Bud Selig Announces MLB Takeover of Dodgers

Braves @ Dodgers
7:10 pm
Game 3

News broke this afternoon that Commimissioner Selig will have a MLB representative takeover all aspects of the Dodgers. This comes after owner Frank McCourt secured a $30 million personal loan from Fox to help cover payroll and other costs. McCourt has been accused of using profits from the team  for his own personal extravagant lifestyle. He is currently waged in a heated and costly divorce battle with his wife Jamie.

Selig's statement:

"Pursuant to my authority as Commissioner, I informed Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt
today that I will appoint a representative to oversee all aspects of the business and the day-to-day operations of the Club. I have taken this action because of my deep concerns regarding the finances and operations of the Dodgers and to protect the best interests of the Club, its great fans and all of Major League Baseball. My office will continue its thorough investigation into the operations and finances of the Dodgers and related entities during the period of Mr. McCourt's ownership. I will announce the name of my representative in the next several days.

"The Dodgers have been one of the most prestigious franchises in all of sports, and we owe it to their legion of loyal fans to ensure that this club is being operated properly now and will be guided
appropriately in the future."

This will certainly not mean that the Dodgers will be relocated. This is merely the beginning of the process to which the MLB will most likely push McCourt out. It is unclear if McCourt will fight this since he is cash strapped.

As for, ya know, the game tonight...

So last night once I saw deer-in-the-headlights looking Jansen pitching with Ramon Troncoso warming in the bullpen, I decided to call it a night. Well, to my dismay, I read the final score via text from Scott before I headed to bed. I can't say that I didn't see that coming, and I'm awfully glad I missed that atrocious 9th inning. At one point the Dodgers were only down 2-1, but as we know from experience in 2010, the Dodger bullpen can quite easily turn a close game into a landslide loss faster than you can say "Ramon Troncoso Needs to Go!"

Sigh. Well Andre Ethier did extend his hitting streak to a career high 16 games. Tonight he looks to break his personal best and go for 17 straight.

Derek Lowe (2-2, 1.82), whom we should have never given up, is pitching tonight for the Braves so it most likely will be another loss. Jon Garland (0-1, 11.25) will go to the mound for the Dodgers. In his first shaky outing after returning from the DL he gave up a couple of homers and had an unusual balk.

Vicente Padilla is set to be activated on Friday and join the Dodgers on their road trip which begins in Chicago. We need all the help we can get in the bullpen, since Jansen, Troncoso, and Cormier are pretty much unplayable. We also have no left-hander in the pen since Kuo has been sidelined which puts us at a real disadvantage. We all saw what a much needed tool a good lefty out of the pen is last night after Atlanta's Venters blew away the Dodger hitters.

Lineup:

Carroll 6
Blake 5
Ethier 9
Kemp 8
Uribe 4
Loney 3
Sands 7
Barajas 2
Garland 1

We will bring you more information about today's news as well as the usual post game recap. Stay tuned!

Bumpen returns to 2010 form blows game away 10-1

braves    10  14  0
Dodgers   1    5  0
WP-B.Beachy-1-1
LP-Kuroda-2-2
HR-Hinske-1-Prado-2-Uggla-4-Freeman-2


would you believe me if I told you this was a very tight 2-1 game until the top of the 9th? well it was, that is until the braves scored 8 runs off 8 hits in the top of the 9th, off a very lousy dodger bullpen. very aggravating.

of coarse we could not hit rookie pitcher Brandond Beachy. I had never even heard of him until tonight. of coarse he pitches 6 shutout innings holding the Dodgers to 2 hits and 7 strikeouts.

Kuroda also pitched well but he ran out of gas in the 7th inning.  he allowed only 2 runs, both homeruns, off 5 hits walking 3 while King 4.

it was scoreless until the 6th inning.  Kuroda was a bit shaky in the first. prado opens up with a single, after Heyward grounds out, and Jones strikes out, McCann walks, but uggla strikes out to end the inning.

in the bottom of the first the Dodgers threatened but of coarse came away with nothing. with 2 outs, Ethier doubles, to extend his hitting streak to 16 games, tying a career high. doubling off the glove off heyward in deep right field. The braves decided to wisely intentionally walk the bison to pitch to uribe. no suprise he grounds out.

move along to the top of the 5th. Kuroda works himself out of a jam he created. he walks Freeman and gonzalez. then Mclouth grounds into a double play, a high bouncer off the mound kareming towards uribe.
beachy grounds out to end the inning.

in the bottom of the 5th, the Sandman instilled more hope by doubling off the wall in left field. however with Kuroda at the plate he commits a typical rookie mistake. on a grounder to short that was hit in front of him, he tries to advance to third and is thrown out. TOOTBLAN.

