Deadline Stunners

Wow! These moves were totally unexpected.

I purposely waited until there was confirmation before I posted anything here because I couldn't believe they had actually pulled off not just one of these deals, but both of them.

So, here they are in a nutshell.

The Dodgers announced a few moments ago that they have acquired future Hall of Fame first baseman/designated hitter Jim Thome from the White Sox for minor league shortstop Justin Fuller.

Moments later, we saw Arizona pitcher Jon Garland in the Diamondbacks dugout on TV saying his goodbyes to his teammates because he, too, has just been acquired by the Dodgers, for the infamous player to be named later. Garland simply went into the Arizona clubhouse, and after a quick shower and change, walked across the hallway to his new team.

We started hearing rumblings about Thome being traded about an hour ago, but I don't think anyone in their right mind thought he was going to the Dodgers. In fact, my first guess was the Giants, but as it turns out, his role would have been the same there as it will be in L.A. We also heard rumblings about two teams being interested in Garland, but the two teams we heard about weren't even in the mix. As it turned out, we found out the Dodgers were making a hard push to get him. And then it all happened.

Just moments before the 9pm PT deadline, we heard that it was in fact the Dodgers who had nabbed Thome, and then the Garland deal was announced moments later.

Not a bad way to end the month. Now if the Dodgers can hold this lead and get a win, the night would be perfect!

(More in a bit on how the two deals will affect and help the team.)

Road Trip Concludes

The Dodgers left home Sunday up by three, after taking three of four from the Cubs. The lead slipped to two after one game in Denver. Then lightning struck. They won the next two in Colorado. Then they won two of three in Cincy. The Giants swept the Rockies to pull even in the Wild Card. And the Dodger lead ballooned back up to six games over both of them.

Funny how quickly things change in a matter of seven days.

Chad Billingsley didn't seem to have his stuff on Friday night. But trailing 4-0 in the ninth, the Dodgers came close to erasing that deficit, only to lose 4-2, with Manny striking out to the end the game leaving the bases loaded.

They cranked four homeruns yesterday (Matt Kemp, Manny, Raffy Furcal and Orlando Hudson) en route to an 11-4 rout.

Then Clayton K-ershaw dominated the Reds today for seven innings, striking out 11 in a 3-2 win in 12. Matt Kemp homered again, as he continues on his recent offensive tear.

Now they head home for four with Arizona starting tomorrow, and three with the Padres next weekend. They've got to take advantage of this schedule and win at least five of these seven on the homestand.

A Mile High Salute

Well, that was quick. Just as soon as it looked like the Rockies would be gearing up for a hostile takeover of the Dodgers (or at least get even with them), the Blue answered Tuesday's tough loss in Denver with two big wins, 6-1 last night behind Andre Ethier's two massive homeruns, and 3-2 this afternoon behind a stellar debut by Vicente Padilla.

The Dodger lead in the West, once as high as nine games overall, and as high as 15½ over Colorado, but as low as two games just two nights ago over the Rockies, is now back up to four over the Rockies, and six over the Giants. The Dodgers head to Cincy for the weekend, while the Rockies head to San Francisco to try and hold off the Giants. The Rockies lead the Giants by three in the Wild Card.

Back to the Dodgers. While it's nice to see the Dodgers showing some power, this is not how they were winning games earlier in the season. It would be nice to see them get back to some of the other things they were doing that got them the best record in baseball through July.

I would assume Joe Torre and the coaching staff have addressed this with the club.

In any case, on to Cincinnati. The Dodgers have done pretty well in their new park since it opened, so anything less than winning two of three would be a pretty embarassing disappointment. The Reds also boast the league's worst offense in terms of runs scored and BA.

Round One: Rockies

Final: Rockies 5, Dodgers 4, 10 innings. Winning pitcher: Matt Herges? Yikes!

The Blue missed a number of opportunities in this game. The offense was 2 for 10 with RISP tonight. The pitching did what it was supposed to, more or less, but I wasn't too keen on Joe Torre's choice of relievers in the 9th and 10th innings when he still had George Sherrill and Jonathan Broxton waiting for a call in the bullpen.

Several hitters had nice games overall for the Dodgers. Manny was on-base three times, including coming up with a game-tying RBI-knock in the 9th off a Huston Street-less Rockies pen. Andre Ethier had three hits and was on-base four times, and Casey Blake was on-base three times including a solo homerun that gave them an early 2-0 lead.

James Loney, however, continues to struggle, even in a place where he usually dominates. Loney went 0 for 5, and botched an important play late in the game after James McDonald overran a litlle grounder between the mound and first base. Before last night though, Loney was a career .372 hitter at Coors in 103 plate appearances with 34 RBI. Something just isn't right with him, and if he'd stop dancing around in the batter's box, he might straighten out his problems there.

