Game 2 Let’s Get Even

There was certainly a lot of negatives to identify in Game 1. But there were a lot of positives as well. JT and David Freese prove what professional hitters they are. The rest of the team can learn from them, especially CT3 and Kike’. Manny is proving to be very valuable both offensively and defensively. Twice with runners on 3rd with less than 2 outs, Manny drove in a run. Were you watching Grandal? Kike? CT3?

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I am sure all of the Doc haters will be out. Sure I questioned why Baez came out of the game in favor of Wood. But it was Wood who was on the mound, not Doc. Smoltz knew that Nunez was a bad ball hitter, why not Wood? It was Clayton who was on the mound, not Doc. At some point Clayton has to take this team on HIS back, right???

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By the way, neither Buck or Smoltz can let the Brewers go. They are obnoxious with their love affair with the Brewers and now the Red Sox, and their apparent disbelief as to how the Dodgers could even make the playoffs much less be in the WS.

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But to me lost in all of the bad moments, this Boston Red Sox team is flat out a good team. We talk about Dodger players being junk yard dogs, that Red Sox team grinds from the 1st pitch to end of the game. Mookie and JDM were who everyone thought they would be, but Benintendi getting 4 hits? I do not care that they were not hard hit, they do not have to be. Were you watching CT3? Kike? Grandal? Same is true for Devers. Not hard hit, but it was a hit nonetheless.

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The Dodgers lost a Kershaw Game 1 against Milwaukee and came back to win. The Dodgers won a Kershaw Game 1 against Houston in the 2017 WS and lost. So losing Game 1 is not a death sentence. Let’s go out and win Game 2, and come back to LA all even.

I watch the games on mute…a lot less aggravating.

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Wood has never accepted his role as a reliever and pitches like it. Pout during the off-season and quit acting like a spoiled brat.

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Freeze should not be pitch hit for.

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Good for Matt hitting the home run.

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Machado can be a difference maker. He and Seager would be a fun pair to watch for the next few years.

No doubt about it the Sox are a good team, a good young team. They didn’t fall into the victory. They won the game in Red Sox style. It is up to the Dodgers to disrupt that style by good pitching and good defense as well as timely hitting. It is a strange game. Even in losing by four runs the Dodgers were a couple of plays away from being in a position to win it.

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I do think that the Red Sox starting pitching is a bit vulnerable especially if David Price reverts to his play-off form. Nevertheless, just put the ball in play and things happen. Would kind of like to have Nate Eovaldi back.

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It was a pleasure to have Matt Vasgersian and Buck Martinez objectively broadcast the game without talking to hear themselves talk in a one-sided fashion.

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I think Cody is just missing some pitches by a bit.

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The 1981 Dodgers went down 0-2 to the Yankees and came back to win four straight beating Tommy John and Ron Guidry.

The Red Sox fans were talking crazy about Cora when he brought Nunez in to hit for Devers, but it makes all the difference when a player executes. Then they were chanting “Cora is a genius.”

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I did not like Roberts taking Urias out when he did, but Baez was executing his pitches.

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I did not like Roberts taking Baez out when he did, but Wood did not execute.

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Roberts did not lose the game. The players did.

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While we are at it, I thought Clayton should start the second game – he needs more rest… in my opinion, but if his defense had been up to par, he might have allowed just one run.

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Ryu should not pitch in Boston – I would start Hill… in fact, I would have started him yesterday.

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However, it’s up to the players to exec ute.

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Today, it’s all about the execution.

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My motto would be “EXECUTE OR BE EXECUTED!

Puig missing the cutoff throw is inexcusable and it allowed a second run to score in the first inning, but the foul pop up that Freeze didn’t catch was a tough play on a real slippery playing field. It’s highlighted because Betts went on to get a hit, steal a base and then score but the reality is Kershaw had him 0-2 and couldn’t put him away and that’s because his stuff is no longer “ace.”

HP umpire had a real tight zone and wasn’t giving either pitcher the edges and when Kershaw doesn’t get the black he is very hittable. 90-91 MPH center cut or inner half is going to get exploited. I love Kershaw but his defense wasn’t all that bad and like AC said isn’t it time for Kershaw to carry the team in a post season game?

Good article on hitting this postseason.

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Snippets:

“The closest, though, is the (Sox’) whopping 53 RBIs with runners in scoring position on 31 hits through 112 plate appearances (this post-season). The Dodgers, meanwhile, have 17 hits with runners in scoring position in 113 plate appearances, good for a .187/.321/.319 line. They have four home runs and 30 RBIs.”

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and “The Sox have had marvelous success with runners in scoring position in October, a .365/.491/.647 line now. They were 4-for-12 on Tuesday in those situations, including that Nunez three-run homer. ”

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Hard to win when you are OPSing .640 RISP in the postseason and your opponent is OPSing 1.138.

I agree Rick their relentless approach and clutch hitting is unbelievable. We somehow need to stymie that a little to have a chance in this series.

We are clearly going to have to score a lot to win, that is why batting Hernández, Barnes and Dozier, 8,9,1 does not work. Too many automatic outs in a row. Hernandez has gotten way too much credit this postseason with the number of at bats he has received. He should be sitting tonight. Dozier looks equally lost and looked a step slow at 2nd last night. I realize he may be our best defensive option there right now but his approach at the plate seems way off.

