Torre’s mistakes bigger than Mattingly’s gaffe Posted by Anthony Stalter (07/21/2010 @ 4:45 pm) Lost in the double mound visit gaffe by Don Mattingly in the Dodgers’ embarrassing 7-5 loss to the Giants on Tuesday night was a series of horrendous decisions by L.A. skipper Joe Torre earlier in the night. Tim Lincecum sent the Dodgers’ bench into a tizzy after he hit Matt Kemp with a pitch to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning. Then reliever Denny Bautista really pissed off L.A. when he threw one high and tight to catcher Russell Martin in the bottom of the sixth (which led to L.A. bench coach Bob Schaefer being ejected after he started screaming at home plate umpire Adrian Johnson). In trying to send a message to the Giants that he wasn’t going to take all of their shenanigans, Torre sent his starter Clayton Kershaw (who had already thrown over 100 pitches and was starting to get beaten like a piñata) up to the plate following Martin’s fly out to left. Mind you that at this point, the Giants had all but erased the Dodgers’ four-run lead and it was now a one-run game at 5-4. Kershaw promptly struck out swinging, as did Rafael Furcal to end the inning. In the top of the seventh, Torre’s intentions were made clear when Kershaw threw his first pitch of the inning right into Aaron Rowand’s thigh. Johnson, who had warned both benches after Lincecum had beaned Kemp, then ejected Kershaw and Torre as Rowand took his base. On the surface, it appeared that Torre was just making a point that the Dodgers weren’t going to back down from their biggest rival in their home park. But when you stand back and look at the situation on a whole, it was one of the dumbest moves by a manager this season. Read the rest of this entry » Don Mattingly helps Dodgers find new way to lose Posted by Anthony Stalter (07/21/2010 @ 11:45 am) You know things are going badly for your club when Bruce Bochy does something to get the best of you. During the ninth inning of the Dodgers-Giants game last night, L.A. hitting coach Don Mattingly walked out to the mound to talk to closer Jonathan Broxton, who had once again gotten into trouble for the second time in three days. With the Dodgers leading 5-4, Broxton allowed an infield single by Juan Uribe to start the inning, then walked Edgar Renteria before recording the first out when Aaron Rowand laid down a sacrifice bunt. After Aubrey Huff was intentionally walked to load the bases, Mattingly came out to the mound to lay out the plan of attack with Broxton and his infield. But when he stepped off the mound and into the grass, then went back onto the mound to answer a question from first baseman James Loney, it counted as two visits. Bochy, or “Eagle Eyes” as his drinking buddies like to call him, noticed the gaffe and immediately complained about it to home plate umpire Adrian Johnson. Read the rest of this entry » Posted in: MLB Tags: Aaron Rowand, Andres Torres, Bruce Bochy, Clayton Kershaw, Don Mattingly, Don Mattingly mound rule, Don Mattingly mound visit, George Sherrill, James Loney, Jonathan Broxton, Juan Uribe, Los Angeles Dodgers, Matt Kemp, Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco Giants, Tim Lincecum
MLB Report: Granderson lifts Yanks, Jones & Wells off to great starts Posted by Anthony Stalter (04/08/2010 @ 9:05 am)  Yankees 3, Red Sox 1
It’s only been three games, but new addition Curtis Granderson is already making a huge impact for the Yankees. After homering in his first at bat of the season on Sunday night, Granderson delivered the go-ahead solo home run in the top of the 10th inning Wednesday as the Bombers beat the Red Sox 3-1. With Granderson’s help, New York was able to take two of three games in Boston. (I wonder what people are going to complain about seeing as how the Yankees didn’t “buy” Granderson – they traded for him.) Pirates 4, Dodgers 3
Do the Bucs have a star in the making in Garrett Jones or what? The 28-year-old hit his third homer in two games with a three-run shot off of Clayton Kershaw to help the Pirates down the Dodgers 4-3 on Wednesday. Roger Cedeno played the hero in the 10th inning when he singled home Lastings Milledge for the winning run, as Pittsburgh is surprisingly in position to sweep L.A. to start the season. Giants 10, Astros 4
The Giants might as well petition the league to play the Astros every night, because they own Houston. The G-Men completed a three-game sweep of the Stros on Wednesday night, as Edgar Renteria went 5-for-5 in a 10-4 San Francisco victory. (Stop laughing – I’m seriously…yes…it really was that Edgar Renteria.) With their pitching, if the Giants can continue to swing the bats as well as they have, they’re going to be serious contenders in the NL West. Blue Jays 7, Rangers 4
Is that Vernon Wells up in Toronto or did the Blue Jays make a move for Albert Pujols and didn’t tell anybody? Wells went 2-for-3 with two dingers and three RBI on Wednesday night as the Jays beat the Rangers 7-4. Wells now has three homers in two games and while it’s a little early for Toronto fans to be doing back flips about his production, he’s certainly off to a great start. Phillies 8, Nationals 4
Plenty of Philadelphia fans were on board Wednesday in Washington, D.C. to see Ryan Howard go 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBI in the Phillies’ 8-4 win over the Nationals. Apparently the Nationals’ front office didn’t restrict the number of tickets that the well-organized Philadelphia faithful could buy and Phillie fans traveled down to D.C. in buses in order to invade Washington. It was essentially a home series for the Phillies, so nice work, Washington front office.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
Posted in: MLB Tags: Boston Red Sox, Clayton Kershaw, Curtis Granderson, Edgar Renteria, Garrett Jones, Houston Astros, Lastings Milledge, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Roger Cedeno, Ryan Howard, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, Vernon Wells, Washington Nationals
