Results tagged ‘ mlb ’
Dodgers’ A.J. Ellis looks forward to healthy 2013 season
The Los Angeles Dodgers $2 million catcher AJ Ellis, has recovered fully from off season knee surgery. Ellis who showcased his leadership in his first full season is already participating in off season baseball drills. He recovered from the October 5th proceder that required some clean up in his medial and lateral meniscus.
Zack Greinke’s contract heard around the league
After several days of speculation during last week’s Winter Meetings, the Los Angeles Dodgers remained relatively quiet. There were updates from GM Ned Colletti on the status of signing free agent pitcher Zack Greinke. Stating that the Dodgers were interested to they weren’t even in the neighborhood of capturing the highly ansticipated superstar.
After many meetings with the Dodgers that included a formal visit to the ownership from Greinke himself without any agents or media, Saturday was the day they locked up their pitcher for the next six years at $147 million pending a physical.
On Monday, Dodger partner Earvin “Magic” Johnson revealed that Greinke had passed his physical and the press conference to introduced their latest star would take place on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.
Greinke’s new deal is the highest deal for a right handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. That deal along with Sunday’s signing of Korean lefty Hyun-jin Ryu, sent the Dodgers payroll just north of $225 million for the 2013 season.
Both Greinke and Ryu are welcomed by the Dodgers who fill the void of depth on the pitching rotation. Greinke and Ryu join 2011 Cy Young winner and ace Clayton Kershaw, Josh Beckett who was acquired during last season in a trade with the Boston Red Sox. Along with Chad Billingsley, Ted Lilly who’s recovering from shoulder surgery, Chris Capuano, and Aaron Harang. There has been talk of trading either Capuano, Harang or both to boost their infield possibly.
The abundant spending of the Dodgers during this off season could be traced to their upcoming new television deal with either FOX Sports or Time Warner that may be worth as much as $6 billion. Which will provide a substantial return on the $2.15 billion the Guggenheim Baseball Group purchased the team from former owner Frank McCourt.
Greinke who was drafted in 2002 by the Kansas City Royal, won the AL Cy Young Award in 2009 under then manager Troy Hillman. Ironically Hillman is the bench coach for the Dodgers and was able to give extensive insight on Greinke’s talents which aided the team signing him.
After being trade to the Milwaukee Brewers in 2010, a year later Greinke went 16-6 with a 3.83 ERA. He also won his first 11 starts at home after coming off the disabled list due to a rib injury at the beginning of that season.
In 2012 he was an outstanding 15-5 with 3.46 ERA before he was traded to the Los Angeles Angels.
Greinke is often a quiet guy who does most of his talking on the mound as the power pitcher that he is, and adds bulk to any line-up that he’s apart of. One of the main reason the Dodgers aggressively went after Greinke and won his services over the Texas Rangers.
No matter how “weird” Greinke may be, all that counts is that he remains with the winning competitive attitude that he has had since the beginning of his career. Other teams have been put on notice especially the World Series champion San Francisco Giants, this Dodger team is ready for combat this season.
Kershaw destroys Giants in season finale
With another year out of the playoffs, the Dodgers had nothing left to play for except pride and to build on something greater for the 2013 season. Clayton Kershaw had an opportunity to land back to back ERA titles. He’d be the second Dodger to achieve that milestone since the great Sandy Koufax from 1962-66.
“I don’t care. It was fun to get a win and hopefully build off these last nine games,” said Kershaw regarding the ERA title.
Kershaw had that playoff Cy Young gleam in his eye as he took the mound and began pitching in dominate fashion. Kershaw lost focus for a moment, giving up a single to Marco Scutaro. Pablo Sandoval doubled to deep left which advanced Scutaro to third base. Catcher Buster Posey hit a sacrifice ground out to shortstop that scored Scutaro for the 1-0 Giants lead in the top of the fourth inning.
The Dodgers struggled offensively, until Luis Cruz knocked out a single, and made it safe to first base thanks to an error by Scutaro. Tim Federowicz connected on a single to center. With two on base, Kershaw decided to aid his own cause by connected on a RBI single to right center that scored Cruz. Federowicz attempted to make it to third but was thrown out as the Dodgers tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Giants manager Bruce Bouchy decided it was a good idea to bring in reliever Clay Hensley for starter Ryan Vogelsong. That decision would not help the Giants, as Andre Either doubled to deep right field. Adrian Gonzales continued on his 15 game hitting streak as he knocked in an RBI single that scored Either, and gave the Dodgers the 2-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning.
As Kershaw continued focused and poised in his dominate form, the Dodgers gave him the proper run support he needed. After Nick Punto popped out at third base, Alex Castellanos knocked out a solo home run that gave the Dodgers the 3-1 lead. They weren’t finished as Elian Herrera singled to left, then Juan Rivera decided to knock out a two run homer deep to center. Dodgers led 5-1 over the rival Giants.
After a great crowd applause for Calyton Kershaw, Kenley Jansen came in the ninth inning to close out the game. Jansen has been pretty spectacular all season, and Wednesday afternoon would be no different. After Jansen walked Aubrey Huff, Hector Sanchez flew out to right field. Then he struck out Francisco Peguero and Xavier Nady for the final out and season ending play at Dodger Stadium. Dodgers held on to defeat the NL West Champion San Francisco Giants 5-1, and took two out of three in the series.
Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw (14-9) allowed one run and three hits in eight innings, struck out eight and walked three. He also finished with a league leading 2.53 ERA.
“He’s as good as anybody in the game. He loves pitching,” said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly.
“If we make the playoffs next season, it will be a great year. Not making the postseason, that’s what we play for,” said Kershaw.
Kenley Jansen picked up his 26th save for the season.
Dodgers slugger Matt Kemp is schedule to have surgery on Friday on his torn labrum in his left shoulder. The rehab process can be anywhere from four weeks to four months. “They’re going to see what’s going on inside of there and hopefully just clean it up, said Matt Kemp. “If they need to do more, they’ll do more, but I won’t know anything until I wake up.”
Giants reliever Clay Hensley (4-5) picked up the loss, and gave up one run, two hits in one inning. Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong pitched five innings, on seven strikeouts and two hits.
Kershaw also finished the season with 229 strikeouts, just one shy of New York Mets starter and NL leader R.A. Dickey.
Dodgers get eliminated by the rival Giants from Wild Card berth
With their Wild Card hopes still alive after Monday night’s dramatic win in the ninth inning, Dodgers must continue their winning ways Tuesday night.
Dodgers starter Chris Capuano was sent to battle Giants starter Barry Zito on the mound.
Capuano began a solid outing until the second inning where he gave up a solo home run to Buster Posey that gave the Giants the 1-0 lead.
The Dodgers began to develop some offense of their own in the bottom of the second inning as Hanley Ramirez tripled deep to right. The Luis Cruz grounded out that scored Ramirez for the 1-1 tied score.
Capuano continued to struggle by allowing Joaquin Arias to knock a solo home run deep to left, that gave the Giants 2-1 lead in the top of the third inning.
After Buster Posey singled to center to begin the fourth inning, manager Don Mattingly decided to bring in reliever Jamey Wright for Capuano. Wright trapped Xavier Naddy into a double play that caught Posey out at second base.
With Arias safe at second base due to a throwing error by Wright, Angel Pegan was intentionally walked. Marco Scutaro doubled to right field that scored both Pegan and Arias that increased the Giants lead 4-1.
Zito continued to be dominate throughout the innings until the bottom of the seventh inning. Signs of fatigue showed in Zito when he hit Andre Either with a pitch which landed him on first base. Giants manager Bruce Bouchy decided Zito had enough for the night and brought in his reliever Guillermo Mota. Mota didn’t help matters any especially when AJ Ellis connected for a 2 run home run, Dodgers trailed 4-3.
