Notes From Wednesday's Game

1. The magic number is still 1.
2. Jon Garland was b-a-d over 3.1 IP (5 Runs [4 ER], 7 Hits, 4 K, 1 BB, 1 HR Allowed, 67 pitches - 41 for strikes).
3. Bullpen: 4.2 IP, o Runs, 2 Hits, 6 K, 5 BB [1 IBB], 1 WP.
4. Matt Kemp (Single, BB) and Manny (2 BB) each reached base twice, the only Dodgers to reach base more than once.
5. Andre Ethier batted 7th tonight.
   
6. WHAT THE FUCK is Mark Loretta doing starting? Fuck.
7. The offense drew 5 walks while striking out 7 times. And had one hit. Against a pitcher whose WHIP this season was 1.58 with San Diego and 1.51 overall coming into tonight's game.
8. 1 Error, 2 GIDP, 1 Passed Ball, 1 Wild Pitch.
   

Notes From Tuesday's Game

1. Chad Billingsley was definitely struggling with some wildness (6 IP, 2 ER, 2 Hits, 5 K, 5 BB, 1 HR Allowed, 107 pitches - 63 for strikes), but 3 of those walks were to Adrian Gonzalez, the only offensive threat on the Padres. I think you can hardly hold that against Bills. It would be like an opposing pitcher facing the Dodgers, who would field a lineup of all reserves and one of the starting outfielders. You never want to walk guys, but if that opposing pitcher walked that Dodger outfielder 3 times, would it really be the worse thing in the world? I actually think it would be a pretty wise move. Look at Chad's line again with those 3 walks to A-Gon put in the proper context, and he pitched a second consecutive really good game.
2. Bullpen: 2 IP, 1 Run, 2 Hits, 2 K, 1 BB, 1 WP. 3 relievers.
3. Orlando Hudson (Triple, 2 BB) reached base 3 times and Rafael Furcal (2 Singles) reached base twice, the only Dodgers to reach base more than once.
4. Furcal stole his 11th base of the season. It's his 5th SB in September.
5. Matt Kemp recorded his 14th outfield assist of the season, gunning down A-Gon at the plate in the 6th inning.
   
6. The offense struck out 8 times while drawing 4 walks.
7. The last 5 outs made by Dodger hitters all came via the strikeout, 3 swinging and 2 looking.
8. Magic number still 1.
   

This Is Pretty Damn Incredible

Via Deadspin.

Angel Berroa Is Tricky

H/T to JuanLove for pointing the video out.

Notes From Monday's Game

1. Didn't see the game. Thankfully.
2. Hiroki Kuroda was awful over 4 IP (7 Runs [3 ER], 8 Hits, 3 K, 2 BB, 2 HR Allowed, 75 pitches - 50 for strikes).
3. Bullpen: 4 IP, 4 Runs, 7 Hits, 3 K, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 1 HR Allowed.
   
4. No Dodger reached base more than once.
5. 4 regulars had the day off, 2 due to nagging injuries.
   
6. The offense struck out 7 times while drawing only 1 walk.
7. Charlie Haeger made his first appearance since September 13th, pitching 2/3rds of an inning (1 Hit, 1 HBP, 1 K).
8. In former Dodger news, Andy LaRoche had a career day, putting up about 1 million times more offense than the Dodgers' hitters combined (5-5, 2 HR, 2 Doubles, 6 RBI, 4 Runs scored).
   
