Roberto Hernandez took the mound for the Dodgers yesterday, but labored as he surrendered four home runs on five hits. The ball was jumping and carrying off the National bats like they were hitting beach balls in the stands at Dodger Stadium. Just about any ball hit in the air looked dangerous, and unfortunately for the Dodgers they hit less of them then their counterparts.
The Dodgers offense was anemic once again. After Kemp's two-run home run in the first inning they didn't record another hit until Kemp singled in the seventh inning. They did attempt a rally thereafter, but it just wasn't enough.
Of note, the two Dodger newbies came into the game with differing results. Yimi Garcia pitched two innings in relief, and gave up just a single and struck out one. He was fantastic. The photo above is of Yimi, via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2014. Go here to check out a bunch of pics from yesterday. Joc Pederson had an exciting pinch-hit at-bat in the ninth inning. There were two runners on base with the Dodgers down two, so he had an opportunity to be a difference maker. Unfortunately, after working the count full, he struck out looking on an off-speed hanging slider out-and-away. On this holiday afternoon, mighty Casey struck out.
The Dodgers lost 6 to 4, and maintain 2.0 game lead over the Giants. Oy Vey! I feel like I'm having a heart attack. Now, below are some links to check out.
- Via Michael Lananna at MLB.com, "Top prospect Pederson among LA's September callups."
"I'm excited," Pederson said. "It's a dream come true. But it's now time to help the team win."
After last nights game he shared his thoughts about his game ending at-bat. Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA, " Joc Pederson on his first AB: 'It was pretty special.'"
"That's a thing as a little kid you're chasing in a game, and it came in my first at-bat, so I thought it was pretty special," Pederson said. "Unfortunately it didn't go the way I want."
- I'm super envious. The Albuquerque Isotopes gave away this cool hat (as seen on the right) to fans during yesterday's last game of the season, pic via Isotopes on twitter. The Dodgers need to give something like this away.
- Peter Gammons notes that if Hanley doesn't sign with the Dodgers then he'll likely be best suited for the American League. He can be an occasional DH. It's also less likely that Matt Kemp gets traded if Hanley leaves the Dodgers.
- Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA, "Dodgers extend affiliation with Ogden through 2016."
- Via David Brim at Dodgers Digest, "Investigating The Hyun-Jin Ryu Rest Effect."
One thing that is said often about Ryu, especially during broadcasts, is that he pitches better with long rest than he does with four days of rest. It makes intuitive sense, since the pitching schedule in Korea involves longer gaps between starts. His W-L record is usually the first thing cited, which we know is irrelevant. But looking beyond that, Ryu has a 3.52 ERA while pitching with four days of rest and 2.71 ERA while pitching with five or more days of rest through his young career. There’s some truth to this. Pitching well on regular rest is especially important since Ryu will need to do so during the playoffs.
- Check out this great interview with Julio Urias by Brian Tabije of http://www.ieprosports.com/ about his season with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and what helped him to accelerate his strikeout count. This is from just a few days ago.
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