brewers as well. Indeed, Padres and Giants must be loving this. The team from L.A is the only NL West team who keeps finding creative ways of beating itself. Gotta love a manager like that.
Little is the worst manager I have ever seen. He makes Jim Tracy look like a genius. He is completely unable to manage a pitching staff.
I just hope we have Gagne back next year, maybe as the set up man?
6th: Brazaban
7th: Saito
8th: Gagne
9th: Broxton
Maybe Furcal will hit his third homer in Chicago next inning
I miss Colburn or Dave Wallace, ptiching staff hasn’t been used right since then.
Little and Honeycutt have no clue on when to subsitue.
Grittle’s managing style seems to suggest that he is always trying to save something for the future. That is great in the first half of the season, but the future is now! We have 2 1/2 weeks left and every game is do or die. When you have a chance to win a game you should go all out to guarantee that win.
Why did Saito sit in a tie game on Tuesday, only to pitch in a blowout on Wednesday? Why leave Tomko in against Ramirez (one of the top homerun hitters in the league), when he was already getting hit hard in the inning?
We are still in first, but our room for error is rapidly decreasing, and I blame Little for this above any player.
A month ago, Ethier was ROY favorite, now he’ll be lucky to finish in the top 6 in votes.
Tomoko should retire and become an artist. Grittle should retire and pose for Tomoko. This team could be a lot better with a differant manager!
I have a feeling Tomko won’t be the closer next year.
grady needs to go back to Durham…he cant manage a bullpen or a team…changing the lineup during a winng streak killed the team…pitching Hendrickson 4 starts too many killed the team…wheres jim tracy when you need him…atleast he actually won a division title!
People calling for the return of Jim Tracy…..you’ve got to be kidding me. No matter how bad Little is, he’ll never be THAT BAD.
BTW, who was the GM responsible for signing Brett “I can’t stay in the rotation and now I’m ruining the bullpen” Tomko to a two year contract? Just wondering.
Sorry Grady, you have just lost your last remaining fan. When your pitcher gives up four consecutive hits and you leave him in the game, regardless of the score, YOU ARE AN IDIOT! (Does the name Pedro Martinez ring a bell?). That’s twice in three games. Hey Grady – YOU ARE AN IDIOT! (Now I know how that AFLAC duck feels).
On the brighter side, at least we are still in first place guys (albeit by a thread). AND, I will be at Dodger Stadium for the next ten games to root the boys on.
Come on Blue Crew, this is your entire season right here, right now. It’s time to get it done!
GO DODGERS!
PS: Did I mention that GRADY IS AN IDIOT!
Okay… it’s not competely out of reach just yet. Yes… we gave up two games here that we should have won. I think someone said that Grady was an idiot? Well, yes… that’s pretty much an understatement. So are you conceding the season to the Padres just yet??? I don’t think so.
For everyone here who happens to think the playoffs begin in 18 days… I’ve got some disappointing news for you:
The freakin’ playoffs begin tomorrow!! Grady Little… you need to take this attitude right now. Playoffs are now! Bring in your best players when you have them available. Leaving Broxton in the bullpen when the Cubs were coming back was a travesty! You need to check yourself right now dude…
Dodgers, Grady… how badly do you want this thing? It all starts tomorrow.
tomorrow is another day
The Hated Ones are also winning today.
I’m not even so sure about us getting the WC now.
It seems we just don’t have what it takes in the bullpen if our starters give us a good start. However, back home tomorrow in what is now a divisional play-off. It’s make or break time. Fansince53 will be there rooting so that gives me a good feeling. Shout a bit for me 53. Let’s do the unexpected boys. Everyone expects us to fold so let’s prove the world wrong. C’mon Greg. Go Dodgers.
this is embarassing, i’m getting tired of seeing this garbage. They blew two games against the awful Cubs!!!!!! Very frustrating.
Kuo threw 93 pitches of which 70 percent of them were for strikes. Why is it Grady that you insist on letting a pitcher who’s protecting a three-run lead get pinch-hit for when he obviously had another inning in him?? Wake the **** up man! We’re trying to win this thing!
Somehow I don’t think BT is going to close to many games either.
It doesn’t seem to me that the boys are choking. Maybe they need to be backed into a corner like the ’81 bunch. Like tomorrow night, for instance.
OK, 53, it’s up to you and the others that will be at the stadium. Bring it home.
our bullpen stinks (Tomko) with runners on 2nd & 1st it’s a cardinal sin to have him pitch to Aramis Ramires. you’re bagging for a loss there.
Tomko’s fastball is so flat it looks like a flying tortilla!!.
Urgh, I’m tired of Little. He seems to always want another out or inning or whatever out of a gassed pitcher or one that just doesn’t have it for the day. Or just doesn’t have it anymore, like Tomko.
