The Dodgers finish off the 2014 regular season in grand fashion - winning their last five games in a row. It is nice to have this kind of momentum going into the playoffs.
In the 10 to 5 win over the Rockies on Sunday the Dodgers hit three home runs; including a two-run homer by Kemp and a three-run home run by Adrian Gonzalez. The third dinger was hit by Roger Bernadina; who surprised everyone with a 434 foot moon shot to right field. Starting pitcher Zack Greinke pitched well in his five innings. He allowed just four hits, one earned run and struck out six. Per an AP report on ESPN:
"I felt good," he said. "I used all the pitches; they all had some crispness to them. I didn't give up too many hard-hit balls, so that was the goal."The highlight of the afternoon, though, was the dramatic changes made to the Dodgers coaching staff. Clayton Kersahw took over for Rick Honeycutt as the pitching coach, Hanley Ramirez took over for Tim Wallach as the bench coach and Juan Uribe took over for Don Mattingly as the manager. By the results, I think it's fair to say that they did a great job in their new positions. The pic above features Uribe wearing a Lasorda uniform and Hanley wearing Wallach's uniform, via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2014. Go here to see more photos from yesterday.
The playoffs begin for the Dodgers on Friday against the Cardinals. Adam Wainwright is expected to start against Clayton Kersahw. Below are some links to check out:
- Eric Stephen at True Blue LA shares a quote from manager Juan Uribe:
"You think you can do it and it might be easy, but now I can say managing isn't that easy," Uribe said. "I don't want to be a manager [after I retire]."
- Via Steve Hymon at the Source, "Dodger Stadium Express will run from Union Station and Harbor Gateway for the playoffs."
- Via Michael Lananna at MLB.com, "Dodgers forgo BP, may try that tactic in postseason."
"We had pretty good success in Chicago with our energy, I felt like, without the BP," Mattingly said. "The BP gets to be one of those things that you do every day, every day, every day, and it kind of wears you down mentally. So really no BP has kind of been a mental break for us, I feel like."
- Via Jill Painter Lopez at Fox Sports, "Dodgers' Kershaw set to enter wonderful world of fatherhood." The Baby Kershaw is expected to arrive in January.
- Joe Torre talks a bit about why he briefly banned the bubble machine, via Bill Shaikin at The LA Times.
"There was no particular rule against it," he said. "I just felt that was taking stuff onto the field. That was different than what was going on in the stands — the guy sliding down in Milwaukee, the [Phillie] Phanatic. Something that was happening on the field, I just didn't feel it was appropriate.
"But there was no rule written against it. So that's why it was out for one day and wasn't out for another day."
- Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com, "Ryu encouraged by 40-pitch mound session."
"It went very well. I didn't feel any discomfort in my shoulder," said Ryu, who hasn't pitched in a game since leaving after one inning Sept. 12 in San Francisco. "Very positive result."
- Via Bill Plunkett at the OC Register, "Magic: "We're going to be on TV next season"
“I think we’re going to be on TV next season. I really do,” Johnson said before Sunday’s regular-season finale at Dodger Stadium. “Just keep pushing them to make that happen. … They saw the response of the fans when they were on TV. Everybody wanted to watch the Dodgers.”
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