Prado leads off the 6th inning with a home run giving atlanta a 1-0 lead.

in the top of the 7th, Freeman leads off with a homer 2-0. dodger pitchers are giving up way too many homers.
after gonzalez strikes out, Mcclouth singles. hawksworth comes in to relieve a tired Kuroda. Conrad signles Mcclouth going to third. prado walks to load the bases, and were all having a heart attack. heyward though grounds into a fielders choice, Loney throwing out Mcclouth at home plate for a force out. Chipper Jones pops out for out number three.

in the bottom of the 7th, with Linebrink now onto pitch for atlanta. uribe gets a lucky single off of the pitchers glove. loney amazingly singles, and a rare moment indeed at dodger stadium, Loney and uribe on base at the same time. we might not see that again this year!

Jerry Sands at bat hits a sharp grounder to third. Chipper Jones makes a terrific play to stop several runs from scoring, diving to his right full extension and throwing out Sands at first. it was a bang bang play. Uribe scores and its 2-1.

Ellis then singles Loney advances to third, and the Dodgers are in business. Atlanta then shows us what real relief pitching looks like brining in the tough high sock wearing lefty Jonny Venters. Venters gets Thames to pathetically whiff on three straight pitches. the carroll walks to load the bases. Blake grounds out :(

in the 8th Macdougal comes in, and more general lousyness from the Dodger bullpen. he Dougie walks Mccann and Uggla. after a Honeycutt what the fuck visit to the mound, freeman grounds into a double play, with Uribe and Carroll almost colliding at second base. just what we needed :) Gonzalez grounds out and were out of it.

after the Dodgers went down 123 in the 8th. the up and down Jansen was brought in, and the batting practice ensued. Mcclouth walks, then Hinske pinch hitting homers. its 4-1.  then Prado walks. another honeycutt visit to the mound. after a fly out, conescutive singles from jones and Mccann and a hook for jansen.
the Dodgers officially forfieted the game by bringing in the awful Ramon Troncsucko. I wont even get into the carnage, but when the inning was over it was 10-1 Braves, and the bullpen looking like shades of last year.

why in the world is tronsucko still on this team? he now has an ERA of 20.25. Jansens ERA is 11.25, and Cormier's ERA is 11.75. this is completly unnaceptable. We are all hoping that all three of them will go away very soon. I believe the Isotopes are short handed, im sure they can use three bums that cant get anyone out.

the Dodgers clearly dont have it this year. a poorly constructed roster, absoltuly no offense except from Ethier and Kemp, lousy bullpen, useless bench, and they dont hit homeruns.
looks like we will have lots of free time again in october. very depressing. im off to bed now. hopefully this game will be nothing more than a bad memory by tomorrow.

Lowe vs. Garland tomorrow. 710 PM on prime ticket. goodnight Dodger fans. GO BLUE!

Mr. Sandman bring me a dream....Dodgers look to put Braves to sleep

Dodgers lineup
Carroll6
Blake5
Ethier9
Kemp8
uribe4
Loney3
Sands7
Ellis2
Kuroda1

Brandon Beachy 0-1 vs. Hiroki Kuroda 2-1

I like this lineup alot better. Carroll back leading off, Aaron Miles NOT in the lineup, and rookie phenom Jerry Sands back in the lineup batting 7th and in left field. last night was a good game for the rookie, and the Dodgers. Sands first major league hit a double, sac fly, and a nice shoestring catch. the Dodgers look to continue to put the braves to sleep. A.J. Ellis catches tonight giving Big Rod a day off.

Pitcher Vicente Padilla is making progress and could be activated for the next road trip. viva los soapbubble!

well get our first look at rookie Brandon Beachy tonight.  I know absolutly nothing about this kid, he gave up five earned runs in a loss to the marlins his first time out.
the Dodgers will counter with Hiroki Kuroda. fresh off his worst start of the year, Kuroda looks to get back on track, and hopefully is well rested.
well continue to keep an eye on Jerry Sands as he makes his second start. im very pleased to see him starting. lets hope him and the Dodgers send the braves off to never never land! GO BLUE!

The Sands of Time

Dodgers 4 10 0
Braves   2  7  0
WP-Lilly (1-2)
LP-Hudson (2-2)

The last inning was headed toward an old-fashioned Broxton meltdown, but luckily he turned things around and the Dodgers take game one of the four game series vs. the Braves. The story of the night was Jerry Sands dramatic debut. In his first Major League at-bat against Tim Hudson, Sands wallops a double into right field. Later, he would pick up his first RBI as well.

Ted Lilly pitched wonderfully tonight, starting off the night by striking out Prado in the first inning and going 1-2-3. The Dodgers strike early, when Miles singles, Blake walks, and the Bison singles in Miles making it 1-0 Dodgers. Uribe's grounder gets Blake over to 3rd and Kemp to 2nd. Loney, who is feeling the pressure after the Dodgers call up Sands, singles in both Blake and Kemp giving the Dodgers a 3-0 lead. Jerry Sands comes up and hits a double in his first at-bat. The Dodgers send up all 9 batters in the first inning.

Lilly gets out of a bit of a jam in the 2nd innings when McCann singles, Uggla hits into a force play which allows McCann to 2nd base, and Uggla steals 2nd. Freeman walks, but Lilly strikes out Gonzalez.

In the bottom of the 3rd, Uribe singles, they put the hit & run play on and Loney singles Uribe to 3rd, Loney takes 2nd base on a wild pitch by Hudson, and Sands collects his first RBI on a sac fly making it 4-0 Dodgers.

In the fourth, Sands makes a nice catch off a McCann line drive. Uggla singles off of Miles's glove, Gonzalez walks, then Loney makes a great play on a line drive hit by McLouth to save a run.

The Dodgers go down 1-2-3 in the next 3 subsequent innings.

Moving on to the 7th, Lilly throws the ball behind McLouth in retaliation of Hudson's throw above Sands's head the inning before. The daily warnings are issued by the umpires. Kemp shouts from the dugout in defense of his new teammate, and the game goes on.

Hudson goes 6 innings, allowing 6 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts.

Asencio comes into relieve Hudson in the bottom of the 7th. Andre Ethier singles, and this extends his hitting streak to 15 games.

Lilly pitches 7 innings, allowing 4 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, and 6 strikeouts.

Guerrier comes in to pitch the 8th and shuts down the Braves quickly.

The 9th inning gets sketchy as big boy Broxton comes in. He comes in throwing off-speed pitches which fool nobody. McCann singles, Uggla doubles him to 3rd, Freeman's ground out scores McCann, and the Braves finally score making it 4-1. Brox strikes out Gonzalez, but then McLouth doubles in Uggla making it 4-2. Luckily Brox goes back to what he knows best, heat, and strikes out the pinch hitter Hinske to close out the game. We didn't see a full blown meltdown, but Brox is making me very uneasy and makes me question using him in tight 1 or 2 run games.

Loney and Uribe both surprisingly had 2 hit nights ( 2 flare singles by Uribe). Sands looks to be exciting to watch, and the fans at Dodger stadium even were cheering for him already.

Tomorrow Kuroda goes to the mound. Let's keep on rollin'!

The Bison & The Dodgers Host the Braves

Braves @ Dodgers
7:10 pm
Game 1



Riding high from their walk-off win yesterday afternoon, the Dodgers led by Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier will take on the Atlanta Braves for the first time this season. Both ball clubs have identical records of 7-9, and both have had issues with offensive output. Ted Lilly (0-2, 6.00 ERA), who has been lackluster this season so far, will head to the mound in hopes of his first win this year. Lilly has been anything but impressive thus far, and in his last outing in San Francisco he allowed two homeruns in a single inning to let the game get away. He will need to keep the fly balls down. Tim Hudson (2-1, 3.48 ERA) will pitch for the Braves. His record is 6-2 with a 3.49 ERA against the Dodgers.

Take note that we may even get to see the king of meatballs himself, George Sherrill, who now dons a Braves unform. Looking at his numbers this year so far it looks like he is in typical form. He has pitched in 4.1 innings and given up 4 hits and 2 earned runs. It looks like Jason Heyward is only hitting .240, but he has 4 homers so far. McCann is leading the team in average with .327, and Derek Lowe is the team's strikeout leader with 19. To compare, Kershaw already has 29 strikeouts, and Billingsley has 24.

After Billingsley's excellent performace yesterday, let's hope Lilly can follow suit. The Rockies are still in first place with a 12-3 record, so it will take some major winnin' to catch up. James "groundball" Loney's average is now .150 and he has only had 9 hits in 60 at-bats. Don Mattingly is waiting for him to come around, but we are all asking the question, how long are we going to wait? Especially since Sands is tearing it up in AAA.

Lineup:

Miles 4
Blake 5
Ethier 9
Kemp 8
Uribe 6
Loney 3
Sands 7
Barajas 2
Lilly 1

Ok, we have Jerry Sands starting in left field tonight. Hope for hitting springs eternal. For some unknown reason, Miles is leading off which is never a good idea. Yet without Furcal or Carroll in the lineup, there isn't much choice. Groundball Loney remains at first. Uribe is placed after Kemp in the lineup, so if Atlanta knows what's good for them they'll be walking Kemp tonight.

The Sandman will make his Major League debut. Sands has been hitting .400 down in Albuquerque going 16-40 with 5 homeruns 17 RBIs in 10 games. I'm very happy to see the Dodgers make a move here, and not wait around any longer for Uribe and Loney to "come around."

Let's Stop the Chop!! 

