It Ain't Over!
Walker Buehler deserved better! He no longer has the ability to put hitters away like he used to, but the Padres dinked and dunked him and the Dodgers’ defense to death in the second inning when they scored six runs. If he was really lucky, he would’ve gotten out of the inning…
Walker Buehler deserved better! He no longer has the ability to put hitters away like he used to, but the Padres dinked and dunked him and the Dodgers’ defense to death in the second inning when they scored six runs. If he was really lucky, he would’ve gotten out of the inning with 1 or 2 runs… but he wasn’t! Tho of the most reliable defensive players for the Dodgers let him down as well. Walker and Dave Roberts had guts… it just wasn’t enough. There are no excuses… it is what it is, and the Dodgers have to win today. PURE AND SIMPLE – WIN AND KEEP PLAYING OR LOSE AND GO HOME! It’s all down to one game.
The Phillies are in the same boat—sinking. Like the Dodgers, they have the ability to come back. Already, Milwaukee has been eliminated, and if the Dodgers and Phillies are eliminated, it means that all the Division Winners are out. But not so fast. It ain’t over. I love Walker’s grit… his stuff is another thing. Today, it will likely be an opener (Ryan Brasier) and Landon Knack. Hopefully, he will bring his A-Game, but the Dodgers are going to have to bring out their big sticks.
If the Dodgers are to continue, Legends will be made in these next two games. That is the beauty of postseason baseball. Mookie showed signs of life. Freddie is playing on one foot, and Rojas is likely done. The only players they could call up are James Outman or Kevin Kiermaier to take Miggy’s place on the roster. That means Edman stays at SS. Next man up!
Shohei summed it all up:
More from Dodger Talk
Dodgers Food Trailer
I did this interview a couple of weeks ago with Chef Mike, who runs the Dodgers Food Trailer for the Great Lakes Loons. They are there for every home and road regular season and playoff game. They prepare three meals a day for approximately 50 people (players and coaches). Since games end late most evenings, they do not prepare breakfast. Many of their hotels have a complimentary breakfast anyway. However,…
Meet LAD 2026 Draft Picks 1-12
3 picks were High School players (2 SS and 1 OF). There was a college OF, college catcher, college SS, and 10 college pitchers. Of all the talk for a need for a catcher, the only catcher the Dodgers selected was Luke Bard, son of LAD bullpen coach Josh Bard. Bard was a 4th year senior from Houston Christian University. He is not a prospect, so the Dodgers are still…
Interview with Paul Beachy – Team Bus Driver For The Great Lakes Loons (LA Dodgers Minor League Team)
It’s been a few days since I did this interview. We have evidently been working my son-in-law (the video guy) like a rented mule at US Water Systems. However, I am taking him to London with me in a few days, so maybe Watford will buy him a pint as a tip, but he’s a dang Red Sox fan, so there is that! I thought that it would be interesting…
Thanks for Your Service: Chris Taylor
I was going to do this post when Chris announced he was retiring, then he changed his mind, but since the chances of him ever playing for the Dodgers again are slim and non-existent, I will go ahead with this post. He unretired, went on the IL, then decided to call it quits on May 24th. Taylor was born in Virginia Beach VA on August 29th, 1990. He attended Great…
Discussion (63)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Win tonight and game 5 ANYTHING can happen.
We were snakebit in that 2nd inning….DAMN
Keep the faith. If Brasier can pass the ball to Knack putting up 1 or 2 zeroes I like our chances….
Then you got Yamamoto at home for Game 5….
We’ve done well vs Cease…
Maybe let Barnes start today?
I know I sound like a broken record, but I am confident that the Dodgers will win tonight. I am also confident I’ll be saying wait till next year if they lose. I’m going to enjoy tonight because tomorrow may never come. I’m a big Knack fan. He is raw and inexperienced, but we need him to be a beast. Now, who wants to step up and be a hero?
Book em
I’m not panicked; you’re panicked.
I missed the fact that Machado got into the running path, which was obviously done on purpose. The commentators and cameraman were so focused on Freddy, trying to field the ball off his knees that they can completely missed the fact that Machado was running on the grass and was doing so on purpose. That should’ve been something argued by the Dodgers at that time.
I’d like to see a little grit on the field tonight. There needs to be some elbow thrown as far as I’m concerned and some determination that they actually want to win this thing.
It’s not that I don’t have faith in the Dodgers, but how can I have faith in a team that seems defeated even before the start of the game?
Plus, with so many injuries, it’s giving too much of an advantage to a team that not only seeks and needs to win, but also wants to humiliate and they do so in every turn at bat and in every out they get…
The Dodgers have too many delicate pussycats, when what they need is a fucking lion!
I’m sick of so many smiles, hugs and kisses to every player from the opposing team that reaches base.
It’s still possible, remember when they were down 1-3 against Atlanta, and they ended up winning the World Series!
It doesn’t matter if Machado ran inside or wherever he wants, they still lost, enough with the stupid excuses!
It seems like Muncy and Smith need to adjust but are unwilling or unable to do so. Muncy has hit some balls hard but they’ve been right at a fielder but most of the time it feels like you can predict how the at bat will go. He looks at strike one, misses the next pitch and then they go up the ladder on him. It feels similar to when Puig was on the team and would have two strikes – here come the sliders away. Smith seems to be trying to pull everything. Until he tries to go the other way or up the middle the pitchers won’t have to adjust. I was impressed by Pages second at bat. He fought off pitches. Too few of the Dodger hitters seem to do so. Walker definitely deserved better. He didn’t miss many bats and needs to find a new pitch or something but his defense didn’t help him. Hopefully the team can jump on Cease early. If they get the win tonight the Padres will need to start another pitcher on short rest or pitch a guy they didn’t want to pitch tonight.