9. The magic number remains at 1.
   

Notes From Sunday's Game (UPDATE)

1. Great defense. Now we'll see more calls for Sherrill to take over for Broxton. Unwarranted calls. (UPDATE: Call # 1 for Broxton's head)
   
2. Clayton Kershaw only lasted 4 innings in his first start in almost a month (2 ER, 4 Hits, 4 K, 1 BB, 2 WP, 79 pitches - 49 for strikes), but he must start in the playoffs. To do anything else would be foolish. Granted, foolish is Joke Joe Torre's middle name. And first name.
3. Bullpen: 4.1 IP, 4 Runs [3 ER], 7 Hits, 5 K, 3 BB [all IBB].
4. Orlando Hudson (Single, 2 BB [1 IBB]) reached base 3 times, while James Loney (2 Singles) and Ronnie Belliard (Double, Single) each reached base twice.
5. The offense drew 4 walks while striking out 5 times.
6. 2 Errors, plus a botched double play by Furcal in the 9th. So really 3 Errors, all in the 9th inning.
7. Magic number is still just 1.
8. The Cleveland Show was atrocious.
   

Notes From Saturday's Game

1. The Dodgers clinched a playoff spot and reduced their magic number to win the NL West to 2 1 with their win and the Rockies loss.
2. Randy Wolf was solid again (6.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 5 K, 1 BB, 1 HR Allowed, 83 pitches - 54 for strikes).
3. Bullpen: 2.2 IP, 2 Runs, 3 Hits, 3 K, 2 BB, 2 WP. 5 relievers. See bullet point number 8.
   
4. Ronnie Belliard hit his 10th HR of the season (5th with LA).
5. Jim Thome had a big 2-run pinch-hit single in the 8th inning. Good to see Jim with some success off of the bench.
   
6. Manny (Double, Single, 3 BB) reached base 5 times, Belliard (HR, 2 Singles) reached base 3 times, and James Loney (Single, BB), Orlando Hudson (2 BB [1 IBB]), and Mark Loretta (Double, Single) each reached base twice.
7. The offense was more patient tonight, drawing 8 walks [1 IBB] while striking out just 3 times.
8. I've decided that Joe Torre just doesn't know any better when it comes to bullpen management.
   

Notes From Friday's Game

1. Jon Garland was the same old Jon Garland, though he wasn't helped by the poor Dodger defense behind him and some shallow and infield hits (6 IP, 3 Runs [0 ER], 6 Hits, 6 K, 1 BB, 104 pitches - 70 for strikes). Again, if he pitches in the postseason it'll most certainly be a mediocre start because he's a mediocre pitcher who allows the ball to be put into play too often.
2. Bullpen: 2 IP, o Runs, 1 Hit, 2 K, 2 BB, 1 HBP.
3. Blake DeWitt (2 Doubles) and Brad Ausmus [(!?)....This is when you know the offensive showing was piss-poor] (2 Singles) were the only Dodgers to reach base more than once.
4. The Dodger offense struck out 7 times while drawing 0 walks.
5. 2 Errors, and another play that easily could have been, and probably should have been ruled, an error.
   

Do Companies Even Have PR Departments Anymore?

Judging by this video, I'll go out on a limb and say no. And THANK GOD for that.

Clayton Kershaw's Pretty Good At That Pitching Thing

He's one of only two 21-year-old pitchers to ever have a season with:

• ERA+: 146 or better
• ERA: 2.85 or better
• K: 171 or more
• H/9 IP: 6.3 or less hits allowed per 9 innnings
  

Not that ERA and ERA+ are the best statistical measurements of pitching, but Baseball-Reference's Play Index doesn't allow me to look up xFIP or FIP in historical comparisons.

I'd name the other 21-year-old, but I don't have a subscription to Baseball-Reference.

Looking at those numbers in the context that the vast majority of 21-year-old pitchers are either in college or in the minors, Kershaw's season is all the more impressive.

Notes From Thursday's Game

1. Matt Kemp had himself a huge night. He went 3-5 with a mammoth 3-run HR in the 1st inning, his 26th of the season. The long-ball gave him 100 RBIs for the first time in his career, an especially impressive feat considering he was stuck unfairly in the bottom-third of the lineup for a huge chunk of the season. He added a triple and single to his HR and scored twice. He became the first player in franchise history to have a season with at least 25 HR, 25 SB, and 100 RBIs. Sign The Bison long-term. Now. Go!
2. Vicente Padilla had another bad start (5 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 6 K, 3 BB, 103 pitches - 62 for strikes). Anyone still think he should start in the playoffs, let alone over the clearly superior Chad Billingsley? Not that it was a sane opinion before these last couple of starts.
3. Bullpen: 4 IP, 2 Runs, 4 Hits, 2 K, 4 BB (1 IBB).
4. Rafael Furcal hit his 9th HR of the season and has been on fire as of late. Hopefully he keeps it rolling into October.
5. Furcal (HR, 2 Doubles, Single) reached base 4 times, Kemp (HR, Triple, Single) and Manny (Single, BB, HBP) each reached base 3 times, and James Loney (2 BB) reached base twice.
6. Andre Ethier made a great throw in the 8th inning to nail the tying run at the plate.
7. Blake DeWitt got the start at 3rd base and had a solid game, driving in 2 runs and making an excellent defensive play to nail Adam Dunn in the 9th inning. DeWitt was on the 1st base side of second base due to the shift for Dunn and was closer to 1st base than the second baseman was when he fielded the ball.
   

Notes From Wednesday's Game

1. Chad Billingsley was excellent aside from one pitch (6 IP, 3 ER, 1 Hit, 9 K, 4 BB, 1 HR Allowed, 87 pitches - 52 for strikes).
2. Yes, the one pitch was a hanger that Ryan Zimmerman crushed, but overall it was an excellent outing for Chad. No-hitter through 5.2 IP, velocity was good, command was there even with the 4 walks (3 of which were to hitters you don't mind walking, Zimmerman and Adam Dunn), and his stuff was nasty. I actually thought he had Dunn struck out right before he walked him and Zimmerman homered, and if it was in fact a strike, then he goes at least 6 scoreless.
3. Bullpen: 2.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 Hits, 1 K, 2 BB.
4. Orlando Hudson left in the 9th inning after tripping over Adam Dunn's foot and jamming his twice surgically-repaired left wrist.
5. Rafael Furcal (2 Singles, BB), James Loney (2 Singles, BB), and Ronnie Belliard (Double, Single, BB) each reached base 3 times, the only Dodgers to reach base more than once.
6. Furcal stole his 10th base.
7. Jim Thome pinch-hit and singled to center in the 9th inning.
   
8. The offense drew 7 walks (1 IBB) while only striking out twice.
9. How does Eric Collins see "Saul" as being pronounced "Sa-oul"? Has he never seen Pineapple Express?

-------------------------------------------------------

For comparisons sake, some other pitching lines from tonight:

• Cole Hamels: 7 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 4 K, 0 BB, 2 HR Allowed
• Josh Beckett: 6 IP, 2 ER, 12 Hits, 7 K, 1 BB
• A.J. Burnett: 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 11 K, 3 BB
• Jason Marquis: 4.2 IP, 6 Runs [5 ER], 5 Hits, 6 K, 5 BB, 1 HR Allowed
• Scott Kazmir: 6 IP, 3 ER, 3 Hits, 4 K, 3 BB, 1 WP
• Tim Hudson: 6 IP, 2 ER, 9 Hits, 3 K, 2 BB
• Mark Buehrle: 3.1 IP, 5 Runs [4 ER], 8 Hits, 0 K, 1 BB
  

What do these starters have in common? They will be or would be starting in the playoffs (Hudson would perhaps only start in the second round depending upon whether the Braves went with a 3-man or 4-man rotation in the NLDS).

I'm not one to make grand predictions and assessments over 1 game, or even half of a season. Too small of a sample size.

Do you?

Links On A Wednesday Afternoon

Batting .300 isn't all it's cracked up to be. Cracked up to be by people who don't understand the importance of a walk, that is. Juan Pierre is mentioned. You know where this is going. [Yes, But It's An Empty .300]

The Dodgers' young players are pretty damn good. [Los Angeles Dodgers VOC and Payroll Breakdown]

Watch Glee tonight. Fox, 9:00 P.M. PST.