ENTER SANDMAN

I had to get this quick little post in before stac puts up the pre game, but the Dodgers just announced that they have called up OF power hitting phenom Jerry Sands, and desginated Xavier Paul for assignment to create room on the 25 man roster.
clearly the Dodgers have had enough of James "groundball" loney, and the rest of the blackhole lineup after Kemp to come around. Stac will have more later in the pre game. just thought I would say its about damm time! Tonight's game and lineup should be most interesting! GO BLUE!

Walkoffpalooza 2011: Kemp saves the Dodgers

Cardinals 1   4  1
Dodgers   2  7  1
WP-Broxton-1-0
LP-Franklin-0-2
HR-Kemp-3


the Dodgers finally won a game, thanks to the usual cast of characters for the boys in blue. in the 9th inning Matt Kemp hit a huge walkoff home run to center field, after ethier doubled, and Billinsly pitches 8 shutout innings, as the Dodgers finally snap their 5 game losing streak, beating the cardinals 2-1

the cardinals entered the game looking for their first four game sweep at dodger stadium since 1968. they had won the first three games by outscoring the dodgers 29-9.

Chris Carpenter had never lost to the dodgers, and bills was trying to right the ship for the Dodgers.

Bills was overpowering. holding the cards to virtually nothing all day. by the 8th inning bills had only allowed 2 hits. both to holliday.
Bills pitched 8 innings allowing only 2 hits, walking 2 and recording 11 strikeouts. Bills career high is 13 hes done that twice.

Carpenter was also very good going 7 allowing nothing on 5 hits with no walks and 6Ks

the game completly deadlocked, saw the Dodgers only get one man to third base.  in the third, with 2 outs, Ryan "TOOTBLAN" theriot commited an error on a gwynn groundball. Carroll singles him to third. but ethier lines out to Pujols to end the inning.

the cards had nothing until the 9th. Bills just mowed down the vaunted Red bird lineup one by one.  Pujols went 0 for 4, David Freeze struck out  3 times. Rasmus was held to 0 for 4 as well with 3 whiffs. bills also struck out Berkman two times.

unfortunatly the Dodgers fielded the same useless lineup again. despite the best efforts from kemp and ethier, it was no score until the top of the 9th.

loney went 0 for 3 again, and now has the lowest OPS in all of baseball. Uribe had one lucky single, but went 1 for 3. Loney is now hitting .150, with Uribe hitting .154. needless to say, Uribe, Loney, and Miles, need to be immediatly released. dont put it off til later. do it now! notnext month, or next week, not tomorrow, but right this minute, as im writing this.

enough about those three bums, back to the game.

Bills had to fight a jam in the 8th, after ethier's fuck up, but he got out of it, and ethier definatly attoned in the 8th.

in the top of the 8th, Molina hit a high fly ball to right, and ethier lost the ball in the sun. Molina went to second on the error. Ethier asboltuly gets a pass for that one. hes been playing fantastic of late.
after Descalso sacrifices molina to third. Jon Jay pinch hits for carpenter. Bills strikes him out :) then gets theriot to fly out to end the inning. what a terrific pitching performence Bills truly pitched his heart out today!

move to the top of the 9th. Broxton now on to pitch. strikes out Rasmus swinging, and gets Pujols to line out. but Holliday continued to annoy us all by doubling off the wall.  an intentional walk to Berkman brought up David Freeze. and wouldnt you know it? he of coarse bloops one into right field that falls in front of ethier and over Miles head. Holliday scores. 1-0 red birds.
Brox gets Molina to pop out for the last out. lets not start flaming brox, remember, we havent been able to get holliday out the whole series, and freezes hit was a bloop.

in the 9th, it was clear that our only chance was if ethier and Kemp were up. luckily they were leading off.
Trevor Miller came into to pitch to ethier. Ethier with his last chance to extend his MLB leading 13 game hitting streak does just that! ethier lines a double down the line and the Dodgers are in buisness. with Kemp due up followed by Uribe and "groundball" Loney. Larussa brought in the cards closer ryan franklin to pitch to Kemp.

I noticed on MSTI's twitter it said " No pressure, Kemp, but you either hit a walkoff homer here or the Dodgers lose. Just sayin'" I laughed because no statement ever made could be any more true than that one.

not long after Matt Kemp launched a walk off Home run to center field, and was mobbed at the plate by his teammates. and with that our long nightmare is finally over. The Dodgers win a game, and avoid being swept.

with that I will leave you. but before I go, and tomorrows game is Lilly vs. Hudson at 710 on PT, lets commend Chad Billingsly for hell of a game he pitched. lets also thank Kemp and Ethier who have been nothing short of fanstastic. Kemp is destroying NL pitching, and Ethier now has a 14 game hitting streak. the rest of the lineup? well lets not go there today. lets thank the people who should be thanked and deserve credit for the win. thanks to Bills, thanks to Kemp, thanks to Ethier, and well.......thats all.
sleep well tonight Dodger fans! go blue!