Mark Ellis knocked a double into deep right field, however Ellis got greedy and attempted to reach third base but was tagged out. Shane Victorino connected on a huge triple down the first base line into right field that brought the crowd to their feet. Matt Kemp continued to struggle as he struck out to end the inning.
Kenley Jansen was perfect serving up three consecutive strike outs to Pablo Sandoval, Posey and Hunter Pence to end the inning.
Closer Brandon League allowed left fielder Gregor Blanco to reach on an infield single to first base. Blanco felt lucky and decided to attempt to steal second base, but AJ Ellis threw a rocket straight to Hanley Ramirez for the easy out. League also struck out Arias to end the top of the ninth inning, and allowed the Dodgers one last rally effort to keep their Wild Card hopes alive.
Either attacked the plated and connected for a timely single off of Giants reliever Jeremy Affeldt. Mattingly made a smart decision and added Dee Gordon to pinch run for Either at first base. Bobby Abreu who came in to hit for Elian Herrera flew out to left, right as Gordon stole second base.
With two outs, Mark Ellis had an opportunity for redemption, and did not rise to the challenge hitting a pop up to center field for the final out. Giants held on to defeat the Dodgers 4-3 and eliminate them from post season play.
“To see Pagan catch that ball, it’s kind of like the season is pretty much over,” slugger Matt Kemp said.
“Everything kind of comes to a screeching halt. To not have that opportunity to move forward is painful,” said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly.
Despite the loss to the Reds, the St. Louis Cardinals locked up the final Wild Card playoff spot and will play against the Atlanta Braves on Friday. It’ll be a one game match up to see who advances to the divisional round .
On what it felt like to eliminate the Dodgers, Giants manager Bruce Bouchy said, “there’s a lot of history between these two clubs. Both clubs have knocked each other out.”
Dodgers starter Chris Capuano (12-12) gave up two runs and five hits in three-plus innings. This was Capuano’s shortest outing this season.
Giants starter Barry Zito (15-8) picked up the victory on six innings, with six strike outs, and six hits. Sergio Romo picked up his 14th save on the season for the Giants.
“Sometimes you go out there and feel kind of crappy and you win, and other times you feel great and you lose. The streak is just evidence that the team has been scoring a lot of runs and playing good D when I’m on the mound,” said Zito.
Dodgers get huge lift over Nationals
The Los Angeles Dodgers invaded the nation’s capital for a double headed due to a rain out the previous day, and lot the first game due to lack of run support. Game two would provide much more excitement, runs and last inning heroics from a struggling superstar.
The Dodgers starter Josh Beckett battled the Nationals John Lannan throughout several innings without giving up a single run.
That would all change in the top of the third inning, Adrian Gonzales walked with the bases loaded with Mark Ellis and Matt Kemp. It was time for Hanley Ramirez to step up and connected on a single to right center that scored both Ellis and Kemp for the 2-0 lead. Andre Either singled to right that allowed Gonzales to score for the 3-0 lead. Red hot hitter Luis Cruz came up short as he struck out to end the inning.
Shane Victorino was hit by a wild pitch in the fourth inning, and once again Kemp showed up and singled to left that scored Matt Treanor and gave the Dodgers the 4-0 lead. With one out and runners in scoring position, Nationals manager Davey Johnson decided it was time for a change and brought in reliever Chein Ming Wang.
Wang displayed terrible control thanks to a wild pitch, Victorino scored from third base, Kemp moved to third and Gonzales advanced to second base. Ramirez connected on a fielders choice to third that scored Matt Kemp, and tagged Gonzales at second base to end the inning. The Dodgers led the Nationals 6-0.
The Nationals continued to struggle offensively until the eight inning where Michael Morse homered deep to right off Josh Beckett for their first score of the game. The Nationals would exploded in this inning as Stephen Lombardozzi connected on a two run hone run deep to right, Nats still down 6-3. Later on in the inning rookie sensation Bryce Harper connected on an infield RBI single to third base that scored Corey Brown.