2010 MLB Preview: NL West Posted by Anthony Stalter (03/27/2010 @ 8:00 pm)  In order to help get you ready for the MLB season, we’re doing division-by-division rankings with quick overviews on how each club could fair in 2010. Next to each team, you’ll also find a corresponding number written in parenthesis, which indicates where we believe that club falls in a league-wide power ranking. Be sure to check back throughout the next two weeks leading up to the season, as we will be updating our content daily. Enjoy. All 2010 MLB Preview Content | AL East Preview | AL Central Preview | AL West Preview | NL East | NL Central | NL West Last up is the NL West. 1. Colorado Rockies (7)
Before I wax poetically about the youthful Rockies, I have an axe to grind about the television broadcasting crew of Drew Goodman, Jeff Huson and George Frazier. Those three form one of the most biased, nonobjective broadcasting teams in baseball history. I’m not kidding. The Rockies never get the same calls as their opponents do. The Rockies never get the national recognition like everyone else does. The Rockies are the greatest team to ever walk the planet and if they played a roster compiled of Jesus, Moses, God and the 12 apostles, Colorado should win 5-4 in extras nine times out of 10. If not, the Rockies beat themselves, because there’s no way Jesus and the gang were better. Don’t believe me? Just ask Goodman, Huson and Frazier. All right, now that that’s out of the way – the Rockies are a damn fine club and should leapfrog the Dodgers in the division this year. Their core – Troy Tulowitzki, Ian Stewart, Chris Iannetta, Dexter Fowler and Carlos Gonzalez – are all 27 years old or younger and that doesn’t include 26-year-old stud Ubaldo Jimenez, who is absolutely filthy when he’s on. Throw in key veterans like Todd Helton (a perennial .300 hitter) and Jeff Francis (who could win 15-plus games filling in for the departed Jason Marquis), and Colorado has the tools to make a deep run. The question is whether or not starters Francis and Jorge De La Rosa will keep their ERAs below 5.00 and the young offensive players can move forward in their development and not backwards. But outside of the ultra-annoying broadcast team, I love the Rockies from top to bottom this year and believe they can do some damage in 2010. Read the rest of this entry » Posted in: MLB Tags: 2010 MLB Predictions, 2010 MLB Preview, Aaron Rowand, Adam LaRoche, Adrian Gonzalez, Andre Ethier, Anthony Stalter, Arizona Diamondbacks, Aubrey Huff, Barry Zito, Brandon Webb, Carlos Gonzalez, Casey Blake, Chad Billingsley, Chase Headley, Chris Iannetta, Chris Young, Clayton Kershaw, Colorado Rockies, Conor Jackson, Dan Haren, Dexter Fowler, Edwin Jackson, Freddy Sanchez, Ian Stewart, James Loney, Jamie McCourt Frank McCourt, Jeff Francis, Jonathan Sanchez, Jorge De La Rosa, Juan Uribe, Justin Upton, Kyle Blanks, Los Angeles Dodgers, Manny Ramirez, Mark DeRosa, Mark Reynolds, Matt Cain, Matt Kemp, Nate Schierholtz, Pablo Sandoval, Rafael Furcal, Russell Martin, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Tim Lincecum, Todd Helton, Todd Wellemeyer, Troy Tulowitzki, Ubaldo Jimenez
Kemp helps Dodgers take Game 1 over Cards Posted by Anthony Stalter (10/08/2009 @ 8:57 am) 
Thanks in part to Matt Kemp’s two-run dinger in the top of the first off Chris Carpenter, the Dodgers earned a 5-3 victory over the Cardinals in Game 1 of the NLDS. From MLB.com: It didn’t start well for the Dodgers. Wolf worked himself into a first-inning mess, loading the bases with no outs on a walk to Skip Schumaker, a ground-rule double by Brendan Ryan and an intentional walk to Pujols. He caught Matt Holliday looking and appeared to get Ludwick on a popup behind second base. Ronnie Belliard, starting instead of Gold Glove second baseman Orlando Hudson, headed out and Kemp came in as the ball hung in the air. At the last moment, Kemp yielded to Belliard, who tipped the ball with his glove but didn’t catch it as a run scored. Belliard made amends on the next batter, ranging up the middle to glove Yadier Molina’s sharp bouncer and turning it into an inning-ending double play.
The Dodgers added to the lead in the third. With runners on the corners, Casey Blake grounded over the third-base bag. Mark DeRosa made a diving stop and, as Andre Ethier scored from third, DeRosa airmailed the ball into right field trying to erase Manny Ramirez going to second base. But Wolf opened the fourth by walking No. 8 hitter Colby Rasmus, who was bunted to second by Carpenter and doubled home by Schumaker as Weaver started warming up. With two outs Wolf walked Pujols intentionally for the second time. But when he nicked Holliday with a 1-2 pitch he was replaced by Weaver. Carpenter was back in trouble in the fifth with two on and no outs. After pinch-hitter Juan Pierre’s sacrifice bunt, Furcal increased the lead to 4-2 with a sacrifice fly that ended an 11-pitch at-bat. The Dodgers sixth started with Ethier’s double, which was cashed in when Kyle McClellan hit Russell Martin with a pitch with the bases loaded.
All playoff games are big of course, but this one carried extra weight for the Dodgers because they hadn’t played well the week heading into the playoffs (they nearly handed the division over to the Rockies) and Carpenter had owned them in previous outings. So for Joe Torre’s club to get a win in Game 1 to set the tone for the rest of the series is big. Earning a win in Game 2 isn’t monumental, but it’s highly important for St. Louis. I’m sure before the series started Tony La Russa figured that he had to get at least a split out of the tandem of Carpenter and Adam Wainwright in these first two games before heading back home. We’ll see how Wainwright fares against Clayton Kershaw. |
