We got another fantastic start out of Odrisamer Despaigne last night, but our Padres couldn't get things done at the plate against Clayton Kershaw. Hopefully the offense (and defense) can get their act together tonight behind another rookie, Jesse Hahn, as they face Dan Haren.
Like his teammate Despaigne, Hahn has been impressive in his short major league career so far. He is, however, coming off his second loss of the season. He gave up three runs in seven innings of work, but retired 11 batters in order before exiting the game against the Giants last week. Prior to that, he had won four straight starts while posting a 0.75 ERA with 31 strikeouts through 24 innings.
Haren is 1-3 with a 6.04 ERA in his last five starts against San Diego, but this will be his first time pitching against them at Dodger Stadium. His most recent time facing them was just a few weeks ago when the Dodgers came to Petco Park. Haren gave up three runs in 5 2/3 innings before leaving the game and getting a no-decision. Haren is 8-5 this season with a 4.06 ERA - highest in the Dodgers rotation, but he's pitched much better in eight starts at home, going 4-1 with a 2.96 ERA.
Catch the action tonight at 7:10 PT and see if our Padres can even up the series.
And don't forget to check out today's SB Nation Fantasy Baseball league on FanDuel. It's $2 to join and first prize is $2,000. There's also an MLB Squeeze (Late Night) league with a first prize of $1,200 if you miss the first one. You can join at this link.
St. Louis seems like a fun place for Joc Pederson to make his major league debut.
LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers head into Friday night's game against the Padres, the second of a four-game series, with no Hanley Ramirez and no Andre Ethier in the starting lineup.
Starting Lineups
Padres
Dodgers
RF
Smith (L)
2B
Gordon (L)
3B
Headley (S)
RF
Puig
LF
Quentin
1B
Gonzalez (L)
C
Grandal (S)
LF
Kemp
1B
Goebbert (L)
CF
Van Slyke
2B
Conrad (S)
3B
Uribe
CF
Venable (L)
SS
Rojas
SS
Amarista (S)
C
Butera
P
Hahn
P
Haren
Location: Dodger Stadium Time: 7:10 p.m. PT TV: SportsNet LA
Ramirez sitting was expected, as the shortstop received another cortisone injection in his sore right shoulder after Thursday's game, per Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, a move that could keep Ramirez sidelined all weekend against San Diego.
Ethier sitting is a little less expected, in that there is no real discernible pattern in center field other than Ethier isn't playing the position for a second straight day. Ethier is 0-for-10 in his last three games, but that followed a stretch of 10-for-24 (.417) with five extra-base hits in his previous seven games. This is the first time Ethier has sat in consecutive games against right-handed pitchers since May 20-21, when all five outfielders were healthy.
Scott Van Slyke gets the start in center field, his fourth start at the position in the last seven games and 13th overall this season. This is his fourth start in the Dodgers' last six games against right-handed pitching, including a start in left field and one in right field as well.
Seth Smith gets the start in right field, leading off for the Padres. He is 12-for-42 (.286) with three home runs and four doubles against Dan Haren, including a pair of home runs in San Diego on June 20, prompting a classic quote from Haren.
"With all due respect, it's Seth Smith," Haren said after the game. "It's not Babe Ruth, but he was pretty much Babe Ruth tonight."
Smith this season against the Dodgers is 6-for-13 (.462) with four home runs, a double and four walks.
Now back in a virtual tie for first place, the Dodgers find themselves just trying to get through two more weekend games before the All-Star break.
The Dodgers scored first and they scored last, but the middle of the game and another poor start by Dan Haren spelled doom for in a 6-3 loss to the Padres on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
As Haren learned with his last outing, an eight-strikeout, eight-run affair in Colorado, more strikeouts don't necessarily mean better results, especially when home runs aren't limited. So even though Haren struck out the first two batters of the second inning, one reached base on a wild pitch, followed by a home run to right field by the diminutive Alexi Amarista, his third of the season for a 2-1 Padres lead.
It was the 19th home run of the season allowed by Haren and 17th in his last 12 starts.
Haren managed to get through four innings allowing just those two runs, but also needed 83 pitches to do so, laboring all night. The fifth inning began with a single, then back-to-back RBI doubles by Chase Headley and Carlos Quentin. That was enough to chase Haren, who turned in his shortest outing of an increasingly disappointing season.
67⅓ -Innings needed by Dan Haren to get to 180 and have his $10 million club option for 2015 become a player option.
Even as his peripheral numbers were declining in May, Haren was at least logging innings, lasting at least six innings in 11 of his first 12 starts. But in his last seven starts Haren has lasted six innings only twice, paying the price for his decline.
San Diego added a pair of runs against Jamey Wright in the sixth, then down 6-1 the Dodgers rallied by two runs in the seventh.
They put the tying runs on base in the eighth but didn't score, leaving the bases loaded.
But even though the Dodgers have scored six runs in its last 34 innings, it's hard to fault the offense when they allowed six runs to a team scoring three per game.
Another great start from rookie Jesse Hahn and an offensive explosion from Q and the Little Ninja notched a win for the Pads tonight.
A slimy Los Angeles crowd was treated to dominant Padres pitching, tense bases-loaded innings, and a run-happy San Diego lineup. A single earned run off the talented Jesse Hahn and a couple from new bullpen addition Blaine Boyer would be all that the Friars conceded tonight. Meanwhile, the Padres' bats were firing on all cylinders.
An RBI single in the bottom of the first from Matt Kemp snuck through in an otherwise dominant perfromance from Hahn. Boyer would relieve Hahn in the 7th and give up a pair from terrible-baserunner Yasiel Puig in the form of an RBI double, and a sac fly from San Diego homeboy Adrian Gonzalez.
After a 2-run night yesterday the Dodgers were treated to Jesse's 6IP, 3H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 6 SO tonight. Win #5 for the kid and another cog in the scary Padres starting rotation.
Hahn's 5ft break is enough to handle anybody in the league right now.
Especially Matt Kemp. Most depressing bat break, ever.
Things kicked off for the Friars in the top of the 2nd. Alexi Amarista lifted his signature pop-fly home run into a very shallow spot over the right field fence. This plated Will Venable who got to first on a drop third strike handled poorly by the Doyers.
Ninja makes sure his HR's get good hang-time so there's plenty of time to 'mire.
Going all the way to the fifth, RBI-doubles from Chase Headley and Carlos Quentin brought two more runs home. Dan Haren would be replaced faster than a white shirt with a stain on it, leaving the Padres up 4-1.
Van Slyke forgets to do that thing where you close your glove to make a catch.
Quentin gives him a little extra to run after.
The Friar faithful would have to wait all the way to the sixth inning before getting to see Quentin return to the plate and punish new relief effort Jamey Wright with a bases loaded single. Q knocked in Jesse Hahn, who got on through a fielders choice, and Seth Smith who was walked intentionally after Wright gave up.
Return of the Q.
Despite an ugly 7th from Boyer giving up two late runs, and a very scary 8th after Joaquin Benoit worked his way out of a tense bases-loaded situation, the Padres were able to wrap up the night with an arms-length lead. Bullpen ace Huston Street made a guest appearance to restart his save streak, handling the Dodgers like they were petulant children.
Tomorrow Ian Kennedy will pick up where San Diego left off tonight and ensure at least a 2 out of 4 series for the Pads.
Another day, another diagram. I was looking up Padres who have historically hit well against the Dodgers, and I noticed that there was very little overlap between the high-average guys and the ones who tallied a mess of homers against the boys in blue. Very little overlap, as in one man and one man only. Of course that man is Mr. Padre himself.
Don't call it a breakout. Okay, call it a breakout. Maybe.
Left field is an interesting position for evaluators. The men who get stuck there don't have defensive demands put on them like infielders, and typically don't cover the same swath of grass as center fielders. Even right field might be something of a skill position, and a strong throwing arm is not as important in left as in right, since left fielders are very rarely called on to throw directly to first base.
A funny thing happened, then, when the BtBS team voted on All-Stars. We kept outfield spots separate, so on the BtBS All-Star Team, you won't find Carlos Gomez, Andrew McCutchen, or Yasiel Puig starting "out of position" in left. And it just so happened that voting for the NL left fielder wasn't so easy. If you head on over to FanGraphs and sort left fielders by fWAR, you'll find this top 5:
Left field isn't exactly an embarrassment of riches. You've got Alex Gordon (actually, it's pronounced...nevermind) leading the field with a robust 4.5 mark even with a tweaked wrist, and Michael Brantley has had a legit breakout. But none of the other three guys rank in the top 30 of position players, and even at a position with a negative positional adjustment, that's a little surprising when left fielders' defense is judged against themselves and great hitting is expected.
Notice anything else weird? All five of these guys are in the American League. Christian Yelich is actually up to 2.4 WAR, as well, but seriously? The Orioles get two guys (Yeah, one is really a DH) before the National League gets one? You're starting to get the idea: voting for an NL left fielder wasn't exactly easy. Here's how the NL-only version of the leaderboard works, among the 58 "qualified" hitters that FanGraphs lists at left field:
An even less inspiring crop of players. And, it should be noted, when we closed voting for starters, Seth Smith was the leader (at least, when I voted) — both Yelich and Justin Upton have put together some great production at the plate recently. And we BtBS folks did indeed vote Smith into the starting slot for the NL.
But that doesn't mean we all voted for Smith. Note the low PA mark for Smith (299). Isn't that a little suspicious? It should be. Smith has batted just .174 against lefties this season — but that shouldn't mean much, what with Smith facing lefties for just 30 PA (and actually, 7 of those PA resulted in walks).
30 PA! Only 10% of Smith's at bats have come against southpaws, yet Smith has amassed enough at bats to qualify for the batting title. More teams should probably do this, actually. Last year, the Cubs managed to get Nate Schierholtz over 500 PA with just 13% of his plate appearances coming against lefties (66 of 503). The results were great for Schierholtz, and are even better for Smith. With substitutions often having ancillary benefits in the NL, I'm really surprised we don't see more left-handed outfielders in super-charged platoons.
I actually didn't vote for Smith. Here's the same NL leaderboard, but with the minimum changed from "qualified" to "0":
Two new contenders! You probably guessed from the title, but I voted for Corey Dickerson. And while he's actually tanked the last two weeks, he's still a good fit for the All-Star team. Here's what Bryan Grosnick wrote with respect to his (later) selection as a BtBS All-Star Reserve:
Coming into the season, Dickerson probably wasn't even the fourth-most-likely Rockiesoutfielder to make the All-Star team. But he's outshone everyone on the squad, albeit in limited action, and there's a good chance he's a better option than real-life All-Star Charlie Blackmon. Dickerson's hit for loads of power -- even for a guy working at Coors Field -- and is walking about 10% on the season. He's been an offensive load, and even though it might not continue, he's been good enough to warrant consideration among a weak left field crop.
