SB Nation - Shawn Green

Furcal, Kemp Lead The Way To Dodger Victory

Eric Stephen — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 05:07:05 -0000

Rafael Furcal has been on fire in September, hitting .345/.415/.560 with 20 runs scored in 20 games (photo courtesy of Larry Goren / LA Dodgers)

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Matt Kemp set the spark early, and Rafael Furcal came through with the fireworks late to give the Dodgers a hard fought, 7-6 victory over the Nationals on Thursday night, as they lowered their magic number to clinch a playoff spot to one.

After Furcal opened the game with a single, Andre Ethier and Manny Ramirez decided to join in the fun with singles of their own. Matt Kemp followed with a three-run home run to give the Dodgers a 4-0 lead before the fans even had a chance to get comfortable in their seats. This was the third game all season the Dodgers opened a game with at least four straight hits:

Date	Opp	Streak	Dec
May 3	Padres	single, double, single, double	7-3 win
May 31	Cubs	five singles	8-2 win
Tonight	Nationals	single, single, single, home run	7-6 win

Despite the early lead, Vicente Padilla was shaky, giving up four runs in his five innings of work. Ronald Belisario was brought in with a 6-4 lead in the sixth inning, and he induced a ground ball to get out of the inning, but Ronnie Belliard's throw to first base was wild, allowing Cristian Guzman to score. The Nationals added another run to tie it, in a style eerily similar to the Nationals' comeback victory at Dodger Stadium on May 7. That night, the first game of the Manny Ramirez suspension, the Dodgers also had a big first inning lead with a Kemp home run, this time a 6-0 lead thanks to a Bison Slam, only to lose 11-9.

The frustration continued for the Dodgers in the seventh inning. Kemp tripled to deep left to lead off the inning, narrowly missing his second home run of the night. However, he was left stranded at third in a scene reminiscent of last night's bases loaded, nobody out failure in the ninth inning.

However, thanks to the torrid Furcal, the Dodgers took the lead in the eighth. Furcal's home run to right center field was his fourth hit of the night, good for his second four-hit game of the series. In Washington DC, Furcal had 10 hits in 14 at-bats with three doubles and a home run during the series. He got on base to start all three games of the series, and has done so in five of his last six games. The Dodgers are 28-8 when Furcal starts off the game on base this season. Furcal came into the series hitting .257/.325/.361, and leaves for Pittsburgh hitting .268/.334/.379, raising his OPS 28 points in three days.

George Sherrill pitched a scoreless eighth, but not without some trouble. After getting two outs, Sherrill walked Willie Harris, just the sixth left-hander walked by Sherrill all season. Harris stole second, and looked to score on Ian Desmond's single to right. However, Andre Ethier uncorked a great throw home to nail Harris and preserve the lead.

Jonathan Broxton pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his 36th save, his 16th straight appearance without allowing a run.

Kemp's three-run home run in the first gave him 100 runs batted in on the season, joining Andre Ethier as the first pair of Dodger teammates to amass 100 RBI since Shawn Green and Gary Sheffield in 2001. If Kemp, who is hitting .306, can keep his batting average above .300 for the season, he will become the first Dodger ever to hit .300 with 25 home runs, 30 steals, and 100 RBI.

The Dodgers move on to Pittsburgh tomorrow for a four-game series. Jon Garland will face Jeff Karstens in the opener. I hope there's a BevMo near the team hotel.

Magic Numbers
To win NL West: 3 (Rockies lost to the Padres 5-4)
To clinch a playoff spot: 1 (over the Braves, who were off tonight. The Giants lost to the Cubs 3-2, so they can no longer pass the Dodgers)

WP - Ramon Troncoso (5-4): 1.1 IP, 2 walks, 1 strikeout

LP - Ron Villone (4-6): 0.2 IP, 1 hit, 1 run

Sv - Jonathan Broxton (36): 3 up, 3 down

Box Score

Dodgers Week 24 In Review: Finish Line In Sight

Eric Stephen — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:00:21 -0000

More photos » by Keith Birmingham - AP

Its better that Jonathan Broxton misses his target on high fives with Russell Martin than on pitches to Russell Martin.

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Previous Weekly Recaps: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23

The Dodgers dropped the hammer at home this week, winning five of six against the Pirates and Giants, bringing them to the precipice of a second-straight division championship. The Dodgers really put it all together this week, combining a hot offense with stellar pitching, and outscored their opponents 36 to 18. This was just the second week of the season that the Dodgers scored at least double the runs of their foes. Way back in their undefeated week two, the Dodgers outscored the Giants and Rockies 50-17, also at home.

Seven of the eight regulars, plus the top two subs, had an OPS of .841 or higher during the week, as the offense scored six runs per game for the second straight week. To become just the third Los Angeles Dodger team ever to score 800 runs, the Dodgers have an uphill climb, needing 74 runs over their final 12 games, an average of 6.17 per contest.

The pitching was also great, as the starters put up an earned run average under three and the relievers put up an ERA under two. Seven of the nine relievers who pitched this week didn't allow a run.

The Dodgers have a five-game division lead over the Rockies with 12 games to play, as the inevitable truth of their 11th National League West division title is getting closer and closer. The last time the Dodgers won back-to-back division titles was 1977-1978.

Dodger Batter of the Week: Ronnie Belliard had another great week as a super-sub, but this award goes to the man Belliard tied for the club RBI lead during the week, Andre Ethier. Ethier hit three home runs during the week, all of which gave the Dodgers the lead, none more memorable than Tuesday night's game-ender against Pittsburgh, his sixth walk-off hit of the season. Honorable mention goes to Matt Kemp and Rafael Furcal, each of whom put up an OPS over 1.000.

Dodger Pitcher of the Week: Jon Garland gets this award, his second in three weeks as a Dodger. He won both starts, pitching 14 innings with a 1.29 ERA and 1.143 WHIP. There were a lot of candidates this week, including Hiroki Kuroda and his one run allowed in six innings, or any of the back end of the bullpen, who didn't allow a thing all week.

Week 24 Record: 5-1
36 runs scored (6.00 per game)
18 runs allowed (3.00 per game)
.780 pythagorean winning percentage

Overall Seasonal Record: 90-60 (.600)
726 runs scored (4.84 per game)
559 runs allowed (3.73 per game)
.617 pythagorean winning percentage (93-57)

Mr. Walk-Off: Down one with Rafael Furcal on first base in the 13th inning on Tuesday night, Andre Ethier put on his hero cape again, hitting a two-run, game-winning home run off Phil Dumatrait to beat the Pirates 5-4. It was the fourth walk-off home run of the season for Ethier, and his sixth walk-off hit this year. No player in baseball, dating back to at least 1974, has had more walk-off hits in a season than Ethier, and his nine walk-off hits since the beginning of 2008 leads the majors. The Dodgers as a team have 12 walk-off wins this season.

Thirty And A Hundred: Sure, there are more advanced statistics with which to evaluate players, but sometimes the old standbys work just fine. Growing up, 30 home runs and 100 runs batted in were benchmarks of greatness to me, and while they still require context for proper evaluation, a 30/100 season still gives me the warm and fuzzy feelings of old. Andre Ethier's two-run home run off Tim Lincecum on Sunday gave him a career-high 101 runs batted in to go with his career-high 31 home runs. This is just the 36th season in Dodger history (and 21st in LA Dodger history) with 30 homers and 100 RBI, and the first since Adrian Beltre's contract drive in 2004. Matt Kemp is sitting on 25 HR and 95 RBI with 12 games to play, so there is an outside chance for the Dodgers to have 30/100 teammates for the first time since Gary Sheffield and Shawn Green in 2001. Coming into the season, I was sure the Dodgers would have one 30/100 outfielder, Manny Ramirez, but how weird is it that he might be the only Dodger outfielder not to have 30/100 this season?

KuoGeoBro: The terrific trio of Hong-Chih Kuo, George Sherrill, and Jonathan Broxton were great last week, combining for six scoreless innings, but this week they were sublime. The trio faced a combined 30 batters during the week, and nobody reached base. 14 of the 30 took the long walk of shame back to the dugout after striking out.

A Willie Davis Record to Keep: In home game number 77, James Loney hit his first home run at Dodger Stadium this season. Loney last homered at home on August 21, 2008. In between dingers, Loney hit .244/.309/.295 over 343 plate appearances in 86 home games. This means that Willie Davis will keep the Dodger record for most home runs in a season, all on the road, with 11 in 1969. Loney now has 13 home runs on the year, including 12 on the road.

Take The Longball Home: The Dodgers have turned on the power switch of late, homering in a season-high 10 straight games, hitting 17 home runs during the streak. It is the longest streak for the club since 2006, when the Dodgers had streaks of both 10 and 11 games with at least one dinger.

Not Quite Marlon, But Maybe Jermaine?: Ronnie Belliard is making the most of his chance with the Dodgers. He has started 14 of the 19 games since he came to the Dodgers, hitting .304/.339/.589 with four home runs and 14 runs batted in. Back in 2006, another late August middle infield acquisition from Washington, Marlon Anderson, got white hot during the stretch drive, hitting .375/.431/.813 with seven home runs in 73 plate appearances. By the way, Anderson's career high in home runs -- for a season -- was 12. In 18 games as a Dodger, Belliard has more home runs and as many runs batted in as Andruw Jones did in 75 games in 2008. One cost a shade over $35 million; the other cost roughly $363,388 plus Victor Garate.

