Manny Out of Lineup Saturday; Could Be Moved Even As Dodgers Make Surge

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2010: The Year of “Who Are They And What Are They Doing In First Place?”

With the Reds leaving town and the Dodgers looking up at the San Diego Padres in the NL West, it seemed to be a large and distinct change in the patterns of baseball. Since the beginning of free agency in baseball, in the early 1970’s, teams with money have always seemed to fare better than teams without. It only makes sense, that the more money put into players reaps better results on the field. The New York Yankees under the late George Steinbrenner won 12 World Series titles in just 3 decades with all the money he put into free agents and players. The Phillies have had the 2nd biggest payroll in the National League the last few seasons, and have made it to the World Series 2 straight years. The Dodgers put lots of money into their team in the last couple years and have made the NLCS 2 consecutive years. This season the Dodgers have the 12th largest payroll in the league and it has shown on the field.

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Dodgers Dream a Little Dream As They Complete Sweep of Brewers

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Dodgers Take Second Game in A Row; Defeat Brewers 5-4

Hiroki  Kuroda finally got some offensive help, Manny Ramirez finally broke through with some hits, and the Dodgers pounded ex-Dodger Randy Wolf  for 7 hits and 4 runs in his 5 innings of work as they dragged their way to their 2nd straight victory and a series win. The Dodgers tied a season high with 6 doubles, 2 by Ryan Theriot and Manny Ramirez, and 1 each by James Loney and Casey Blake. A pleasureable game to watch after so many games this year that were so frustrating…

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Now Introducing Rod Barajas…The Dodgers’ Savior

Welcome to the Dodgers Mr.Rod Barajas, and thank for giving the Blue Crew a 5-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers (also known as the Brew Crew), giving unbeaten Ted Lilly his 5th straight victory. Rod Barajas had what some consider to be the best debut by a Dodger in history: 2 2B’s and a 3-run home run. Barajas hit .225 with the Mets this season, and so far has 3 hits in his first 4 at-bats as a Dodger. Before Barajas struck out in the 8th inning, facing Todd Coffey, who replaced the ultimate journeyman in Chris Capuano, (who has basically been out of the Majors for 2 full seasons), he had 7 total bases and led the Dodgers to a victory single-handedly.

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Tags: Andre Ethier, Bud Selig, Hiroki Kuroda, Los Angeles Dodgers, Manny Ramirez, Matt Kemp, Milwaukee Brewers, NL West, Randy Wolf, Rod Barajas, Ronnie Belliard, Ted Lilly

Dodgers, Very Much In Limbo, Travel to Land of Beer and Cheese

The Dodgers open a 3 game series against the Milwaukee Brewers tonight at 5:10 pm PST, as pitching stud Ted Lilly goes for his 5th straight win as a Dodger. Lilly will face the very hittable Dave Bush, who with a 6-10 record and a 4.63 ERA, should probably have the game of his life against the anemic Dodger offense. Well all my criticism set aside, it appears the Dodger offense will be slightly different tonight than previous, as the Dodgers acquired New York Mets’ catcher Rod Barajas to handle the main duties of the pitching staff for the remainder of the season. Barajas is a necessity for the Dodgers because the combined duo of A.J. Ellis and Brad Ausmus were failing to hit above .200. Ellis, at 29, and Ausmus, at 41, aren’t going to be in the picture for next year anyways so it makes sense to get an upgrade for next to nothing. The Dodgers acquired Barajas for cash considerations, meaning that the Mets sold him to the Dodgers for nothing but dough in return.

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August 22nd, 2010: Oh Their Was A Game Too

Behind all the hubbub of the announcement by the great Vin Scully to return for the 2011 season, the Dodgers actually played a game against the Cincinnati Reds. They lost, 5-2, to add insult to an already demoralizing season. This game was typical of the 2010 Dodgers: good starting pitching, poor hitting and poor relief pitching. Clayton Kershaw was his 22-year old version today. Well what does that mean you ask? It means that he was somewhat wild and continued to struggle in the 1st inning (giving up 2 in the 1st inning), and walking 5 batters. However, Kershaw was extremely effective, pitching 7 strong innings that deserved a victory instead of his 8th loss of the season.

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Vin Scully to Return In 2011

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Dodgers Defeat Reds, But Vin Scully Keeps Fans Holding Their Breaths

As the Dodgers defeated the Cincinnati Reds 8-5 Saturday night, we welcomed Manny Ramirez back to the lineup as he managed to do nothing in 3 at-bats. As long as the Dodgers won, all was right in the world as the Dodgers had 2 separate back-to-back home runs by Ryan Theriot and Andre Ethier, and then by Jay Gibbons and Matt Kemp (Gibbons started at 1st base for James Loney). Manny struck out twice in 3 at-bats, and Chad Billingsley threw 5.2 innings of decent ball, letting Travis Schlichting, Hong-Chih Kuo and Jonathan Broxton close out the Reds. Schlichting did not throw well, giving up 2 runs in 2/3 of an inning. Kuo and Broxton combined for 2 and 2/3 scoreless innings in which both looked dominant. Casey Blake, Jamey Carroll and Brad Ausmus all had 1 RBI as well, adding on to the home runs by the top of the order.

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Hiroki Hunts for Hitting Help: Dodgers-Rockies Game 2 Preview and Notes

This is another try at poor alliteration…but hey I’m in the mood. The Dodgers, fresh off of their 6-0 victory last night against the Colorado Rockies, go at them again tonight at the Ravine. Hiroki Kuroda goes for the Dodgers tonight and looks for some run support. In his last 8 starts, Kuroda is 1-6 but with a respectable 4.05 ERA. That kind of stat is the epitome of the Dodger offensive woes this season. Kuroda has received a grand total of 5 runs in his last 4 starts, 2 of which the Dodgers were shut-out of, negating any opportunity for Kuroda to win or even be successful. So, a night after the Dodgers scored 6 runs, will they be able to solve Rockies starter Jason Hammel , who has posted a very impressive 2.25 ERA against the Dodgers in his career. The Dodgers need to put up runs against Hammel to get into Colorado’s weak and vulnerable bullpen. Hammel is 8-7 this year with a very good strikeout to walk ratio. He has 104 K’s in comparison to only 34 walks,  a better ratio that Clayton Kershaw’s team leading 163 K’s to 67 BB.

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