Yes! With respect to the voting, my reasoning was: if Smith's stock might actually have gone down by having to face more southpaws, is it fair to discount Dickerson's achievement because he too was used in more of a platoon role, even if his platoon had no rocket boosters on it?
After all, Dickerson did (and does) top Smith in WAR anyway. And I don't need to tell you that a 2.2 WAR performance in 227 PA is more valuable than even an identical WAR mark in 299 PA — the excess plate appearances could be taken by another player, giving Dickerson's team an even higher total in the same number of PA. Definitionally speaking, the WAR total can really only go up — we should be entitled to assume that Dickerson's replacement would be at least replacement level.
(Actually, by that logic, Scott Van Slyke might be the most valuable left fielder in the National League so far this year. But, I think, a 75% time player like Dickerson might cause much less roster stress than a 50% or below player like Van Slyke. He'll have to content himself with being one of the best fourth outfielders in baseball.)
It is true, though, that even in this 157 wRC+ season, Dickerson has struggled against lefties. As in, a .291 wOBA and 68 wRC+. We could have seen this coming -- in limited time last year, he also sputtered against same-sided pitching (49 wRC+). That's makes for a hefty platoon split, considering his 178 wRC+ against right-handed pitchers. Dickerson also shows the classic Coors Field split, with a chasm between his road production (129 wRC+) and his Coors production (181 wRC+). But 29% above average at creating runs isn't exactly bad.
It's the platoon split that's the more significant worry, and in his age 25 season, Dickerson may not be fronted enough playing time to develop that away. He hasn't exactly been a platoon player this season, anyway; primarily a pinch hitter in April, Dickerson had a mix-and-match May before taking over in left field for Carlos Gonzalez full time. Gonzalez's return could seriously cut into Dickerson's playing time, although Michael Cuddyer being on the shelf could certainly help.
Is it a breakout? I don't know. ZiPS projected a .336 wOBA this season for Dickerson, which is quite good — not so good that it could overcome bad defense, but Dickerson has been just fine (3.1 UZR/150) in limited time as an outfielder (751.2 innings) for his career. Dickerson may be a good player even if his .419 wOBA comes down to earth, and even if he's benefited this season from an artificially low percentage of plate appearances against southpaws (19%).
You can only have so many platoons as part of a major league roster. But in my eyes, sustainable or not, the fact that Dickerson's 2.2 WAR have come in limited plate appearances makes him more of an All-Star, not less of one. He's got my vote, anyway.
Editor's Note: SB Nation's partner FanDuel is hosting a one-day $18,000 fantasy baseball league for tonight's MLB games. It's $2 to join and first prize is $2,000. Jump in now. Here's the FanDuel link.
Ryan P. Morrison is a featured writer at Beyond the Box Score, and co-author of Inside the 'Zona, a site on the Arizona Diamondbacks with a sabermetrics slant. You can follow him on Twitter: @InsidetheZona.
LOS ANGELES -- Much of the focus of Saturday night's game against the Padres will be on the mound, where Paul Maholm makes his first start since May 14. But for the Dodgers to head into the All-Star break on a positive note they will need their offense to come through more than anything.
The club has scored six runs in the last three games, and if extended into Tuesday's debacle in Detroit the Dodgers have six runs in their last 34 innings, with just four doubles during that span.
Doubles have been a big part of the Dodgers offense this season. They lead the National League with 179 doubles, second in the majors only to the Tigers (194). The team is on pace for 305 doubles, which would be just shy of the franchise record of 307, set in 2006.
The Dodgers have only reached 300 doubles in a season one other time, hitting 303 two-baggers in 1930, arguably the most offensive-friendly year/era in major league history (the only other time they came close to 300 was two years later, with 296 doubles in 296).
Dodger Stadium itself has been a reason for a relative paucity of doubles by the Dodgers in Los Angeles. There have only been six seasons a Dodger has hit at least 20 doubles at home since 1962. Shawn Green tops the list with 26 doubles at Dodger Stadium in 2003, part of his 49 doubles that also doubles as the franchise best in Los Angeles.
This year three Dodgers are on pace for 20 doubles at home: Puig has 14 doubles at home, on pace for 24; Ramirez and Kemp have 12 each, on pace for 21.
So far this season the Dodgers are 6-0 when they hit five or more doubles(rest of MLB .790), 9-3 (.750) when they hit four or more (rest of MLB .734), and 19-10 (.655) when they hit three or more doubles (rest of MLB .666).
Ian Kennedy, starting for the Padres on Saturday night, has allowed 27 doubles in 2014, tied for sixth-most in the National League. He has also allowed four triples, also tied for sixth-most in the NL.
The Dodgers have 25 triples, one behind Arizona for the league lead, and more than they had any either of the last two full seasons. The main culprit has been Dee Gordon, who leads the majors with nine triples on the season, with Puig not far behind, one of several tied for 10th with five triples.
If Gordon can hit a triple in one of these two remaining games this weekend, he will join Willie Davis as the only Dodgers with double-digit triples before the All-Star break. Davis had 10 triples before the break in 1970, on his way to 16 triples on the season, which remains as the LA Dodgers record for triples in a season.
On the mound
As for Maholm on the mound, the Dodgers hope he can last somewhere between 80-90 pitches. He has been pitching in relief, mostly mop-up duty for two months, never in his last 14 appearances pitching with a lead of less than four runs nor with a deficit of less than two.
Maholm the first time through the batting order this season has been relatively effective, holding batters to hitting .264/.357/.352 with one home run in 144 plate appearances, along with 20 strikeouts and 15 walks.
But the second time through the order, batters are hitting .339/.375/.576 with three home runs in 64 plate appearances, with six strikeouts and four walks.