Power & Speed: Belliard also did some work on the basepaths this week, stealing a base on Saturday against the Giants. He homered that game as well, making Belliard just the third Dodger to hit a home run and steal a base in the same game this season. Matt Kemp has turned the trick thrice, and James Loney did it once.

Furcal's Back?: Hampered both physically and mentally by a sore back all season, Rafael Furcal hasn't been much of a threat to steal this season, even though he has the green light from Joe Torre to do so. However, Furcal turned on the jets this week, with three stolen bases, his most in any week since September 2007.

Mr. Bases Loaded: No Dodger pitcher has pitched with the bases loaded more than Jeff Weaver this season, and boy has he delivered. In 24 plate appearances against him with the bases juiced, Weaver has allowed only one single and three walks, holding batters to a line of .050/.167/.050. None of the 24 plate appearances has resulted in more than one run scoring.

Walk To A Cure: On Friday night, Matt Kemp got his career-high 50th walk, giving the Dodgers eight players with 50 walks, only the third National League team in history to do so. More importantly, the Dodgers fulfilled my "50-Walk Challenge," issued in my first-ever post at True Blue LA. The wonderful readers of this site have stepped up, bringing our total pledged contributions to Think Cure, the official charity of the Dodgers, to $1,000. Thanks to every one for your support.

Transactions: Not a lot of action this week. The only move was when Guillermo Mota was activated from the disabled list before Monday's game, bringing the total number of players on the active roster to 35, including 16 pitchers.

Game By Game Results:

Upcoming Week: The Dodgers travel to the nation's capital on their Monday off day before beginning their final road trip of the season, a nine-game tilt through three cities. This week brings us three games in Washington followed by the first three games of a four-game series in Pittsburgh.

Magic Numbers
To win NL West: 7 (over the Rockies)
To clinch a playoff spot: 4 (over the Giants)

Week 24 Stats

Player	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS	BABIP
Ethier	24	6	7	2	0	3	7	2	0/0	.292/.370/.750	1.120	.286
Kemp	23	6	8	1	0	2	4	2	2/0	.348/.400/.652	1.052	.429
Furcal	20	7	6	1	1	1	1	4	3/0	.300/.417/.600	1.017	.294
Hudson	11	0	4	2	0	0	2	0	0/0	.364/.364/.545	.909	.400
Blake	14	4	4	0	1	0	2	4	0/0	.286/.474/.429	.902	.333
Manny	16	2	3	2	0	1	4	4	0/0	.188/.350/.500	.850	.182
Loney	20	5	6	0	0	1	2	3	0/0	.300/.391/.450	.841	.278
Martin	22	1	4	2	0	0	1	1	0/0	.182/.217/.273	.490	.211
Belliard	12	3	5	1	0	2	7	2	1/0	.417/.500/1.000	1.500	.429
Ausmus	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0/0	.500/.667/.500	1.167	.500
DeWitt	5	1	1	0	0	1	1	0	0/0	.200/.200/.800	1.000	.000
Pierre	8	0	3	0	1	0	1	0	1/1	.375/.375/.625	1.000	.375
Castro	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	.250/.250/.250	.500	.333
Loretta	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0/0	.250/.200/.250	.450	.200
Mientkiewicz	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	.000/.000/.000	.000	-----
Repko	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	.000/.000/.000	.000	.000
Thome	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	.000/.000/.000	.000	.000
Ellis	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	-----/-----/-----	-----	-----
Pitchers	13	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0/0	.000/.071/.000	.071	.000
Totals	205	36	54	11	3	11	33	24	7/1	.263/.345/.507	.852	.283

Pitcher	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
Garland	2	2-0	--	14.0	13	3	2	3	6	1.29	1.143
Kuroda	1	1-0	--	6.0	6	1	1	0	7	1.50	1.000
Wolf	2	1-0	--	13.0	10	5	5	4	8	3.46	1.077
Padilla	1	0-0	--	5.0	8	4	4	1	3	7.20	1.800
Broxton	4	0-0	1	4.0	0	0	0	0	7	0.00	0.000
Sherrill	4	0-0	--	3.1	0	0	0	0	5	0.00	0.000
Kuo	3	0-0	--	3.0	0	0	0	0	2	0.00	0.000
McDonald	1	0-0	--	3.0	2	0	0	1	3	0.00	1.000
Belisario	2	1-0	--	2.1	1	1	0	1	2	0.00	0.857
Weaver	1	0-0	--	1.0	3	0	0	0	1	0.00	3.000
Mota	1	0-0	--	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.000
Billingsley	1	0-0	--	1.2	4	2	2	2	0	10.80	3.600
Troncoso	2	0-1	--	1.1	3	2	2	0	1	13.50	2.250
Totals	6	5-1	1	58.0	50	18	16	12	45	2.48	1.069