Happy Happy Birthday Part Deux

Matt Kemp turns 25 today. For the love of all that is holy Dodgers management, please lock him up to a long, long-term deal.

Notes From Tuesday's Game

1. Hiroki Kuroda was excellent (6 IP, 2 Runs [0 ER], 4 Hits, 6 K, 2 BB, 1 HR Allowed, 81 pitches - 52 for strikes).
2. Bullpen: 3 IP, 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 4 K, 2 BB.
3. Clayton Kershaw made his first appearance since September 4th, going 2 innings (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 4 K, 1 BB, 39 pitches - 24 for strikes). He looked pretty damn good for a guy who hasn't pitched in over 2 weeks and is coming off of a separated non-throwing shoulder.
4. Casey Blake hit his 18th HR.
5. Rafael Furcal (Double, 3 Singles) reached base 4 times, James Loney (Double, 2 Singles), Russell Martin (Single, IBB, HBP), and Ronnie Belliard (Double, Single, BB) each reached base 3 times, while Manny (Double, BB) and Blake (HR, Single) each reached base twice.
6. The offense drew 5 walks while only striking out twice.
   

Happy Happy Birthday

Tommy Lasorda turns 82 today.

Off-Topic On An Off-Day

Norv Turner and Offensive Coordinator Clarence Shelmon are idiots. I don't know which of the two calls the plays, but who in their right mind would think running up the middle with a scatback against an incredibly talented, aggressive defense with the game on the line would be an intelligent idea?

The middle of said defense that is unquestionably their strength. On the same day that your best running back is not playing due to a sprained ankle. On the same day that your QB just threw for a career-high 436 yards.

If you must run, run to the outside, not at the heart of the other's team's great defense. Run a misdirection, pitch it to Sproles. But that would still be over-thinking things. Let Rivers set up in a shotgun formation and THROW THE DAMN BALL!

You should feel like shit Norv.

Why couldn't they have just hired Rex Ryan a couple of years ago, considering it's the defense that needs work. Horrible on 3rd downs, no pressure. Play aggressive, and win. Thank god for the AFC West.

Fuck Norv Turner.

------------------------------------------------------

Lots of great shows on TV now after a summer full of repeats and reality shows. Some new, some old, most currently airing new episodes or just about to begin airing new episodes. The ones that I enjoy, in no particular order:

• South Park (returns October 7th)
  
• House (returns tonight)
• It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia (Thursdays)
• Fringe (Thursdays)
• Community (Thursdays)
• Glee (Wednesdays)
• Family Guy (returns September 24th)
  
• American Dad (returns September 24th)
• Archer (Premiered Thursday, returns in January) - Official Website
  
• *The Cleveland Show* (premieres September 24th)

* Not sure what to expect, and it replaced a show I really liked (King Of The Hill), but I'll give it a chance.*

What did I miss? What shows do you guys really enjoy?

Notes From Sunday's Game

1. Randy Wolf was decent over 6 IP (2 ER, 5 Hits, 3 K, 2 BB, 2 HR Allowed, 85 pitches - 52 for strikes). He also walked in the 3rd and scored on Ethier's HR.
   
2. Bullpen: 3 IP, 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 4 K, 0 BB.
3. Andre Ethier hit his 31st HR of the season, and in doing so surpassed 100 RBIs for the first time in his career. He's the first Dodger to reach that mark this season.
4. James Loney (Single, 2 IBB) reached base 3 times, while Manny (BB, IBB), Ethier (HR, BB), and Rafael Furcal (Triple, BB) each reached base twice.
5. Furcal stole his 9th base of the season, his second straight game with a steal and third steal in his last 5 games. He had 6 steals in his first 135 games this season.
   
6. Matt Kemp extended his hit streak to 12 games.
7. The Dodgers moved 30 games over .500 for the first time since October 2, 1985.
8. The offense struck out 8 times but drew 7 walks.

Notes From Saturday's Game

1. Jon Garland was solid over 8 IP (1 Run [O ER], 7 Hits, 3 K, 0 BB, 96 pitches - 65 for strikes).
2. Bullpen: 1 IP, 0 Runs, 3 Hits, 1 K, 0 BB.
3. Matt Kemp hit his 25th HR, Blake DeWitt hit his 2nd, Ronnie Belliard hit his 9th (4th with LA) and James Loney hit his 13th. Loney's HR was his first of the season at Dodger Stadium.
4. Loney (HR, 2 Singles) reached base 3 times, while Manny (2 BB), Andre Ethier (Double, BB), Rafael Furcal (Double, Single), Russell Martin (Single, BB), and Belliard (HR, BB) each reached base twice.
5. Furcal stole his 8th base, while Belliard stole his 3rd of the season and 1st with the Dodgers.

Notes From Friday's Game

1. Vicente Padilla was very hittable in his poor outing Friday (5 IP, 4 ER, 8 Hits, 3 K, 1 BB, 2 HR Allowed, 90 pitches - 64 for strikes).
2. Bullpen: 4 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 1 K, 2 BB, 1 HR Allowed.
   
3. Manny hit his 19th HR and Rafael Furcal hit his 8th HR.
4. Matt Kemp (2 Singles, BB) and Furcal (HR, 2 BB) reached base 3 times each, while Manny (HR, Double), Andre Ethier (Single, HBP), and Casey Blake (Single, BB) each reached base twice.
   
5. Kemp stole his 34th base of the season.
6. There was absolutely no reason to bring in Chad Billingsley. The point of skipping a start is to give the pitcher whose start is being skipped rest. That was not accomplished. Shocking, I know.
7. 2 Errors, 2 GIDPs.
   

The Force Is Strong With This One, Career Year Must It Be

Randy Wolf's interview with starwars.com

4+1 Anniversary (Never Forget)

Today marks the 3-year anniversary of the 4+1 game back in 2006.

Of the 5 guys involved in that game, only one remains:

1. Jeff Kent - Retired
2. J.D. Drew - Boston
3. Russell Martin
4. Marlon Anderson - Started 2009 with the Mets, was released, signed with the independent Atlantic League's Newark Bears.
   
5. Nomar - Oakland

Video.

Never Forget.

Does Ken Gurnick Know That Ned Colletti Actually Sucks?

Apparently not.




I'll just touch on a few points:

but this is Ned Colletti's club. He traded for Andre Ethier and Manny Ramirez, he refused to trade away Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw, and he signed Randy Wolf and Vicente Padilla.

Do you know why he refused to trade Kemp and Kershaw? Because they were our best offensive and pitching prospects, respectively, and projected to be really really good to elite players. I will not give him credit for not doing an idiotic thing like trading away your best prospects. And on the subject of top prospects, no mention of Colletti severely underselling two of the team's best prospects the last two seasons and shipping them out of town. And while he did an intelligent thing in acquiring Manny, it's not like that deal didn't also happen to pretty much fall into his lap. The Ethier move was excellent, but I'll go out on a limb and assume that had more to do with Logan White than it did with Ned Colletti and his baseball expertise.

Nobody could have more impact than Ramirez last year, but Colletti has been equally successful plugging in overlooked and underrated players such as Casey Blake, whose professional demeanor and steady play haven't wavered this year.

You know what's funny, I didn't realize that they started measuring "professional demeanor". I think it's listed right in between grit and clubhouse presence on Baseball Reference, right ahead of WAR. Again, no mention of the severe cost of trading for Blake. And if by steady play, you mean a .251/.313/.460/.773 (100 OPS+, 1.0 WAR) line in 58 games with the team last year, without even mentioning the .267/.333/.367/.700 line with 1 XBH in 8 playoff games last year, then yeah, steady as she goes, steady as she goes. Of course he's been much better this year on both sides of the ball (3.9 WAR), but if you mention the good, you should also mention the horrendous.