Maholm has been hurt badly the third time through the order, with opponents hitting .372/.438/.698 with four home runs, two strikeouts and five walks in 48 plate appearances.
The Dodgers look to rebound from Friday's loss, sending Paul Maholm to the mound for his first start since May 14 against the Padres on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium.
LOS ANGELES -- Much of the focus of Saturday night's game against the Padres will be on the mound, where Paul Maholm makes his first start since May 14. But for the Dodgers to head into the All-Star break on a positive note they will need their offense to come through more than anything.
The club has scored six runs in the last three games, and if extended into Tuesday's debacle in Detroit the Dodgers have six runs in their last 34 innings, with just four doubles during that span.
Doubles have been a big part of the Dodgers offense this season. They lead the National League with 179 doubles, second in the majors only to the Tigers (194). The team is on pace for 305 doubles, which would be just shy of the franchise record of 307, set in 2006.
The Dodgers have only reached 300 doubles in a season one other time, hitting 303 two-baggers in 1930, arguably the most offensive-friendly year/era in major league history (the only other time they came close to 300 was two years later, with 296 doubles in 296).
Dodger Stadium itself has been a reason for a relative paucity of doubles by the Dodgers in Los Angeles. There have only been six seasons a Dodger has hit at least 20 doubles at home since 1962. Shawn Green tops the list with 26 doubles at Dodger Stadium in 2003, part of his 49 doubles that also doubles as the franchise best in Los Angeles.
This year three Dodgers are on pace for 20 doubles at home: Puig has 14 doubles at home, on pace for 24; Ramirez and Kemp have 12 each, on pace for 21.
So far this season the Dodgers are 6-0 when they hit five or more doubles(rest of MLB .790), 9-3 (.750) when they hit four or more (rest of MLB .734), and 19-10 (.655) when they hit three or more doubles (rest of MLB .666).
Ian Kennedy, starting for the Padres on Saturday night, has allowed 27 doubles in 2014, tied for sixth-most in the National League. He has also allowed four triples, also tied for sixth-most in the NL.
The Dodgers have 25 triples, one behind Arizona for the league lead, and more than they had any either of the last two full seasons. The main culprit has been Dee Gordon, who leads the majors with nine triples on the season, with Puig not far behind, one of several tied for 10th with five triples.
If Gordon can hit a triple in one of these two remaining games this weekend, he will join Willie Davis as the only Dodgers with double-digit triples before the All-Star break. Davis had 10 triples before the break in 1970, on his way to 16 triples on the season, which remains as the LA Dodgers record for triples in a season.
On the mound
As for Maholm on the mound, the Dodgers hope he can last somewhere between 80-90 pitches. He has been pitching in relief, mostly mop-up duty for two months, never in his last 14 appearances pitching with a lead of less than four runs nor with a deficit of less than two.
Maholm the first time through the batting order this season has been relatively effective, holding batters to hitting .264/.357/.352 with one home run in 144 plate appearances, along with 20 strikeouts and 15 walks.
But the second time through the order, batters are hitting .339/.375/.576 with three home runs in 64 plate appearances, with six strikeouts and four walks.
Maholm has been hurt badly the third time through the order, with opponents hitting .372/.438/.698 with four home runs, two strikeouts and five walks in 48 plate appearances.
After evening up the series with last night's 6-3 victory, our Padres will try to clinch at least a series split tonight against the division-leading Dodgers.
Ian Kennedy will try for another decent outing at Chavez Ravine. In his last three games at Dodger Stadium, he is 1-1 with a 1.93 ERA. He's given up only one run in each of his last two appearances. Most recently he allowed a solo homer, plus three other hits, and struck out nine batters through seven innings at Coors Field. He'll try to continue a trend of solid starting pitching from the Padres rotation, who have posted a collective 1.74 ERA over the last 12 games, a stretch during which the team has gone 7-5 to hold on to the 3rd place spot in the NL West. With two games left until the All-Star Break, our Friars will be looking to close out the first "half" of the season on a strong note.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers will look to Paul Maholm to keep hope alive for a series win. With an injury to Josh Beckett, the lefty Maholm will be making his first start since May 14th, and eighth start overall this season. In his first seven, he went 1-4 with a 5.50 ERA, and in 14 relief appearances he's posted a 4.67 ERA. Maholm has also struggled against San Diego in the past, going 1-6 with a 4.27 ERA in eight career starts opposite the Padres.
Game time is set for 7:10 PT tonight.
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LOS ANGELES -- Andre Ethier returns to the starting lineup for the Dodgers for the first time in three games against the Padres on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium. He is batting fifth and playing center field.
Ethier, who was out of the starting lineup the previous two games with general soreness, is 10-for-32 (.313) with two home runs and two doubles against Kennedy.
Ethier, a career .306/.384/.510 hitter against right-handed pitchers, is hitting just .262/.321/.402 against them this season, his worst OPS against right-handers since 2007 (.830).
Miguel Rojas starts again at shortstop in place of Hanley Ramirez, who had a cortisone shot in his right shoulder on Thursday.
The four Padres who have faced Paul Maholm more than 10 plate appearances are all in the lineup for San Diego. Chase Headley is 3-for-17 (.156) with a double and three walks against him, Chris Denorfia is 3-for-14 (.214) with a home run, a double and three walks. Cameron Maybin is 5-for-14 (.357) with a double and a triple, and Carlos Quentin is 3-for-7 (.429) with a double, two walks and two hit by pitch (a .636 on-base percentage).
Roster move
The Padres made a roster move before the game. San Diego optioned Jesse Hahn, Friday night's starting and winning pitcher, to Triple-A El Paso, and recalled infielder Jace Peterson from Triple-A. Peterson is 5-for-50 this season with the Padres, with one walk and 18 strikeouts.
LOS ANGELES -- No matter how you look at it, the Dodgers have been a disaster on defense in center field in 2014. But manager Don Mattingly before Saturday's game against the Padres defended his center fielders, a unit that may soon also include Carl Crawford.
"As we sit today, we're in the pennant race, either first or right there. We've been doing it all year, so I don't know why we can't continue to do it," Mattingly said. "We play in a lower scoring environment now. We have to continue to improve, as far as not giving extra outs and being as good as we can possibly be. The way we're constructed this is our team and we can be good enough to win it all like this."
The season has already seen one big change, with Matt Kemp essentially banished from the position in late May after the misplays and several extra-base hits he simply couldn't reach became too much.
On the season, Dodgers center fielders ranks dead last in baseball in Defensive Runs Saved (per Baseball Info Solutions), at 18 runs below average. In Ultimate Zone Rating (per FanGraphs), the Dodgers rank 28th, 10.8 runs below average.
The current duo of Andre Ethier and Scott Van Slyke haven't fared much better defensively. All three of Kemp, Ethier and Van Slyke are well below average in UZR, with Van Slyke the only one to grade out as average via Defensive Runs Saved, though with just 109 innings it's hard to judge one way or another.
Ethier sat the last two games against right-handed pitchers, not because of a changing of the guard, but rather to give him rest from general soreness, Mattingly said. Ethier is back starting in center field on Saturday.
"He wasn't unplayable, I was just trying to get him a couple days of rest," Mattingly said.
With center fielder Joc Pederson looming in Albuquerque, easily the best choice defensively among major-league-ready outfielders in the organization, the only potential change in the near term may come in the form of a blast from the past.
Crawford began taking fly balls in center field on Friday, an avenue for more playing time. Crawford was activated from the disabled list on Thursday and Saturday marks his third game of three without a start. He did play four innings in left field on Friday night.
"He kind of went out there on his own. I know he played it in the minor leagues and they moved him in Tampa," Mattingly said. "With our situation there's nothing wrong with taking some fly balls. You never know what could happen. We have encouraged him to do a little work out there."
Crawford played 228 games in center field in the minors in the Rays organization from 1999-2002, but he has only played 54 games in the majors in center field, including 47 starts. He played one game in center field in 2008 and two games in 2006.
While fast, the knock on Crawford's defense has been his arm, though Mattingly downplayed that.
"How many guys do you see getting thrown out [from center field]. It's going to be more about range and getting to balls, and Carl still runs pretty well," Mattingly said. "He's a guy that will run the ball down for you.
"You use your speed in different ways. If you don't throw as well you get to the ball quicker. You use your speed to cut down that time, and you get rid of it quicker. There are a lot of different ways to make adjustments in the outfield. He may not be perfect, but he's got enough tools to be able to do some things."
Sunday will mark the 14th game Turner has missed while on the disabled list.
LOS ANGELES -- Dodgers infielder Justin Turner will begin a minor league rehabilitation assignment on Sunday with Class-A Rancho Cuamonga, in hopes of returning from a hamstring injury as the Dodgers open their post-All-Star break schedule on Friday against the Cardinals.
Turner was back at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, running and playing catch on the field before the Dodgers' game against the Padres. He spent his previous nine days rehabbing at the Dodgers facility at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz.
He will be the designated hitter for the Quakes on Sunday when they host Lancaster at 5:05 p.m. PT.
Turner strained his left hamstring on June 28 while running out an RBI double against the Cardinals. He was placed on the disabled list the next day, a tough blow as Turner was one of the hottest hitters on the team, hitting .400 (22-for-55) in June with 11 RBI in 21 games.
"He's doing really well. He ran today. We'll see how it goes with him," manager Don Mattingly said. "If we had a wish list, he'd be ready for St. Louis."
Turner will be joined on Monday in Rancho Cuamonga by pitcher Scott Elbert, who will continue his rehab assignment with another relief appearance with the Quakes. Mattingly said Elbert has progressed nicely but that there was no set timetable for his return to the Dodgers just yet.
Per the collective bargaining agreement, minor league rehab assignments can last up to 30 days, but Elbert's rehab assignment clock was reset after he suffered a toe injury that kept him out of action for a week before Friday's inning with the Quakes.
LOS ANGELES -- A.J. Ellis hit a walk-off sacrifice fly to right field against Kevin Quackenbush to score Adrian Gonzalez in the ninth inning to give the Dodgers a 1-0 victory over the Padres on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium, and moved the Dodgers a game ahead of San Francisco in first place in the National League West.
Gonzalez led off the ninth inning with a double to center field off Quackenbush, using what manager Don Mattingly called "sneaky speed" to beat the throw to second base.
"[I'm fast] only when I'm being chased, or when I need to get to second base," Gonzalez quipped.
Then Matt Kemp struck out. Andre Ethier was intentionally walked to set up a possible double play, but Quackenbush then walked Juan Uribe unintentionally to load the bases for Ellis.
Ellis has the highest walk rate on the team, which made for quite a high shrimp alert, a popular term used online for a walk-off walk. Informed of this term, Ellis offered a new moniker for his sacrifice fly.
"We'll call that a scallop," Ellis said.
San Diego played with a five-man infield with Ellis at the plate, with their two outfielders in center field and right field. Left field was wide open.
"If that hole is open they're probably not going to pitch me inside, so where they're positioning helps me know where I want to go. But the last thing I'm trying to do is direct the ball, other than maybe a hit-and-run situation with a ground ball," Ellis explained. "The only directing I was trying to do was hit a ball to the outfield, hit a ball in the air. It had to be extra deep because Adrian was on third, and he's arguably the only man in this clubhouse that I'm faster than, so it was vital for me to hit it very deep."
It was just the second walk-off win of the season for the Dodgers, and their first since April 8 against Detroit.
Paul Maholm was spectacular in his first start in two months, allowing only two hits in his six innings while striking out four. He began his night by retiring the first 10 batters he faced before streak buster Chase Headley lined a single that landed just in front of a diving Carl Crawford in left field.
Maholm then retired the next eight batters, only to be greeted again by Headley with a single to left field to open the seventh inning. Maholm was lifted after the single after just 65 pitches, though that was expected since he has been pitching in relief for two months and threw 32 pitches on Tuesday in Detroit.
In his six scoreless frames, Maholm retired 18 of his 20 batters faced, including 11 ground ball outs.
The game was scoreless when Maholm left, meaning he couldn't possibly get the win, though he could have lost had his bequeathed runner scored. But that became a moot point when Brandon League induced a double play from Carlos Quentin. It was the 10th double play induced by League in 39 opportunities this season, his 25.6-percent rate leading the Dodgers and well above the NL average of 10.8 percent.
"Our pitching staff was the reason we won today," Gonzalez said.
As good as Maholm was, Ian Kennedy was able to match zeroes through eight innings. The former USC Trojan allowed three hits and four walks while striking out eight. The best opportunity for the Dodgers against Kennedy might have been in the seventh inning, when two walks and a single put the first three batters on base. But Kemp was caught stealing in the middle of that which helped neutralize the rally.
Kenley Jansen pitched a scoreless ninth for his first win of the season. Jansen struck out two and allowed two hits, but since he held Seth Smith to a single it was truly a herculean feat. Smith on the season is 8-for-17 (.471) with four home runs, a double and six walks against the Dodgers.
It took nine innings and a sacrifice fly for the Doyers to overcome a dominating San Diego pitching performance.
With the third best pitching staff in all of baseball and easily the worst lineup in all of sports, the Padres will continue to be susceptible to games like tonight. Ian Kennedy threw a hell of a game, going 8 innings without giving up no more than 3 hits, walking only 4, striking out 8, and giving up zero runs. But zero isn't even enough for this San Diego offense.
A very light relief effort from Kevin Quackenbush in the 9th would follow a completely unassisted performance from Kennedy. With the Padres collecting 5 hits, leaving 4 men on base, and blowing the only opportunity to knock in a RISP. All it took for Los Angeles to split this hard-pitched series was a double, a pair of walks, and a sac fly.
San Diego Padres Pitching Stats - 2014
W
IP
SO
K/9
WHIP
ERA
41
828.2
750
8.15
1.19
3.23
There aren't many starting rotations and elite bullpens in the history of the game to be trumped by an inning as weak as that. For these past three games the Padres pitching has managed to hold the Dodgers to 3 runs total in both losses, and 3 runs in our one win. Three is that magic number that our offense can't seem to break.
Tomorrow will be our last game before All-Star break. Although Tyson Ross is our representative, his start tomorrow will disqualify him from participating in the All-Star game. Instead, we'll without a doubt be treated to him mopping up the rest of what the Dodgers have to offer, showing us the exact reason why he was selected as an elite pitcher within the National League.
LOS ANGELES -- Paul Maholm made his 250th career start on Saturday night, but it was unlike any other in his 10-year career.
"I've never had two months off in between starts. I just went into it, trying to be as aggressive as I was in the bullpen, just trying to make pitches and go hitter to hitter," Maholm said. "I didn't really have any expectations going into the game."
It was Maholm's first start since May 14, having spent the last two months on bullpen duty, mostly mop-up work. But in those shorter stints, Maholm changed his approach, which served him well in Saturday's spot start.
"The more aggressive approach, you're just trying to go after guys. The biggest thing tonight was getting ahead, mixing speeds, getting some quick outs. That helped me the most, going after guys, not trying nibble," Maholm said. "If you get ahead and you're able to keep your pitches down, you're able to go deeper in the game."
Maholm didn't walk a single batter on Saturday against the Padres. He only went to three balls on two batters - Rene Rivera in the fifth and Chris Denorfia in the sixth - and both were retired.
Maholm threw a first-pitch strike to 16 of his 20 batters faced (80 percent) on Saturday, after doing so to 52.7 percent of his betters faced the rest of the season.
The result was six scoreless innings, with the only blemishes a pair of singles to left field by Chase Headley. The second hit, to leadoff the seventh ended Maholm's night after just 65 pitches. Manager Don Mattingly said the plan was for Maholm to only face one batter, Headley, in the seventh inning no matter what.
Maholm, who was pitching technically on three days rest after throwing 32 pitches in 2⅓ innings of relief in Tuesday's debacle in Detroit. He said he understood the decision.
"I told Donnie I really didn't want to be on a pitch count, that the hitters would let me know whether it was after 30 pitches or 80-90 pitches," Maholm said. "This is the best I have felt all year."
After allowing 10 runs to the Marlins on May 14, Maholm had a 5.40 ERA with 18 walks and 14 strikeouts with eight home runs allowed in 40 innings. Since then in 15 games, including 14 relief appearances, the left-hander has a 3.47 ERA with six walks and 18 strikeouts in 23⅓ innings, and no home runs allowed.
