Rich Hill and his curve ball dominated the Cubs yesterday evening. Via Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider:
“I think it’s one of those things that if you have a pitch that’s better than your other pitches, you throw it more, and percentage-wise it should work out in your favor,” Hill said. “I’m not going to sit here and say it’s not a major part of my game.”Holy Moly! I knew Hill's numbers with the A's were strong, but I really had no idea that this journeyman who'd been out of the game (playing independent Baseball just a year or two ago) was the late-blooming ace that he showed last night. What a godsend, eh?
The 36-year-old added that tonight’s victory was the “biggest game of my career,” but that you can’t think like that while it’s happening.
“It’s all about staying in the moment and executing when you’re in that moment, and that’s all you can think about,” Hill said. “All you can control is that pitch. In the second inning, walk a few guys — it’s over with, can’t control it — and you move on. You execute the next pitch, and you execute the pitch after that. And you continue to execute until the ball gets taken out of your hand.”
And, let's give it up for the resurgent Dodgers offense. Both Yasmani Grandal and Justin Turner hit homers, while Yasiel Puig and Corey Seager finally broke out of their slumps to record five singles, collectively (two for Puig and three for Seager).
Photo at the very top of Rich Hill be awarded the "Dodgers Player of the Game" belt, via @Dodgers on twitter. Below are more links to check out:
- This Day in Dodgers History: In 1981 Rick Monday made history by hitting a dramatic solo home run in the eighth inning of Game 5 of the NLCS to propel the Dodgers to a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Expos. Go here to watch a highlight of it. He hit a 3-1 fastball against Steve Rogers. BTW, Fernando Valenzuela allowed just three hits and one run in 8 2/3 inning. The win sent the team to the World Series against the Yankees.
- Happy Birthday, James McDonald and Tim Belcher!
- Video: Alanna Rizzo caught up with Justin Turner after the Dodgers 6-0 win over the Cubs in Game 3 of the NLCS. (Link Here)
- Video: Hear from Dave Roberts after the Dodgers 6-0 win over the Cubs in Game 3 of the NLCS. (Link Here)
- Video: Watch Vin Scully's brief interview with Jeffrey Brown of PBS. (Link Here)
- Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA; "Dodgers have ‘complete confidence’ in Julio Urias in NLCS Game 4."
“Julio, as I've gotten to know him, he's just so calm and cool, and some of it plays to the youthfulness, the naivete, and just not really understanding the gravity of this moment, which is great,” manager Dave Roberts said on Tuesday. “I think that it's a baseball game, and when he's asked to take the baseball, he does it. And he's going out there focused and trying to execute pitches.
- All the while, the Cubs play some gamesmanship. Via Alex Perez at Dodgers Nation; "Joe Maddon Calls Out Julio Urias on Balking."
- Via Doug Padilla at ESPN; "Clayton Kershaw a possibility to pitch on short rest again in Game 5."
"After [the Game 4] result, it will be a little more clear, but still, nothing definitive yet," Roberts said.
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| (Pic via @MLB on twitter) |
- Via ESPN; "Los Angeles Dodgers mural unveiled in Los Angeles ahead of Game 3 of NLCS."
Artists Tewsr, Dcypher and Self created the painting, which includes a Dodgers logo designed using the name of each player on the team. Renderings of pitcher Clayton Kershaw and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez fill its sides while the backdrop features darkened shadows of Dodger Stadium and accompanying palm trees, along with a blimp in the sky.
- Via Dylan Hernandez at the LA Times; "Dodgers' Adrian Gonzalez chose not to stay in a Trump hotel, but he didn't want it to be news."
Gonzalez said that his views on social issues were a private matter. He might do something in protest, as he did when he asked the Dodgers to not provide Trump with business on his behalf, but he thinks that isn’t for anyone else to know.
“I wasn’t doing it for publicity, I wasn’t doing it for people to look at me or talk about me,” he said. “That’s not who I am. I just have my own values and morals that I want to live by.”
- Cecil Cooperstown shares an fantastic hand-drawn fantasy Baseball card of Steve Sax. Check it out here.
- Unquestionably, this is the best shirt ever, via a tweet by @DodgerBuzi. It is now being sold at Dodger Stadium stores.
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