Game 2 Let’s Get Even
This is what I was thinking as Game 1 approached. The game we have been waiting for since November 1, 2017 and the opportunity to wipe away all the anguish of a 30-year drought. I have had a busy day and have discovered I am not as nervous about this series as I was the one with the Brew Crew. I don’t think it is because I feel the
This is what I was thinking as Game 1 approached.
The game we have been waiting for since November 1, 2017 and the opportunity to wipe away all the anguish of a 30-year drought. I have had a busy day and have discovered I am not as nervous about this series as I was the one with the Brew Crew. I don’t think it is because I feel the Red Sox are an easier target than Milwaukee. They most definitely are not. If I may be a homer, I think it because we have made it to the big stage again. I am hopeful for a World Series ring but I do disagree with Tommy. Something has been done just making it there again. It is better to have made it there and lost than not to have made it there at all. Just ask the 28 other teams or 700 other players who are not there.
As I await the first pitch I expect a long hard fought series and I do expect the unexpected to happen. That way it won’t be unexpected.
On another blog, after the Dodgers lost Game 6 of the previous series, the claim was made that the game was being run by the puppeteers, namely FAZ. I do think they pull some strings, and they should, but I also think Dave Roberts makes some good decisions within those parameters. How many teams this year are making a second consecutive appearance in the World Series? Sure, we can question some decisions, but we have the luxury of a second guess. He’s a genius if thing work, but not so much if they don’t. Here’s hoping for some genius.
During the series I hope David Freese gets ample play time. He has demonstrated he can get the job done on the world stage.
I expect Matt Kemp to make something happen in perhaps his last games with the Dodgers. Perhaps a pinch hit home run.
Justin Turner at one time was ranked right up there with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig with his postseason statistics, especially with OBP. Time for Justin to return to that lofty company.
The Red Sox have a reputation for success with two out and RISP. There is a solution to that. It’s that good pitching beats good hitting thing. This staff will do a better job than the Astros’ staff did.
Perhaps a stolen base will become all important. Dave Roberts knows all about that. Thus far in postseason play the Dodgers stole 12 bases in 11 games while the Red Sox swiped five in nine games. Dodgers catchers threw out three of six potential base stealers while Red Sox catchers caught two of four.
I wait for a significant bunt such as Machado’s in game seven of the previous series. I know the bunt has fallen into disfavor but it is one of my favorite weapons in all its diverse forms. I much prefer it to a strikeout.
It has been pointed out that Red Sox pitchers statistically were at a disadvantage with the Dodger pitchers because they have had to face a DH in each game and pitch in hitter friendly American League East Division parks. The corollary to that is that the Dodger hitters haven’t had the protection of a DH and have had to hit in the pitcher friendly Western Division of the National League.
Yasiel Puig may well play a key role not only with his play in the field and at bat but in distracting the faithful at Fenway Park who have been known to be a bit obnoxious at times. He may well give them a target that thrives on the attention.
I’m hoping we can cut down on our strikeouts. Just put the ball in play. Gravity, friction, elastic force etc. will do the rest. Make them throw strikes.
This is how the game went as I saw it ending at 1:00 A.M. my time.
Here we go. First pitch. First two hitters – two K’s. Oh well – the night is still young. Time for Clayton to follow suit. Missed pop up. Is that a harbinger of things to come? Spotted the Red Sox two. Not the best plan but did limit the damage to two. Now is the time to demonstrate what the team is made of and see if Clayton can settle in for a few more innings.
Hopefully the Dodger second inning may be a sign of things to come. Matt hit a home run on a two-strike pitch and the five hitters in the inning made Sale throw 30 pitches with 51 over two innings.
Then the game turned into “almost “ and “expect the expected”. The Dodgers almost getting inning ending double plays and catching a Benintendi flare double and the Red Sox spraying the ball around as expected with a couple of two out and two strike hits.
Offensively, the Dodgers scored four runs which could and perhaps should be enough to win a World Series game. It wasn’t. Besides Matt’s home run, three of the runs came in Red Sox style with singles, walks, a wild pitch, sac fly and an infield out. It was nice to see three singles strung together. David Freese had two hits, Justin Turner three and Manny Machado drove in three. Kike Hernandez and Chris Taylor continue to strike out.