On the subject of Tomko, he really should go be an artist full-time. He’s a bit delusional about his abilities on the baseball diamond. As a starter he was always whining that he was pitching well, he just can’t understand how he gave up five runs in five innings, he was pitching so well. Or he was looking to spread the blame anywhere but himself. Now he whines because he didn’t get the closer job. A 5.00+ ERA and a tendency to the long ball is qualities that you don’t want in your closer.
I am never very excited about ROY. What happens two years down the road is the clincher for a player after the sophomore year. Someone, perhaps Kevin, warned quite some time ago that Andre had to have a mammoth September to beat out other candidates for ROY. Right now he is going through a dry spell as all players do. His dry spell is no worse than A Rod’s. He will come out of it but it might be next year. A player’s confidence is so significant but also very fragile and disappears like the wind. I expect Andre’s has taken a hit. In the meantime he is not throwing temper tantrums. Go Dodgers tomorrow night.
Now I am just bummed out. We should have swept this series. I just hope we dominate San Diego tomorrow night. We need to show them who the true leaders are in the West.
tomko wants to be closer. maybe he should just close his mouth and get some hitters out.
how can this team split with the mets in new york and still lose 4 of 6 to the freakin’ brewers and cubs. the cubs!?!?
they gift wrapped the first game and lowe, couldn’t focus enough to protect a 7 freakin’ run lead?!?
need a big weekend from all the veterans esp kent and nomar. kent particularly is due for some clutch hitting.
and lookout for the giants again…
kristograf@yahoo.com
i feel you’re anger!
to think we could have gained one game over S.D. i swear i really don’t like Grady at the moment. He makes great disicions but this series was very badly managed
I was a little irked when I read the article where Tomko said that he wants to be he Dodgers’ closer next season. The closer role has long been one that is earned by exceptional appearances as a set-up man. Frankie Rodriguez is a classic example. His first year and a half in the Bigs, he was the set-up man for Troy Percival and he did an outstanding job at it (just look at that W.S. ring). When Percie moved on, K-Rod was rightfully promoted to the role of closer and is one of the best in the game (and he is only 24 years old!).
A guy doesn’t become a closer just because he says he wants to be one, he has to earn that extremely important role. In my opinion (and with all due respect), Tomko’s career numbers have never been all that good; and certainly not good enough to even be considered for the closer role. He has always been, at best, a mediocre pitcher. He has never won more than 13 games in a season and has a career ERA of 4.55. In 300 career games, he has given up 210 homeruns. These Hendrickson-like numbers certainly do not reflect what I would want in a closer, that’s for sure. Nothing would please me more than to have Tomko demand to be the closer or be traded. Hey Brett – Don’t let the door hit you in the…
Keep the faith guys. We have a great team that is more than capable to win the West – and beyond. We have a very good bullpen in Beimel, Broxton, Dessens, Sele (gulp), Hamulack (double gulp), and a lights out closer in Saito. We can win the West, but as several of you guys have so accurately pointed out, the play-offs begin tomorrow night at Chavez Ravine. It’s do or die time boys.
PS: Hey Grady – DO NOT LET HENDRICKSON IN THE BALL PARK!
PPS: Did I mention that GRADY IS AN IDIOT?
THE PLAYOFFS START TOMORROW GRADY!!! NOT IN 18 DAYS!! PUT THAT IN YOUR PIPE AND SMOKE IT!!
Hello. I am a Chicagoan who was sold on the Dodgers by Lasorda and Garvey.
I met Steve Garvey in downtown Chicago in 1987. People in Chicago did not care for Garvey even at the height of his popularity – but when Garvey saw my stunned teenage face he smiled, came over and gave an autograph.
I think his number should be retired by the Dodgers. He came through big in the ’74 and ’78 NLCS (and also ’81 NLCS), has the NL game consecutive streak and has 4 Gold Gloves. Baseball was different then – it was less about stats and the home run (Ryan Howard is no Reggie Jackson). Garvey was much more a big game player than say Drysdale.
Vin Scully and Lasorda rule.
As Mel Allen said once on This Week In Baseball in the early ’80’s – Dodgerblue, what do you do?
Lastly – lets bring back baseball in the inner city.
Well remember Kuo was just converted as a starter this year and remember he had 2 TJ surgery so I don’t really blame Grady for pulled him. I think Kuo did have one more inning in him. Grady no matter what shouldn’t have put in Tomko. That bunt from Pierre was nice on his part. I think Grady should’ve taken Tomko out when he 2 runners on base. I agree with you Skank, we really need Gagne back. I think we should swap Broxton with Gagne and let Saito closing until Gagne get his groove back and I hope he resign.
Oops I mean skunk my mistake.
I would be more confident if we had what skunk request. You think Grady would learn from Tomko other 2 apperances and cost us the sweep and the 3 of 4 games in NY.
I’ve heard Tomko wanted to be closer but was he’s serious after the way he’s treating us on this road trip.
Garvey was number 6.
Let’s me repeat that again, I mean Broxton 7th, Gagne 8th Saito 9th. Are bullpen would be unstoppable only if everyone stay healthy. Sele, Dessens, Hamulack/Beimel only for LH but we can leave Beimel for 1 inning. Hamulack should only pitch to one batter and I still don’t trust him to pitch one whole inning without surrending a walk or the lead off walk in that case.
I wonder what Ramirez career record against Tomko is and was it the right move to make. Of course it was the wrong move.
Career vs Tomko .154. Pierre vs Tomko .188. No wonder Pierre got a bunt single with 2 out. I knew that was trouble and time to yank him You think Tomko would get these two guys out. Don’t tell me Grady was going by the percentage leaving him in.
I CAN SEE IT COMING AGAIN. ANOTHER 1951 and 1962 AND WE LOST BOTH OF THOSE PLAYOFFS TO THE HATED GIANTS!!!!!!!! I HOPE HISTORY DOES NOT REPEAT ITSELF FOR A THIRD TIME.
By the way Fan since 53 when you are at the games, ROOT for me to. Wish I could be there. Unfortunatly due to illness, I can no longer get to the park. Have a good time and bring home a WINNER. GO BLUE
This will be our first BIG WEEKEND test. If we are good enough to win the championship, we need to win against our closest division rivals. If at the end of the season we come up a game or two short, let’s remember that two losses in Chicago should be laid right on Little’s doorstep and not necessarily on our players. Such mismanagement of pitching I cannot remember in many years, and they were not the only such games this season. I have no faith in Little, nor his pitching coach Honeycutt, and it becomes more evident that we would have been much better off with our ballclub if Terry Collins and Ken Howell filled those positions. Maybe hoping for such a change in the future. In the meantime, GO BLUE, and show everybody what you’re made of.
1) That ******.
2) Is messagebear right that the Dodgers don’t have a chance of the postseason if the Padres beat them?
3) Pitching matchups look like this:
Maddux v David “Fat fat fatty” Wells
Billz v Woody Williams
D-Lowe v Young
Penny v Peavy
Which match up pretty well, putting each team’s top 2 starters head to head, and Greg Maddux vs David Wells in a battle for the ages (by which I mean they’re both old guys picked up at various trade deadlines). The most interesting pairing will be young man vs old man in Billingsley vs Williams.
4) Don’t forget that up next, the Dodgers play the Pirates. Yep, don’t miss the series when everyone saying “Jim Tracy would be better than Grady” says, “oh, well, never mind.” I mean really, are you that afraid of Shawn Chacon?
5) It all ends with the bottom three of the division. The Diamondbacks play in LA, and then the Dodgers play road games in Colorado and San Francisco. Hard to say, so let’s use the season so far to predict:
So, for the last 5 series, here are the Dodgers’ records in those locations this year (HOME in caps, away in lower case):
SD: 0-5
PIT: 3-0
ARI: 5-1
col: 4-2
sf: 4-2
Combined: 16-10 (.615)
Expected record based on past success: 9-7
SD’s record against their next opponents in their places
lad: 5-0
ARI: 2-4
ari: 3-3
PIT: 2-1 road
STL: 2-1 road
(remember the Padres are worse at home, so assume 3-3 combined for PIT and STL)
predicted finish: 10-7
Those prediction are under the assumption of the Padres completing a 4 game sweep of the Dodgers, and that would tie them. If the Dodgers win the series this weekend, they could lock up the division. One or two wins would give them a bigger edge, and keep SD very much alive for the wild card.
So this series doesn’t have impending doom hanging over it, but the Dodgers need to win here (that would be necessary to get to that magic win total of 87).
on point (2) – yes I did take messagebear out of context. I just asked the question myself.
Patriotacts… today more than any other day… you are so good at pointing out the fairly obvious. 😮 )
“If at the end of the season we come up a game or two short, let’s remember that two losses in Chicago should be laid right on Little’s doorstep and not necessarily on our players.”
Certainly lets not forget about the umpteen times this year we lost 289,999 out of 290,000 games… oh my… only to have lost 3 1/2 games in the standings!! Amazing. I called it like I saw it back then… lost opportunities! And now, incredibly as it may seem, there isn’t much the team wouldn’t do for just a little breathing room at this time of the year. Yeah… let’s all forget about the numerous lost opportunities and lay it ALL on those two games in Chicago. Pathetic.