Dodgers host Nationals with MLB record on the line
Dodgers host Nationals with MLB record on the line
The Dodgers have jumped out to the best record in the majors, due in part to a strong bullpen led by Jonathan Broxton. With a spotless record so far at home in LA, their next victims should be the Nationals.
You know things are going your way when your team wins a game started by Jeff Weaver.
A 3-1 win last night over their NL West rivals from Arizonz left the Dodgers with a 20-8 mark on the season, best in the majors, gave LA a six-game winning streak and widened their gap atop the division to 5½ games over the Giants. It also was the Dodgers' 12th consecutive home win to start the 2009 season, tying the 1911 Detroit Tigers for best in the 'modern day history' of the game.
This series first caught my eye last weekend, primarily due to what was the scheduled pitching matchup in the opener with Jordan Zimmermann originally on Washington’s slate and Clayton Kershaw designated the starter for LA. But Mother Nature threw a wrench in the works with rain in DC last Sunday washing out the Nationals’ series finale against the Cardinals and causing a shift in Manny Acta's Washington rotation.
Both young hurlers will still make a start in this short, two-game series at Dodger Stadium beginning Wednesday night, just not against each other. And while the starters deserve a big chunk of your time when capping the game or games, we also need to cast our eyes on the two bullpens.
Following their 10-inning suspended game on Tuesday against Houston, the Nats' 25th contest of the season, Washington relievers have worked 85.2 innings this season and surrendered 50 earned runs. That works out to a 5.25 bullpen ERA compared to the overall staff ERA right at five. Not helping the cause are the 50 baserunners the bullpen arms have put on via walk, plus five hit batsmen.
On the flip side is the bullpen that Joe Torre has at his disposal is cooking right along through LA's first 28 games. In opening the season 20-8, Dodger relievers have tossed 91 innings and allowed 28 earned runs (2.76), walking just 27 in that span.
Dodgers hitters are also ahead of the game leading the NL in OPS, second in runs per game and second in steals. The Nationals are actually doing ok on offense with their eight-place ranking in runs per game and sixth-place mark in OPS.
In Game 1 of this series tonight, Acta will hand the ball to Daniel Cabrera (0-5, 4.44). On board after a few seasons in Baltimore, Cabrera is still floundering and may never realize the potential he was once thought to have. Control has been a bugaboo for the big Dominican as Cabrera has handed out 17 walks to just nine strikeouts in his 24.1 innings covering five starts. Over his last 13.1 innings, Cabrera has walked 13.
He's also been a victim of Washington fielding woes, being charged with four unearned runs in an Apr 25 loss at the Mets and three unearned in an Apr 13 loss at home to the Phils.
Cabrera has made one start against the Dodgers in his career, that coming way back on June 15, 2004. Not a single player in the lineup that evening in LA’s 5-1 win is still with the Dodgers, but Cabrera has faced several current LA hitters when they were with other clubs. This includes Manny Ramirez (7-for-21, .333, 1 HR) and Orlando Hudson (6-20, .300).
Torre's counterpart to Cabrera will be Kershaw (2-3, 5.46). LA has won both of his home starts with Kershaw throwing 14 innings and allowing just one run with 16 Ks so far at Dodger Stadium this season. His season ERA is bloated primarily due to two bad road outings when he was charged with six earned in 4.1 innings at Houston on Apr 21 and nine earned in 4.2 innings at Colorado on Apr 26.
Kershaw saw the Nats twice in 2008, holding them scoreless over six innings at home on July 27 in a 2-0 Los Angeles win and getting cracked for five earned runs in 2.1 innings in Washington in an 11-2 Nationals win on Aug 28.
Zimmermann (2-1, 4.24) is slated to work for Washington on Thursday night, just his fourth big league start. He is coming off his first defeat last Friday at home vs. the Cardinals when Zimmermann pitched 5.2 IP, struck out six and gave up five runs, getting tagged for three long balls off the bats of Albert Pujols, Chris Duncan and Ryan Ludwick.
LA will send Randy Wolf (3-3, 3.93) to the mound to face Zimmermann on Thursday. Like his southpaw teammate Kershaw, all of LA’s losses with Wolf on the mound to start a game have come on the road. The Dodgers are 2-0 behind Wolf at Chavez Ravine and 1-3 with him on the mound elsewhere. Wolf’s road ERA this season is 4.26; at home he owns a 3.17 mark.
The hitters that Acta and the Nats will have to put up against Wolf have not fared well against the lefty over the course of their careers. Overall, the group is hitting only .197 (24-for-122) against Wolf, including Ronnie Belliard who is 1-for-20 and Nick Johnson who is 0-for-8. Josh Willingham has had some success vs. the LA starter going 3-for-6 with a homer.
With several recent games being affected by weather, that shouldn't be the case in Los Angeles for these two tilts. Right now the forecast is calling for no chance of rain either day with first pitch temps in the mid-70s or so. The wind should be out of the North at 5-10 MPH (blowing in from center).
It's no surprise to see the Dodgers heavy favorites in Wednesday's game with the number starting anywhere from -185 to -200 on Torre's troops. The Nationals had to fly across the Lower 48 overnight for this one after enduring almost 11 innings and then a lengthy rain delay in their Tuesday contest against the Astros. The total was set at 9½ with most shops adding a little extra juice to the Under.