"I've tried to just deal with the situation of going to the bullpen and doing whatever I can, pitching when they ask me to. Obviously in the back of my head, I still want to start, still be on the mound every fifth day," Maholm said. "Tonight I got an opportunity and I wanted to prove to myself — I felt as though when I was making spot starts earlier in the season I wasn't pitching like I normally do — that I could still do it, and that's what I want to do."
A look at the two Padres who will be playing the futures game today.
The 2014 All Star Futures Game will take place at 2 PM PT today at Target Field in Minnesota and will be shown on MLB Network. Because of how the game is scheduled, many of you will be watching the Padres game instead. However, in case you are not, or you plan to DVR the game, here is a look at the two Padres players that will play today.
Hunter Renfroe is the more famous of the two players. He was the Padres' 1st round pick in 2013. He will start in RF and bat 8th for the U.S. team. Recently Baseball Prospectus wrote about him in their Futures Game preview for the US Team ($):
Hunter Renfroe, RF, Padres (Double-A San Antonio) Scouting Report (most recent) Link 2014 Mid-Season Ranking No. 44 Speaking of classic right field profiles, Hunter Renfroe is exactly that, showing loud tools across the board. He possesses a plus arm and is capable of playing an adequate right field. Renfroe’s calling card is his double-plus raw power that he can tap into with a swing that is short to the baseball. But the polish isn’t there yet, as Renfroe still has adjustments to make with his swing path and must still improve his pitch selection. He will finally be forced to make those adjustments in Double-A, where he will see a higher quantity and better quality of breaking balls.
Unlike the preview, which was for subscribers only, the scouting report link is free and has plenty of details about one of the top Padres' prospects. What you get in Renfroe right now is a player that almost anyone who watches will tell you will become a major leaguer with decent power in the next couple of years, but scouts will point out all the things he can sharpen up before being ready for a big league promotion.
The other Padres prospect in the Futures Game is Tayron Guerrero who made a great leap forward this season in his status as a prospect. Baseball Prospectus also wrote about him in their Futures Game preview for the International Team ($):
Tayron Guerrero, RHP, Padres (High-A Lake Elsinore) The 23-year-old is a lanky 6-foot-8, but looks even taller when he’s on the mound. Guerrero generates mid-90s fastball velocity with incredible ease, leading me to believe there is more in the tank. The fastball plays up even more due to the incredibly steep downhill plane and ridiculous extension Guerrero creates. The slider is an upper-80s weapon with sharp break, but the fastball is the calling card.
The Padres have spent the last 5 seasons ironing out his delivery in order to harness the power of that big frame. Things have finally seemed to click this year as he has put up a 1.24 ERA combined between Fort Wayne and Lake Elsinore working out of the bullpen. He has whiffed 49 batters in his 43.2 innings pitched and only walked 16. If he can maintain what he is done this season, then he could be a late innings force in future Padres' bullpens.
If you are interested in what some of the Padres' rivals have coming down the pipe, then look to watch RHP Braden Shipley (ARI), SS Corey Seager (LAD), LHP Edwin Escobar (SF), 17 year old LHP Julio Urias (LAD) and SS Rosell Herrara (COL). Also in the game is Cubs 3B prospect Kris Bryant, who was drafted 2nd overall out of USD in 2013 and ranks as one of the best prospects in all of baseball. SS Francisco Lindor (Cle), RHP Lucas Giolito (Was), RHP Noah Syndergaard (NYM) and RHP Robert Stephenson (Cin) are also considered some of the elite prospects in the game.
LOS ANGELES -- Hyun-jin Ryu takes the mound for the Dodgers against the Padres on Sunday in their final game before the All-Star break, hoping to erase the taste of his last start and head into the break on a high note.
Ryu on Tuesday was handed the gift of gifts, a 5-0 lead after a half-inning of play against the Tigers, the most runs the Dodgers have scored in the first inning all season. But that lead was gone by the second inning, and Ryu wasn't around to see the end of the third inning, allowing seven runs while recording seven outs.
It was the fifth time in Ryu's career he has allowed at least five runs in a start. After each of his previous four clunkers he has rebounded well, going 3-0 with a 2.49 ERA and 28 strikeouts against seven walks in 25⅓ innings.
Ryu has allowed one run in 13 innings to the Padres this season and in three career starts has allowed two runs in 19⅓ innings, with 15 strikeouts and five walks.
Opposing Ryu on the mound is Tyson Ross, an All-Star for the Padres with a 2.93 ERA with 117 strikeouts and 42 walks in 122⅔ innings. He has allowed two or fewer earned runs in each of his last four starts, with a 1.86 ERA during that span with 27 strikeouts and just two walks in 29 innings.
Ross has allowed seven runs, five earned, in 12 innings in two starts against the Dodgers this season, both losses. Ross is 7-9 on the season thanks in part to poor run support, but that's life on a team averaging under three runs per game on offense.
San Diego has scored two or fewer runs in 10 of Ross' 19 starts, and the Padres have lost six of his last seven outings despite a 3.06 ERA during that span because the team has scored just eight runs in those seven games.
Carl Crawford is 5-for-8 (.625) with two doubles and two walks against Ross.
Hyun-jin Ryu pitched six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts to pick up his 10th win, and All-Star Yasiel Puig drove in the only run in the Dodgers' second straight 1-0 win over the Padres on Sunday at Dodger Stadium.
LOS ANGELES -- Hyun-jin Ryu takes the mound for the Dodgers against the Padres on Sunday in their final game before the All-Star break, hoping to erase the taste of his last start and head into the break on a high note.
Ryu on Tuesday was handed the gift of gifts, a 5-0 lead after a half-inning of play against the Tigers, the most runs the Dodgers have scored in the first inning all season. But that lead was gone by the second inning, and Ryu wasn't around to see the end of the third inning, allowing seven runs while recording seven outs.
It was the fifth time in Ryu's career he has allowed at least five runs in a start. After each of his previous four clunkers he has rebounded well, going 3-0 with a 2.49 ERA and 28 strikeouts against seven walks in 25⅓ innings.
Ryu has allowed one run in 13 innings to the Padres this season and in three career starts has allowed two runs in 19⅓ innings, with 15 strikeouts and five walks.
Opposing Ryu on the mound is Tyson Ross, an All-Star for the Padres with a 2.93 ERA with 117 strikeouts and 42 walks in 122⅔ innings. He has allowed two or fewer earned runs in each of his last four starts, with a 1.86 ERA during that span with 27 strikeouts and just two walks in 29 innings.
Ross has allowed seven runs, five earned, in 12 innings in two starts against the Dodgers this season, both losses. Ross is 7-9 on the season thanks in part to poor run support, but that's life on a team averaging under three runs per game on offense.
San Diego has scored two or fewer runs in 10 of Ross' 19 starts, and the Padres have lost six of his last seven outings despite a 3.06 ERA during that span because the team has scored just eight runs in those seven games.
Carl Crawford is 5-for-8 (.625) with two doubles and two walks against Ross.
Hyun-jin Ryu was great for six innings, and the Dodgers bullpen finished off a 1960s flashback weekend with a second consecutive 1-0 win over the Padres to capture the series against San Diego.
The two teams combined for 14 total runs in the series, seven for each side, with the Dodgers winning three of the four games by scores of 2-1, 1-0 and 1-0. The last time the Dodgers won back-to-back 1-0 games was July 8-9, 2011, also against the Padres at Dodger Stadium.
Ryu was outstanding, bouncing back after one of his worst starts of the season with one of his best, striking out a season-high 10 with only two singles allowed and no walks. He was pulled after only 92 pitches.
"His bounce back was perfect. The reason we didn't send him back out in the seventh was because the inning got long, we felt like he was getting a little bit tired," manager Don Mattingly said. "We felt like it was the right situation for our pen, knowing with the break we'd be able to use some guys we wouldn't normally use."
Ryu heads into the break with some numbers very similar to his rookie campaign:
"I think he does get overlooked, but the people that know in baseball, get him on the free market and they'd be going crazy over him," Mattingly said of Ryu. "The people within the game and the industry know how good he is."
The Dodgers got their run against the fantastic Tyson Ross in the sixth inning, borrowing a page from the 1960s. Dee Gordon singled with out, then stole second base on a pitch out, his major league best 43rd swipe of the season.
After a Carl Crawford walk, Yasiel Puig delivered an RBI single to center, clapping nearly all the way to first knowing he gave the Dodgers the lead.
The only other real scoring opportunity against Ross came in the second inning, when Andre Ethier doubled to open the frame, then advanced to third base on a broken-bat single by Juan Uribe. But Ross struck out A.J. Ellis, then got out of the jam when Miguel Rojas lined into a double play at third base.
"That guy today, I thought he was filthy," Mattingly said of Ross.
Ross finished with nine strikeouts in his seven innings, with just the one run allowed on six hits and one walk. He enters the break with a hard-luck 10 losses despite his 2.85 ERA, thanks in large part to San Diego scoring eight runs in his last eight starts.
Kenley Jansen allowed a walk and a hit in the ninth but was able to close out the game for his 27th save of the season. He struck out Dodger-killer Seth Smith to end the game, Jansen's ninth consecutive scoreless appearance.
San Diego gives away a four game series to the losers in blue.
If you didn't watch the past two games against the Dodgers you didn't miss a thing. In the last 18 innings the Padres have scored 0 runs and the pitching has given up 2. For any other team; holding your division rival to 3 runs or under for 4 straight games would be fantastic. For the Padres it's practically a kiss of death.
Today Tyson Ross threw against strong South Korean Angeleno Hyun-Jin Ryu. They matched each other for six straight innings. Ross conceding only one run in 7 IP, Ryu giving up none in 6 IP. (Which isn't very difficult against the worst offense in the league.)
Ross, facing the division leaders, struck out 9 and only walked 1. This continues to be heartbreaking considering the true potential our team faces when throwing out that kind of consistent starting rotation. The only relative help Tyson got all game was in the form of a snared line-drive to double up LA with runners on the corner.
Miguel Rojas caters to Headley's dynamic speed/range on the field.
Teen pop sensation Yasiel Puig would go on to tap an RBI single in the bottom of the 6th to push the game in the favor of the team that actually scores a run.
So there it is. We're halfway through a sucky season and the Friars and faithful alike will get a week off to really sulk in a historically bad first half. When things are set to return we'll be treated to a rotation staffed by a group we've come to love and be terribly sympathetic for. Ian Kennedy will be the first back against the Mets, afterwards Tyson Ross will return for more and Odrisamer Despaigne to follow him.
Afterwards we should see Eric Stults and most likely Jesse Hahn called back up, who was sent down today in place of Jace Peterson in order to take advantage of the time off by staying warm in Triple-A El Paso.
Keep an eye out Tuesday for a very deserving All-Star, Huston Street, who will represent our Padres in place of Tyson Ross.