Clayton Kershaw, meanwhile, pitch 6 1/3 solid innings, giving up just a Brad Hawpe two-run homerun that tied the game at 2-2. (Hawpe, by the way, just owns the Dodgers in his career, hitting .359, with 19 homeruns and 74 RBI in 328 plate appearances after last night). Kershaw wasn't as overpowering as we've seen, but he was effective.

The Dodgers N.L. West lead is dwindled down to two now. They still have the best record in the N.L. at 74-52, but they're now just .002 percentage points away from giving that up, too.

So, now on to round two tonight. The principles: Randy Wolf for the Dodgers, Josh Fogg for the Rockies. Maybe Torre will move Wolf up in the batting order to give the Dodgers a "bat" in the middle of the lineup that might come through with runners on base.

First Inning Craziness

Some interesting first inning facts regarding the Dodgers this season from a Dodger Thoughts reader via email to Dodger Thoughts. Check it out!

After reading the exerpt, it's pretty obvious that the Dodgers need to get early leads in these games, and in any game for that matter. In any case, another good read.

Tonight's lineup is now posted. Nothing unusual other than Matt Kemp hitting second again. Game time is exactly one hour from now!

Big Series in the Mile High City

And Dodger Thoughts' Jon Wesiman breaks it all down for us.

Obviously the Dodgers have very little room for error heading into this series starting tomorrow night. Back on June 3rd, the Dodgers lead the Rockies by 15½ games in the standings. With a sweep of the Blue this week, they'll be dead even atop the standings heading into the final month of the season. If they pull it off and win the division, says Weisman, the Rockies would make history.

The Dodgers lead the season series so far, 10-2, including 2-1 against them with Jim Tracy atop the helm since he replace Clint Hurdle back in May. But things are obviously a lot different now. The Blue have struggled in recent weeks, primarily this month, while the Rockies have the best record in baseball since that June 3rd date.

And if you by any chance missed the Rockies-Giants game tonight, you missed what might be the best game of the season. Weisman breaks that one down, as well, and how the last few games might affect the Rockies pitching staff in the Dodger series.

All good reads.

As for tomorrow night's opener, Clayton Kershaw takes the hill for the Dodgers against Jason Hammel. Both pitchers are 8-7, but the glaring difference is Kershaw's 2.96 ERA and 147 K's to Hammel's 4.54 ERA and 87 K's.

Season Awards Talk

With roughly five and a half weeks left in the regular season, there are some pretty hot races out there in both leagues when it comes to MVP and Cy Young Award. That said, now would be a good time to break it all down make some final predictions.

MVP:

In the National League, Albert Pujols was the runaway favorite until about two or three weeks ago when he went into his first slump of the season. Amazingly, though, he's been able to keep a little distance between him and a couple of the other guys chasing him, most notably Prince Fielder and Mark Reynolds. But because they play on non-contending teams at this point, chances are Pujols will still win in a landslide. Without him, the Cards would likely be buried in a mediocre NL Central.

In the American League, despite missing the first month of the season due to injury, Twins catcher Joe Mauer has put up near record numbers for a catcher, and hasn't really let up much. He currently stands at .378 entering today, and his OPS is in Pujols' territory, something unheard of from catchers. The last catcher to put up the kind of numbers Mauer is putting up now was Mike Piazza in 1997. You could make an argument for guys like Mark Teixeira, Derek Jeter and even Miguel Cabrera, but right now, in my opinion, the award is Mauer's to lose.

Cy Young:

Back in the N.L. again, two pitchers stand out right now as frontrunners: Tim Lincecum and Chris Carpenter. Lincecum, who won last year, is dominating in almost every stat category with the exception of wins and ERA. Carpenter leads the league (and Lincecum) in ERA by a quarter of a run at 2.16, and is tied with two others, including teammate Adam Wainwright, who is fifth in the N.L. in ERA, with 14 wins. Also in the mix is Lincecum's teammate Matt Cain, who has 14 wins and the same 2.43 era as Lincecum. So which of the four will be left standing? My gut tells me Lincecum because of his complete package, including his league leading 214 strikeouts.

In the A.L., the race was a little more tight until the past week or so. Roy Halladay, Josh Beckett and Zach Greinke were all in the mix until the each had at least two bad outings in a row to pretty much take them completely out of the race, leaving Felix Hernandez standing alone. However, one other pitcher can give King Felix a nice run with a solid September: Justin Verlander. That's not to say Halladay and Greinke are completely out of it, but right now, Hernandez has the edge.

