re: Dodgers The road win streak ended at 15 games last night. I wish I could give a detailed analysis of how that happened, but Dodger games are under a TV black-out here, because of the dispute between Time Warner and CBS, so I didn't see the game. From what I could tell on the radio broadcast, it sounded like the Cardinals pitcher, Joe Kelly, pitched a great game and Kershaw didn't much help. I do question Mattingly's lineup as well. With Hanley out, he bats Puig in the cleanup position, behind Adrian Gonzalez. The fastest guy in MLB batting BEHIND the slowest player on the team? They left the bases loaded when Gonzalez couldn't even score from 2nd on a base hit up the middle. Oh well. The Cards are still the measuring stick in the NL and defense is the reason... http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2013_08_06_lanmlb_slnmlb_1&mode=recap_away&c_id=la
:?: re: Indians I'm still unclear on some things... We never get to see any Indians games out here, so my knowledge of them is zippo. Who are their best players and which players have contributed the most to the team's turn-around?
Best hitters are probably Kipnis, Bourn, Brantley, and Santana. Gomes, the BACKUP catcher plays a lot because he is batting .300 and has thrown out more than 50% of runners attempting steals. (Santana usually then moves over to third). Stubbs is crazy fast in the outfield and baserunning and is batting .250. Swisher and Aviles are versatile players who are hitting .250 ish. Basically no monster hitters but a lot of guys over .250 and much improved defense. Azdrubal Cabrera = very solid SS in a bit of a slump at .240. All these guys are contributing to the turnaround (except Kipnis, Cabrera, and Santana who were here last year.) Kazmir is a new pitcher having a great year. Salazaar is a rookie just ready to blossom (gave up 4 runs last night but pitched 7 2/3 with 9 K and 1 BB.) He ate up the minor leagues and was brought up this week...pitched one earlier game this year. Kluber is having a breakout year and Masterson an all star year. Bullpen struggling...nuff said.
:idea: Dodgers won 3 out of 4 in St. Louis and they're sweeping the Rays in LA. They've only lost three games since the All-Star break and the reason is pitching, pitching and more pitching. The team ERA is the lowest in MLB. There's some good races left, but the Dodgers, Tigers and Braves are blasting other teams out of the way...
Rays pulled off the old hidden ball trick on the Dodgers...first time it's been pulled off successfully since 2007.
Here it is. The play of the year. Hilarious. Can't believe that no Dodger saw it coming. Uribe didn't know what hit him. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/qfAFLRv7ZEs" frameborder="0"></iframe>
Uribe is always tutoring Puig like an older brother, so after the game Puig and Adrian Gonzalez presented him with a base that had a shoe taped to it as a reminder to never leave the base until you've seen the ball with your own eyes...
Dodgers swept the Rays tonight, despite the team's Little League defense. Dee Gordon made three errors and I have no faith in him... Puig missed a bunt sign..........doh! Kershaw finally got some run support, winning 8-2. His all-time record when the team gets him 4 runs or more is 49-0....!
Earlier, Stu mentioned that Detroit picked up Jose Iglesias at SS for defense. Well............. <iframe src='http://mlb.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=29653669&width=400&height=224&property=mlb' width='400' height='224' frameborder='0'>Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe>