Giants @ Dodgers August 22, 2012: Cain vs Capuano

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Mike Petriello Leave a reply

The last time the Dodgers saw the Giants, back at the end of July, they walked into San Francisco and swept them by a cumulative score of 19-3, drawing into a tie for first place and leaving fans with potentially the best feelings of the season. The time before that, the Dodgers scored exactly zero runs across three games while being outscored 13-0 in late June, adding insult to injury as Andre Ethier injured his oblique and was eventually lost to the disabled list. I’m not exactly sure what’s going to happen in the series which starts tonight, but I think it’s safe to say that it’s going to be somewhere in between those two extremes.

	Giants		Dodgers
CF	Pagan	LF	Victorino
2B	Scutaro	2B	M.Ellis
3B	Sandoval	CF	Kemp
C	Posey	RF	Ethier
RF	Pence	SS	Ramirez
SS	Arias	1B	Loney
1B	Belt	3B	Cruz
LF	Christian	C	A.Ellis
P	Cain	P	Capuano

Um, yeah. About that. The Dodgers limp into the series finale not only having relinquished first place, but having scored just two runs over the first two games as they’re now faced with the task of beating Matt Cain if they hope to avoid the sweep.

Pathetic though the Dodger offense has been lately, I can’t totally ignore the fact that they ran right into the teeth of the San Francisco rotation; facing Madison Bumgarner, Tim Lincecum (when he’s right), and Cain back-to-back-to-back is a brutal ask for any team. Of course, it’s not going to get any easier should they make the playoffs, is it? It’s not as though staffs led by Johnny Cueto & Mat Latos or Jordan Zimmermann & Gio Gonzalez (even without Stephen Strasburg) are going to be pushovers, so the only option is to start hitting.

That starts with the slumping Matt Kemp, but it also has to come from Andre Ethier and Shane Victorino, who has just a .299 OBP as a Dodger. You can’t count on A.J. Ellis & Luis Cruz to do everything, and while Hanley Ramirez has been effective, there’s little offense coming from the right side of the infield. Other than returning Mark Ellis to second base, tonight’s lineup is the same as it was last night. Let’s hope the result isn’t.

582 comments

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Dang88

The Dodgers have to at least try for A Gonz right? I mean look at free agent first baseman out there it's blah. Also good to note he can't block a trade to the Dodgers. I'm not insinuating anything just putting things out there.

Gilbert (Vengeance)

so i learned that big series at home we're gonna loss them...Braves, Angels, Giants.... we need to pick it up at home

dustybakersoldtoothpick

http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/dodger-report/post/_/id/1879/all-eyes-again-on-clayton-kershaw#comment

"I think he’s probably still got it, but nobody talks about it because he’s not trying to find an excuse why he’s not throwing shutouts," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "I think it’s just not going away, it’s just something he’s learned to deal with more this season."

(VND)

torn labrum?

DBrim moderator

Quick roster questions.

If a player is on the 40-man but not at the major league level, do they have to go on waivers to be removed? Looking at Angle in particular.

Jerry Hairston to 60-day DL will clear up one spot, Silverio off of 40-man will clear up another. Will need one spot for Dee coming back, maybe more for additional pitching depth? (Ely, Webster, et al)

dustybakersoldtoothpick

@DBrim you have to dfa them to remove them from 40 man and they go through waivers. Can't revoke the waiver like trade waivers. Angle, could either accept assignment to a minor league team or elect free agency if he has enough service time and then be open to sign with anyone.

Hope that helps.

dustybakersoldtoothpick

how does the roster shake out after the disabled come off the list? Plus the dodgers are still short a guy on the active roster.

Tolleson goes down for Lilly?

DFA Uribe or Kennedy (I chose Uribe) for Sands promotion to help Rivera back up Ethier and Loney versus lefties.

Gordon's return takes up the free spot already on the roster.

Most controversially, I'd like them to put Kershaw on the 15 day DL with his foot, which would mean keeping Blanton as fifth starter with Lilly long relieving to stretch himself out or giving him a rehab stint in the minors but keeps Wright on the roster. Very doubhtful. Also could go to a 6 man rotation to help out DeLaRosa and limit Blanton's exposure but would require DFA of Kennedy or optioning of Cruz to keep Kershaw on the roster..