Rookie of the Year:

Before the season started, Colby Rasmus appeared to be the early favorite to win the N.L. honors. When the season started, a couple other names popped early on, but then faded. But J.A. Happ has quickly emerged as the clear-cut favorite for the N.L. honors with a 10-2 record and a 2.59 ERA for the World Champs. In the A.L., four players stand out as favorites: Jeff Niemann, Ricky Romero, Rick Porcello and Gordon Beckham. Niemann and Romero are neck and neck in just about all of the pitching categories, while Porcello's ERA is a about half a run lower than Niemann's. Porcello also has more losses, and fewer strikeouts. Gordon Beckham leads all A.L. rookies with a .289 avg and an .836 OPS. If I had a vote and a gun to my head, Jeff Niemann wins by a hair over Beckham.

Manager:

Two managers stand out to me right now, one in each league, as the frontrunners: Jim Tracy in the N.L. and Ron Washington in the A.L. When Tracy took over the Rockies back in May, the team was buried 15½ games back of the Dodgers. Since then, the Rockies are 52-26, and have made up 12 games in the standings, and are now leading the N.L. Wild Card race by three games over the Giants. Texas, meanwhile, is just one game back of the Red Sox in the A.L. Wild Card, and has the A.L.'s third best team ERA, primarily with a bunch of young pitchers who weren't expected to contribute until next season. With the help of pitching coach Mike Maddux, and a more hands-on president in Nolan Ryan, the Rangers could finally have the pitching they need and could be headed to the post-season, when very few thought they'd even compete this season. (N.L. Honorable Mention: Bruce Bochy; A.L. Honorable Mention: Mike Scioscia.)

That about covers it. Of course these are just my opinions, and anything can still happen in all of these races and with the votes (in which I don't have one). But it should make for great debates and good conversation either way.

Two For The Price Of One

The Dodgers and Fox Sports are doing something very cool today.

If you've ever wondered what a Spanish telecast of a Dodger game would be like, today's your chance to find out. The Dodgers will be presenting their usual English telecast on FS Prime Ticket with Vin Scully, but they will also be presenting their first-ever Spanish telecast over on FS West with Jaime Jarrin, Pepe Yniguez and Fernando.

Imagine, 60 years of Vin Scully on one side, and 51 years of Jaime Jarrin on the other. And for Jarrin, this will be a long overdo affair. This will be his first ever Dodger telecast.

The Spanish-cast will be a simulcast on radio on 930 AM La Ranchera in Los Angeles, with Jarrin doing the first three and last three innings of play-by-play, and Yniguez doing the middle three. Fernando will provide color for the entire simulcast.

Spanish-language graphics and commercials will also be part of the telecast.

Jarrin said he proposed the idea of a Spanish telecast back in the 1980s, but as he pointed out, things were different back then. Broadcasting rights prevented it from ever transpiring back then, but because of the availability of so many channels now through cable, the Dodgers and Fox Sports were able to make it happen this time around.

And if all goes well today, Jarrin says they hope to do this about once a month next season.

And It's A Winning Streak!

Knuckleballer Charlie Haeger stymied the Cubs all afternoon, and Matt Kemp and Casey Blake each hit solo homeruns to lead the Blue to their thrid straight win, 2-0. Haeger was masterful for seven innings, allowing no runs on just three hits with seven strikeouts.

In an unexpected move, and likely only a temporary one, Joe Torre opted to use Jonathan Broxton in the eighth inning today ahead of George Sherrill. Sherrill wound up pitching a perfect ninth inning for his first save as a Dodger.

The Blue momentarily up their lead in the West to five games over Colorado, and six over the Giants, who square off tonight in Denver. With a record now of 74-50, the Dodgers continue to maintain the best record in the NL.

The Dodgers get the benefit of a very favorable schedule the rest of the season. After tomorrow's series and season finale with the Cubs, where they can sweep the four game set with a win, the Dodgers play just two teams the rest of the way with better than .500 records: the Rockies and Giants, fittingly, the two teams chasing them in the division.

After a day off Monday, the Blue start a three-game series with those Rockies in Colorado, followed by three in Cincinnati. They then start a four-game homestand against Arizona to finish off the month of August and start off the final month of September. After that, they'll have six left with San Diego, three more in Arizona, six more with the Giants, seven with Pittsburgh (the only NL team they have yet to play this season), three in DC, and they finish up at home with three more against the Rockies.

So needless to say, winning the first three of this series with the Cubs could prove to be very pivotal in gaining some momentum heading into the final six weeks of the season with that favorable schedule.

As for tomorrow's game, Ryan Dempster (6-7, 4.28) will oppose Chad Billingsley (12-6, 3.70) at 1:10pm PT.

Good Start to Cubs Series

After winning last night, 7-2, with the help of a Russell Martin grand slam to break a 2-2 tie in the 6th inning, to start the four-game series out at the Ravine against the Cubs, Randy Wolf was a one-man wrecking machine again tonight, allowing just one hit and one run in seven innings, and driving in the Dodgers only two runs of the night in a 2-1 win, their second straight. (Wolf now has five RBI in his last two starts.) Jonathan Broxton pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 27th save.

Also, there was a great catch in the 8th inning of this game as Cubs rookie Sam Fuld robbed Manny of a homerun leaping over the centerfield fence to make the catch.

With the win, the Dodgers bump their slim West lead back up to 4½ games over the Rockies, who lost at home to the Giants tonight. The Giants remain 5½ back. The Blue maintain the best record in the NL at 73-50.

Cubs send Ted Lilly to the bump tomorrow to oppose Dodger knuckleballer Charlie Haeger. Game is one of the Fox Game of the Week games, so an afternoon affair. A win tomorrow would give the Dodgers a much-needed winning streak.

I Concur

There were a couple of blog posts today posted by Jon Weisman over at Dodger Thoughts that I wanted to echo here.

The first one was in regard to Jonathan Broxton, and the backlash he's been getting by a lot of Dodger fans in recent days over the handful of blown saves in recent weeks.

The second one, the most recent of the two, on who the culprits really are for the Dodger struggles this month. Three guys in the lineup are more to point fingers at than Broxton, or anyone else in the bullpen, rotation or even the lineup.

There's really not much for me to add to these other than to say I agree 100% with Weisman.

Check 'em out. Tell me what you think, whether you agree or disagree.

Been A While...

Since I last had a chance to write in this space, a lot has happened in relation to the Blue. That said, here's a brief bullet-point rundown/recap of the key highlights of the last two and a half weeks that started on August 1st:

• The Dodgers took two of three in Atlanta, beating two promising young pitchers for the Braves, Jair Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson. Matt Kemp had a five RBI game in an ESPN Sunday night win.
• Tempers flared in a home game against the Brewers. In a Dodger blowout game, Manny was unintentionally grazed by a pitch with a nine-run lead. With the game all but over with two out in the ninth inning, Guillermo Mota took matters into his own hands, plunked Prince Fielder in the upper quad area. Mota, knowing he did it on purpose, was ejected as he was already walking off the field. Fielder stood at home plate wondering why he was hit, and when the last out was made, he bolted into the Brewers clubhouse, through the tunnel that connects to the Dodger clubhouse, and went looking for Mota. He was restrained by several teammates and Dodger Stadium security just outside the Dodger clubhouse. The Dodgers would lose two of the three games.
• After another walk-off homerun by Andre Ethier, his fifth walk-off of the season, the third as a homerun, that gave the Dodgers a series-opener win against the Braves, the Dodgers wound up losing the next three games to Atlanta, one in the ninth inning, and the other two in extra innings. The Dodgers would lose five of seven on the homestand.
• The Blue hit the road to the Bay Area and took the first two of three against the Hated-Ones-to-the-North. Down by a run to Tim Lincecum in the ninth inning with two outs in the third game, Ethier did his magic again, and had an RBI-single to tie the game. Just when it looked like the Dodgers were gonna eek one out against one of the league's best pitchers, Juan Uribe hit a walk-off in the 10th inning for the Giants to avoid a Dodger three-game sweep.
• After losing the opener to the D-backs in Arizona this past weekend, a scary incident took place on Saturday night. Dodger hurler Hiroki Kuroda was hit in the head by a batted ball off the bat of D-Backs rookie Rusty Ryal. After Kuroda threw the pitch, Ryal swung and hit the ball back up the middle. The ball caromed off the right side of Kuroda's head and hit an empty seat behind the D-Backs on-deck circle before landing back on the field near the backstop. Kuroda was motionless on the front slope of the mound for several minutes before beeing carted off. He would spend the night in a Phoenix-area hospital before being released the next morning. Kuroda was placed on the DL today with a concussion and post-concussion symptoms. There's no telling how long he will be out of action. As for the game, Jonathan Broxton would give up back-to-back solo homeruns in the ninth inning to blow a 3-1 lead, and the Dodgers would eventually lose in 10 innings. They won in a rout the following day, 9-3, behind 7+ strong innings from Randy Wolf, who struck out 10, and went three for four with the bat, including a two-run homerun and an RBI double. They avoided what would have been an embarassing sweep.
• With Kuroda out indefinitely, and the team desperate for arms in the rotation, the Dodgers signed veteran pitcher Vicente Padilla to a minor league deal today. Padilla was designated for assignment last week by the Rangers. He was released Monday and cleared waivers today. Padilla will report to AAA-Albuquerque for one or two starts before being called back up to start next Thursday's game in Colorado.

As for tonight's game, the Dodgers and Cards are scoreless in the 4th inning. The Cards won the opener behind a stellar start by Chris Carpenter, but the Dodgers got even last night winning 7-3 behind six strong innings by Chad Billingsley, who returned to the mound after missing two starts with a sore hamstring.

That should get us back up-to-date...