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly decided he needed another change with Ronald Belisario replacing Randy Choate.
Morse singled to right field Harper and DeRosa scored that tied the game 6-6.
The Dodgers could not afford to lose another game and still stay in the Wild Card race. Kemp has struggled and hasn’t hit a home run in many weeks, ended that drought as he connected deep to center for his 19th homer that gave the Dodgers the 7-6 lead.
Dodgers closer Brandon League had a solid inning as DeRosa grounding out to third base for the final out as the Dodgers held on for the 7-6 victory.
Ronald Belisario (7-1) picked up the victory pitching 2/3 innings on two hits and one strike out. Dodger starter Josh Beckett pitched seven inning, on five hits, two strikeouts, and two home runs.
Nationals Tyler Clippard (2-5) picked up the loss in one inning of work on two hits, one home run and one strike out.
“It looked pretty close. I actually probably should have been running just forward and not looking back. I don’t know if I quite made it or not,” Matt Kemp said, before asking whether reporters if they saw a replay.
“Kemp wasn’t running. He just wasn’t running. The tag play was before. Obviously they missed it, but you’d think when the three of them got together somebody would’ve been paying attention that Kemp was not at home” said Nats manager Davey Johnson.
Dodgers continued their damage against Rockies
After a spectacular performance by Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw on Friday night, it was Joe Blanton’s turn to turn up the heat on the Colorado Rockies.
Blanton has struggled, but improved and seemed to be more comfortable in the rotation as of late. He would face Rockies starter Tyler Chatwood on the mound.
Blanton started off very strong, controlling his pitches, waiting for the right pitch discouraging any hope of the Rockies creating any offensive rhythm.
It was time for the Dodgers to make a statement as Matt Kemp connected for his 21st home run off of Chatwood, deep to left field for the 1-0 lead.
The Dodgers continued in the fourth inning as Hanley Ramirez singled to center then stole second base. After Chatwood walked Shane Victorino, catcher AJ Ellis connected on an RBI single to right field that scored Ramirez for the 2-0 lead.
The Dodger defense backed up Blanton as he continued to dominate from the mound from the fifth through the seventh inning. After Chris Nelson singled to center, Don Mattingly sent in reliever Ronald Belisario after he noticed fatigue in Blanton.
Belisario ended the inning as he struck out DJ LeMahieu who looked shocked as he heard the call from the home plate umpire.
The Dodger bats were far from done in the bottom of the eight inning, Kemp stepped up again and blasted another solo home run deep to right off reliever Josh Roenicke. The Dodgers took the commanding 3-0 over the Rockies.
Rockies manager Jim Tracy decide another change was necessary and brought in reliever M Reynolds. Adrian Gonzales doubled to deep right, and Ramirez singled which advanced Gonzales to third base. With runners on the corners, Victorino grounded out to first base, but allowed Ramirez to advance to second base.
After a Bobby Abreu walk, and with the bases loaded Ellis ended up grounding into a double play that caught Abreu out at second base.
With a St. Louis lost earlier in the day, the Dodgers were just three outs away from gaining ground on the Cards for that final Wild Card spot.
Closer Brandon League made sure the lead was safe in the ninth inning, getting first baseman Jordan Pacheco to ground out to third base. Then Wilin Rosario popped up to shortstop and finally struck out Nelson swinging to end the game.
Dodgers held on to the 3-0 victory and now are just two games behind St. Louis for the final Wild Card spot.
“Right now we have to find a way to sneak into those playoffs,” Kemp said. “We’re both going to be playing good teams next week, so it’s going to come down to the end. We’ve just got to keep going out there and playing hard and see where we end up.”
Dodgers starter Joe Blanton (10-13) tossed six scoreless innings, with six strike outs and seven hits. Brandon League picked up his 15th save on the season.
