While Yasiel Puig was busy getting arrested for driving 97 mph in a 50 mph zone, the Dodgers climbed back to .500 on the strong backs of Clayton Kershaw and Carl Crawford. In the Colorado series starting tonight, the Blue can do that one better. They can take the Rockies out of first place. In fact, with a sweep, the Dodgers could surpass the Rockies. But one game at a time.
Tonight, Ted Lilly is in his second start of the year, going up against Tyler Chatwood. Lilly had a decent first start of the year, but as oldbrooklynfan said, we’re gonna need more than two runs tonight. Hanley Ramirez may be in the game tonight. Tuesday sees Hyun-Jin Ryu against Jorge De La Rosa. Ryu has so far been rock solid in his starts. Wednesday’s starters are Josh Beckett and Juan Nicasio. We’ll see if Beckett can keep the balls in the ballpark; so far, he seems to like to give up two HR’s per game. If he keeps all the balls in the ballpark, look for Donnie to make up for it by bringing in Guerrier in relief.
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Outside the Dodgers 
Puig is back in his natural place as DH for the Lookouts tonight, batting third. Let’s hope he does better as a designated hitter than he did as the designated driver.
Nice post Crash!
I hope today is the last day that we are at or below .500
If Hanley returns, I hope he can make the throws.
I don’t see Hanley yet.
Crawford lf
AJ c
Adrian 1b
Matt cf
Andre rf
Shoe 2b
Cruz 3b
Tattoo ss
Lilly p
Gruesome last 4. Better hope that Lilly can keep the ROX 3 or under, not that this line-up could even score 3.
As poorly as Lilly performs as a hitter, his career BA of .102 is above that of the 2013 version of Cruz (.098).
Hanley activated, although he probably won’t play until tomorrow….Kersh placed on bereavement list.
Hi Everybody
I Just watched Brooklyn stay alive against Chicago in the NBA Playoff.
Let’s go Dodgers!!!!!
That looked like 53 (Ron) of TBLA that caught Fowler’s lead off shot. Lilly didn’t waste any time giving up a bomb.
I could hit what he’s throwing! Crap 4-0 already!
Lilly being Lilly.
Bad start, I just hope Lilly, at least, settles down.
Lilly is sure pegging the old suck-o-meter tonight.
That’s just what he deserves for not wanting a rehab assignment….thinks it’s beneath him.
I understand the Rox didn’t take batting practice, before the game that is.
My son is a lefty throwing 90mph. I think he can give Lilly a run for his money. On a positive note, Matt Cain have up 3 home runs in one inning against the Dbacks 🙂
Well that’s good to know.
I saw in the paper that Kershaw left the clubhouse quickly after the game yesterday before reporters could speak to him. No reason was given. Now he is on the bereavement list?
That’s what they said. No details. Kershaw said he would speak when he returns. could be 3 – 7 days…however, they think he will make start Friday against Giants.
L.A. Times reports “A player can only be placed on baseball’s bereavement list for a death in the immediate family.”
That’s true.
KABOOM….more runs. this sucks!
Sure glad Lilly has all that vast experience to draw upon and we don’t have to rely on some talented kid like Magill. Thank God he’ll get his expeience from the bullpen where he belongs.
We’re all Dodger fans here, but if I was a casula baseball fan, pulling up a chair and watching the Dodgers would be a snooze-fest. Granted, the team is down big tonight, but Mattingly has to be the most boring Dodger manager in recent memory–and that includes Torre and Little. Day after day, night after night, he does NOTHING with the offense. He sits on his hands, has no fun creating with the talent at hand. He looks like a guy fearing for his job, trying NOT to do anything to raise eyebrows or foster second-guessing. I still haven’t figured out the love affair with this guy as manger. He’ll be lucky to get out of April at .500.
I agree 100%
STOP THE BLEEDING!!!
Got tourniquets?
Not enough 😉
Wow, the only bright spot tonight is I am not there in person.
Poor Vinny is!
I was thinking the same thing! But you can hear it in his voice, he is just as disappointed as any of us.
True. He only has 5 more innings to try and entertain us….and, I bet he finds a way.
Agreed…and that I can watch both the NBA playoffs and Dobie Gillis reruns.
If this team sucked any more, Hoover would sue them for patent infringement.
Can we safely say that the Lilly, Uribe, and Guerrier 3 year contracts Nedcompoop orchrestrated are a total failure….
Hell yes, we knew it 2 years ago when he signed them..
Why is Ned still employed with this team… I just don’t get it…
How can anyone in the front office be surprised at Lilly’s “performance” when he did the same thing in single A rehab before they activated him?