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they start games. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com and ESPN.com.
The Dodgers have jumped out to the best record in the majors, due in part to a strong bullpen led by Jonathan Broxton. With a spotless record so far at home in LA, their next victims should be the Nationals.
You know things are going your way when your team wins a game started by Jeff Weaver.
A 3-1 win last night over their NL West rivals from Arizonz left the Dodgers with a 20-8 mark on the season, best in the majors, gave LA a six-game winning streak and widened their gap atop the division to 5½ games over the Giants. It also was the Dodgers' 12th consecutive home win to start the 2009 season, tying the 1911 Detroit Tigers for best in the 'modern day history' of the game.
This series first caught my eye last weekend, primarily due to what was the scheduled pitching matchup in the opener with Jordan Zimmermann originally on Washington’s slate and Clayton Kershaw designated the starter for LA. But Mother Nature threw a wrench in the works with rain in DC last Sunday washing out the Nationals’ series finale against the Cardinals and causing a shift in Manny Acta's Washington rotation.
Both young hurlers will still make a start in this short, two-game series at Dodger Stadium beginning Wednesday night, just not against each other. And while the starters deserve a big chunk of your time when capping the game or games, we also need to cast our eyes on the two bullpens.
Following their 10-inning suspended game on Tuesday against Houston, the Nats' 25th contest of the season, Washington relievers have worked 85.2 innings this season and surrendered 50 earned runs. That works out to a 5.25 bullpen ERA compared to the overall staff ERA right at five. Not helping the cause are the 50 baserunners the bullpen arms have put on via walk, plus five hit batsmen.
On the flip side is the bullpen that Joe Torre has at his disposal is cooking right along through LA's first 28 games. In opening the season 20-8, Dodger relievers have tossed 91 innings and allowed 28 earned runs (2.76), walking just 27 in that span.
Dodgers hitters are also ahead of the game leading the NL in OPS, second in runs per game and second in steals. The Nationals are actually doing ok on offense with their eight-place ranking in runs per game and sixth-place mark in OPS.
In Game 1 of this series tonight, Acta will hand the ball to Daniel Cabrera (0-5, 4.44). On board after a few seasons in Baltimore, Cabrera is still floundering and may never realize the potential he was once thought to have. Control has been a bugaboo for the big Dominican as Cabrera has handed out 17 walks to just nine strikeouts in his 24.1 innings covering five starts. Over his last 13.1 innings, Cabrera has walked 13.
He's also been a victim of Washington fielding woes, being charged with four unearned runs in an Apr 25 loss at the Mets and three unearned in an Apr 13 loss at home to the Phils.
Cabrera has made one start against the Dodgers in his career, that coming way back on June 15, 2004. Not a single player in the lineup that evening in LA’s 5-1 win is still with the Dodgers, but Cabrera has faced several current LA hitters when they were with other clubs. This includes Manny Ramirez (7-for-21, .333, 1 HR) and Orlando Hudson (6-20, .300).
Torre's counterpart to Cabrera will be Kershaw (2-3, 5.46). LA has won both of his home starts with Kershaw throwing 14 innings and allowing just one run with 16 Ks so far at Dodger Stadium this season. His season ERA is bloated primarily due to two bad road outings when he was charged with six earned in 4.1 innings at Houston on Apr 21 and nine earned in 4.2 innings at Colorado on Apr 26.
Kershaw saw the Nats twice in 2008, holding them scoreless over six innings at home on July 27 in a 2-0 Los Angeles win and getting cracked for five earned runs in 2.1 innings in Washington in an 11-2 Nationals win on Aug 28.
Zimmermann (2-1, 4.24) is slated to work for Washington on Thursday night, just his fourth big league start. He is coming off his first defeat last Friday at home vs. the Cardinals when Zimmermann pitched 5.2 IP, struck out six and gave up five runs, getting tagged for three long balls off the bats of Albert Pujols, Chris Duncan and Ryan Ludwick.
LA will send Randy Wolf (3-3, 3.93) to the mound to face Zimmermann on Thursday. Like his southpaw teammate Kershaw, all of LA’s losses with Wolf on the mound to start a game have come on the road. The Dodgers are 2-0 behind Wolf at Chavez Ravine and 1-3 with him on the mound elsewhere. Wolf’s road ERA this season is 4.26; at home he owns a 3.17 mark.
The hitters that Acta and the Nats will have to put up against Wolf have not fared well against the lefty over the course of their careers. Overall, the group is hitting only .197 (24-for-122) against Wolf, including Ronnie Belliard who is 1-for-20 and Nick Johnson who is 0-for-8. Josh Willingham has had some success vs. the LA starter going 3-for-6 with a homer.
With several recent games being affected by weather, that shouldn't be the case in Los Angeles for these two tilts. Right now the forecast is calling for no chance of rain either day with first pitch temps in the mid-70s or so. The wind should be out of the North at 5-10 MPH (blowing in from center).
It's no surprise to see the Dodgers heavy favorites in Wednesday's game with the number starting anywhere from -185 to -200 on Torre's troops. The Nationals had to fly across the Lower 48 overnight for this one after enduring almost 11 innings and then a lengthy rain delay in their Tuesday contest against the Astros. The total was set at 9½ with most shops adding a little extra juice to the Under.
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they start games. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com and ESPN.com.