| time: | 7:40 p.m. PT |
| tv: | 4SD |
| sp: | Chris Young (7-3, 2.08) vs Hong-Chih Kuo (1-3, 6.33) |
| pre: | Padres.com, SI.com |
I guess Luis Gonzalez didn’t get the memo. You know, the one that says he’s washed up. Gonzalez is batting .350/.424/.624 over 132 plate appearances since May 21 and .301/.393/.500 overall. Russell Martin? Still a pain in the neck. Jeff Kent and Andre Ethier are doing okay, but the rest of the Dodgers offense is pretty dormant.
In an effort to get youngster James Loney more playing time (good idea), the Dodgers have moved Nomar Garciaparra to third base (bad idea), where his tepid .266/.306/.321 line wouldn’t seem to justify the injury risk of playing him at the hot corner. Garciaparra, the oldest 33-year-old in baseball, has one home run in 2007. That’s the same number as Friday night’s starter, Hong-Chih Kuo.
The Padres, meanwhile, welcome Brian Giles back to the lineup. Nobody seems to be expecting much from him, which is probably just as well. Better to be pleasantly surprised than disappointed that he still isn’t the player he once was.
Chris Young? I feel like I should say something about him, but I’ve run out of superlatives. How ’bout if he just keeps doing what he’s doing. Yeah, that’ll work.
Go Padres!
147 Comments
FYI, Corey Brock from Padres.com will be on MLB Radio tonight at 8:20 p.m. PT:
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/radio/index.jsp
It’s the “Under the Lights” program…
Not only is Brian Giles back tonight, but the Padres are getting imaginative: he’s leading off. I like it. At this point he’s much better suited to leading off than NOG.
OG is leading off. I like this idea. Let’s see how it goes.
Alriiiiiiiiiiiiiiight – going to the Ravine tomorrow night.
For those out of town, Matty V must be on assignment for FOX, as we’re getting Steve Quis in the booth with Mud.
Also, the Nomar at Third era continues for the Dodgers.
Surprised he didn’t get run on that full count pitch, but nice AB by OG. That’s what we need from him.
Kuo got squeezed on ball 4 to OG. Dodgers are squawking. Bodes well.
#2: I love this move.
Kuo’s already thrown 14 pitches to the first 2 batters. That’s what those guys are supposed to be doing.
Adrian chased a bad pitch there. He really needs to start getting more selective at the dish again.
Wow, Kemp just barely got to that.
Shit. CY doesn’t have much in command tonite and Pierre is on third with one out.
Pierre is amazing. How a guy with such terrible on-base skills can steal so many bases is beyond me.
He doesn’t steal them at a particularly good rate either.
12 – more proof that baserunning skills and hitting ability are not correlated
Man, Khalil just barely missed getting that ball on the fly too.
Man CY is missing badly tonite, which is totally handcuffing Barrett.
Not sure why Greene didn’t at least look Pierre back there
Alright Gonzales, we get it. You can foul off pitches. Make an out now, please.
17: His momentum was pulling him toward first. It’s better to get the sure out instead of no out. Plus, it is just the first inning.
Good call on the check swing there. He came around pretty far on that.
Wow, gift call from everyone’s favorite AAA umpire!
I don’t like the way this game is starting out..
Bad, bad, bad AB by Khalil there. I hope that’s the last we see of that tonite.
Thank you Juan Pierre!
Cruz comes through with a triple that should have been caught – Pierre and Kemp were going to collide so they both broke off.
I like being tied…but I still don’t like how we look so far..
CY’s having trouble putting away batters tonite.
That will work though.
26 – yeah. It’s still early though. Let’s see if/how the pitchers settle through the next two innings.
Adrian has been falling behind much much much more recently than he did at the beginning of the year. He’s not putting himself in a position to get good pitches to hit.
Why don’t we just put Furcal on 2nd base now and get on with things…
Cruz played that ball horribly…
It looks as if Cruz could really, really use a couple of days off
Oh Christ. CY’s losing it quickly.
That’s a horrible balk call.
that’s a horrific call…
re: # of HR’s by Nomar & Kuo … OG also has only 1 HR on the season … and he (OG) is prolly the oldest 36-year-old in baseball … just sayin’ …
nice baserunning by Cameron..
Nice little league play there Loney. Could we take a lead now?
Both teams are really exploiting the weaknesses of the other. Dodgers running wild on CY and the Padres running wild on the arms of the Dodger outfielders.
Why didn’t we send Barrett? Nice AB by Khalil, but that ball was hit to Pierre, was it not?
KOOOUUUUUZZZZZ!!!!
Kouz missle!!!
Kouzmanoff just did what he does. 3-run homer.
DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!DONG!!!
All this with no outs. That’s what we need more of out of this team.
Lineup is a lot better with Giles back and Barrett on board….doesn’t appear to be any easy outs anymore.
OG ran like a lead-off man.
Man I never thought I would say this, but it’s really nice to have OG back.
Special thanks to Jeff Kent on that play for having no range.
Whole family is hitting.
3 Run shot would sure be nice
The boys are swinging the bats well now. Any time you tell me that CY is pitching with a 5-run lead, I’d say that’s a good day.
43 … I love it when you do that … just like ol’ times!
I’d like to see us get Adrian a little bit of a break and have him sit the rest of this one. He doesn’t look like he’s moving around that well.
Klesko with an HR to get Gi’nts up 2-1 over D-backs …
Furcal doesn’t look happy
55: It is fun to watch the Giles brothers go in to second on the front half of a fielder’s choice or double play. Both of them play the game right.
If Giles gets hit next time up, we’re going to have benches clear. It looked like Furcal was complaining about what Marcus did…
At Eugene … Kulbacki with a triple … Cory Luebke with his debut (1 IP) …
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_06_29_eugasx_eveasx_1
It hardly seems fair to have Colt Morton playing in the AZL … but it is what it is … and it’s gonna result in Ws like this sometimes …
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_06_29_giarok_pdrrok_1
Chase Headley went back to AA San Antonio …
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_06_29_sanaax_tulaax_1
… and has picked up right where he left off … HR #14
And in game #2 of San Antonio’s DH, Nick Hundley show’d that he can be inspired by Chase Headley …
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_06_29_sanaax_tulaax_2
… HR #10 on the season for him!
It’s a *power* night all around …
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_06_29_lesafa_visafa_1
… Chad Huffman with HR #13 for the STORM!
Even Cedric (the Great) gets into the act …
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2007_06_29_dayafx_ftwafx_1
… HR #3 on the season … and a *nice* outing by Nate Culp!
I wouldn’t mind seeing the Dodgers deal Loney for a bat before the deadline. He really looks like a good hitter.
58: Brannan with 2 scoreless innings in that AZL game as well…
Way to shut ‘em down, CY.
63: I wonder how much of that is because people aren’t throwing him smart pitches?
Kemp is also supposed to be a good hitter, but CY made him look foolish.
Kemp has a bit more power, but strikes out a lot. I thought that the pitch that CY threw to him wasn’t that bad. Slider down and in. I don’t think it was a strike (although you’re not usually supposed to pitch lefties down and in).
Kouz looks locked in tonight-even the pitches that he takes he looks confident on. I hope that he’s starting another hot streak
Nice nite at the dish by Kouz.
I’m not so worried about Loney at this point in his career….he hit .287/.345/.382 at AAA this year as a 23 year old in a hitters environment.
Now if you told me the Dodgers would deal Kemp, Kershaw and Loney for Teixeria I’d be thrilled, especially after they started paying Teixeria 15M a year.
Does anyone know what place in the batting order Barrett usually hit in Chicago? I’m trying to figure out where Uncle Milty will hit.
