6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

The team's goal was to begin construction after the 2009 season and complete all three phases by 2012. With the credit markets drying up during the past 18 months, it has been difficult for the Dodgers to obtain financing for refurbishing the 47-year-old facility, team VP/PR & Broadcasting Josh Rawitch told SportsBusiness Daily.

Labels: dodger stadium, dodgers

// posted by Rob @ 12:29 PM link  //  0 comments

Labels: dodgers, draft, minors

// posted by Rob @ 1:32 PM link  //  0 comments

The day started with a new and salacious twist, with Frank McCourt claiming in a 664-page court filing that he fired Jamie McCourt as the club's chief executive in part for having an affair with her driver, who was employed by the Dodgers. His attorneys also allege the two spent 2 1/2 weeks in France this summer and billed the team for the trip.

...

Frank McCourt has asked the court for an expedited ruling validating that he is the sole owner [of the Dodgers], calling her claims of co-ownership "false and baseless" and damaging to the team.

Dodgers President Dennis Mannion said in the court documents that Jamie McCourt did not show up for work more than half the time, put her own image ahead of the team's and "exhibited an almost disdainful disregard for the fundamental requirements of her job and workplace etiquette."

...

Dodgers President Dennis Mannion said in the court documents that Jamie McCourt did not show up for work more than half the time, put her own image ahead of the team's and "exhibited an almost disdainful disregard for the fundamental requirements of her job and workplace etiquette."

...

Upon his promotion to team president in March, the same day Jamie McCourt was promoted to chief executive, Mannion reported directly to Frank McCourt. In Jamie McCourt's court papers, she alleged that Mannion and Frank McCourt worked together to ensure she was "systematically excluded from business or management decisions."

Lawyers for Frank McCourt not only alleged that Jamie McCourt had an affair with her driver -- his grounds for firing her included "an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate employee" -- but also that she charged the Dodgers for the cost of a European trip with him, in the middle of baseball season.

Fields admitted that Jamie McCourt is in a romantic relationship with Jeff Fuller, her driver, but said the relationship started after she separated from Frank McCourt on July 6. Fields said she did not bill the team for the trip.

But one sports executive put the chances of the team eventually being sold to a third party as high as 50-50, saying the financial partners that might be required to sustain either of the McCourts as the Dodgers' owner could be turned off by the harsh public spectacle of this divorce.

Also — here's a week-old Daily Breeze story about Jamie McCourt's chances in the court of public opinion.

Labels: dodgers, mccourts, stupid ideas

// posted by Rob @ 8:45 AM link  //  0 comments

Labels: dodgers, mccourts, stupid ideas

// posted by Rob @ 12:12 AM link  //  0 comments

Labels: diamondbacks, dodgers, transactions

// posted by Rob @ 11:15 AM link  //  0 comments

In a declaration, Jamie McCourt said she was fired Wednesday and she and her husband agreed they wouldn't take action until after the Dodgers season was over.

"Frank has no right to purport to terminate me. We are co-owners of the Dodgers," she said. "Not only has Frank publicly held us out as co-owners of the franchise, he has also admitted this fact in front of our estate planning counsel."

There are estate records that list Frank McCourt as the team's sole owner, said Bert Fields, Jamie McCourt's attorney. However, the lawyer who drafted the documents alerted Jamie McCourt to the mistake in front of her husband who acknowledged the paperwork should have reflected the co-ownership of the Dodgers, Fields said.

"It was always supposed to 50-50," Fields said. "New documents were drafted, but they were never signed."

SOSG has more analysis of the court documents linked to (indirectly) above. The Times has a story as well, and Jon has a comment that's well worth repeating:

I don't think it's too soon to state that regardless of how this divorce plays out, Frank and Jamie McCourt have torched themselves in the Los Angeles community. From player payroll to Dodger Stadium ticket and amenities pricing, the explicit acknowledgment of where so much of their money goes, their unrepentant selfishness and greed, is going to bring exponentially more skepticism to any future Dodgers-related decision they make.

Update: Jamie claims she is the face of the Dodgers. Google image search doesn't even show her on the first page. (Thanks to Eric Enders in yesterday's DT thread for that idea.)

Update 10/28: Frank claims sole ownership of the Dodgers once again.

Think Of The Children: Just curious, but Drew McCourt was recently listed as the Dodger Director of Marketing in a Los Angeles Business Journal piece about the McCourts' breakup. Why isn't he then on the Dodgers front office page, when they have seemingly everybody down to the bat boys on there?

Labels: dodgers, mccourts, stupid ideas

// posted by Rob @ 6:03 PM link  //  0 comments

It's Official: Jed Hoyer New Padres GM

"I'm so excited for this incredible opportunity ... My goal is to build a consistent winner, year in and year out, for the city of San Diego. It's a clear goal. I want to make sure we can win consistently, and I'm incredibly lucky to have the pieces in place already, with a really good young core and a good farm system."

MLB Postseason Ratings Up 15% Over Last Year

Baseball America Releases Its Angels Draft Report Card

Labels: angels, draft, front office, padres, ratings, tv

// posted by Rob @ 8:20 AM link  //  0 comments

Joe Saunders had mostly nothing in the fourth, and that was the ballgame.

Exciting sub-moment: Vlad ended Mo Rivera's scoreless streak at home. Big whoop.

Update, the morning after: Vlad getting doubled off first in the second inning is one of those memories that will stick for a while. His idiotic baserunning gaffes are not something I will cherish. Likewise, the eighth inning Keystone Cops errors by Kazmir and Kendrick were simply dreadful.

Chone Figgins got a cameo as the leadoff man driven in by Vlad; there's a certain irony in Vlad having a good postseason just in time to watch him hit the market.

Jered Weaver was not a good choice to start this game (despite some grumbling I'm hearing about elsewhere) because of his road splits and the extreme left-handed lineup the Yankees can run out there. That's two major weaknesses right there. But he's accumulated a fine postseason record again this year.

Juan Rivera is a part-time player again, or should be. He hit .200 in this series with only one extra-base hit, but the worst of it was his .257/.309/.418 second half.

Update 2: Where was Brian Cashman last night?

ESPN Box

Labels: angels, postseason, recaps, yankees

// posted by Rob @ 9:07 PM link  //  2 comments

Angels not looking good right now, down 3-1 after Joe Saunders imploded in the fourth.

Horse's mouth.

Labels: tv

// posted by Rob @ 7:01 PM link  //  0 comments

Angels 2009 AL Champions merch here. Via HH in the comments.

Update:

Labels: angels, morons, postseason, stupid ideas, yankees

// posted by Rob @ 2:10 PM link  //  0 comments

Update: Via Halos Heaven, Game 6 has been postponed due to weather. Imagine.

AP says the reschedule time is 8:20 PM tomorrow.

Labels: angels, postseason, weather, yankees

// posted by Rob @ 3:03 PM link  //  0 comments

As Jamie McCourt vanished from the Dodgers' website, Frank McCourt charged his estranged wife with insubordination and inappropriate behavior in a letter firing her as the team's chief executive.

The letter, signed by Frank McCourt on letterhead that identifies him as the Dodgers' owner, advises Jamie McCourt to contact team human relations personnel to arrange "a time and date to gather your personal belongings." The letter is dated Wednesday, the day the Dodgers were eliminated from the National League Championship Series in Philadelphia.

Jamie McCourt, who considers herself a co-owner of the team, is expected to initiate legal proceedings next week. The grounds for dismissal, as set forth by Frank McCourt in his termination letter, could lay the groundwork for part of his defense, experts said.

The letter charges Jamie McCourt with "insubordination, non-responsiveness, failure to follow procedures, and inappropriate behavior with a direct subordinate."

Related: MSTI's open letter to the McCourts.

Fix this quickly and privately, or sell the team. Now. You may be striving for the spotlight, but you’re not bigger than the Dodgers, and it’s your association with them that’s brought you fame – not vice versa.