I feel the FO and Robert’s must have a feeling that Ryu will be solid in Fenway today, only explanation for him starting over Hill. I realize they have a ton of numbers in front of them but bottom line is that this guy is just better at home.

Kersh was hard to watch last night, my favorite player failing in the biggest moments again was extremely disappointing. His clear drop off in stuff this year makes for an interesting offseason.

But back to now, hope Bellinger and Muncy are back in there tonight and Hernández amd Dozier are on the bench. Price was effective last time out due to higher usage of his change, a pitch that is much more effective against righties. Therefore we need some lefties in there Robert’s, an all righty lineup would be a huge mistake in my mind.

tonight’s game will definitely be on mute. i used to blame FOX for ruining the World Series by overusing close shots, especially of fans, in key moments, trying to turn the game into an intimate drama. now, i feel the same way about their insistence on a narrative, in this case smoltz’s repetition of ideas about how the dodgers play the game the wrong way, essentially. it gets old after a while. and the results don’t prove anybody right or wrong. it’s a live sports event. by definition anything could happen and i’m content with their being some randomness to the proceedings, not the predestined outcome as prophesied by the all-knowing john smoltz.

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patterns are emerging. we played sloppy in game 1 to milwaukee, nothing has been easy. roberts opens himself up to a lot of criticism by taking such an active role in the decision-making. to me it’s like portfolio management: the more changes you make, the more likely you are to make mistakes. now he is not even being consistent with himself. first he hits for freese, now he doesn’t; now he hits pinch-hits grandal. he needs to be pressing all the right buttons and i don’t know if anyone can do that.

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all we need to win game 2 and we’re right back in it. there’s no more to be said.

I am not a Roberts hater, but I wish he would have a better feel for a game, instead of always yanking pitchers out, because of platoon advantages, or the numbers.

Because sometimes a particular pitcher is pitching well that day, and because of that, sometimes the numbers are not as important.

Because not every pitcher always pitch to their numbers, every time they pitch, anyways.

That was the difference last year against the Astros, because the Astro’s manager went with his feel for the game, instead of simply going by the numbers.

I know if a manager always goes with the numbers, especially with our front office, they will not be blamed, if the pitcher doesn’t deliver.

But sometimes a manager needs to take chances, and make moves based on common sense, and what he sees, in that moment in time.

Baez’s era against lefties is double but I could see Baez getting Devers out with a high pitch just out of the strike zone, just like he did with the other two, previous hitters.

I know Devers never made it to the plate, but the way Baez was throwing, it looked like he could handle most of the players, especially the players on the Red Sox bench.

After all, Baez has been our best reliever this year, and Wood has only been in the bullpen for just over a month, or even less, and Baez was already throwing well, and warmed up, and ready to face another hitter.

Roberts wastes to many pitchers and players at times, because he goes with the numbers, to the extreme sometimes, instead of slowing the game down, and using common sense.

And like AC said, I hope Kike and others, saw that Manny didn’t try to do to much, when there were runners in scoring position, and especially when runners were on third, with less then two outs.

Because Manny hit two of those runs in, without getting a hit, because he simply made sure he put the ball in play, to get the runners on third, home.

With all the mistakes the Dodgers made, at least they almost came right back, after the Red Sox scored those two runs early, in the first.

This loss is not totally on Roberts, it is on this entire team.

Kershaw didn’t get help from his defense, because Freeze missed that pop up, and Puig never seems to want to make the right play, but all five runs were earned runs, so Kershaw could have done better, too.

Roberts probably should have taken Kershaw out earlier, after the first runner got on, in Kershaw’s last inning of the game.

Because of Kershaw’s history, and it is tougher for a reliever to come in when there is already two runners, on base.

Per Dodgers.com:

“Wood has allowed seven homers in 18 innings over the past two postseasons.”

Per Dodgers.com:

“Wood has allowed seven homers in 18 innings over the past two postseasons.

I just read these numbers about Baez.

Baez has not allowed a hit to a leftie since July 26.

Lefties are 0-31 against Baez since then, with 11 strike outs.

1 Kershaw pitched poorly last night and the defense didn’t help him.

2 Kershaw is not going to put this team on his back and carry them to the title because he is no longer capable of doing that.

3 Roberts did not lose the game last night but he manages by the stats he is given before each game by FAZ and that loses him the feel for the game, it stops him from doing what his eyes and gut are telling him to do, As long as he follows the stats 100% he will always ( in my opinion ) be a poor game day manager.

4 Game 2 tonight, let’s hope for a Dodger turn a round.

This is a serious question… Does Dave think he’s going to be fined by MLB if he doesn’t use up all his position players by the 9th inning?

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.

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.

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.

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!

Here’s an interesting stat found at Dodgers.com

“Wood has allowed seven homers in 18 innings over the past two postseasons.”

My comments aren’t being posted

Wood has allowed seven homers in 18 innings over the past two postseasons.

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)

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.

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.

Got a million things to do tonight so won’t be watching. Hopefully that brings us luck!