With Jonathan Broxton closing, Sherrill's eighth innings are sometimes overlooked. But he hasn't been scored upon in 22 of the 23 times Torre has used him, for a microscopic 0.42 ERA.

Actually, it's been Broxton who's been overlooked/underrated/shitted on this year, especially since Sherrill arrived. Many have called for Sherrill to replace Big Jon, somehow forgetting that Broxton's been the best relief pitcher in baseball this year. And no mention of the overpayment (Josh Bell) for Sherrill.

He's more successful than the five general managers who preceded him, if not more secure, even with the failures of free-agent signings Jason Schmidt and Andruw Jones.

See what old Ken does here? He casually slips in the horrendous deals Colletti's made, hoping that you won't read until the end and see this paragraph. He also leaves out Juan Pierre, the undervaluing of prospects, specifically top prospects, the poor handling of Blake DeWitt this season, the lack of trust in young players, the unwillingness to let those young players (most of the time) play and develop, etc etc.

Mirror Mirror On The Wall, Is Woody Paige The Most Illogical Of Them All?

He just criticized Jay Cutler for not dressing professionally.


Those Russian Denver winters must be cold. In September.

What I Missed While At The Manny Bobblehead Game

Fan umpires behind home plate.

Not the first, not the last.

For anyone who watched the game on TV, how often did these guys do their little shtick?

For me, it's kind of funny the first time. And I emphasize kind of, because it quickly begins to annoy the shit out me.

Especially since these gentlemen appear to be closer to 30 than to 20. Maybe even 40.

I admit it could just be because I'm not that into dress-up and role-play. Unless it's the Elliott Reid type of role-playing.

Links On A Wednesday Night

Tommy Lasorda is going to the Smithsonian. [Lasorda = Smithsonian]

Fire Joe Morgan (temporarily) returns in all its scrappy glory. [FJM @ Deadspin]

Chad Billingsley will have a start skipped. Regardless of how he was pitching at this point, this was something that should have happened. Same with Kershaw and his shoulder injury - there's no shame in having a start skipped to conserve a young pitcher's arm. [Billingsley To Skip Start]

An interesting recap of the Mets' 2009 season. [Mets' Messy History - The Game of MetsSloppily]

Notes From Wednesday's Game

1. Hiroki Kuroda was fantastic today (6 IP, 1 ER, 6 Hits, 7 K, 0 BB, 1 WP, 95 pitches - 57 for strikes).
2. Bullpen: 3 IP, 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 4 K, 0 BB.
   
3. Matt Kemp (24th) and Ronnie Belliard (8th - 3rd with LA) both homered.
4. Ronnie Belliard (HR, Double, Single, BB) reached base 4 times and Brad Ausmus (Single, BB) reached base twice., No other Dodger reached base more than once.
   
5. 5 regulars had the day off.
6. The offense struck out 7 times while only drawing 2 walks.
7. No Manny on Manny Curtain Call Bobblehead Day. He should have pinch-hit for Pierre in the 7th inning.

----------------------------------------------------------

Some observations from inside Dodger Stadium:

• Interesting collection of first-pitch participants: George Lopez, Joe Scarborough and his co-host Mika Brzezinski, and Felipe Mayano (Minister of Sports for the Dominican Republic). Imaginary points if you can guess who got the loudest ovation.
• George Lopez threw a perfect strike with his pitch. It was pretty sweet. I imagine as he was in his windup he was thinking "I Got This!"
• The only downside to the bleachers is you can't see the scoreboard/"videoboard". They should really look to fix that.
• Right before Kemp's HR, I was thinking to myself "he's due". A little Final Destination shit there, except I didn't run out of the stadium screaming that we were all gonna die.
  

Curtain Call Day Game

Manny Ramirez Curtain Call Bobblehead Giveaway Day.