Defensively the team did not shine. It was not that they committed recorded errors but missing a pop up, a cut off man, and not looking particularly sharp in the outfield. Perhaps the confines of Fenway were a bit daunting for them.
The game was forfeited by the pitching staff. Clayton was not able to get an out in the fifth inning and before it was over he was charged with five earned runs. He threw 79 pitches, 52 for strikes. Ryan Madson looked like he was going to get out of the fifth inning unscathed and almost did when the team missed a double play by a nanosecond.
I am not one to really question the calls a manager makes but I groaned when Dave Roberts chose to remove Pedro Baez after he recorded two unhittable strikeouts. The rest is history.
We did learn a lot from Game 1. It is not wise to give the Red Sox second chances. We also learned that at least at Fenway, the Sox bullpen appears to be as strong as that of the Brewers. The Dodger pen simply has to be as good or better than Boston’s.
So it is on to another game trailing by one as we did in the NLCS. This is the make or break game in the series. David Freese summed it up.
“You’ve got to show up, Game 1, World Series, at Fenway,” said Freese. “Double-play balls, popups drop. Just can’t let that happen. You’ve just got to get it done. You’ve got to play really good baseball in the World Series. Plays that we could have stepped up and gotten guys in or defensively make the plays — the popup, I just got turned around. The ball’s got to be caught, bottom line.”
I watched the game on Sportsnet and appreciated the commentary by Matt Vasgersian and Buck Martinez. Vasgersian sounds a lot like Bob Costas but both he and Martinez gave objective coverage to both teams. That was indeed refreshing after the series with the Brewers.
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Discussion (144)
Disagree, not disagreeable
This is why Kike shouldn’t be hitting in front of Puig!
Thank you Puig, for another two out RBI!!!
Now get Cody in this game!
And that is why Kike should not be hitting in front of Puig!
Thank you Puig, another two out RBI!!
Ryu is pitching MUCH better tonight, gives me hope for Kershaw in game 5. According to Joe Buck we should just call it a series and hand out the trophy tonight, without even playing in LA. This is not the ’27 Yankees we are talking about! Smolz I can take but Buck makes me reach for the mute button. Same for the NFL-I like Aikman but can’t listen to Buck drone on making the same pointless observations. The Dodgers need to grind out what looks like a low scoring game. They are swinging at more 1st pitches tonight also.
Ryu and Barnes didn’t look on the same page when Kinsler got the hit. Ryu stepped off came back then gave up the hit. Ryu looked irritated afterward.
Agree Brooklyn. Taylor is swinging from his heels. Something need to change or trade him this winter.
“Captcha” NOT “coach’s.
Taylor is an idiot, but that was a big throw. Thanks Mark for eliminating the coach’s.
David Price hasn’t been all that in years, but to hear the jerks (Buck and Smoltz) talk, he’s the 2nd coming of Cy Young. Ryu on the other hand they’ve barely acknowledged.
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Dodger hitters look overmatched again. They aren’t going to change their approach in October after playing that way since April. It’s a design flaw that’s going to have to be addressed in the offseason.
Taylor may be an idiot, but that was a big throw.
I was discussing this series with a buddy from Boston. I told him despite the 15 win difference, the talent between the two teams is very close. The main difference is Boston can get clutch hits, and we can’t.
I told him the the only stat he needs to look at in this series is avg with RISP. If both teams are close, we’ll win. If it’s like it’s been all year (and here just now in the bottom of the 2nd), we’ll likely lose.
Taylor is an idiot. Why does he feel it’s necessary to swing wildly at every pitch he sees?
Rick,
I found 3 of your posts in spam today and freed them. I installed a new span filter yesterday… but yours was the only one there. No intent. Let me know if it happens again.
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Also the capcha screens are gone… or supposed to be.
I think this is a very even series… so those seemingly harmless mistakes you make in April like overthrowing the cutoff man, not moving the runner over to third base, passed balls by the catcher… will be huge throughout this entire series.
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Because I think the talent on the field is pretty even… managing decisions are also that much more important… and can definitely affect the outcome of these games.