Since it is just a crapshoot, maybe Roberts just fired them up for the wrong game. I know he is very inspiring. Thought all in all Walker pitched pretty well, just poor defensive decisions killed him . Muncy’s 3 outcomes aren’t working.
The Padres seem to have built a roster to make them better for the crapshoot’ how is that possible? Friedman plays chess while Preller plays checkers. Hope we can pull one off the next two but does look grim. We are enjoying the best Dodger baseball ever.
The Dodgers have only three problems so far:
1. They can’t hit;
2. They can’t pitch; and
3. They can’t field.
Other than that, all is fine!
Hey, Claude Osteen! We could sure use Claude Osteen right about now. I will always remember how he came through in game 3 of the ’65 series after Don and Sandy got beaten in games 1 and 2.
I was also thinking about how we were down to the Braves 3-1 in the ’20 NLCS and came back to beat them. Of course, that was the covid year and games were played in the bubble.
It’s not impossible, but…
The Dodgers absolutely build the team to win the regular season. They prioritize quality positional depth (Kike, Rojas, Taylor, …) which overcome injuries that every team faces over the course of the long season. Unfortunately, depth does not pay dividends in the playoffs bc these players are on the bench. The alternative strategy is to sacrifice high quality depth for players who can perform in the playoffs.
— we’re getting no power or clutch hitting from 3/4 infielders: Lux, Muncy, and Rojas.
The Dodgers have come back from the dead before. Why not now! Suck it up Boys.
Book em
Many past Dodger world series winners had pitching heroes. 1955 had Johnny Podres, ’59 was Larry Sherry, ’63 and ’65 were Koufax, 1988 was Orel. I don’t see a pitching hero on this team.
People have commented on Muncy’s approach. Well part of it is not swinging at pitches out of the zone ( which I guess is everyones idea). Of course in playoffs you are facing guys who throw more strikes. So that presents a problem for him.
It all boils down to this:
The Dodgers have the worst team ERA of any team left in the playoffs with a 7.27 ERA in the Division Series. The Phillies are at 6.23 (remember, they were the envy of all the playoff teams because of their great starting pitching?) The Padres are 3rd worst with a 4.50 ERA.
The Dodgers are 6th in OPS with .620, while the Padres are first with a .854 OPS. Now, this is just based on three games, and it could all change tonight and the 5th game, but they’re here because they can’t get anyone out, and all they do is make outs. That’s hyperbole, but not far from the truth.
If it keeps up and the Dodgers lose, I put this squarely on Prior and Van Socyoc!
Yesterday, the Glendale Dessert Dogs played their first game and won 15-13.
Of note, Jake Gelof, Sean McLain (Reds SS little brother), and Zyhir Hope all played. We will talk about the AFL in due time.
Alanna Rizzo is not happy:
The Dodgers rolled the dice on Glasnow and Yamamoto and unfortunately they did not pan out. Those are the 2 frontline pitchers needed to playoffs.
Had the Dodgers acquired Cease, we’d be in better shape, bc it would have blocked the Pads too.
I haven’t had much to add to the conversation for a while. The Dodgers ended the season with the best record in baseball. Despite all the arms going down.
Kersh
Glasnow
Stone
Bazooka
River
Sheehan
Grove having a disaster of a sophomore season
There was a guy with Buehler on his jersey who made some starts. But it wasn’t the guy we knew before.
We thought we’d get one or both of May/Gonsolin back. We got neither.
We lost Mookie and Max for nearly half the season.
Yet, they managed to have the best record in baseball.
All that said… every season comes to this point.
One game
Great teams find a way to win one game. And when they win that one they find a way to do it one more time. And then one more time. There is no tomorrow. Only today.
This game will have repercussions. Either way. Either it lights a fire in the belly of the clubhouse and puts the team on track to burn through the rest of the NL on the way to the WS or it becomes the catalyst for some major changes.
Like Mark, I’ll save my thoughts on that until it’s relevant.
Right now our boys need to dig deep. Grind. Find a way. Look at two strikes down the middle? Not today. Chase a ball 6 inches off the plate. Not today. Feel the pressure of the moment? Not today. Play baseball without passion? Not today.
Do I have a lot more thoughts regarding the future of the Dodgers? Not today.
There is only today.
I agree about Van Socyoc and Prior. And if this bullpen game works, keep doing it every game. I bet the bullpen doesn’t give up a six spot before the 3rd. We really need to navigate the first 3 innings a lot better than we are now.
Book em
9:08 PM ET
Dodgers (98-64)
Padres (93-69)
SP Ryan Brasier R ( opener)
1-0 3.54 ERA
SP Dylan Cease R
14-11 3.47 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
RF Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
LF T. Hernandez R
3B Max Muncy L
C Will Smith R
2B Gavin Lux L
SS Tommy Edman S
CF E. Hernandez R
68° Wind 6 mph L-R
Will this be the last lineup posting in 2024?
5 words I can clearly hear ……..It’s time for Dodger baseball. CHEERS.
Another division winner finds themselves down 1-2 after Detroit beat Cleveland earlier today 3-0. Go figure!
Freeman scratched from the lineup Muncy to 1B Hernandez to 3B Taylor to center