Dodgers Look To Double Down On Giants

Eric Stephen — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:34:09 -0000

More photos » by Jae C. Hong - AP

Andre Ethier has reached second base quite often this season

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Andre Ethier hit his 41st double yesterday, the most by a Dodger since Shawn Green hit 49 in 2003. Unfortunately for Ethier, Pablo Sandoval of the Giants also doubled, giving him a league-leading 42 on the season. Here is the National League doubles leaderboard heading into play Sunday:

Player	2B
Pablo Sandoval	42
Andre Ethier	41
Miguel Tejada	40
Hanley Ramirez	39
Albert Pujols	39
Brad Hawpe	39

The only Los Angeles Dodger to ever lead the league in doubles was Wes Parker, who cycled his way to 47 two-baggers in 1970. Counting Brooklyn, here are the Dodgers who have led the league in doubles:

Player	Year	Doubles
Wes Parker	1970	47
Pete Reiser	1941	39
Johnny Frederick	1929	52
Red Smith	1913	40
Tom Daly	1901	38
Mike Griffin	1891	36

Ethier, who Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times tabbed as General Manager Ned Colletti's best move, has 24 doubles since the All-Star break.

The Dodgers have five players with 25 doubles (Ethier, Matt Kemp, Rafael Furcal, Orlando Hudson, and Casey Blake). With 13 games left to play, James Loney has 24 doubles, and Manny Ramirez has 22. No Dodger team has ever had seven players with 25 doubles.

Randy Wolf is making his third start against the Giants this season. In his previous two starts, he has allowed one earned run in 14 innings. If Randy Wolf pitches at least three innings today (AKA longer than Brad Penny), he will not only trigger the final $500,000 incentive bonus clause in his contract, but he will also reach the 200-inning plateau for the first time since 2003.

Tim Lincecum, starting today for San Francisco, has 509 strikeouts over the last two seasons, the most in any two-season period by any pitcher in Giants' history.

I'm at Dodger Stadium today, and will have pregame news and notes over the next couple of hours. Overheard on the elevator was that Comcast in the Bay Area won't allow their on-air talent to wear anything blue, lest they be associated with the colors of the Giants' biggest rival.

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Check out Xeifrank's simulation of today's game here.

Don't forget to RSVP for True Blue LA Day at Dodger Stadium, on the next-to-last day of the regular season, October 3 against the Rockies.

Get your guesses in for our today's "One, Two, Three Strikes, You're Out," here.

Game Time: 1:10pm

TV: Prime Ticket

Baseball Reference Preview

Sooner Rather Than Later For The Dodgers

Eric Stephen — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:00:15 -0000

by David Dow - NBAE/Getty Images

Blake Griffin of the Clippers will throw out the ceremonial first pitch tonight at Dodger Stadium

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Blake Griffin of the Clippers will throw out a ceremonial first pitch tonight at Dodger Stadium, as he begins to build his Los Angeles legacy. The Clippers would be thrilled if he progressed as much as another former basketball player from Oklahoma, who now happens to roam centerfield for the Dodgers.

Matt Kemp is on a bit of a hot streak right now, as he has homered in five of the last six games, including four straight. The only Dodger ever to have a longer streak of games with a home run was Shawn Green, who turned the trick for five straight games in July 2001.

The last Dodger to homer in four straight games was Hee Seop Choi, who had a memorable seven home runs in an epic stretch in June 2005.

Born two days apart, Chad Billingsley (the younger one) will battle Max Scherzer in a battle of 25-year old pitchers who are struggling, at least on the surface. Scherzer in August went 2-2 in six starts with a 6.47 ERA, but his FIP was only 3.74, and he struck out 10.97 batters per nine innings. Billingsley's struggles are more injury related, but over his last 13 starts he is 3-5 with a 5.23 ERA and a 4.93 FIP. However, fighting leg injuries in August, Billingsley did put up a 3.21 ERA in five starts, with a 3.79 FIP, so he hasn't been that bad at all.

Jim Thome will be activated for tonight's game.

**********

Check out Xeifrank's simulation of today's game here.

Don't forget to RSVP for True Blue LA Day at Dodger Stadium, on the next-to-last day of the regular season, October 3 against the Rockies.

Get your guesses in for our today's "One, Two, Three Strikes, You're Out," here.