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I hope Dave takes the less is more approach tonight and isn’t so trigger happy with his pinch hitting / platooning / taking out relievers that are dealing, etc.
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In short… if we can play the rest of the series like we did in game 5 of the NLCS then I think we have a really good shot at winning the series. If we play and manage like we did last night… there’s absolutely no chance.
It is a bad line up. Like timmon said if works Roberts is a genius. No body knows what the future get….but is about the right call…no it worked o no…the good call is notice that Dozier y Kike have take bad PERFORMANCE in home maybe billenger for Dozier is better….what ever go DODGERS. Get the win
Got a million things to do tonight so won’t be watching. Hopefully that brings us luck!
Bellinger makes sense in the lineup, if only because he has shown the ability on occasion to hit the ball to left field. If Cody makes a conscious effort against the left-handed throwing Price to hit the ball to left, I suspect he could have success hitting a few balls off the monster. But as was noted above, both his defense and speed should get him into the lineup.
I really hope I’m wrong about Kike and Ryu… but I think when you are fighting for your lives, you need to play your best players.
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If the Dodgers lose tonight… they can still win the series of course. But against a team like Boston… who has home field advantage… you’d have to think the win probability would go down to about 10-15%
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You can’t pitch Buehler tonight… so I would have went with Rich Hill.
Cody’s bating average isn’t great in the post season… but his speed on the bases and defense alone should have him starting every single game. It also appears to me that Cody is looking very comfortable at the plate right now… I’d like to see him get at least three at bats a game. He just missed two balls last night by an inch or so… I’m just not sure how you can justify putting Kike in there over Cody when your season is on the line.
I’d put Kike in as a defensive replacement later in games at 2B… but he hasn’t shown me any reason to trust him at the plate right now.
Tonight’s Lineup: (Defying Logic and Reason)
Dozier 2B
Turner 3B
Freese 1B
Machado SS
Taylor LF
Kemp DH
Hernández CF
Puig RF
Barnes C
(Ryu P)
Wood has allowed seven homers in 18 innings over the past two postseasons.
My comments aren’t being posted
Here’s an interesting stat found at Dodgers.com
“Wood has allowed seven homers in 18 innings over the past two postseasons.”
Bringing in Baez waz not a stat-driven move. I think it was a “gut-call” and while it didn’t work, how many things you do work 100% of the time. The fact is, when you bring in a pinch hitter you have anywhere between a 65% to 75% chance it will not work. Them’s the facts!
So which do we start, the best hitting lineup , or the best defensive lineup? Perhaps a combination of both? I wish we had the strongest defensive lineup last night because, in hindsight, we might not have given up more than two or three runs. CK didn’t have his stuff but he still was a bulldog and would have done great if he had support in the field.
Starting Lineup I’d like to see for game 2
Belli – CF
Turner – 3B
Freese – 1B
Machado – SS
Kemp – LF
Muncy – DH
Puig – RF
Barnes – C
Dozier – 2B
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Our defense makes me very nervous right now… but I think this is the best hitting lineup we can put out there to start the game. We need to score early and often against Price.
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We can eventually replace Kemp with Taylor in Left and replace Dozier with Kike at 2B for better defense… but Kike shouldn’t get more than one or two at bats if we can help it.
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And I wasn’t happy with the way Freese played first base last night… but he needs to stay in the whole game. Dave has to start thinking of Freese the way he thinks about Turner and Machado… his at bats are just as valuable. You’re not going to take JT out of the game if he strikes out once and makes an error… same rules should apply for Freese. And with the luxury of having the DH… there’s never any reason to take him out of a game while playing in Boston.
I think we’ve analyzed to death what we saw last night but one thing missing is the Dodgers have a big problem at 2B right now. Kike has been flat out terrible at the plate and is killing the Dodgers. At the same time, Dozier hasn’t done anything and there were two DP balls last night that wasn’t turned. I thought on the first one, Dozier was a bit slow on the pivot and the way Freese caught the ball didn’t help get the runner. On the second one, once a again it just seemed like Dozier didn’t have much on the throw. Maybe my eyes are playing tricks because Machado has such a rocket, but there were two DP balls that I thought should have been turned. Either way they can’t play both Kike and Dozier in the lineup at the same time.