If I remember KT on the radio today(welcome back to afternoon radio by the way)
OG
NOG
Connect 4
Agon
Cameron
Barrett/Bard
Greene
Kouz
Hendrickson is a little more erratic than I recall. Not complaining.
72: I’d be completely comfortable with that lineup.
#71: Barrett split time between #5 and #6.
At least Khalil didn’t break anything.
Marcus i sa nice kid. After Pierre slides into his knee, he asks Pierre if he’s ok.
Nah Marcus is a terrible human being and one of the worst 2nd baseman in baseball….he’s also boring to watch
signed SDSUBaseball
78: lol. Not to be a dick, but that’s one of the mroe clever comments I’ve read today.
Another nice AB by OG — he adds a different dimension to the Padres lineup.
78 – hilarious
OG acting like a real leadoff hitter, stealing bases and everything
Adrian continues to expand the strike zone.
83: Adrian is looking really lost at the plate right now. Hopefully the rest of the team can pick him up for a little bit.
Damnit Luis Gonzales is annoying at the dish (I sorta wish we would have signed him for a decent deal to play LF)
CY is friggin’ smokin’!
78: Well played.
I still can’t believe Luis Gonzalez got 7.5M for the season….must be nice to be the Dodgers
There are certain players who I feel I can read their facial expressions… Strikeout, HR, unearned run, CY looks more like he stressed about an upcoming exam than a professional ballplayer who can throw a heymaker when needed…
Khalil Greene is a golden god.
KG with a nice out. Wow.
Whoa, how does Khalil make that play?
72: Yeah, that’s a pretty tough lineup, especially if Milt can stay healthy and relaxed, Kouz continues to warm up and Greene lays off a breaking ball or two…
I do like OG in the leadoff spot, and this makes life hard for opposing managers rigidly dedicated to L-R splits. But get ready for some two hour 7th or 8th innings when the Pads next play LaRussa and the Cards…
Bonds hit 750
92: It’s those kinds of plays (which you can’t really statistically measure) that account for so much of my man-crush on Khalil.
Khalil got robbed
Thanks a lot, Nomar.
CY should probably be done here? (pretty high pitch count…)
Has Furcal slowed down some, or was that just a really nice play by Adrian?
98: His ankle is still bothering him (at least that’s the excuse Vin’s giving), so take that for what it’s worth.
#99: Makes sense. I mean, it was a nice play by Adrian, but I didn’t expect the return throw to get Furcal.
I hate to say this, but is anyone else worried we will never put the bloom back on Cla’s onion? Seems like this sort of thing sometimes happens with the “wacky delivery” guys (Nomo, BK Kim, etc.) for a while they are essentially unhittable, then the league figures something out and things get patchy…
That said, thanks Cla for a scoreless inning…
101: Cla seems to have worked out his issues, whatever they were, and has looked pretty nice the past few outings.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Bradley_Company
Shut em down Royce, you can do it!
All I know is that I wouldn’t want to face Ring if I hit left handed….he’s going to be a really, really nice guy to have around come playoff time
Typical slugging Dodger offense.
Maybe Trevor kindly asked Cla and Royce to create a save opp.
C’mon guys, put the breaks on here.
This is just like Linebrink against the Giants the other day. Ring is making good pitches.
The Dodgers are just killing the ball. Or, not.
Get Hoffman up…
That was pretty ridiculous. One was hit 40 feet and the other was 3 feet away from being a nice double play ball. Or maybe they wouldn’t have been able to turn it because it was hit so slowly.
re 109 – the “luck” factor rears its ugly head…
109 – good call. Let’s see what Scotty can do…
Finally a ground ball at someone.
Too bad the wild pitch happened. That ball would have been a double play.
Betemit’s PH numbers this year are sick: .438/.571/1.125. C’mon, Liney.
That inning was way too stressful. Can we get like 3 here in the top 9? Please?
Re: 116 – Liney helps correct the fluke.
Baseball’s so weird. Betemit has a good at bat and does a nice job hitting the ball the other way, but it’s caught. Garciapparra and Loney hit weak ground balls, and they reach base.
Okay, we survived. On the bright side, Marlon Anderson has been DFAd so we don’t have to worry about him.
Attaboy Scotty. Let’s get some insurance runs here so the Dodger fans all decide to leave early, as usual.
Whew. Those Betemit (like most pinch-hit) state must be a pretty small sample size?
120 – but Kent and Nomar are still around…who was the 4th guy that night?
122: whoops, stats (not state)
Is it just me, or does Tsao look like a young, Asain, Fernando V.?
125: Does that sound to anyone like a short Hideki Irabu?
120, 123 – never mind, I figured it out. I probably shouldn’t be speaking of that particular game…
That was a great at bat by Cameron. He fouled off every pitch he couldn’t hit, almost took him deep on the hanging pitch, and then went back up the middle on the pitch outside. Very encouraging.
#128: Well said. It won’t show up in the box score but great job there by Cammy.
re 116-I thought we agreed earlier that stats are meaningless?
Let’s go Trevor. Shut it down here.
Niiice play by Khalil. Furcal might beat that throw if he’s healthy.
Trade a run for an out. I gotta say, I’m impressed with Kouzy’s glove at 3rd.
Making this harder than it needs to be…
Shit. C’mon Trev. Get him here.
whew
YEAH.
Oh man, that wasn’t pretty. That game had no right being that close.
Watching this on gameday is maddening…
Well. That was interesting. We survived.
Solid win. Shouldn’t have been that close, but not much Ring could have done about those two singles he gave up. Hoffman made a couple of mistakes that inning and the Dodgers hit all of them.
Sometimes survival is enough. Any W is a good W, especially against the Dogs.
I’m officially concerned about Scott Linebrink. Not because of his most recent outings, but because this whole season he isn’t striking guys out at all. Pitching to contact is nice in theory, but you definitely don’t want your eighth inning guy subjecting you to the randomness of balls in play. That’s what happened in his two outings against San Francisco, and it will continue to happen periodically throughout the season. Bell can strike guys out, and Meredith is striking out more guys than Linebrink and can get ground balls to limit the damage on balls in play. I’d much rather have them in high leverage situations until Linebrink figures out how to strike out guys again.
OT: Mark Loretta hit a walk off homer against Brian Fuentes tonight. We gotta find a way to get him back here. He can play all over the field and hit. Gonzo needs a day off, badly.
143: I agree, as soon as it turned into a save situation Buddy brought in Linebrink. Ring wasnt pitching horribly and the situation doesnt always have to be reserved for Linebrink, especially when he has been as sketchy as he has recently.
Great win tonight. Nice to see Kouz make hit and good to see us put up a big inning stringing some hits together. Nice to see Cam, Kouz and Greene stay hot while Gonzo is slumping.
144: “Nice to see Kouz make hit…” Make an impact I mean. He was slumping a little again as well.
#143
Agreed about Bell, and I think we’d have seen him tonight had he not pitched in the previous 3 (or 4?) games. He needs a rest, too.
And, since we’re on the bullpen, if we’re never going to use K. Cameron in important situations, why not just give him back to the Twins? I’d rather have Cassidy or Thompson on the roster to mop things up. I know Cameron has the .40 ERA, but Black obviously doesn’t trust him to get hitters out in any real situation, so why is he on the roster? I think we should give him a chance to fail/succeed for real, then decide if we can use his roster spot for something more pressing, like a 3rd catcher or another backup infielder.
And I thought I’d get my two cents in about Bradley.: Good move. I assume he will be on a (very) short leash. He can play all 3 OF positions, hits equally well from both sides of the plate, runs well and is the kind of gap/line drive hitter that Petco was built for. Assuming (and it’s a huge assumption) that his typical divisive behavior doesn’t enter the picture, I thin this is an absolute steal, considering we didn’t give up anything for him, and can therefore release him with no remorse should he prove difficult.