Labels: dodgers, mccourts

// posted by Rob @ 12:45 AM link  //  8 comments

And here's Posada:

So, yeah, I would say that Lackey had a legitimate beef with home plate umpire Fieldin Culbreath. The situation in fact has gotten so dire that MLB is switching umpiring crews for the World Series, going only with crew chiefs. Of course, the one that got the separate AP story was Dale Scott incorrectly calling Johnny Damon out at first as the final out of the third inning. Well, okay; it was a bang-bang play, and those are a little easier to take than the idiocy that happened in Tuesday's game, when third base umpire Tim McClelland missed Mike Napoli's double tag, instead calling the play he thought should have happened.

But back to this one — somewhat belatedly, because it's been busy around here, and I'm getting ridiculously sleep-deprived. The Angels got to A.J. Burnett early and hard, banging him around for four in the first, a total that could have been far higher had Juan Rivera not bounced into an inning-ending double play. Burnett then proceeded to post scoreless innings through the fateful seventh, matching Lackey more or less pitch for pitch, with Lackey eventually electing to go for more strikeouts and running up his pitch count in doing so.

He appeared to get in some real trouble in the sixth, giving up a two-out double to A-Rod, and walking Matsui, but he got Cano on a 6-4 force to end the frame. The seventh started with a two-pitch flyball out to center off the bat of the badly slumping Nick Swisher, but that was the end of Lackey's ease. Jorge Posada entered the game as a pinch-hitter for Jose Molina, who had only managed two at-bats without consequence. Posada then got his fateful called ball four, which led to a meltdown inning by the Angels, and another lightning-fast rally by the Yanks.

Yanking Lackey led to a lot of second-guessing, but like the Register's Sam Miller, I agreed with it at the time; Lackey has a habit of imploding, Oliver had been very good against left- and right-handed batters, and Lackey was struggling to get that last out. Unfortunately, Darren Oliver surrendered a first-pitch double to Teixeira, sending the Yankees fans in attendance into war whoops, as though they had just won the World Series itself.

That final out didn't come until an agonizing four batters and three runs later. It was then that the Angels showed that they had some offensive oomph and resiliency of their own, what with the Rally Monkey coming preemptively up for another shot at the game. Jeff Mathis led off the frame with his third hit of the game, a line drive single, and Eric Aybar worked a full-count walk, prompting Joe Girardi with the hook. Phil Hughes came in, and gave up a 1-4 sac bunt to Figgins, but got Bobby Abreu on a routine grounder to first, with no advance by Mathis because the ball was hit so fast.

Inexplicably, Girardi then came in and pulled Hughes for Joba Chamberlain. Now, Rory Markus had observed that Joba Chamberlain had thrown a very wild set of warmup tosses from the mound, and sure enough, he walked Torii Hunter on five pitches, setting the stage for a huge, game-tying RBI single by Vlad. Kendry Morales drove in the go-ahead run with another single to put men on the corners, but then Maicer Izturis struck out in his final at-bat of an 0-for-4 game. That the Angels answered the Yankees' two-out rally with one of their own was especially satisfying.

But one decision I really detested that Miller didn't get to was Mike Scioscia going with lefty Brian Fuentes over Jered Weaver for the ninth. Now, Weaver had been called on to pitch the top of the eighth, and he did so brilliantly, retiring the 8-9-1 batters in order, including two strikeouts. Now, perhaps Scioscia was looking at Weaver's recent performance against the top of the Yankees' order, having given up homers to Jeter, A-Rod, and Damon in Game 3, or his general, historical difficulties against left-handers (career .267 vs. lefties, .232 vs. righties).

Either way, Fuentes came in and immediately shocked the holy hell out of me by getting the first two batters out in succession, eliciting a hard lineout to Morales from Damon (lucky for him, because otherwise it would have been a double down the line), and a flyball out off Teixeira's bat to Hunter. Now, some people had a beef with the intentional pass to A-Rod, but not me, because Fuentes gave up about 200 more points of OPS to righties than lefties this year.

But then he walked Matsui, and when he plunked Cano to load the bases, it was clearly time for another terrible Yankees rally. Mercifully, Nick Swisher was the next batter up, and if ever there were a guy in a dreadful funk, it's Swisher. After working the count full, Swisher popped one up to Erick Aybar at short — requiring a long running catch, but not enough to really make you question whether he was gonna get it. Even more galling was the fact that the pitch Fuentes threw was a fat one elevated over the middle of the plate — a gift returned, unopened.

So, the Angels managed to get in a win, and force a game six. The moron bandwagoner Yankee fans were shut up, if briefly, and perhaps giving the local jackasses enough to think about that maybe next year they'll behave themselves in our yard. (Of course, that didn't stop one drunken Halo fan from screaming "Not in our housh" out on Katella.) Really, this is about as much as I had hoped for; notwithstanding a little wishcasting from the local sportswriters, if the Yanks take it in six, I'll be neither surprised nor disappointed. They gave the Bombers a good scare, and that, to me, is plenty.

ESPN Box • Angels recap

Labels: angels, postseason, recaps, yankees

// posted by Rob @ 11:54 PM link  //  3 comments

In the Times:

Jamie McCourt is believed to be lining up investors for a possible effort to buy out her husband and gain sole control of the team. In addition, she is believed to have started calling prominent baseball figures, with the intention of arranging meetings to discuss the direction of the team.

Labels: dodgers, mccourts

// posted by Rob @ 3:49 PM link  //  3 comments

Labels: blogs, padres

// posted by Rob @ 10:54 AM link  //  0 comments

Labels: front office, padres

// posted by Rob @ 7:05 AM link  //  0 comments

Thereafter, nothing worked. Raul Ibanez hammered an RBI double in the fourth to make it 5-2, and the lead just kept growing from there. Dodger pitching, a strength in the regular season, simply couldn't execute, and indeed self-immolated: runs scored on a bases-loaded hit batter (Shane Victorino by George Sherrill, in the fourth, with two out, no less) and a wild pitch (Jimmy Rollins from third with Ronald Belisario facing Chase Utley in the eight, again with two out).

So it was not a good game, not even, really, an entertaining loss, as the Dodgers fought themselves, fought their control, failed to get men on base in the right order (Ethier's first-inning homer was followed by a Manny Ramirez line-drive single), failed to drive them in when they did (seven stranded baserunners), and just looked like a second-division team all the way.

That isn't to say that the Dodgers were a second-rate team all season; they earned that postseason berth, but they'll have to do it again next year, too, and there's no telling who will get better by how much. The Dodgers still have a lot to look forward to; Kershaw and Billingsley will both be older and hopefully better, and the offense is mostly young (especially the non-Manny parts of the outfield). That said, there are a lot of questions that need answers still (starting with James Loney, Vicente Padilla, and the rotation generally), but I for one am hopeful about next year, too.

And there's always Vin Scully to look forward to, too.

Just in case you were wondering, I'll be rooting for the Phils and against the Yankees in the World Series — which of course means the Yanks will take it all. I don't think the Phils have the pitching.

ESPN Box • Dodgers recap

Labels: dodgers, phillies, recaps

// posted by Rob @ 6:20 AM link  //  0 comments

We heard this rumor Sunday and began to inquire with a few ESPN sources about Phillips’ behavior. All three sources said the same thing - Phillips is an unfailingly nice guy, but it wouldn’t surprise them if Phillips got involved with a production assistant because everyone gets involved with production assistants. The star culture at ESPN helps create these situations - the on-air talented is surrounded by attractive, starry-eyed 20-somethings fresh out of college, leading to lots of potentially sticky situations. It happened to Harold Reynolds. Mike Tirico’s history with young women was detailed in The Uncensored History of ESPN. Nobody expects these types of situations to end anytime soon.

Labels: tv

// posted by Rob @ 6:06 AM link  //  0 comments

So the bloated zombie corpse of Yankee fandom drunkenly yowled at the long tables tonight, the prospect of more victories in the offing. I have little doubt but that they'll get them. The most overfed, indulged, and spoiled fan base in the country stands one win away from a chance for a 27th title. Consequently, going to the park next year during the Yankees serieses will be even less pleasant than usual, the bandwagon jackasses multiplied by some proximity to their team's latest win.

Bitter? Yes. And I hope to God next year that Sabathia's arm falls off, or ends up in the same sentence as the three words, "Tommy John surgery".

ESPN Box • Angels recap

Labels: angels, postseason, recaps, suck, yankees

// posted by Rob @ 11:09 PM link  //  0 comments

Labels: dodgers, indians, managers, nationals

// posted by Rob @ 1:06 PM link  //  0 comments

Labels: dodgers, front office

// posted by Rob @ 1:04 PM link  //  0 comments

His first pitch to Stairs was about 100 mph. But it was also outside the strike zone.

Said Stairs: "I thought, 'Oh Lord.' "

Said Broxton: "I never want to give it up to a guy off the bench."

The next pitch was a ball. Then another ball. Then another ball.

Said Stairs: "He just couldn't throw strikes."

Said Broxton: "I wasn't going to give him anything to hit."

That's just damned embarrassing.

Otherwise: Broxton's choke erased a really well-pitched game, and a solid outing by the Dodgers' offense that should have ended in a win. They try to stave off a Phillies date with the eventual winner of the Angels/Yanks series on Thursday.

ESPN Box • Dodgers recap

Labels: dodgers, phillies, postseason, recaps

// posted by Rob @ 1:02 PM link  //  1 comments

Labels: angels, postseason, yankees

// posted by Rob @ 12:48 PM link  //  0 comments

Update, 10/20: I had a naughtier title to this post earlier, but decided to take it down; those of you who know such things can find it in the usual Blogger way. All that said, and as happy as I am to have the Angels win one at home with a big walkoff hit, if you have to go eleven innings and get to their worst reliever to do it, by a guy not noted for big hits, you're in some trouble. But then, Vlad clocked a two-run jack, too, and I've been waiting for him to do some damage in this series, so yay, net positive.

ESPN Box • Angels recap

Labels: angels, postseason, recaps, yankees

// posted by Rob @ 11:37 PM link  //  4 comments

Here's a statistical oddity for you. The Angels went 17-4 when both Hunter and Guerrero were injured from July 8 to Aug. 3, batting .324-.381-.511, averaging 7.6 runs per game. The quality of the team's competition during that period was not especially good. But certainly, the Angels proved that they can score without their No. 3 and No. 4 hitters.

The timing isn't right ... Guerrero always has been treated -- how shall we put this? -- delicately with the Angels. ... There was always some unstated concern that the proud Guerrero would react angrily if you moved him down in the lineup the way the Red Sox moved David Ortiz.

Labels: angels, postseason

// posted by Rob @ 8:44 AM link  //  4 comments

This year the Yankees moved into a new stadium. According to baseball economist Neil deMause of the excellent Field of Schemes website, the facility cost a stunning $1.56 billion, and the total project (including replacing 22-acres of parkland that had been destroyed by the construction) totaled $2.31 billion [pdf]. Both figures are all-time records in the history of sports stadia. "Of that," deMause estimates, "the public—city, state, and federal taxpayers—are now covering just shy of $1.2 billion, by far the largest stadium subsidy ever."

The biggest three categories of government contribution were the following:

• $417 million in property tax waivers from the City of New York.

• $327 million in federal tax-exempt bond subsidies.

• $232 million worth of land giveaways from the city.

Labels: biz, yankees

// posted by Rob @ 8:29 AM link  //  0 comments

I really don't understand the gamble on Kuroda rather than running with Billingsley for five innings.

ESPN Box • Dodgers recap

Labels: dodgers, phillies, postseason, recaps

// posted by Rob @ 8:24 AM link  //  0 comments

Bad umpiring almost all the way around, with an especially horrible call by second base umpire Jerry Layne that erased a double play when Erick Aybar failed to touch second base, or supposedly failed to do so; the video I saw was inconclusive (his left foot never did, but his right foot might have). In any event, we certainly never saw Cano's foot get inspected by the obviously rooting-for-a-Yankees-World-Series-Appearance Fox broadcast team. Simply appalling, all the way around.

ESPN Box

Labels: angels, postseason, recaps, suck, yankees

// posted by Rob @ 10:17 PM link  //  12 comments

Major League Baseball lists Frank McCourt as the Dodgers' "control person." But a high-ranking baseball source said Thursday that the couple presented themselves together for the approval of Commissioner Bud Selig when they bought the team in 2004.

Within a month of each [of their residential real estate purchases], Frank McCourt filed papers that identified the homes as "the sole and separate property" of his wife and giving up any claim to them. Together, the properties in Jamie McCourt's name are valued at close to $80 million, according to county real estate records.

Hillel Chodos, an attorney who has handled divorces involving wealthy individuals, said of the property transfers: "On the face of it, they had an agreement that they would buy the properties and she would own them.

Labels: dodgers, mccourts

// posted by Rob @ 8:08 AM link  //  3 comments

Labels: angels, contracts

// posted by Rob @ 11:34 PM link  //  0 comments

Labels: dodgers

// posted by Rob @ 10:59 PM link  //  0 comments

Bottom 1st: Following leadoff man Rafael Furcal's flyout to left off Cole Hamels, Andre Ethier proves himself capable of hitting Cole Hamels, spanking a single into left. That brings Manny Ramirez to the plate. He strikes out. Matt Kemp grounds one to left for a single, but Casey Blake pops out to second baseman Utley to end the frame.

Top 2nd: Kershaw gets both Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez on called third strikes using "public enemy number one", his enormous bender made famous in last year's spring training when Vinny gave it that name from Roy Campanella. It's the second inning in a row where he's faced the minimum.

Bottom 2nd: James Loney takes a 93 MPH fastball into the right center pavilion to make it 1-0 Dodgers with a solo homer. Of the three hits given up by Hamels, two have been from lefties.

With two out, Kershaw walks on five pitches; the lineout Hamels gave up earlier to Belliard was hammered, so the Dodgers are getting in some good swings. That's not what Furcal does, though, tapping out meekly to third to end the frame. 1-0 Dodgers.

Top 4th: After getting the first two batters in the frame on harmless pop outs, Ryan Howard walks on a very close 3-2 pitch (Gameday says it's well over the corner of the plate). Jayson Werth gives the Dodgers a scare with a long flyball out that Manny Ramirez catches at the fence for the final out. Still 1-0 Dodgers.

Bottom 4th: Hamels gets Ronnie Belliard to pop out to Utley for the inning's final out, the last of a 1-2-3 inning. Hamels hasn't allowed a baserunner since he walked Kershaw in the second.

Top 5th: Kershaw gives up a leadoff single to Ibanez, walks Pedro Feliz, and then leaves one out and over the plate for Carlos Ruiz, who punishes it into the right field seats to make it 3-1 Phillies. He goes 3-0 to Hamels, bringing Russell Martin to the mound for a conference.

Hamels walks on four pitches, Kershaw's fourth walk of the game. Scott Elbert starts warming up in the bullpen.

Jimmy Rollins hits into a fielder's choice, and takes second on Shane Victorino's wild pitch strikeout. The first pitch of Utley's at-bat is another wild pitch, Kershaw's third of the inning, pushing Rollins to third.

Utley reaches on what would have been Kershaw's fourth wild pitch but for a nice save by Martin. And then Ryan Howard belts a double to cash in two, 5-1 Phillies. Ramon Troncoso relieves Kershaw with two out.

Tron-tron gets Werth on a flyball out to medium left to end the frame. Gah.

Bottom 5th: The Dodgers get right back in it with Andre Ethier's scoring fielder's choice (thanks to an error by Jimmy Rollins that ended up with Ethier on second) and a two-run jack by Manny, making it 5-4 Dodgers. The Dodgers really need to get a lead back.

Top 6th: Ronald Belisario gets the Phils in order, including homer-hitting Ruiz on a tapper to second. The crowd's still very much into it.

Bottom 6th: The Dodgers get men on first and second to bring up Jim Thome with two out. Charley Steiner keeps calling him James Loney. Yes, it's exciting, Charley.

Thome walks against reliever J.A. Happ, loading the bases. The Dodgers replace him with pinch-runner Randy Wolf. Maybe. Yup, it's Wolfie.

Happ now to Furcal, and he's wild, going 2-1. Furcal swings and foul tips one into home plate umpire Randy Marsh's mask. 2-2 count now. Just downstairs for a 3-2 count, and on the next pitch, Furcal bounces out to Utley to end the inning.

Bottom 7th: Vinny comes back to the booth, and informs us how poorly Ethier has done against left-handed pitching in the regular season. Just after that announcement, Ethier hammers one into the right field corner for a double, chasing Antonio Bastardo, who only faced Ethier.

It's Chan-Ho Park time, so this should be interesting. It's Manny versus Park with the winning run at the plate and nobody out. Park quickly gets a 1-2 count on Ramirez, and Manny checks his swing on a high, inside pitch. 2-2. Manny taps out to third for the first out of the inning.

Here's Matt Kemp. He works a full count after going 1-2, and strikes out for the inning's second out. Casey Blake taps out to third, and despite a high throw from Pedro Feliz, the Dodgers are out of the inning, wasting the leadoff double.

Top 8th: The normally impregnable George Sherrill gives up a pair of walks and Raul Ibanez belts one over the fence to break open the game once again, making it 8-4 Phillies. It's only the second home run he's given up all year, Vinny says.

Sherrill eventually limps out of the inning by getting a flyball double play to end it.

Bottom 8th: Ryan Madsen gives up three consecutive singles, culminating with Russell Martin's to make it 8-5 Phillies, James Loney scoring from second. That brings on pinch-hitter Juan Pierre, who will hopefully rediscover his beast mode right about now. Pierre bounces into a 1-4 fielder's choice for the inning's first out. But there's now men on the corners for Rafael Furcal with Belliard at third.

Furcal flies out to deep right, cashing in Belliard to nibble away the lead to only a two-run advantage, 8-6 Philadelphia. Andre Ethier singles, Pierre scampers to third, and now Ramirez arrives at the plate as the go-ahead run. Anticlimactically, he bounces slowly to third to end the inning, stranding another pair of baserunners, the eighth and ninth of the game.

Bottom 9th: The Dodgers go with hardly a peep, getting leadoff man Matt Kemp aboard on a single, but Casey Blake grounding into a double play. Belliard eventually pops out to end the game, in a very disappointing game that really should have been much closer; even the Dodgers' supposed strength, left-handed pitching, mostly failed (Kershaw and Sherrill). Get 'em tomorrow, I guess.

ESPN Box

Labels: dodgers, live blogging, phillies, postseason, recaps

// posted by Rob @ 5:12 PM link  //  0 comments

Labels: dodgers, postseason

// posted by Rob @ 4:08 PM link  //  0 comments

Incidentally, CBS Outdoor is the corporate successor to Infinity Outdoor, Arte Moreno's old company.

Labels: dodgers

// posted by Rob @ 11:20 AM link  //  0 comments

Labels: rangers, stupid ideas

// posted by Rob @ 9:37 AM link  //  0 comments

Game 1 would be played on Saturday and Game 2 on Sunday, which is currently scheduled as an off-day. However, because the Angels vs. Yankees is a FOX series, the Commissioners Office will probably move the ALCS game to Sunday night so as not to coincide with the network’s 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. NFL telecasts.

...

Right now, ALCS Game 3 in Anaheim is scheduled for 1 p.m. Eastern time on Monday. But if the teams play Sunday night, it would be doubtful that they also would be asked to fly cross-country and play Monday afternoon. So that game could be re-scheduled to Monday night, but the more likely probability is that Monday would become an off-day.

In that scenario, Games 3, 4 and 5 would be played on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. At present, there is an off-day on Wednesday. That off-day – without any postponements – was going to enable the Yankees to start Sabathia in Game 1, on short rest in Game 4 and – if it were necessary – on normal rest for Game 7.

However, under this schedule, if the Yankees went with a three-man rotation then not only would Sabathia have to pitch on short rest in both Games 4 and 7, but A.J. Burnett would have to pitch Game 5 on short rest, as well. And it is doubtful that the Yankees would want to have three games pitched on short rest or have Burnett go short at all.

Labels: angels, postseason, weather, yankees

// posted by Rob @ 7:56 AM link  //  3 comments

And, yeah, now that I think on it, I haven't seen Jamie McCourt in front of a microphone or in her orange sweater during a Giants game lately...

Jon passes on word from Yahoo's Tim Brown that Joe Torre denied comments made by Peter Gammons about the difficulty of working with the couple:

The topic arose because of comments made earlier on Wednesday by ESPN’s Peter Gammons, who told Michael Kay on 1050 ESPN NY that he believed Torre would resign after the season: “I think life with the Dodgers is pretty much a living hell. There will be a lot that comes out in time regarding Dodgers ownership.”

Labels: dodgers, mccourts, padres

// posted by Rob @ 9:18 PM link  //  2 comments

Now, Moreno has helped establish the stability that was always missing, and now the Angels and Dodgers may be headed for a real Freeway Series.

Don't get me wrong, I think the world of Arte — he's the best owner in pro sports that I know of — but give Michael Eisner his due here.

Labels: angels, history

// posted by Rob @ 6:16 PM link  //  2 comments

• Overlooked yesterday: TBS's coverage of MLB's Division Series was their highest-rated programming in that network's history.
• MLB announces umpiring crews: crew chief Tim McClelland with Dale Scott, Jerry Layne, Fieldin Culbreth, Laz Diaz and Bill Miller in the ALCS, and crew chief Randy Marsh with Gary Cederstrom, Tom Hallion, Ted Barrett, Bruce Dreckman and Sam Holbrook in the NLCS.
• In case you're disappointed at the fact that there's only one lousy World Series going on this year, MLB has announced a Ken Burns-length 20-volume DVD set of selected World Series dating back to the 1943 tilt.

Labels: postseason, ratings, tv, umpires

// posted by Rob @ 4:46 PM link  //  0 comments

Labels: dodgers, postseason

// posted by Rob @ 4:40 PM link  //  0 comments

Labels: dodgers, front office, padres, rumors

// posted by Rob @ 4:38 PM link  //  0 comments

Labels: angels, postseason, predictions, yankees

// posted by Rob @ 1:19 PM link  //  0 comments

Jonathan Papelbon has lots of time to refine his Riverdance after giving it up to the Angels in Game 3.

Huston Street had two out in the ninth and couldn't finish the Phillies.

Joe Nathan, who usually dismisses school, got his own bell rung by Alex Rodriguez.

Ryan Franklin thought he had notched a save for the Cardinals, but a swarm of white towels in Dodger Stadium buzzed Matt Holliday and forced him to muff a fly ball. That did not absolve Franklin, who couldn't stop the Dodgers from scoring the winning run.

Combined, those four closers had saved 158 games in 173 chances in 2009. There were six blown saves in 13 Division Series games.

Labels: angels, postseason, predictions, yankees

// posted by Rob @ 9:18 AM link  //  4 comments

HE HAS been a menace to us for damn near 30 years now, the thorn in our side, the cloud in our coffee, the bee in our bonnet, the fly in our ointment, the clouds on our sunny day. He has been our nemesis, our arch-enemy, our tormentor, our antagonist and our antagonizer. He inflicts misery for sport. He is a serial baseball sadist.

He is Mike Scioscia, from Upper Darby, Pa., by way of Hell.

And he will soon be back on our doorstep, back within our borders, back with a mission to continue his reign of terror. He is one of the nightmares that keep coming back. There is the one where you are falling, with no floor in sight. There is the one where you show up for a final exam in a class you haven't once attended all semester. And there is the one where Mike Scioscia walks into a New York baseball October.

Make it stop! In the name of all that is holy . . . MAKE IT STOP!!"

"There are a lot of things I think about when I think of my time with the Mets, and most of them are good thoughts," Ron Darling told me a few months ago, standing around a clubhouse at Citi Field when all of a sudden . . . he was on the television screen. "And that" -- he pointed at the screen, where you could see the wheels in Mike Scioscia's head spinning even from 3,000 miles away -- "is not one of them."

Labels: angels, funny, yankees

// posted by Rob @ 4:19 PM link  //  1 comments

William Burke raised the point in the roundtable that Street had a large reverse-OPS split in 2009. Let's examine that. Bil was right, factually: Street was very effective against left-handed batters in 2009, allowing a .167/.227/.265 line to them in 111 plate appearances. Right-handers hit .217/.244/.375 in 129 PAs. But while the OPS gap is large, it is entirely due to the difference in batting average on balls in play and what happened on fly balls, neither of which is indicative of Street's actual skills. Street allowed a .300 BABIP and five home runs to righties, just .195 and two bombs to lefties. Dan Malkiel ran the numbers and found that the underlying rates of batted balls allowed don't support these splits—they're a fluke. Moreover, Street's non-contact data clearly shows him to have been more effective against right-handed batters: he struck out 36 percent of the right-handed batters he faced, and walked just three righties unintentionally all year long. Compare that to 21 percent of lefties struck out with six unintentional walks allowed in fewer PA. Street is clearly much more effective against right-handed batters.

This is supported by his career data. Street has allowed nearly identical batting averages on balls in play in his career to hitters on both sides of the plate. However, he has struck out a higher percentage of righties and walked them at about half the rate he's walked lefties. He's also allowed much more power—a .151 ISO and 16 homers—to lefties than to righties (.082 and nine). There is no way to read Street's track record and conclude that he's more effective against left-handed batters, and even a cursory look at his pitching style would support that as well.

In the interest of being thorough, let's note that since he returned to the majors as a full-time reliever in 2006, Joe Beimel has held left-handed batters to a .301 OBP with an extra-base hit in about every 14 at-bats.

Given all of that information, how much do you have to believe in the closer myth to have allowed Street to face Howard with the season on the line? You have to believe, basically, that the skill involved in closing games, getting the 27th out, is so large that it makes up the difference between the very best hitter in the game, one of the best in history, and a mediocre shortstop. Even that may be generous, as it doesn't consider that Howard's line against lefties included a lot of ABs against guys like Tom Glavine and Johan Santana, fastball/changeup pitchers who come over the top and don't specialize in getting lefties out. Beimel is a different animal, as his stats show.

Labels: analysis, phillies, postseason, rockies, stupid ideas

// posted by Rob @ 2:20 PM link  //  4 comments

Labels: angels, dodgers, phillies, postseason, predictions, yankees

// posted by Rob @ 1:24 PM link  //  3 comments

Bochy has been committed to "changing the culture" around the Giants and said when the season ended, "We're in a win mode now."

Labels: contracts, front office, giants, managers

// posted by Rob @ 12:48 PM link  //  0 comments

It should have been enough to get Joe Beimel to the mound, but Tracy left Street — who had already lost Game 3 of the series — in to self-immolate. And as in Game 3, Street was having trouble locating, throwing only 18 of 29 pitches in the zone. Tracy is paid to know this stuff and act on it; why doesn't he?

Thank God he's not managing the Dodgers anymore. Is there a managerial equivalent of the Grabowski Principle?

Since the Phils will now meet the Dodgers on Friday, the only hope I have is that Joe Torre remembers he has a lefty closer he can throw at Howard if a similar situation erupts in the ninth.

ESPN Box

Labels: phillies, postseason, recaps, rockies

// posted by Rob @ 9:23 PM link  //  8 comments

Yorvit Torrealba singles with men on the corners to make it 2-1 Rockies with two out. Ryan Spilborghs hammers a pitch to left center, but it's right at a shifted Shane Victorino to end the frame. Happ's already thrown 35 pitches and he's only through one frame.

Top 2nd: With one out, Jason Hammel catches a "oh, look, what do I have here in my glove?" line drive that he promptly drops. He collects himself and throws to first base to record the out against Raul Ibanez, the middle out of an easy 1-2-3 frame for him.

Bottom 3rd: With two out and Todd Helton still stuck at first after a leadoff walk, Garrett Atkins belts one over the head of Shane Victorino, who misplays the carom slightly. Helton scores, running hard all the way, and Atkins ends up at second with a double as the Rocks extend their lead to 3-1. Ryan Spilborghs strikes out swinging to end the frame, but Happ has expended 76 pitches to get through only three innings.

Top 4th: Hammel starts to make some mistakes as he gives up a leadoff walk to Victorino. Chase Utley singles, and Ryan Howard singles Victorino home from second to make it 3-2 Rockies with nobody out.

Hammel loads up the bases with his second walk in the inning, to Jayson Werth. It's looking like he's very close to getting yanked, as Jim Tracy starts up the bullpen. Raul Ibanez steps to the plate. After a long at-bat, Raul Ibanez walks in a run, and we're tied 3-3.

Pedro Feliz bounces out to Hammel for a 1-2-3 double play, leaving men on second and third with two down. Hammel goes to a full count on Carlos Ruiz, but he fouls a couple away, one off his foot, and then sneaks a single through the hole in the left side, making it 4-3 Phillies for the lead. That's it for both pitchers, as Jim Tracy pulls Hammel and Charlie Manuel yanks Happ for pinch hitter Greg Dobbs.

Matt Belisle gets out of the frame without further damage, but the Rocks are now behind after a three-run inning.

Bottom 4th: Leadoff man Carlos Gonzalez crushes a rocket off reliever Joe Blanton to deep right, tying the game at 4-4, collecting his seventh hit in 12 at-bats.

Top 5th: After getting two out, Belisle walks Chase Utley, and that's that for him. That brings up LOOGY Joe Beimel to face Ryan Howard, who obliges him by popping out to short on the first pitch. In some fairness to Howard, it was quite a pop that required Tulo to race to shallow left to make an over-the-shoulder catch for the out.

Top 6th: Jose Contreras issues two straight one-out walks, the second one to Feliz on four straight balls. Contreras falls behind Ruiz 2-1, and nobody's warming up in the bullpen; on the next pitch, Ruiz drives in a run with an up-the-middle single to give the Phils a 5-4 lead. Contreras eventually gets Jimmy Rollins on a 4-6 fielder's choice groundout to end the frame, but at the moment he's on the hook for a loss.

Bottom 7th: After an uneventful top of the seventh, Ruiz hammers a ball into the left field gap for a double off reliever Scott Eyre, who entered the game in the sixth with two out. Dexter Fowler then bunts one up the middle on the right side; Eyre falls down and injures his ankle trying to retrieve the ball. That puts men on the corners with one out, and Manuel calls on Ryan Madsen to put out the rally.

Todd Helton goes to a 2-2 count, fouling several pitches off Madsen; he goes up the ladder to strike out Helton for the first out of the inning.

After fouling off a couple pitches inside and off the plate, Tulowitzki yanks a line drive sac fly to left to tie the game 5-5. Torrealba strikes out to end the inning without further damage.

Top 8th: Raul Ibanez walked, and Pedro Feliz gets a bloop double to left, all with only one out. Rafael Betancourt is in some trouble with first base open, pitching to Ruiz.

Betancourt strikes out Ruiz swinging on a 1-2 count. Two down. Now it's Matt "Wonder Hamster" Stairs' turn, and Betancourt quickly goes to a 2-2 count. After getting Stairs to foul off a pitch and throws a ball, he gets Stairs swinging to end the threat. Wow.

It's 11:37 AM in Denver. It's 1:37 AM in Philadelphia. And it's really cold in Denver.

Top 9th: Huston Street gives up a leadoff single to Jimmy Rollins that's eventually cashed in by Ryan Howard for a 6-5 Phillies lead. Man, isn't it about time for the infomercials to start?

Bottom 9th: It's Brad Lidge's turn to show whether he can keep the icicles off his fingers. After retiring Brad Hawpe on two pitches, he surrenders a walk to Carlos Gonzalez. With pinch-hitter Jason Giambi at the plate, Gonzalez steals second easily on Lidge, who wasn't paying much attention. Giambi pops out in foul territory to Feliz, and the Phils are one out away from a win.

Brad Lidge manages to walk Helton, even despite a gift strike call in the at-bat. Eric Young replaces Helton at first, and here comes Tulo. Tulo pops it up, and the Phils are one win away from advancing to meet the Dodgers.

ESPN Box

Labels: live blogging, phillies, postseason, recaps, rockies

// posted by Rob @ 7:27 PM link  //  3 comments

Reliever Phil Hughes gets Orlando Cabrera to fly out to center, and Joe Girardi calls on Mariano Rivera to finish the game's final four outs, facing Joe Mauer with a man on first. Mauer shatters his bat and taps out meekly to first to end the inning.

Top 9th: Good lord. The Twins walk the bases loaded with one out, as neither Jon Rauch nor Jose Mijares can find the plate facing A-Rod or Hideki Matsui. Joe Nathan sends a 0-1 fastball to Posada, and he welts it into the outfield for an RBI single, making it 3-1 Yankees. This game is suddenly getting mighty sad for the Twins, who have three outs against Rivera to make some noise. The crowd certainly isn't into what is almost certainly going to be the final major league baseball game played at the Metrodome.

With the Twins' defense playing deep, Robinson Cano fists one to shallow right center. Jason Kubel makes a valiant but ultimately futile dive for the ball, but the ball just caroms off his glove, and the Yanks cash in yet another run. 4-1 Yanks, and I'm heading off to TNT for the start of the Phils/Rocks game, where I understand the Phillies have already drawn first blood.

Bottom 9th: The Twins' Michael Cuddyer singles to lead off the inning, but Rivera gets Jason Kubel to strike out looking, and Delmon Young to strike out swinging. Brendan Harris bounces out to Derek Jeter to end the game, the final play at the Metrodome.

The Angels start against the Yankees in New York on Friday.

ESPN Box

Labels: live blogging, recaps, twins, yankees

// posted by Rob @ 6:42 PM link  //  2 comments

After hammering a towering moon shot foul inside the left field line, Kevin Youkilis goes down looking on a Scott Kazmir bender that gets Youk jawing with the umpire (again!). A walk to Jason Bay gives the Sox their first baserunner of the game, but both David Ortiz and Mike Lowell fly out to end the inning.

Top 3rd: So, Dave Henderson threw out the first pitch, huh?

After Chone Figgins bounces out to second, Bobby Abreu lines out to Jacoby Ellsbury in center; Ellsbury makes a fine leaping, outstretched catch to make the play.

Bottom 3rd: Kazmir's playing a dangerous game, giving up his second walk of the day, this time to Alex Gonzalez with one out. Ellsbury smacks a line drive single to left over the head of the drawn-in Chone Figgins. There's men on first and second for Dustin Pedroia now. Pedroia hammers a 1-1 pitch into the Green Monster for an RBI double, giving the Sox a 2-0 lead as the throw comes in late to the plate.

Victor Martinez one-hands an offspeed pitch into the Monster; while Rivera gets it back quickly and holds Martinez to a single, it also cashes in the speedy Pedroia for a 3-0 Red Sox lead. Those hard line drive outs were a bad omen, and we're now starting to see Boston straighten out some of those pitches.

Youkilis lines out to left and Bay lines out to Torii Hunter to end the frame, but Kazmir may not survive much longer if he doesn't start getting some balls hit on the ground.

Top 4th: Vlad is still batting fourth? Seriously, Scioscia, how much do you want to win this game?

Vlad taps out meekly to short to start off the fourth. That bit of managerial ineptitude immediately costs the Angels, as Kendry Morales crushes a high fastball into the right field seats to nibble the Sox' advantage down to 3-1. That's it from the Angels, as both Rivera (5-3 groundout) and Izturis (pop out to short) go down quickly.

Bottom 4th: The Green Monster eats a one-out home run for Mike Lowell, who belts a pitch high onto the ediface that Rivera hurries back to the infield for a mere single. Kazmir continues to flirt with disaster, not helped by Eric Cooper calling almost nothing low in the zone. J.D. Drew then crushes a pitch over the fence in dead center that bounces back to the seats, but Cowboy Joe West immediately throws up the home run signal, and it's 5-1 Boston. Welcome to Fenway.

Kazmir finally gets Ellsbury on a broken bat bouncer to the box for the inning's final out, but the game is in danger of becoming a rout. Jason Bulger was last seen warming up in the Angels bullpen.

Top 5th: Cooper's calling a terrible and inconsistent strike zone; nonetheless, Mike Napoli belts a 3-2 pitch down the left field line that caroms off the outfield padding and takes a funny turn past Jason Bay. Napoli gets a stand-up double as Bay has to unexpectedly change direction to field the ball.

Erick Aybar takes an inside pitch (according to the TBS strike zone box) for a called strike three. This is the worst umpiring crew of the four out there this postseason.

Figgins goes down the same way, albeit that pitch — a bender inside — looks like it's an actual strike.

Bottom 5th: Kazmir, shockingly enough, is still in the game. Even more shocking: he gets the side in order.

Top 6th: Torii Hunter whams a leadoff double; Buchholz tries to pick him off second, and after grimacing on his return to the plate, Buchholz tries again, only this time he balks him to third. Vlad hits an infield single to short, and Hunter stays at third after Lowell comes over to back up the play. That brings up Kendry, and necessitates a meeting on the mound.

K-Mo takes an intentional unintentional walk on four pitches, and that's it for Buchholz, who leaves the bases loaded with nobody out. Daniel Bard, he of the 98 MPH heat, is coming up.

Bard gets out of it by getting Rivera to bounce into a 5-4-3 double play and Maicer Izturis to pop out. One run scores, but it could have been far worse, and the Angels will face the teeth of the Red Sox' excellent bullpen. 5-2 Red Sox.

Bottom 6th: Kazmir gives up a two-out walk to Lowell, but he posts another scoreless inning as he gets Drew to bounce out harmlessly to Kendry for the final out. Kaz has settled down from his bad innings in the third and fourth, but he's also probably faced his last batters, as he's at 90 pitches.

Top 7th: After two straight outs to start the inning, Chone Figgins comes to the plate and gets a strike called on a very borderline check swing call. Okay, I'll come out and say it: Dan Iassogna is full of bologna.

Figgins goes down on a 0-2 bender on the outside corner to end the frame. Looks like we're going to a game 4, at least. Still six outs left, though.

Top 8th: After Jason Bulger unexpectedly gets out of the seventh with a zero frame, Bobby Abreu hits one down the right field line, and Kevin Youkilis' attempt to field the ball merely swats it into the stands for a two-base infield hit; it goes down as a "double to first" in the record book. Torii Hunter makes a bunt attempt and gets all upset when he pulls the bat back late and first base umpire calls him out on it. He really has something to be upset about as he strikes out looking.

Vlad somehow works a walk after a protracted at-bat. Kendry swings hard at the first pitch, one up at his eyes. Morales taps to second on a tough play that ends up a 4-3 ground out, but that brings in Papelbon with the Angels' best home run threat out, and Boston four outs away from their first series win.

Shockingly, Juan Rivera, who has been mostly ineffective, spanks a first-pitch fastball into the gap to cash in two, narrowing the lead to 5-4 Boston. The Red Sox outfield played it well to limit Rivera to a single; he's lifted for pinch-runner Reggie Willits. Willits, taking an aggressive lead, gets picked off first to end the frame. Gad, he can be a dunce.

Top 9th: Following a one-run inning by the Sawx in the bottom of the frame that pushed their advantage to two runs (6-4 Boston), chasing Kevin Jepsen, the Angels somehow managed to reverse the deficit against the Sox against their ace closer, Jonathan Papelbon, the big blow coming on Vlad's RBI single. Vlad? VLAD?

As Helen says, he gets to keep hitting fourth.

Erick Aybar singled off Billy Wagner, Chone Figgins walked (his 2009 skill coming through again), and Bobby Abreu doubled, cashing in Aybar. Figgins could have gone home, but Dino Ebel held him at third; it was an odd call from the Angels' third base coach, because the throw to the infield had no target, and he likely would have scored.

As it turned out, that didn't matter, thanks to Vlad's single, but we'll see how this turns out with the Angels' shaky bullpen.

And yes, Papelbon gives up his first postseason runs. Which feels pretty damn good right now, even if Fuentes chokes up this lead for a loss.

Hideki Okajima replaces Papelbon, and gets Kendry Morales to make a routine fly out to left.

Bottom 9th: Jed Lowry pinch hits for Gonzalez and pops out to center, a play Hunter has to race in to make. One out.

Ellsbury pops out to defensive replacement Jeff Mathis. Two out.

Fuentes gets a gift called strike on the 0-1 pitch on Pedroia, misses the plate with the next one, and gets a popout to short.

Break out the champagne, boys, I didn't think you had it in you. And beating Papelbon, at Fenway to boot! The runs he gave up were the first in the postseason ever.

Postgame: Torii Hunter: "The fat lady hasn't sung yet."

Francona: "It's tough to walk the bases loaded. ... We thought we put ourselves in a better place to win."

Papelbon: very subdued, as you would expect, but gracious, talking about how his location was off.

ESPN Box • Angels recap

Labels: angels, live blogging, postseason, recaps, red sox

// posted by Rob @ 9:53 AM link  //  15 comments

"It might be me," former Cub Mark DeRosa said afterward as he saw Chicago media headed his way. "It better not be because I'm not retiring for a while."

Then he thought and added with a slight smile:

"This is three years in a row. It is me."

Gee, and the Cubs might think about bringing him back as a free agent?

Of course, DeRosa could more easily have blamed his teammates, because he had more hits in the series (five) than any other Cardinal, including Albert Pujols.

"It is what it is," DeRosa said. "I'll keep grinding."

Those lucky Dodgers, leading a charmed life and enjoying outrageously good fortune.

The Dodgers thought they were playing the Cardinals in the 2009 NL Division Series.

Instead, the Chicago Cubs showed up again.

Via BCB.

Labels: cardinals, cubs, dodgers

// posted by Rob @ 8:12 AM link  //  0 comments

Bottom 3rd: Vicente Padilla, lone wolf, pitching for his career, gets Albert Pujols to pop out to shortstop Rafael Furcal to end the inning for a clean third. If he's got two more innings in him, Padilla just increased his asking price for next offseason.

Top 4th: With two down and Ronnie Belliard on second, Rafael Furcal whacked one up the left field line to cash him in, making it 4-0 Dodgers. I ... I love you guys.

Ryan Franklin struck out Kemp to end the frame, but the Cards need a grand slam to tie it.

Bottom 4th: Holliday lines out to right, but then, ignoring the TBS broadcasters' comments about how St. Louis batters haven't been hitting Padilla hard, Colby Rasmus belts a one-out double past Casey Blake to put a baserunner in scoring position for the Cards. Yadier Molina bounces out to Blake for the second out, advancing Rasmus to third. Mark DeRosa's line drive finds Padilla's glove for the final out, nabbed as if it were a drink he ordered from the bar back of home plate.

Top 5th: My God, the Cardinals fans are depressed. But they have something to cheer about, briefly, as reliever Dennys Reyes strikes out both Andre Ethier and Manny Ramirez for the first two outs of the frame. James Loney's groundout to short finishes a 1-2-3 inning for St. Louis, the second of the game.

Bottom 5th: After a long eight-pitch battle with pinch-hitter and ex-Dodger Future Of Second Base Joe Thurston, Padilla gets Skip Shumacher to line out for the final out of the fifth. Padilla's eligible for a win now, and has pitched shockingly well for a guy who's making his first professional postseason appearance.

Top 6th: John Smoltz comes in and immediately gives up an infield single to Casey Blake, who sneaks one under the glove of shortstop Brendan Ryan. Smoltz is a little wild and throwing just under the bottom of the strike zone. Belliard strikes out, bringing Russell Martin to the plate — who strikes out swinging to make the inning's second out. Vicente Padilla strikes out to make it a trifecta of struck out batters, with Padilla facing the 2-3-4 batters in the bottom of the frame.

Bottom 6th: Padilla strikes out Albert Pujols looking on an incredible strike three that gets Pujols jawing with the umpire. On the first pitch, Matt Holliday pops out to the catcher, and suddenly the Dodgers are nine outs away from advancing.

Top 7th: After striking out the first two batters for five consecutive, Andre Ethier clocks one over Colby Rasmus' head for a clean triple. Manny whacks a line drive over the hole at short, and it's now 5-0 Dodgers. James Loney adds to the Cards' worries, singling to right, with men on first and second.

After a protracted battle, Smoltz finally gets Casey Blake to fly out to Matt Holliday, who catches it just to prove it can be done.

Bottom 7th: Padilla gets Rasmus to fly out to left — a "room service fly ball" as Vinny says — but then Molina whacks one down the left field line past Casey Blake for a double, but then makes a tragic (for the Cards) mistake on a bouncer to short, attempting to reach third. He's easily erased, and while Mark DeRosa reaches first on the fielder's choice, it's cold comfort to the St. Louis fans, who are watching their offense frozen out on a cold night. Brendan Ryan flies out to Matt Kemp to finish things, and the stillborn rally ends quietly.

Bottom 8th: Padilla's gone, and what a job: a seven-inning, four-hit shutout; George Sherrill's in, and he immediately gets Jason LaRue on a pop up. Unexpectedly, Sherrill walks Julio Lugo. Ludwick hits a ball 373 feet to left to the bullpen gate at 375 feet, and Manny sends it back to the infield without damage. That's it for Sherrill, and Jonathan Broxton enters the game for the last four outs.

Oh, yes, and to face Albert Pujols.

Broxton gives up an RBI single to Phat Albert, and it's 5-1 Dodgers. Holliday flies out to Ethier, and the Dodgers are three outs away from advancing.

Top 9th: Ethier hammers one one off Ryan Franklin the opposite way down the left field line, to DeRosa's bafflement, expecting him to pull, putting a man in scoring position with two out. He's a single away from a cycle.

Manny bounces out to end the frame, but the Cards have a mighty big hill to climb in the bottom of the ninth.

Bottom 9th: Rasmus swings and misses at a third strike to make it one out in the ninth. Two more to go.

Molina bounces one up the third base line, a swinging bunt that amounts to an infield single. He reaches second on the first pitch to DeRosa, who then taps to the box for two out.

Broxton strikes out pinch-hitter Rick Ankiel to finish the game, and they'll see the winner of the Phillies/Rockies NLDS. One "murmur of protest" (thanks, Vinny) of the Cards to vaporize "the eraser" from the Times comment that it would be the Cards in three.

ESPN Box

Labels: cardinals, dodgers, live blogging, postseason, recaps

// posted by Rob @ 3:56 PM link  //  4 comments

Labels: cardinals, dodgers, postseason

// posted by Rob @ 2:38 PM link  //  0 comments

One of the things I find interesting about Weaver the Younger is that this is his third postseason start, and he's quietly amassing a very impressive resume in a relatively small number of appearances; he's got a 1.88 ERA in three appearances, including now his first postseason win in by far his most impressive outing to date, notching seven strikeouts against only a single walk, and incredibly, handing Josh Beckett the first postseason loss of his career.

Weaver retired the side in order the first three frames and was pretty economical about it, getting out of the third on only 39 pitches. He got in trouble in the fourth with a leadoff triple to Jacoby Ellsbury that Torii Hunter was almost but not quite able to catch up to. When Dustin Pedroia bounced out to third, it looked briefly as though Weav might get out of the frame unscathed despite having to go through the three and four batters. Victor Martinez quickly put an end to that kind of speculation by spanking a 1-0 pitch up the middle to cash in Ellsbury. Weaver bore down, though, and retired Kevin Youkilis on a fly out to center, and struck out Ortiz swinging, limiting the damage to a single run.

Meanwhile, the Angels were only slightly less effective than the Red Sox, also going in order the first three frames while scratching out a lone single, Erick Aybar's two-out line drive in third that Chone Figgins promptly squandered by flying out to left. But for all that, the Angels did manage to get their starter his run back in the bottom of the frame, with Bobby Abreu reaching on a hard hit single in the hole at short that Gonzalez couldn't quite catch up to. When Torii Hunter rocked a ball down the left field line, for an instant it looked destined for extras — until it ended up in Mike Lowell's glove for the inning's first out.

But then Vlad stepped to the plate. I've learned to have low expectations of him: Thursday's 1-for-4 with a gift "infield single" has to qualify as some kind of low-water mark for his career in the postseason, one that hasn't been marked by a lot of success to begin with. But he managed to show up in this one, and singled Abreu over to third. Kendry Morales wasted no time and hauled an 0-1 pitch to deep right on a sac fly, scoring Abreu for the tying run.

Weaver burned through almost 40 pitches in the next two innings, and it was about then doubt as to the Angels' prospects for winning the series started to set in. By the middle of the seventh, Weaver had expended 106 pitches while Beckett had only seventy five coming into the bottom of the frame.

That quickly changed: Beckett walked Vlad — how? — on five pitches. Mike Scioscia, correctly recognizing Vlad's self-defeating proclivities on the basepaths, as well as his declining speed, correctly elected to replace him with pinch-runner Howie Kendrick. After an eight-pitch at-bat against Kendry (fly out to left), he rapidly dispatched Juan Rivera (now batting sixth, as befits his recent production), but not before Howie stole second. Maicer Izturis hammered out a single to push across the go-ahead run.

Improbably, Beckett then plunked Mike Napoli with an offspeed pitch. Now if there's one thing we've learned about Beckett, it's that he's a big-time headhunter, and his weapon of choice is the heater. For a moment it looked as though home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor had warned both benches — and even ejected manager Terry Francona — but as it turned out, neither of those things were true, because it was Francona who eventually collected Beckett after he subsequently gave up Erick Aybar's magnificent RBI triple. Helen noticed that Jacoby Ellsbury tripped immediately in front of the Adenhart logo in center field, which probably contributed to the base total.

The triple — perhaps assisted by Adenhart's ghost — pushed the Halos' advantage to 4-1, and there it stayed. Chone Figgins struck out for the second time in the game, and that ended the frame. The Angels sole offense thereafter was an eighth inning single off Abreu's bat, but he promptly erased himself trying to steal second in Howie Kendrick's only at bat of the game. Kendrick himself struck out against Jonathan Papelbon, brought in to relieve Billy Wagner, whom we suppose is now suspect in Francona's eyes.

Meantime, the Sawx continued to nip at Angels pitching, collecting an infield single (Ellsbury) in the eighth against Darren Oliver; for the second time in as many days, Casey Kotchman was sent in to pinch-hit against his old mates, only this time, he got yanked before even entering the batter's box. In the ninth, the ominously-named Kevin Youkilis doubled with one out against Kevin Jepsen, precipitating a change to Brian Fuentes. Fuentes eventually wobbled through the save, but not before giving up a walk to Jason Bay with Mike Lowell due up.

Obviously, after years of being swept by or generally losing to the Sox in the first round, this feels especially sweet. The Angels hadn't had a home postseason game win in their last six tries, so leaving town up 2-0 is a good feeling, the partial exorcising of some old demons. Of course, you can ask the 1982 Angels how much that's worth.

Nine to go, boys.

ESPN Box • Angels recap

Labels: angels, postseason, recaps, red sox

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Top 5th: The Twins get their second baserunner on with two out in the form of Orlando Cabrera, who walked. Burnett then falls behind Joe Mauer 3-0 and walks him on a 3-1 pitch. For the second inning in a row, the Twins have men on first and second with two out, only this time they've got Jason Kubel at bat. It's Burnett's fourth walk of the night, but he's got a two-hitter going through 4.2; Nick Blackburn has yet to allow a hit. Kubel bounces out to second for an easy end of the fifth.

Top 6th: Minnesota finally breaks through with yet another two-out rally, only this time Brendan Harris punches an RBI triple to cash in Delmon Young. It's 1-0 Twins but Punto grounds out to end the inning. Blackburn will have to face the 9-1-2 batters in the bottom of the frame.

Day after: The Twinks got a pair in the top of the eighth off Phil Hughes; true to form with the Twins in this game, it came on a two-out rally following a Carlos Gomez walk and a Brendan Harris single; Nick Punto's RBI single pushed across Gomez. That brought out Mariano Rivera, but Denard Span hit him anyway, making it 3-1 Twins.

New York went scoreless in the bottom of the frame, but normally untouchable closer Joe Nathan missed the plate wildly and gave up a single to Mark Teixeira and a homer to A-Rod to tie the game 3-3; the teams traded zeroes in extras until Teixeira homered off Jose Mijares in the 11th for the Yankees win. As I expected, this wasn't really a fair fight, and the Twins will go away rather quickly, though the old Metrodome will get a final postseason game, at least, in its last year.

ESPN Box

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That actually extended into the early innings of the game as well, because the Angels kept squandering two-out rally chances; the biggest one was in the third when Vlad came up with the bases juiced, and struck out swinging on three pitches. It was then I noticed that both managers had placed their aging but dubiously effective sluggers in the cleanup spot, and while it was little consolation at the time, it's also true that old habits die hard.

In Vlad's case, that's almost incomprehensible, though. Relatively small sample size though it be, Vlad's .241/.333/.291 postseason line is enough to make you wonder whether he'll ever do anything of note after all but eight teams have stopped playing. Last night in the seventh, he reached on a tapper back to the box that reliever Ramon Ramirez bobbled not once but twice, and was subsequently ruled an infield single rather than an E1. Kendry Morales eventually drove him in, collecting the first postseason RBI of his career, so there was that.

But the big play was the best play in baseball, a three-run homer that Torii Hunter absolutely crushed to dead center in the fifth. The way the inning started, it looked like the Angels had their hearts set on another round of small ball, too: Erick Aybar got a leadoff double, a hot smash grounder down the left field line past a diving Mike Lowell. Mike Scioscia then had Chone Figgins, ineffective otherwise in the leadoff spot (0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts), bunt Aybar over to third. Bobby "Walking Man" Abreu then did what he had done in his prior two at-bats, and took a free pass to first to plant men at the corners for Hunter, who banged his fourth career postseason home run to give the Angels a 3-0 lead they would not relinquish.

That shutout came courtesy of John Lackey, who pitched what is probably the best postseason game of his career, 7.1 innings of shutout ball against a foe that's beaten him like a piñata in previous years. Pitching out of trouble in the third (men on first and second with two out thanks in part to a rare catcher's interference call against Jeff Mathis) and sixth (again men on first and second with two out). Jim Scully suggested on Facebook last night that Lackey just pitched himself into several million more dollars, and I can't disagree.

Darren Oliver went the rest of the way, preserving the shutout, though not without its exciting and harrowing moments. With inherited baserunner J.D. Drew at first, Oliver wild pitched him to second in Old Friend Casey Kotchman's at-bat. Kotchman slammed a smash down the third base line near but not quite at Chone Figgins, who made a stop with his glove, dropped it, and managed to nip Kotchman at first while keeping Drew at second. It was Figgins' second artful play of the game, for he made a similar recovery against Kevin Youkilis in the sixth; with men on first and second, he collected the force by backing up and stomping on the bag only a half step ahead of the speedy Dustin Pedroia for the final out.

Finally, a word about the Angels' seventh-inning rally: Juan Rivera very nearly killed the whole thing by hitting into an extremely rare 5-2-5 double play. The booth announcers said the final out in that sequence was not a force, but I wasn't so sure and haven't seen the replay yet. But since it looked to me like forces all the way around, that was at least interesting.

And, yay, win versus the Red Sox, ending a six-game losing streak at home in the postseason! Also, the Angels handed Boston their first shutout since the Indians did it in the 1995 ALDS Game 2.

One more footnote: there were a couple of bad calls by first base umpire C.B. Bucknor, one in the bottom of the fourth with two out when Howie Kendrick reached on what was ruled an E6 from shortstop Alex Gonzalez; Youkilis had to leap to make the catch, but applied the tag to Kendrick anyway, though Bucknor ruled him safe. The other was in the sixth, when Kendrick reached on Mike Lowell's throwing error Youkilis did in fact hit the base before Kendrick arrived there according to the Angels' radio booth, but Bucknor once again ruled Kendrick safe, E5. Neither call had an effect on the outcome of the game, since Kendrick was stranded in both cases. And to think, Bucknor will be the man behind the dish tonight. Bleh.

ESPN Box • Angels recap

Labels: angels, postseason, recaps, red sox

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