Carpe Diem!
This Has Been Best World Series Ever . Especially After Tonight! Justin Verlander was tough, very tough he pitched 6 innings of 3 hit ball while striking out 9 and walking zero. The three hits were timely and gave the Dodgers a lead that the bullpen would not relinquish! Morrow and Maeda were nails and Tony Watson held his own, but Kenley Freaking Jansen closed out the final six outs
This Has Been Best World Series Ever…. Especially After Tonight!
Justin Verlander was tough, very tough – he pitched 6 innings of 3 hit ball while striking out 9 and walking zero. The three hits were timely and gave the Dodgers a lead that the bullpen would not relinquish! Morrow and Maeda were nails and Tony Watson held his own, but Kenley “Freaking” Jansen closed out the final six outs on just 19 pitches, 18 of which were strikes. The Dodgers only had 5 hits themselves and none were any bigger than Joc Pederson’s Big Fly in the 7th inning. Boy, has Joc come full circle or what?
When I saw last night’s lineup, I thought “That might be the lineup we see Opening Day 2018.” Joc Pederson could be in LF, Austin Barnes behind the plate, Logan Forsythe at 2B and Rich Hill as Opening Day Starter while Clayton rehabs from surgery. Just a fleeting thought! Logan Forsythe will be back and I predict he will have that “Career Year” for the Dodgers in 2018. He will look nothing like this years’ model. But, we will talk about that later.
Last night was truly a Team Win. Here the Dodgers are: on the verge of Destiny with the #3, #4 and #5 hitters hitting .130, .167 and .167 respectively. It’s not like they have not had big hits, but there haven’t been many. In the World Series, the Dodgers are hitting .208 with a .285 OB%. The Astros are hitting .242 with a .306 OB%, but the Dodgers have outscored them 33-29! The hitting has been spread out and it has been timely!
Surprisingly, the Dodgers have a 4.53 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP while the Astros have a 5.24 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. Go figure! It’s interesting to look at all the stats, but none of it matters right about now. All that matters is what happens between those lines tonight. Darvish will start, but at the first sign of a problem, like a HR or a runner reaching 2B, he will be yanked and Alex Wood will get a shot. Maybe Darvish will pitch like he did against Chicago when he gave up one run in 6.1 innings. I just know that it will be everyone and the kitchen sink!
We may even see Rich Hill again for an out or an inning. Morrow and Jansen will be ready as will be Cingrani and Maeda and you can rest assured that Clayton Kershaw wants an opportunity for Redemption in Game 7. These are the guys who “brung” us – we have to play ’em! The Astros aren’t going to roll over an die – they will be fighting and scratching too. I have no idea who steps up and does what, but it’s time. Carpe diem! Someone or someones must seize the day!
It’s a Gunfight at the OK Corral, ‘er I mean Dodger Stadium:
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Discussion (81)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Jajaja if the astros win. Roberts will win the MVP..jajaja
I agree with Mark on this one.
Darvish shoulda been hooked in the 1st, especially with everyone available out of the Pen.
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Seagar & Belinger have been easy outs.
1- 13 WRISP through 7
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I base hit by Ethier
Come on . Die fighting!!!!
6 outs left-make them count! Let’s Go Dodgers!!
Watford, that includes some hard hit balls right at people. Pederson groundout in first inning was hit hard, Taylor’s lineout with runners on, and Puig ball hit on the line with a couple of runners on. Could definitely have done better, but it wouldn’t have hurt to have a break or two.
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Just 3 bloops and a blast from getting this thing tied up.
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Have faith. Mark already told us this is Destiny’s Dodgers.
The Dodgers lose, 5-1. Houston wins the World Series. They were the best Dodgers team in a generation. This defeat will sting all winter.
I wonder what Bobby paid for the seats for this nongame 7. Not even worth what paying the babysitter would of cost.
Weak surrender in the end.
That was pretty tough to watch. At least I don’t have to listen to Buck or Smoltz for a long time. Great season with a tough finish. Take away the 5 given up by Darvish and it’s a 1-0 win. Congrats to Houston, now I’ll cry myself to sleep.
Great season guys. Time to see fordward . Wait few days and now..doing an analysis player by player, managers and FAZ..
Absolute great World Series. A shame the Dodgers lost but they lost to a team just as good. I thought Darvish would have the game of his life tonight and bring a win home. Congratulations to the Astros, they are a deserving champion. Dodgers had a fantastic season and fell just a sliver short. Better to have tried and failed than not got there at all. No excuses need to be made. Looking forward to the off season and building and even stronger team for next year.
With Ethier, Crawford and others coming off the payroll, the Dodgers will have some flexibility to make moves over the winter. I know what some of the possibilities are, but I trust that FAZ understands all of the variables, and will make the moves necessary to take this team to the next level.
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And everyone on this team that remains next year will benefit from this experience. As for Roberts, his strength isn’t in-game moves, but he is instead the motivational force that helps drive this team. The Dodgers probably feel crushed right now, but you can rest assured that the team’s resolve will be ever stronger going into 2018. The 30 year drought, I believe, will end next season.
I JUST MISSING NOW DODGERS GAMES
Wait til next year! ( Where have I heard that before?)
Many will blame Yu and perhaps deservedly so, but of all the reasons why we didn’t win the WS was our complete and total offensive letdown from the big four of Seags, JT, Cody and Puig. Some of them may have had a hit or sac fly or even a HR (Puig and Cody in game #5) in an AB here and there, but collectively the team had a horrible series offensive performance with RISP.
Cody, and to a lesser extent Corey, will have to close that off speed inside pitch hole that is big in their AB’s. Appeared to me the Astro’s exploited that weakness many, many times during the series. Cody and his 17 K’s with 6 consecutive over games #6 and 7 looks to be a big discussion point for the pundits all offseason.
Look forward to checking in from time-to-time during the hot stove league and look forward to reading everyone’s thoughts on who they think the Dodgers will trade, let walk and acquire.
Love Roberts but two decisions of his cost us the series;
In game 2, he has Utley start at second base. I was surprised to see that as defense was going to be important against Verlander. The ball Redick hit was something Forsythe would have caught and Houston would not have scored their first run
Game 5, listening to Morrow rather Stan sticking to your plan. I could see having him warm up with Stripling coming in as insurance but bringing him in when he never pitched 3 days in a row was a clear mistake.
Wait till next year is a lot more valid with this team. And with lots of money coming off the books after this year, and Adrian Gonzalez coming off after next year, the Dodgers will have greater flexibility to fix what has to be fixed. And our younger players will benefit from this experience and will also have an additional year of physical maturity. Let’s not forget the ball that Bellinger hit to the wall in the bottom of the ninth in game 2. Add a little physical maturity, and that’s a walk-off, and there never is a game 7.
There were a number of things that could have changed game 2, but for me the main reason the Dodgers lost that game was because Kenley missed his spot up and in, and the pitch to Marwin Gonzalez flattened out over the heart of the plate.
Yes Kenley missed his spot but those things happen (just ask Velander about his pitch to Joc). What bugs me are the things we can control. Roberts made a few mistakes. All managers do. But the two I mentioned were critical.
Lesson from the last few years of playoffs: there are probably no “unhittable”
closers in October, not to mention November.
AJ reacted very well to the lack of his.
Dave went by the “safe” 6-out method:-(.
The first inning was the key. The Astros executed while the Dodgers didn’t, hence, 2-0.
Just a couple of things. We had a good season. We really are pretty young.
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The mental make up of Darvish is concerning. He just does not seem to like the bright lights. Kershaw, Hill and Wood are all three pretty darn competitive. So is Ryu. Darvish just cost himself a lot of money.
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Seager and Bellinger just could not lay off the slider low and in. They are young. They will figure it out.
Astros deserved the win last night. It hurts, but what can you do. My only gripe is with Cody. The camera always caught him looking at the iPad after each at bat which led me to believe he wanted to see what he was doing wrong in real time. What happened? Where were the adjustments? I felt I was watching Freaky Friday and Cody and Joc switched bodies.
Our bats went cold at the worst time. Time to regroup and come back better and badder. The more I think about it the more I want Stanton batting 4th. While I’ve been critical of Puig this season he has warranted another season in blue IMO.
Darvish stated last night he wanted to remain with the Dodgers going forward and I’m open to it if he gives a discount which I think he will being a prideful man. We also need to resign morrow as I think he has found his place at this point in his career.
There is no denying…this one hurt. Shame on me for truly believing that Yu Darvish would pitch a great Game 7. I was so wrong on that…probably thinking with my heart. However, I thought all along that Darvish would get a quick hook, and Alex Wood would come in, followed by Kershaw and Morrow/Jansen. Darvish should never have been left in to pitch to Springer a second time. Once he walked McCann to lead off the 2nd, he should have been pulled. It was obvious to everyone (well maybe not everyone) that Darvish had zero command of his pitches, and his slider was not effective at all. He couldn’t get McCann out to start the second inning after getting him in the hole 0-2.? Hinch had no problem pulling McCullers with a 5-0 lead. If Darvish, and his agent, truly believe he is worth Stephen Strasburg dollars, they are delusional.
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But as bad as Darvish was, the Dodgers offense was just as bad. Corey and Cody are going to continue to struggle if they do not learn to read that inside curve ball breaking down at their feet. I am still shaking my head with Seager’s 1st inning K. The pitch started out at his knees, and was going down the moment it left McCullers hand. If he lets it go, it is ball 4. The NL saw exactly how to attack both LH hitters from their RHP. There is a reason why they had reverse splits. I do have every confidence that they will adjust going forward. JT, Puig, and Barnes picked a bad time to go into a group slump.
Kershaw and Darvish 1-3. That’s the reason for the defeat. Hitters typically don’t hit in the WS. Pitching is too good. I’m not laying this on our hitters. It’s the 2 Aces that lost this series. Especially CK in game 5. He had rest and runs and still didn’t get it done. Pitching behind by 5 runs in relief isn’t the same as blowing a start in the WS. It’s hard to say when the team will be back to the WS. As CK said last night, it’s not easy getting there. We need better starting pitching. Guys who can be relied on to go 6-7 innings every start. Going to the bullpen in the 2d inning is a manager’s worst nightmare. He shouldn’t have to resort to that. I wouldn’t touch Darvish. He hasn’t been much good since TJ surgery. My guess is he is 1-2 years away from recovery. Stick with CK, Hill, Wood, Maeda, and Ryu and hopefully find another stater in the organization. I still want to see Stripling start. Shitty end to the year. We handled Keuchel and Verlander and still lost. It’s on CK and Darvish.