Enjoy the game.

Enjoy the bobblehead.

Gay For Dre In Pretty Picture Form

All credit for the movement's creation goes to kensai.

Joe Morgan Blows

From his chat today:

Is Tim Lincecum back in front of the NL Cy Young race after last night's gem?

No, I don't think so. I think the leader is Adam Wainright in St. Louis. He has the most victories. Most innings pitched of the guys in the race. His teammate Chris Carpenter was very close to him and he had a bad outing the other day. Lincecum has been good all along, but because of the offense in San Francisco, he went about four starts without a victory. I think Wainright is the leader, but there is still time for someone to make a run. There are a lot of guys in the mix, but Wainright, I think, is in the lead.

Reasons Why Joe Morgan Is Wrong:

1. Tim Lincecum (207.1 IP) has pitched more innings than Adam Wainwright (205 IP). Lincecum has pitched the most innings in the NL in 2009.
   
2. A pitcher named "Wainright" does not exist. He can't even take the time to look up the right way to spell a guy's name he's arguing should win the most important award given to that position?
3. He uses Wins to justify his argument. For the millionth, gazillionth time, Wins and Losses are the absolute worst way to judge how a pitcher has performed, his skill level, his ability, etc.

*Numbers From Baseball Reference and The Hardball Times.*


Lincecum:

xFIP: 2.84 (MLB Best)
FIP: 2.25 (MLB Best)
ERA: 2.30 (NL Best)
ERA+: 187 (NL Best)
K: 244 (MLB Best)
K/9 IP: 10.6
K/BB: 4.14
WHIP: 1.04
CG: 4 (Tied NL Best)
Shutouts: 2 (Tied NL Best)

Wainwright:

xFIP: 3.61
FIP: 3.29
ERA: 2.59
ERA+: 161
K: 175
K/9 IP: 7.7
K/BB: 2.92
WHIP: 1.22
CG: 1
Shutouts: 0

If the voting were held today, Tim Lincecum is your 2009 National League Cy Young Award Winner. He's been the best pitcher in the National League this year. Doesn't mean he will win it, but he should because he's earned it by being the best pitcher in the National League and one of the 2 best pitchers in baseball in 2009.

Notes From Tuesday's Game

1. Randy Wolf was solid (7 IP, 3 ER, 5 Hits, 5 K, 2 BB, 1 HR Allowed, 95 pitches - 62 for strikes), especially considering he was coming off of an injury to his left elbow.
2. Bullpen: 6 IP, 1 Run [o ER], 3 Hits, 8 K, 2 BB [both IBB].
3. Andre Ethier hit his 30th HR and 40th double of the season. He now has 73 XBH (30 HR, 40 Doubles, 3 Triples). The franchise record for doubles in a season is 52, set in 1929 by Johnny Frederick. The franchise record for XBHs in a season is 94, set in 1930 by Babe Herman.
4. Ethier is the first Dodgers' lefty to hit 30 HR in a season since Shawn Green in 2002 , and his HR gives him a major-league high 6 walk-off hits this season, both per Vin on the broadcast.
   
5. Matt Kemp (Double, Single), Ethier (HR, Double), Casey Blake (Triple, BB), and Rafael Furcal (Single, BB) each reached base twice.
   
6. Jonathan Broxton struck out the side in one inning of work. He now has 106 Ks on the season in 69.2 IP (13.79 K/9 IP), and has surpassed his innings total from 2008.
   
7. James McDonald struck out 3 in 3 innings of relief.
   

DirecTV Needs An Ombudsman

Happenings In Blue

Randy Wolf is a go for Tuesday.

------------------------------------------------

Guillermo Mota was activated from the 15-day DL.

------------------------------------------------

Dodgers 19-year-old minor league pitcher Jose Dominguez was suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball for testing positive for Stanozolol, a PED. Dominguez is part of the Dodgers' Dominican Summer League team. His suspension will start next season.