We have an idiot making the personnel decisions and an idiot managing the team. Wonder if Greinke is regretting his decision yet to sign with us? He’s probably already thinking that opt-out can’t come soon enough.
How long before Lilly is back on the DL?
Don’t worry, enchanted, by the time Grienke returns, Ned and Donnie might be vacationing in Europe.
You know what the most depressing part of the whole thing is Kahli? If Uribe wasn’t on the team we’d have two fewer wins.
Sad, but so true.
OK, I’ll play…the most depressing thing to me is that my beloved Dodgers are becoming unwatchable…and I don’t just mean tonight’s blow out. This team is dead in the water, day after day. Stan? You there?
That’s enough for me.
G’night all!
Looks like the Rockies are really helping there batting averages tonight (and HRs & RBI), too bad it’s at our expense.
Hummmm a 1-2-3 inning.
This was just one of those games.
I’m available, since we seem to be out of pitchers.
And I can’t quite get used to all those zeroes in the box score.
Unacceptable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love how Donnie gets his team fired up to play a division rival at home. Can hardly wait for the encore.
He will probably rest anybody that actually showed signs of hitting… Geez!!! He needs to go with Nedcompoop…..
The sooner, the better!
By the way…surprise, surprise, Lilly having an MRI on his back 😉
And of course, Ned gave away Harang for nothing…..
Not real high on Harang, but, should have gotten more than a washed up back up catcher for a 180 inning 4, 5 pitcher….
Good Grief as Nelly would say.
And we picked up most of his salary… Teams muxt salivate to make deals with Nedcompoop….
Just a few stats on the ever-aggressive Dodgers under Donnie Baseball: They’ve hit into 21 double plays…but have only been caught stealing THREE times, meaning, they NEVER run, never put runners in motion, lest, heaven forbid, they are thrown out. Proof of this is, other than Crawford and Kemp (with 4 stolen bases each), the rest of the team has exactly TWO stolen bases. And sacrifice bunts by non-pitchers? Exactly THREE. So much for manufacturing runs and putting pressure on a defense.
True…I guess Donnie keeps waiting for the long ball 😉
The only thing more dangerous than Ned of the past several years is Ned with unlimited money behind him – how long will it take for the owners to realize that?
I hope I’m right but I notice a team usually plays a lot better, at least one game after being shellaced.
No Dre today. 😦
At least he hit the ball last night…not happy at all!
Just heard Carl scratched from lineup (a little hammy tightness) Dre back in…a game of musical chairs 😉
At least it’s not like the musical chairs game we’re playing in the starting rotation 😦
That’s true. I wish we’d have musical chairs with manager, pitching coach and GM.
So sad to hear about Clayton losing his father and Ned, his mother…my prayers to their families.
My condolences to Ned and Clayton and their family and love ones.
I lose my great grandmother on the 20th and she turned 100 couple of months ago. My condolences to Ned and Clayton.
Ataway Matt.
So far, much better than last night!
Way better ha
Go Adrian
Yes Jerry.
Woo-Hoo…another run!
Nice hit, Punto!
Nicky .
Unusual but that’s what we need.
I See You!
….and, Dre with a double!
Ryu! We have found our DH!
I was gone for a while. not from the game but from my computer. I wanted to get Scully on MLB.TV. MLB EXTRA INNINGS had the Rockie feed.
Great to see Hanley blast one.
I have the Rockies feed…they are being quite fair to us.
That’s good if it doesn’t bother you.
I sometimes have troble getting MLB.TV up. Sometimes I have to restart my PC and then bring up MLB.TV first before anything else.
I’m watching on television..DirecTV Extra Innings…love it. Much better than my computer.
I agree, I have TWC Extra innings, it’s also beter than MLB.TV
Ryu might be tiring.
It would be great to score some more runs, Ryu may not last much longer,
The umpire was tough on the strike zone that inning.
I hope the Dodgers hold on to the lead. It would be nice to get out of April at least at .500.
Hold your breath…Beli coming in!
Damn…he really sucks!
Another nice start by Ryu. FIve quality starts out of six.
Make that 3
Yes he was fantastic.
6 outs to go.
Here we go 3 more
Much better! Now, let’s get Beckett some runs tomorrow….he deserves a better outcome than he’s been getting.
Very Tru…. I agree. We’ve got to get these guys some runs to work with….
Well Thanks to Ryu, we finish April at .500
That’s more like it. Not nearly as many zeroes in the box and the bull pen did their part. Another fine start from Ryu.
Woo-Hoo….. Nice win…. Kudos to Ryu……….
It’s good to move into May, at least at the .500 mark and a shot tonight to gain ground on the Rockies. Like the rest of you I feel we need a lot more offense.