Billingsley, Capuano, Harang, DeLaRosa, Blanton (5)

Jansen, Belisario, League, Choate, Elbert,, Lilly, Wright (7)

Ellis Traenor (2)

Loney, Ellis. Gordon, Hanley, Kennedy, Cruz (6) (Hairston still needs more DL time but would probably replace Cruz eventually)

Kemp, Ethier, Victorino, Rivera (backing up Loney or Ethier versus lefties), Sands (same as Rivera) (5)

VS RH VS LH

Victorino CF Victorino CF

Gordon SS Ellis 2B

Kemp RF Kemp

Ethier LF Ramirez 3B

Ramirez 3B Rivera 1B

Ellis C Sands LF

Loney 1B Ellis C

Ellis 2B Gordon SS

Mike Petriello moderator

@dustybakersoldtoothpick Most of this isn't necessary. On Sept 1 the rosters expand so no one needs to be sent down to the minors. With the unexpected news that Hairston is out for the year, that even opens up another 40-man spot.

As for Kershaw... uh..

dustybakersoldtoothpick

@Mike Petriello Sorry for being unnecessary. Yeah i know rosters expand.

As for Kershaw... http://www.dailybreeze.com/sports/ci_21360098/dodgers-kershaw-loses-classic-pitchers-duel-giants-bumgarner

Even though he's pitched well he's been pitching in pain. I figured after this series would be the best time to rest him if they want him to be tip top for playoffs.

dustybakersoldtoothpick

He's having to throw more pitches, so he's pulled a bit more quickly 6.9 innings per start now, because he's missing a lot more with fastball and breaking pitches. The most noticable difference between this and last year is the number of times he's been able to put away a team in under a 100 pitches 8 times last year only done it 4 this year. He's still a very good pitcher who is doing well, he is just not the Kershaw pre plantar fascitis that we had.

DBrim moderator

@dustybakersoldtoothpick @Bob Meripol Kershaw has been almost untouchable in his last five starts.

38.1 IP, 1.88 ERA, 39K, 4BB.

He's also third in the majors in WAR among pitchers this year, and 4th in FIP.

Cecil Terwilliger

@dustybakersoldtoothpick @Mike Petriello I don't think we make the playoffs without Kershaw.

Dang88

@dustybakersoldtoothpick I can't tell if your joking or not

DBrim moderator

@dustybakersoldtoothpick Why would you put Kershaw on the DL? He's been pitching great for a month now. Foot seems fine, and nobody's made any implications otherwise.

This comment has been deleted

dustybakersoldtoothpick

@DBrim or google kershaw playing through foot pain and look for an article from 2 days ago

Guestu76987

We care so much about the Dodgers, and invest so much time and energy and emotion into following them. What do they do for us? Lay down and let the Giants walk all over them. Thanks a lot, lazy assholes.

LA_Woman

2 Like

@Guestu76987 Believe it or not, they hate losing even more than we do -- and they NEVER lay down and let other teams walk all over them, nor are they ever lazy assholes.

Frank J Lapidus

blame Capuano...can't hate on the team so much, they did try, scored 4 and that was with a lot of shitty breaks and the Gnats made EVERY play...almost every play. Shitty pitching was the downfall here.

NickJ 321

Hey just got back from the game. How was it from your perspective? It felt kind of close to me towards the end but might have just been from the excitement of being at the game.

Frank J Lapidus

@NickJ 321 think there was a lot of bloodletting and seppuku by the time it was 6-0 so the late rally wasn't noticed as much

Frank J Lapidus

1 Like

Go Braves?

IBBFTW

Considering how bad our pitching has been, how great does having Rubby along with possibly Webster,Z.Lee, Reed et al force their way into MLB the next 12-18 months?

KirkDavenport

@IBBFTW MLB Prospect Watch predicts Reed and Webster reaching the majors in 2013 and Zach Lee arriving in 2014. There should be some openings available to these guys as the contracts for Lilly, Capuano and Harang expire after next year, but there are always injuries. With injury openings, I might expect Ely and Fife to be brought up short term rather than speed up the development of the good prospects you named. Ned has always said he does not want to rush guys up, but he has broken away from that idea on occasions.