Rockies starter Tyler Chatwood (5-6) threw four innings, allowing two runs and five hits.
Matt Kemp goes into Beastmode against Rockies
Matt Kemp swings for the fences
After a spectacular performance by Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw on Friday night, it was Joe Blanton’s turn to turn up the heat on the Colorado Rockies.
Blanton has struggled, but improved and seemed to be more comfortable in the rotation as of late. He would face Rockies starter Tyler Chatwood on the mound.
Blanton started off very strong, controlling his pitches, waiting for the right pitch discouraging any hope of the Rockies creating any offensive rhythm.
It was time for the Dodgers to make a statement as Matt Kemp connected for his 21st home run off of Chatwood, deep to left field for the 1-0 lead.
The Dodgers continued in the fourth inning as Hanley Ramirez singled to center then stole second base. After Chatwood walked Shane Victorino, catcher AJ Ellis connected on an RBI single to right field that scored Ramirez for the 2-0 lead.
The Dodger defense backed up Blanton as he continued to dominate from the mound from the fifth through the seventh inning. After Chris Nelson singled to center, Don Mattingly sent in reliever Ronald Belisario after he noticed fatigue in Blanton.
Belisario ended the inning as he struck out DJ LeMahieu who looked shocked as he heard the call from the home plate umpire.
The Dodger bats were far from done in the bottom of the eight inning, Kemp stepped up again and blasted another solo home run deep to right off reliever Josh Roenicke. The Dodgers took the commanding 3-0 over the Rockies.
Rockies manager Jim Tracy decide another change was necessary and brought in reliever M Reynolds. Adrian Gonzales doubled to deep right, and Ramirez singled which advanced Gonzales to third base. With runners on the corners, Victorino grounded out to first base, but allowed Ramirez to advance to second base.
After a Bobby Abreu walk, and with the bases loaded Ellis ended up grounding into a double play that caught Abreu out at second base.
With a St. Louis lost earlier in the day, the Dodgers were just three outs away from gaining ground on the Cards for that final Wild Card spot.
Closer Brandon League made sure the lead was safe in the ninth inning, getting first baseman Jordan Pacheco to ground out to third base. Then Wilin Rosario popped up to shortstop and finally struck out Nelson swinging to end the game.
Dodgers held on to the 3-0 victory and now are just two games behind St. Louis for the final Wild Card spot.
“Right now we have to find a way to sneak into those playoffs,” Kemp said. “We’re both going to be playing good teams next week, so it’s going to come down to the end. We’ve just got to keep going out there and playing hard and see where we end up.”
Dodgers starter Joe Blanton (10-13) tossed six scoreless innings, with six strike outs and seven hits. Brandon League picked up his 15th save on the season.
Rockies starter Tyler Chatwood (5-6) threw four innings, allowing two runs and five hits.
Can the Dodgers place Cliff Lee in Dodger blue??
The Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t seem to be quite through with making moves, as a source has reported that the team put in a claim for Phillies lefty Cliff Lee.
The Phillies placed their starter on waivers on Tuesday prior to the non-waiver trade deadline, where the Phillies assumed that a big package would be returned to them in exchange for Lee. And as the Dodgers claimed him off waivers, the Phillies immediately took him off the market.
This is not the first time Lee has been placed on waivers, back in 2010 he was picked up the Texas Rangers who he helped make a World Series appearance. In the off season Lee signed with the Phillies for five years at $120 million.
The 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner has a 2-6 record with a 3.73 ERA for the Phillies this season.
Surprisingly it’s common for MLB teams to place players on waivers, after the trade deadline especially players with extremely large contracts. If a player is claimed, the team can either work out a trade with that club or they can remove a player from waivers. Despite the bad taste this has left in the mouths of many Dodger fans I’ve spoken with, the Phillies were within the rights to do this with Lee.
There has been no comment from Dodgers GM Ned Colletti or anyone within the Dodger organization.