Game Time: 7:10pm

TV: Prime Ticket, ESPN

Baseball Reference Preview

Dodgers Week 21 In Review: Kings Of The Hill

Eric Stephen — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:00:19 -0000

More photos » by Al Behrman - AP

3 months ago: Los Angeles Dodgers' Matt Kemp, left, and Orlando Hudson celebrate after the Dodgers defeated the Cincinnati Reds 11-4 in a baseball game, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009, in Cincinnati. Kemp and Hudson both hit home runs in the game. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

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Previous Weekly Recaps: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20

The Dodgers had a highly productive week, first going into the home of their closest pursuer and winning a series, then taking another series in Cincinnati, to help widen their lead and reestablish themselves as the overwhelmingly clear favorite to win the National League West.

The Dodgers used a mix of power -- they hit 11 home runs in their six games -- and great pitching, especially from the bullpen, to win four of six games this week. What started as a 3½-game lead entering Monday ended as a six-game lead over both the Rockies and Giants in the division.

Dodger Batter of the Week: This is beginning to sound like a broken record, but the Dodger outfield led the offense again this week. Matt Kemp takes this award with his three home runs, all of which seemed to be titanic blasts. Kemp led the club this week in runs (5), hits (9), homers (3), RBI (8), slugging percentage (.760), OPS (1.160), and steals (2). The other two outfielders get honorable mention, as Andre Ethier hit .333/.407/.708 and Manny Ramirez hit .368/.538/.526.

Dodger Pitcher of the Week: Randy Wolf was the man this week, throwing 7.1 innings in Denver allowing only one run, just as the Dodgers needed it. The Rockies crept to within two games after Tuesday's win, but Wolf's win held them at bay, and the Rockies coincidentally haven't won since. Honorable mention goes to Clayton Kershaw, who pitched two gems, allowing two runs twice, but had no wins to show for it.

Week 21 Record: 4-2
29 runs scored (4.83 per game)
18 runs allowed (3.00 per game)
.705 pythagorean winning percentage*

Overall Seasonal Record: 78-53 (.595)
632 runs scored (4.82 per game)
496 runs allowed (3.79 per game)
.609 pythagorean winning percentage (80-51)*
*Note: I switched to using 1.83 as the power for the pythagorean formula, the same as Baseball-Reference.com.

The Long, Lonely Walk Back To The Dugout: On Sunday in Cincinnati, Dodger pitchers struck out 20 Reds during the 12 inning game, including 11 by starter Clayton Kershaw, three from closer Jonathan Broxton, and two each from Ramon Troncoso, Hong-Chih Kuo, and James McDonald. The 20 strikeouts were the second most in LA Dodger history, trailing only the 22 punchouts on August 8, 1972, also against the Reds.

Can I Borrow Your Helmet?: After entering the game in Denver in the eighth inning on Thursday, Jonathan Broxton got his first plate appearance of the year, and popped out to shortstop on the first pitch. It was Broxton's first trip to the plate since August 15, 2008, when he walked against the Brewers.

Spelling Relief "D-O-D-G...": The Dodger bullpen allowed a grand total of three runs this week, good for a 1.16 ERA, striking out 29 batters in 23.1 innings. Over their last 14 games, the Dodger bullpen has allowed four earned runs in 45.2 innings, good for a 0.79 ERA and 1.204 WHIP. On the season, the Dodger bullpen leads the majors with a 3.22 ERA.

20/20 Vision: Matt Kemp's home run Saturday was his 20th of the season, making him the first Dodger to have 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in the same season since Shawn Green in 2001. Kemp became just the 8th Dodger to accomplish the feat. On the season, Kemp has 21 home runs and 28 steals.

The Big Blue Machine: Since the beginning of the 2006 season, the Dodgers have owned the Reds. They captured a three-game series over the weekend, and now have won 22 of their last 26 meetings. Aside from the 12 straight wins at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers have also won 10 of their last 14 in Cincinnati.

Transactions: Here are the roster moves of the week:

Thursday: Jason Schmidt was transferred from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day DL, effectively ending his Dodger career. You made a heck of an effort to comeback, Jason, and that was to be commended. This removed Schmidt from the 40-man roster, making room for...
Thursday: Vicente Padilla had his contract purchased before his start in Colorado. Padilla's spot on the 25-man roster was facilitated by...
Thursday: Tony Abreu was optioned to Triple A Albuqerque. He is eligible to come back to the Dodgers on September 6
Sunday: The Dodgers acquired infielder Ronnie Belliard from the Nationals to bolster their bench for the playoff run. In exchange, Washington received minor league pitcher Luis Garcia plus a minor leaguer to be named later. Belliard is expected to arrive Monday, and a corresponding roster move will need to be made to add him to the 40-man roster to be eligible for postseason play.