This team has to start scoring runs at a much faster pace or else.
Come on Beckett- and guys let’s give him some support.
Take one step forward and two steps backward. The starting lineup now contains Hanley Ramirez, but is missing Carl Crawford and Mark Ellis. Those are big shoes to fill – Punto and Schumaker don’t begin to fill them. Injuries suck.
Welcome to the month of May
April was a rollercoaster ride of sorts…
Our starting pitching strenth was reduced due to injuries, the team from day one just seemed out of balance offensively, for whatever reason and the bullpen has been just horrible. Yet we sit at .500 for April. We’ve already seen the use of an extra infielder, which resulted in a grandslam walk off and a position player being used as mop up on the mound, which resulted in three scoreless outs not to mention a bench clearing brawl which cost us Grienke for a few months. I lost track of how many times we have had the bases loaded only to come up empty, although at my last recollection it was an astonishing 2 for 22.
This team has plenty of room for improvement, 3rd base is far from steady or even productive, offesively the bench is weak, with the only so called pop being a catcher who is past his prime and Uribe, who I will say has been better by at least showing plate disipline, but soon pitchers will readjust knowing he wont chase bad pitches any longer, and the subject was having some pop off the bench to begin with. However the biggest concern for me at least is the bullpen, without some steady arms out there, your whole season is going to be up and down…And right now, this bunch is shaky at best.
We have had some flashes of excitement and solid baseball…Ryu has been above average and seems to generate run support even going as far to chip in himself with the bat. Crawford has been above average as well…when was the last time we had a lead off threat that could go deep? AGon has been steady on both sides of the field. Punto has been a good ballplayer when given the chance to contribute. Andre had a good month facing lefties, even if in the process he tailed off somewhat against righties and Kemp has been better offensively as of late.
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Like I said welcome to the month of May, where there is room to be optimistic, yet also room to foresee disaster if you so choose…
Personally, I think the offensive problems will work themselves out… I am hopeful that the injuries will become less prevailant, at least to the above replacement guys. And if Beli, Kenley, League Paco and Howell can man up in the bullpen, the month of May just might be have some enjoyable Dodger baseball in it…
P.S. I know it’s been a month now, but I am still angry, disappointed and embarassed that we lost the Opening Series to the Giants…
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Let’s Go Dodgers, Let’s Go!!
One of these days I’ll learn to proofread…until then, thanks for overlooking my errors….
I typed this after I came in from mowing the lawn, I think I was out of oxygen…trust me when I say,I am still sober!!!
You’re great, errors & all 😉
🙂
Glad I had tickets to last night’s game vs. Monday night. Nice to see Hanley hit one out on his bobble head night. Ryu was awesome, mixing his fast ball and off speed stuff to keep the Rockie hitters off balance. Too bad Ryu had a high pitch count and had to come out so early. Let’s get May off to the right start with a win tonight.
My condolences as well to Ned, Clayton and their families.
Having lost my father at around the same age as Clayton, I was saddened when I heard the news….My heart and my prayers go out to both the Kershaw and the Colletti families.
I’m hearing Mark will go on DL Friday.
I just peaked at the schedule for the month of May…Rockies, Giants, D-backs…all in front of in the standings. It doesn’t get easier with the Marlins, Nats, Brewers and Cards. after that..finishing with the Angels…Get R Done and Lets Have Some Fun!
….all in front of us in the standings…sheesh!!!
Another bad start.
We’ll be okay….I feel it tonight!!
Keep that feeling.
See.. we got 2 back already.
YES!!!
Beckett is terrible. Sometimes I feel like we only have two pitchers – Kershaw and Ryu. I can’t wait for Greinke to come back.
So far..you’re right.
Damn…robbed on that one!
I hate the Celtics so much but the Knicks better win this series.
Come on AJ.
Woo-Hoo…wild pitch…I’ll take the run!
Wild pitch, that ties it up.
Go Dodgers!!!
POOF!!
There’s the Becket we’ve all come to know!!!
Crap!!! Beckett sucks!! What a waste…
Stupid Beckett. We’re gonna need some runs.
Donnie has given up on this game, as shown by his use of GrrrrRear.
Hey ya’ll! Nice to see so many of the old gang still here!
You know, with all the injuries and all the struggling and all the virtually unwatchable baseball, we’re still at .500. I gotta believe that when (not if) Kemp starts hitting, we’ll take off.
Hey Eric! Good to see you here. I hope you’re right about Kemp and the offense.
Meanwhile, the bench looks pretty thin tonight. I’d like to see Donnie use Ryu as a pinch hitter rather than Cruz.