Another pitcher the Dodgers have claimed off waivers successfully is right hander Joe Blanton. In exchange the Phillies will receive a minor leaguer to named at a later date.
If the Dodgers are truly serious about winning, they will do everything it takes to acquire a stellar talented pitcher like Cliff Lee whom they so desperately need.
Dodgers dominate Reds and take Series
After a rocky series, the Dodgers found a way to defeat the Cincinnati Reds in dominate fashion 4-1, and regained first place in the NL West thanks to superb pitching and timely hitting. The Dodgers took two out of three against the Big Red Machine, and in the last two games held them to scoring no more than two runs.
Dodger starter Aaron Harang started off sharp against his former team, and display solid control of his pitches.
The Dodger offense stepped up in the first inning against Reds starter Mike Leake, Luis Cruz with Dee Gordon on base, smacked a single to shallow right field that gave the Dodgers the 1-0 lead. Later on in the inning first baseman James Loney hit an RBI single that scored Cruz and advanced Bobby Abreu to second base.
Adam Kennedy grounded out towards first base, Loney was caught out at second base, and Abreu made it to third base. He then continued on to score, thanks to an error thrown play by Reds shortstop Zack Cozart, that gave the Dodgers the 3-0 lead.
Harang continued his superb pitching until the top of the 5th inning, where Devin Mesoraco hit a home run to deep left that put the Reds on the scoreboard, yet they still trailed 3-1.
The Dodgers continued to show the Reds why they were an offensive juggernaut, as Reds reliever Bill Bray made a costly mistake by walking Gordon and allowed him on base. Gordon eventually stole second base. As Cruz was also walked, Gordon took the initiative and stole third base successfully, yet ended up dislocating his right thumb. Gordon stole his 30th base on the season.
Mark Ellis came in to run for Gordon at third base, and Juan Rivera grounded out which caused Ellis to be tagged out at home plate.
Later on in the inning, with the bases loaded as the crowd rose to their feet, Adam Kennedy smacked a sacrifice fly to center, that allowed Cruz to speed home to score.
Dodgers reliever Ronald Belisario pitched a scoreless eighth inning, lowering his ERA to a National League best 0.99, which paved the way for a spectacular ninth inning finish.
In the ninth inning it was Jensen time, as closer Kenley Jensen struck out both All-Star Joey Votto and second baseman Brandon Phillips. With two outs and nobody on base, Jensen got Jay Bruce to pop out to left field to end the game as the Dodgers defeat the Reds 4-1.
The Dodgers snapped their streak of four straight series loses. They hadn’t won a series since they played the Chicago White Sox back on June 15-17, and hadn’t won two out of three in a series since they took on the Seattle Mariners back in early June.
Good news for the Dodgers as they returned to their winning ways, and because the San Francisco Giants lost to the Nationals in Washington 9-4, that automatically moved the Dodgers back into first place in the NL West by 1/2 game.
Losing Reds pitcher Mike Leake talked about his rocky start, “I wasn’t quite loose. I probably should have thrown a few extra pitches in the bullpen. I was helping them out leaving balls over the middle and not really locating it too well.”
Dodgers victorious starter Aaron Harang spoke about his superb performance. “I felt like I had control of the game, was never really in a situation where I was pitching out of jams except for maybe the third inning when I got runners on first and third with two outs. Other than that I felt like I was doing what I needed to do, pounding the strike zone and getting myself ahead.”
Harang (6-5) pitched seven strong innings, with three hits and five strikeouts, while Leake (3-6) pitched seven innings, with six hits, five strikeouts, and two earned runs.
Gordon spoke about his injured thumb, “It felt like I hit something really hard and as soon as I got up I knew I jammed it. That’s never happened before. I get stepped on every now and then.”
Dee Gordon is scheduled to have an MRI on his thumb on Thursday, when leaving the stadium Gordon’s thumb was wrapped in a splint.
*Andre Either has been placed on the 15-day DL due to an oblique injury.