Presumably Kershaw and Billingsley will still be on board. I personally would like to see a "quality" veteran picked up as a free agent as the young pitchers need some veterans around if the team plans to be competitive

JoeyE

Nathan Eovaldi needs to throw us a bone

WillL

@JoeyE he's been lights out since we traded him. *sigh*

Kings of LA

@WillL @JoeyE LOL what?? 24 IP 31 H 16 BB 13 K 1.96 WHIP and a .298 BAA is "lights out?"

WillL

@Kings of LA @JoeyE @el serracho OK "lights out" is too much but he's 3-2 since he left and his only bad start was against the Braves (I'll take 4 quality starts of 5). Obviously we want Hanley more than Eovaldi but I think he's figuring things out. Not sure why we're such a bad hitting team at times, esp. at Dodger Stadium lately. Most teams would love to have Matty, Andre and Hanley in the middle of the lineup.

Disgruntled Goat moderator

@Kings of LA @WillL @JoeyE that spells cy young against the dodgers.

Frank J Lapidus

Monday's game with Kershaw, that's the one Dodgers should have won. Donnie should have the team come in tomorrow and watch the tapes of all 3 games.

Frank J Lapidus

Welp, nice lil comeback means it was on the pitching. Cappy failed when we needed him the most.

WillL

@Frank J Lapidus this whole giving up runs in the first inning has got to stop. With the extreme nature of this team (everyone shutting down at once), being down right away is a big psychological obstacle for this team. Starters got to put up some zeroes and wait for the Dodger batters to come out of their shells like turtles. Shane - can you stop going 0-5 or 1-5 every game? We got you for OBP.

JoeyE

welp

Crow T Robot

Bah, my fault, should've stayed away. They scored 3 while I was gone

IBBFTW

I wonder about the idea of demanding AGon so we can be just as insufferable as Yankee and Red Sox fans. And then I remember all the lousy decisions by management and ownership since Gibby's limp..

Crow T Robot

Dernit

Frank J Lapidus

1 Like

Amazing, if you take the total area of the field and compare it to the small area the fielders take up, and yet they still hit the ball to those small areas

wilhud

Adrian Gonzalez on waivers..wonder if the Dodgers are on his approved list or not

efb

1 Like

@wilhud He'll be a dodger when you wake up.. just watch

IBBFTW

I can live with Dee and Tolleson with random milb players to get Agon@efb @wilhud

LakerDodger24

@IBBFTW @efb @wilhud Probably be Dee, Tolleson, Lee realistically, if a deal is reached, not opposed to it, but I'd rather keep Lee, and offer a bigger package of players, including Gould, Withrow, Ely and or Fife.

LakerDodger24

1 Like

@efb @wilhud I really hope so. That would make me jizz in my pants, no lie. I would definitely give up Dee, Gould, Withrow, and anybody else they want that's not Puig, Webster, Pedersen. Lee I would not be opposed to trading, but I'd rather try to hold on to him, offer them John Ely or Stephen Fife instead.

JoeyE

@LakerDodger24 @efb @wilhud we'd probably have to give up Lee

Crow T Robot

OK, I'm back. Let's go, guys

LakerDodger24

I've come to the conclusion that the Giants are bad. And wrong. There should be a new word for the Gnats. Something like...Badong. Yes, the Giants are Badong. The Dodgers must stand for the opposite of Badong: Gnodab.

Frank J Lapidus

There ya go Hanley, knock him on his ass

LakerDodger24

Wait, Jansen? I thought closers were supposed to close

efb

Woooot! we have more hits, take that you rat bastard Gnats!

Frank J Lapidus

Nice comeback there but just a bit short...needed some magic by Hanley and AJ and they failed

Dang88

Those fools at the stadium have hope......I love it

ThtsaPaddlin

If Cruz hits a slam, I'm buying his jersey.

Frank J Lapidus

@ThtsaPaddlin he tried

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Giants @ Dodgers August 22, 2012: Cain vs Capuano