More moves will come beginning this week, as active rosters expand on Tuesday, September 1.

Upcoming Week: The Dodgers return home for a seven-game homestand, beginning with Arizona for four games and ending with San Diego for three games. The Dodgers are 35-16 against NL West teams this season, including 18-5 at home.

Week 21 Stats

Player	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB/CS	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS	BABIP
Kemp	25	5	9	1	0	3	8	3	2/1	.360/.400/.760	1.160	.316
Ethier	24	3	8	3	0	2	4	3	1/0	.333/.407/.708	1.116	.400
Manny	19	4	7	0	0	1	3	6	0/1	.368/.538/.526	1.065	.400
Loney	22	2	5	1	0	2	4	5	0/0	.227/.370/.545	.916	.188
Hudson	24	3	7	0	0	1	1	2	0/0	.292/.346/.417	.763	.300
Furcal	28	4	7	1	0	1	3	2	0/0	.250/.290/.393	.683	.250
Blake	19	3	3	0	0	1	1	4	0/0	.158/.304/.316	.620	.143
Martin	18	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	.278/.278/.278	.556	.333
Castro	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0/0	.500/.500/1.000	1.500	1.000
Pierre	12	3	5	0	0	0	2	0	0/0	.417/.417/.417	.833	.417
Loretta	9	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	.333/.333/.333	.667	.429
Ausmus	7	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0/0	.143/.143/.143	.286	.167
Pitchers	14	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0/0	.071/.071/.071	.143	.143
Totals	223	29	62	7	0	11	28	25	3/2	.278/.349/.457	.807	.298

Pitcher	G	W-L	Sv	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
Wolf	1	1-0	--	7.1	5	1	1	2	5	1.23	0.955
Kershaw	2	0-0	--	13.1	8	4	4	3	17	2.70	0.825
Padilla	1	1-0	--	5.0	6	2	2	1	4	3.60	1.400
Billingsley	1	0-1	--	5.0	7	4	4	4	1	7.20	2.200
Haeger	1	0-0	--	2.1	4	4	4	2	3	15.43	2.571
Broxton	3	0-0	2	3.1	3	0	0	2	5	0.00	1.500
Weaver	1	1-0	--	3.1	6	0	0	1	4	0.00	2.100
Troncoso	4	0-0	--	3.0	2	0	0	0	3	0.00	0.667
Sherrill	3	0-0	--	2.2	3	0	0	0	2	0.00	1.125
Mota	2	0-0	--	2	2	0	0	1	2	0.00	1.500
Belisario	3	0-0	--	3.2	3	1	1	0	3	2.45	0.818
Kuo	3	0-0	--	3	4	1	1	1	6	3.00	1.667
McDonald	3	1-1	--	2.1	4	1	1	2	4	3.86	1.457
Totals	6	4-2	2	56.1	57	18	18	19	59	2.88	1.349

Kemp Has 20/20 Vision

Eric Stephen — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 15:31:42 -0000

More photos » by Danny Moloshok - AP

The Bison joined an exclusive club yesterday with his 20th home run of the season.

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Yesterday Matt Kemp hit his 20th home run of the season, a new career high, and became just the eighth Dodger ever to record a 20/20 season. Here are the seasons with 20 homers and 20 stolen bases in Dodger history:

Player	Year	HR	SB
Matt Kemp	2009	20	28
Shawn Green	2001	49	20
Shawn Green	2000	24	24
Raul Mondesi	1999	33	36
Raul Mondesi	1997	30	32
Raul Mondesi	1995	26	27
Kirk Gibson	1988	25	31
Pedro Guerrero	1983	32	23
Pedro Guerrero	1982	32	22
Davey Lopes	1979	28	44
Willie Davis	1962	21	32
Babe Herman	1929	21	21

Every 20/20 season in Dodger history has been by an outfielder except for Davey Lopes (2B, 1979) and Pedro Guerrero (3B, 1983).

The Dodgers have lost each of Clayton Kershaw's last seven starts, despite Kershaw posting a 2.97 ERA in those games. He has three quality starts in that span as well. Five of the seven games have been one-run losses.

Bronson Arroyo has pitched six straight quality starts since giving up five runs at Dodger Stadium in July. Yet, the Reds are only 2-4 in those starts, despite a 2.23 ERA by Arroyo. Over his last three starts he has given up a total of two runs.

Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times reports that Hiroki Kuroda could begin a rehab assignment with Class A Inland Empire as soon as Tuesday.

The Dodgers are 10-2 in rubber games on the road this season.

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The Merry Month of May

Tom Dakers — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:22:34 -0000

With May over, let's take a look at how the Jays did in May. It was kind of a month in two parts. After May 18^th we were 12-5 for the month. Life seemed good. The rest of the way we were 2-10, for a 14-15 month, not terrible but not what we hoped. To look at some of the key players:

Aaron Hill: .307/.331/480, 7 homers and 17 RBI. Slowed a little from his .365/.412/.567 but then expecting him to keep that up was wishful thinking. Still a terrific offensive showing, he could take a few more walk, likely he was pressing a bit like everyone else in the lineup, he had 9 walks in April just 4 in May, but I'm sure he felt he had to carry the team.

Vernon Wells: .252/.300/.361, 2 homers, 11 RBI. Yeah, he dropped off too from a decent .283/.345/.465 April. He started the month well, hitting in 9 of the first 10 games and had 7 RBI in the first 6 games of the month. And then ended the month not so bad with 14 hits in the last 11 games. The middle was awful.

Alex Rios: .302/.359/.509, 5 homers and 13 RBI. One of the few to have a better May than April, though maybe not so hard to do since he hit just .248/.304/.366 in April. If he continues to hit like it he did in May the rest of the season, I think we'd be happy.

Marco Scutaro: .322/.397/.421, 0 homers, 10 RBI, 19 runs. A bit of a drop in slugging as he hit 5 home runs in April, but you really can't complain at all about a leadoff man getting on at a .400 clip. 53 games into the season he's score 43 runs, which would put him at 131 runs scored on the season, which would be 3 off the Shawn Green's single season record.

Adam Lind: .264/.333/.453, 4 homers and 18 RBI. A drop off from his blistering .315/.400/.533 April. Really he started the month well, but then he's hit .174 the last 12 games. The last couple of games he's looked better so I'm hoping he is out of his slump.

Scott Rolen: .289/.392/.470, 1 homer, 10 RBI. Another who improved on his April, where he hit .317/.367/.427. Yeah, he is great. I think his days of being a 25 home run guy are behind him but lots of doubles and great defence, who is going to complain.

Rod Barajas: .274/.304/.369, 1 homer, 16 RBI. He has fallen off a bit from a .299/.333/.493 April, but a pretty good month for a catcher, a few walks wouldn't hurt but that's not the kind of batter he is.

Lyle Overbay: .294/.347/.515, 2 homers, 12 RBI. His on base fell off from April's .403 but he's still hitting pretty well.

Travis Snider: .216/.237/.243, no homers, 1 RBI in 12 games.

Jose Bautista: .231/.403/.288, no homers, 6 RBI. More walks 14 than hits 12. A totally different player than last month when he hit .317/.404/.463.

Kevin Millar: .218/.283/.364, 2 homers, 9 RBI. Tanked from a .343/.395/.515 April. He also played too much this month, 35 at bats in April, 55 in May.

Pitchers

Roy Halladay: 4-0, 1.76 ERA. Even better than his 4-1 3.75 April. Yeah he should have had 2 more wins. After 11 starts he still hasn't pitched less than 7 innings in a game. Less than a third of the play thru the season he has thrown 82 innings, he is on pace for 255 innings.

Brian Tallet: 2-2, 3.00 ERA. He really has taken to the starting role. He deserves better than the 2-2 record. Who thought Brian Tallet would be our second best starter this year?

Scott Richmond: 1-2, 4.11 ERA. Yeah a drop from his 3-0, 2.70 April but then most of the ERA jump was one bad start. He's a darn good 5^th starter.

Jesse Carlson: 1-2, 7.71. A rough month, after a 1.50 April.

Scott Downs: 0-0, 3.65, 5 saves. All the runs off him came in 2 appearances this month.

Brandon League: 0-0, 3.38. All his earned runs came in 2 appearances too.

Jason Frasor: 1-0, 4.82. Not quite as good as his 0 ERA in April. The bad game in Atlanta was the reason for the poor ERA, other than that he only game up 1 run in May.

Top 50 All-Time Greatest Jays: #20 Shawn Green

Tom Dakers — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 07:00:43 -0000

Shawn David Green | RF | 1993-1999

Notable Accomplishments: Silver Slugger 1999, All-Star 1999

Shawn Green was born November 10, 1972 in Des Plaines Illinois. He was picked in the 1st round of the 1991 amateur draft by the Jays out of high school in Tustin, California. Manny Ramirez was picked up two spots before him. We got the pick from San Francisco as compensation for their signing of our free agent Bud Black. He received a $725,000 signing bonus.

Shawn quickly rose thru the Jay's system, basically becoming the Jay's top prospect (well it was a tossup between him and Carlos Delgado) from the moment he signed. In 1992 he made the Florida State league's All-Star team, his first full season in the minors playing A-ball. The next season, playing in Double-A he broke his right thumb in June. After recovering from the injury he was called up to Toronto near the end of September and was hitless in 6 at bats and sat on the bench during our World Series win. In 1994 Green won the team MVP award for Triple-A Syracuse and he led the International League in batting at .344. He was called up to the Jays in early June and sent back down in early July after 33 at bats.

1995 was Shawn's rookie season and he was terrific, hitting .288/.326/.509 with 15 home runs in 379 at bats over 121 games. He came in 5th in Rookie of the Year voting, but he didn't get to play full time in right field as Cito used him in a platoon with Candy Maldonado. In 1996 he didn't hit quite as well, .280/.342/.448 in 422 at bats, that season he was platooned, in right, with the great (yeah that's sarcasm) Jacob Brumfield. In 1997 his right field job was given to an incredibly adequate Orlando Merced. Green played part time in left and at DH until Cito was fired and Mel Queen put him in as an everyday right fielder. Again he hit quite well, .287/.340/.469.

Cito did not like Green for some reason. Well, actually the reason was that Cito preferred veteran players. Cito could not bring himself to trust young players no matter how talented they were. Green, Carlos Delgado and Shannon Stewart were prime examples. Green, in particular, seemed to take the brunt of Cito's mistrust. Green was a fine outfielder with a strong arm but under Cito any mistake or slump was a reason to bench him. He was even replaced with a washed up Ruben Sierra for a bit. With a player of Green's potential all that was inexcusable.

With Cito gone and the legendary (at least in his own mind) Tim Johnson in as manager for the 1998 season Shawn (as well as Delgado and Stewart) was given a full time role. And boy did he show he deserved it, he hit .278/.334/.510 with 100 RBI, 106 runs, 35 homers and 35 steals, becoming the Blue Jays first ever 30/30 man. As well as hitting amazingly, Green played great outfield, including 31 games in center. He came in 4th in the AL with 14 outfield assists.

In 1999 Green had one of the best seasons ever by a Blue Jay, hitting .309/.384/.588, with 45 doubles, 42 homers, 134 runs, 123 RBI and 20 steals. He was 9th in the AL MVP voting, he won a Silver Slugger award and a Gold Glove. He finished 2nd in the AL in runs, 1st in doubles and total bases, 5th in home runs and 6th in RBI. He set Jay franchise records in extra base hits and runs scored and set a team record with a 28 game hitting streak. His season would have been even better had he not been hit by an Andy Pettitte pitch that fractured a bone in his wrist. That cost him a handful of starts and after returning from the injury it took a few games to get hitting with power again.

After the season the Jays announced that Cito Gaston would be coming back as a hitting coach for the 2000 season. Green wasn't thrilled, as they hadn't gotten along before and he decided to ask to be traded closer to his home in California. Our brilliant GM, Gord Ash traded him with Jorge Nunez to the Dodgers for Raul Mondesi and Pedro Borbon. Mondesi wasn't a bad player but he didn't have the work ethic to become the star we hoped he would. He had two decent seasons for us, and then in the middle of his third season, when he was batting a big .224, we got incredibly lucky when the Yankees took him off our hands for us, without us having to pay the rest of his salary.

Shawn was terrific for the Dodgers for 5 seasons, hitting 49 homers in 2001 and 42 in 2002 though his power numbers did decline at the end of his time in LA. In 2005 he was traded to the Diamondbacks and after a season and a half there he was traded to the Mets, Where he played for a year and a half and then retired before the 2008 season.

He had a heck of a career hitting 328 home runs over 15 seasons. His career hitting line was .283/.355/.494. His career numbers could have been that much better had Cito realized what he had in Green and had given him a full time job when he should have. But then the world is full of ‘what ifs?'. He really was a terrific player; I wish he had stayed longer with the Jays, he was a favorite of mine because he seemed like a very likable person. A left-handed, slugging outfielder, good glove and strong arm, what's not to like. Rob Neyer has him as our 2nd best right fielder.

Shawn is Jewish, likely the best Jewish major leaguer since Sandy Koufax and is only 2nd to Hank Greenberg in home runs and RBI among Jewish players. And, of course, he is in the Jewish Baseball Hall of Fame. He is married and has two daughters.

Shawn Green's place among Blue Jay hitting leaders:

Batting Average (>2000 PA) 7th .286
On Base % (>2000 PA) 9th .344
Slugging % (>2000 PA) 3rd .505
OPS (>2000 PA) 4th .849
Games 21st 716
At Bats 22nd 2513
Runs 17th 402
Home Runs 10th 119
RBI 14th 376
Runs Created 14th 447