How ya’ doin?
I’m so glad to see you, Eric!
Hi’Ya Dad… Great to see/read you…
You’re right. With all the injuries and poor performances, we are very fortunate to still be at .500.
Crash, OBF, tru and jhall my brother! Nice to see/read all of you too.
Trying to stay positive in this young season, but have you ever seen a worse in-game manager than Mattingly?
As you probably know, I am not impressed with Dildon….
I am still in shock that Nedcompoop is still around. Geez!!!
What a boob!!!
Yeah. I think I recollect that.
Not since Little League.
HA!
Looks like our offense has shut down for the night. They got no fire in the belly!
I believe this overworked bull pen is looking forward to having tomorrow off. . . .
A sad, sad tale. An overworked bullpen on May 1. But true. It never fails that Donnie empties the bullpen no matter the score. Whatazero.
Well, g’night all! Four am comes around soon enough!
Nice to see Javy Guerra back.
Good night all.
Look, I know I’ve always been guardian of the Donnie-firing watch, and I mean the guy no harm…jobs are hard enough to find these days, especially multi-million dollar jobs. But since August 1, 2012, after the “big” trades, our hero is 2 games over .500. Now, Kasten is no fool. Brass must already be convinced he is not the guy for the job, long term. I believe it’s now a matter of PR and timing. He may even finish the year, though I doubt Magic & Co. will want to cede a very winnable division for the sake of propriety. We shall see.
Anyone think we will still be .500 at the end of May???
Even if Donnie doesn’t burn the bullpen up, I don’t they are all that good. I hope they prove me wrong though…
Let me try this again…
Even if Donnie doesn’t burn the bullpen up, I don’t THINK they are all that good…
If we are not a 500 team the end of May….I think Donnie will be gone. Waiting until the end of the season won’t do for our owners. Let’s face it…he sucks! Even Vinny questioned his moves (in a very subtle way) especially with the use of the BP.
🙂 Dildon should be gone…
Ned should be gone before Dildon…..
I agree!
…and, I was serious about Vinny questioning Donnie when he took Paco out, nobody on, not having any problems. Kevin Kennedy feels the same ….. especially with Mr. Genius changing the lineup every freaking night!
It seems to me every manager “burns” the bullpen although I am sure it could be argued some manage the matchups and get results better than others. With starters barely able to last 5 innings, what is a manager to do? And with all the situational set ups with lefty-righty strategies, it is not uncommon to see multiple pitching changes in one inning. Look how often teams bring in a lefty just to face Ethier.
Look, is anyone really surprised at how much the Dodger bullpen has been used so far this season? Did anyone really expect much from anyone other than Kershaw with regard to going deep into games on a regular basis? Certainly Beckett has been a big disappointment. And the lack of run support certainly has not helped.
Now it looks as if the injury bug is still alive and well. Once again we all knew the Dodgers had to stay healthy this season and so far that has not been the case.
I still want to know what the hell was Jansen doing in last night game when he pitch 2 innings thrown 23 pitches the prior night and of course we had a day off but still he had no business pitching last night game. He went from 1.29 ERA to 2.57 just like that. I think Paco could had done the job in the 7th to. I was hoping Paco would’ve came in the 4th or Howell when Cargo got that 2 rbi double.
Why is Nedcompoop still employed by the Dodgers?????
Worth noting
The Dodgers haven’t won a season series against the Giants since taking 11 of 18 in 2009 — also the last season in which the Dodgers reached the playoffs.
We might have a chance Friday with Kersh….I swear last night Vinny said Lilly is supposed to pitch Saturday…we won’t win if he does. I am a fan but, I can hit what Ted throws up there….Sunday we should win with Ryu…so, I figure out of 3. Unless of course, Donnie decides to rest his best players…then they will get us.
That sounds good tru, I love the optimism…Although with this squad, I am learning nothing comes easy…I hope you are right 🙂
Big series coming up against the hated ones in their house. I don’t care if it is still “early” in the season, the Dodgers need to step it up and while I am sure the players would say this is just another series, I am sure they know full well what this series could mean. Are they up to it? Or will the injuries and lack of depth be too much to overcome?
I’m reading that Dee Gordon is fielding ground balls at 2nd base….unless Mark Ellis is through for the season, I think it makes more sense to ask Hanley to move to 3rd….if they want Dee up here put him at short and keep Mark at 2nd.Thoughts?
I agree, if we’re going to bring Dee back up, I’d rather see him at SS, I see no reason for him to work out at 2B, because that position is well covered in Mark’s absence.
I don’t believe that it’s still early. I think now (May) is the time for the Dodgers to start winning. It may be too late after the month ends.
I just read the article in the Times on McGwire stating that he thinks the team will start hitting any day now…I am gonna agree with this, I too think the team will fare better offensively, it seems St.Louis has had slow starts in years past, not that this is related, just thinking that things could pick up soon…especially if you factor in that we have a new hitting coach, with a new approach to hitting, as well as new teammates trying to find a way to gel as a unit…
I also read the articles on Dee Gordon taking grounders at second base…At the moment Dee still commits a lot of errors at short, but as we seen last season can be a big motivator on offense just by getting on base and is currently hitting over .300 in AAA. If they are trying to find a way to get him on the big league roster ( whether it be this season or next), I am all for it. (l doubt Hanley is going to change positions anytime soon unless he commits a bunch of error’s at short as well?) Not to mention that we have Seager in the minors currently listed as a shortstop too.
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Like I noted earlier, May is going to be a tough month of baseball, as we face some rather challenging opponets in the days ahead. So early or not, I think it is more than past time to man up as a squad and put forth our best baseball…
Rivalry Time is upon us again…and if losing a game or a series doesn’t get your blood flowing… something is amiss…and by amiss, I mean suck it up and refuse to lose…
Let’s Go Dodgers, Let’s Go!!!
If you look over the past several years, and probably much longer than that, it seems to me that it’s irrelevant as to who the hitting coach is. Those coaches may and should have some impact at the minor league level, but once a guy arrives in the majors, I think he totally overlooks the coach anyway. If he can’t hit in the majors, he won’t hit in the majors no matter how much coaching he’s going to get.
Someone has shown Juan Uribe how to lay off bad pitches…which has resulted in Juan at least getting on base…Dre has been hitting lefties better unless I am mistaken… I am saying that getting players to buy into the hitting coach’s philosophy and giving them time to make it work will pay off at some point. McGwire has had success as a player and as a coach I am willing to give him some time with this…When Manny came over everyone bought into what he was saying and doing (even if he was cheating, the philosophy rubbed off on the rest of the team.)
I am just saying what I believe bear, but I understand where you are coming from as well…
I am not saying McGwire is going to turn Sellers into Ted Williams…but I think it is possible that a good hitting coach can make improvement’s on players as well as the teams ability to get on base.
I’ll throw my 2 cents in…
There’s no disputing the numbers McGuire was able to produce out of the Redbirds’ players – their OBPs were significantly up. You’ve seen that now in of all people, Juan Uribe. And the problem hasn’t been getting on base so much, its getting them home. Kemp’s either hurting or a chowder head or both and quite frankly I don’t think anyone will ever get him to lay off those low and away pitches.
But where I see the problems lie are squarely with Donnie. First, he’s got an overall slow team. Now a smarter manager might want to do some hit and run, sacraficing – something to get them in motion. But Donnieball is the same as Joeball in that you sit back and wait for the 6-run homer. We’ve had the best baserunning coach in the business the last year and a third, but have you noticed it at all? Donnie won’t play to the NL style or to the talent and capabilities this team has. He’s Joe all over again, ensuring failure and never setting up someone to succeed. I think if you put in a manager that not only inspires, but puts his players in the best possible position to succeed, you’ll be saying McGuire is a hitting genius.
Enchanted, I agree with your evaluation of having the best baserunning coach in the business, in Lopes and not using this to our advantage. I do wonder who we have that can actually run full speed without pulling a hammy though.
I am so sick and tired of hearing about how the Dodgers are right there, just waiting to explode…how this incredible offensive machine is moments away from nirvana. Bottom line: hasn’t happened ever in the Mattingly reign. For whatever reason. Read where the players love Mattingly because he “gets it” and how they’re real comfortable with him. My problem exactly. This team needs a disciplined leader, not a buddy.
Not sure I would put much into Dee Gordon taking balls at second base. Perhaps there is a move waiting to happen but I would be surprised if the Dodgers actually expected Dee to play second at the major league level anytime soon. Of course, a debilitating injury to Mark Ellis could cause all sorts of potential moves while Gordon also still has to prove he can hit major league pitching and hitting .300 at the AAA league in which he plays does not mean much.
We have debated many times about the effectiveness of hitting and pitching coaches but the consensus, at least in this forum, lead more towards the importance of the pitching coach as compared to the hitting coach. I have no doubts McGuire can be an effective teacher but as everyone knows, the student has to apply those lessons.
The plain truth is that Donnie SUCKS and will always SUCK, with or without McGuire or anybody else as the hitting coach!
On top of that Ned SUCKS and will always SUCK regardless whether Donnie or somebody else manages the team!