In what could be a playoff preview, the Dodgers enter St. Louis today chasing the all-time record for consecutive road victories (17) set by the New York Giants in 1916. They have a team record 14 in the bank, and they adjusted their pitching rotation so that the Cards will face Greinke, Kershaw, and Ryu instead of Capuano. Mattingly rested all starters in their sweep of the Cubs and the pitching staff is on it's own streak of 24 consecutive scoreless innings... On a down note: neither team will be at full strength. The Cards have Yadier Molina on the DL and he might be the best player in the National League. The Dodgers lost Hanley Ramirez last night and if Molina isn't the best player in the league, he is. Puig missed yesterday with a jammed thumb, but the rumor is that he will play against the Cards... http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?c_id=la&gid=2013_08_05_lanmlb_slnmlb_1&lang=en&mode=preview
Big series starting tonight for the Indians and Tigers. Both teams have been on a tear. Cleveland has won 10 of last 11. Detroit has won 12 of last 13. Detroit up by 3 games...thus far this year they have absolutely owned Cleveland (9-3).
This is a great time of year for baseball. I'm glad to see recently down teams like the Indians, Orioles, and Pirates in the hunt.
It was Don Drysdale...JO'Co talking about streaks made me think of him. I never thought his scoreless inning streak would ever be broken. But of course it was. I'm surprised that he didn't win more games than he did, he won 209.
Drysdale was intimidating and consistently effective. I agree, Terry. I thought he had won many more than he did.
Yeah he always had a lot of starts and IP's and played on some good Dodger teams. I still haven't gotten over the 1966 WS, never saw that coming.
re: Don Drysdale He pitched his final game at age 33. Like Koufax, who was done at age 30, "Big D" had arm troubles that could be easily fixed today. Back then, when a flamethrower injured his arm he was through... re: Dodgers The Dodgers beat the Cards today 3-2. The game was blacked out here, because of the dispute between CBS and Time/Warner, but ESPN came to the rescue and we got to see it... http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2013_08_05_lanmlb_slnmlb_1&mode=recap_away&c_id=la An overlooked player for you home gamers to consider is Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis. In a league that has catchers like Yadier Molina and Buster Posey, it's easy to forget that statistically he's the best defensive catcher in baseball. Catchers who throw out 40% of base runners are almost unheard of. Molina had thrown out 42% of all runners going into the All-Star break and Ellis had gunned down an astounding 52%......think about it. He also looks at more pitches than any other hitter in the league, forcing opposing pitchers to work harder and burn out sooner... Clayton Kershaw gets the start in today's game. He was the National League pitcher of the month for June and his ERA is dwindling away to tiny numbers... http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2013_08_06_lanmlb_slnmlb_1&mode=preview&vkey=preview_web_away&c_id=la
:idea: Actually, I was kind of hoping that you would talk more about it. Remember, I don't follow the American League, despite the fact that the MLB stadium closest to my house is the Angels. As far as I know, the Tigers are going to pound everyone in that division. Do the Indians have a chance? What have they got? Do they have enough pitching to survive the "dog days" of August? Please fill me in.
I'm more of a fan and not as much as an expert observer as you are, but... I think the Tigers clearly have the better team. They have the hitters, the starters, and bullpen to dominate just about anybody. They lost Jhonny Peralta to the PED scandal, and that will hurt them a little bit offensively, but they picked up Jose Iglesias to cover the defense. The Tribe made some great acquisitions in the off season to improve the team. They added Nick Swisher, Jason Giambi, Michael Bourn, Mark Reynolds, Ryan Raburn, Yan Gomes, Mike Aviles, Drew Stubbs. New pitchers include Trevor Bauer, Bryan Shaw, and Matt Albers. And of course the new manager, Terry Francona. Cleveland is a much improved team, and capable of contending late in the season...wild card??? Maybe. The bullpen was a strength last year but has struggled some this year...in particular Vinnie Pestano lost some velocity and effectiveness coming off an injury and has been sent down. Marc Rzepczynski has been picked up to replace him. Chris Perez has been effective as closer (if you don't count last night). Starter Justin Masterson made the all star team (as did Kipnis). Cory Kluber and Scott Kazmir have been very good as starters. Ubaldo Jiménez has lost some of his velocity and is learning to be more of a pitcher...he has had some good games and some so-so ones. All in all, we don't have the talent of the Tigers, but Tito has them playing hard and effectively, for the most part. The only way I can figure how we can be so close to Detroit in the standings is if Detroit is taking a few games off. They certainly don't when they play us...it's now 10-3 Detroit. Last night we had a 2-0 lead going into the 9th. Cory Kluber (6.75 ERA against the Tigers in earlier games) pitches 7 1/3 shutout innings. Then in the ninth Chris Perez comes in looking for his 12th straight save and gets tattooed. Very frustrating. The loss puts us 4 games behind Detroit. Not good. Great pitcher's battle tonight; Masterson vs. Verlander.
Stu The Tigers have struggled in the bullpen this season. The GM took a chance on a rookie Rondon and then Jose Valverde when Rondon struggled early. To give you some idea of how miserable the bullpen was during the first half of the year, consider that the Tigers today are 20 games over .500. The combined records of bullpen pitchers Vilarreal, Valverde, Coke, Downs, Rondon, and Alburquerque are 3-13. Since the All Star break they've added Veras in a trade, flushed Valverde, traded Vilarreal, recalled Rondon and given the closer role to Benoit who has a 1.37 ERA and is 13 for 13 in save situations. Drew Smyly who battled it out with Parcello for the 5th starter has done a great job as a set up man and occasional closer. The Central Division has been on a tear since the break. Going into last night's games the Tigers, Tribe and KC were all 9-1 in their last 10 games.
With Iglesias at SS, the Tigers should attract more female fans, who will go just to hear him sing the national anthem. :lol: