It never felt so good to lose to the Giants.
After the emotional roller coaster that we all felt following the announced trade of AJ Ellis no one would blame the Dodgers for being a little deflated for that evenings game.
But a near no-hitter?
I don't think anyone expected to see that.
Giants hurler Matt Moore, acquired less than a month ago from Tampa Bay, got on the mound and was brilliant. He masterfully took advantage of an less than enthused clubhouse by weaving a series of off-speed pitches that kept the Dodger bats out of kilter. Eight and two-thirds innings later, not one Dodger had a hit. Then, Corey Seager came up and brought the entire stadium to their feet by blooping a single to right field to end any chance of a humiliating evening. Per Ken Gurnick and Chris Haft at MLB.com:
"In some weird way, it does," said Roberts. "They really wanted to salvage the series. For us to potentially get no-hit, and for Corey to break it up, it salvages it for us in a strange way."No kidding. Dodgers fans everywhere were able to breathe a sigh of relief. Best yet, Dodger fans, not typically known for being gracious to our neighbors up north, gave the Giants pitcher a standing ovation after being pulled from the game. Of course, that didn't stop a handful of fools from basking in breaking up a no-no (check out this link to see what I mean).
Photo above via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2016. Go here to check out more pics by Jon and Jill Weisleder from yesterdays game. Below are more links to check out:
- This Day in Dodger History: In 1939 the Dodgers and Reds played in the first Major League game to be broadcast on television. It was a doubleheader. The Reds won game 1, 5-2, and the Dodgers won game 2, 6-1. In 1947 Dodgers pitcher Dan Bankhead became the first African-American Major League pitcher when he got on the mound in relief against the Pirates.
- Ugh! Via Dodger Insider; "A.J. Ellis talks about his farewell from Dodgers."
- Via Bob Harkins at the Nerdist; "LA Dodgers Organist Dieter Ruehle Talks Music, Hockey, and Pokémon."
Ruehle has never been in a band, nor has that been a goal. Instead, he feeds his love for playing music every day by heading to an arena or stadium, watching his beloved Kings or Dodgers play, and entertaining thousands of fans. Ask him where this dream job will take him next, and Ruehle has a simple answer:
“The dream takes me a day at a time. Hopefully I’ll wake up feeling healthy and be back here for game two of the homestand, game three of the homestand, game four of the homestand, and just keep going.” He adds, “This is the dream.”
- Via Cary Osborne at Dodger Insider; "Dodger Stadium to host 2017 World Baseball Classic semifinals and final."
- Via Jack Baer at MLB.com; "Ethier begins rehab assignment in Class A."
"We're just going to play it by ear and see," Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. "The whole purpose obviously for a guy who's missed so much time is to get his legs under him, get his timing at the plate. We'll assess on a day-to-day basis and take this time to build him up."
BTW, Andre went 2 for 4 in the game with a single, double and two strike outs.
- Those recent rumors about the Dodgers willingness to trade Puig for a bag of balls never made much sense to me. This report by Heyman, on the other hand, does. Per his story at Today's Knuckleball; "Dodgers not desperate to trade Puig."
Teams appear to be bottom feeding for Puig in the hopes that the Dodgers want to give him away, and while the Dodgers don’t seem anxious or even interested in calling him up to the major-league team, the impression rival executives have is that the Dodgers are clearly not of a mind to give him away.
- Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com; "Dodgers land Ruiz from Phils for 'shocked' Ellis."
"It was a tough decision on a personal level," said Andrew Friedman, president of baseball operations. "From a baseball standpoint, we felt Carlos fit our team extremely well. I can go on and on about A.J. and his attributes and what he brings to a team, and if Carlos didn't possess similar things, we wouldn't have made the move. In terms of leadership ability, ability to call a game and run a pitching staff, Carlos rates extremely well in those things and has experience in what he brings to the lineup against left-handed pitching, which [we] focused on as an area we wanted to improve."
...
AJ Ellis: "To not be part of the Dodger-Giant rivalry anymore, it's tough to comprehend. I say words like sad, disappointed, devastated. There are also words like grateful, thankful, blessed, honored, privileged. There's nothing like wearing a Dodger jersey, nothing like it in sports. Nothing like coming into this stadium and playing baseball."
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