You just never know what is going to happen in Colorado. The Dodgers were dead in the water. Literally, reigning CF GG Brenton Doyle closed that game down with his circus catch of a Shohei Ohtani line drive in right center to end the 7th inning. Or did he?
BRENTON DOYLE FULL EXTENSION TO ROB SHOHEI pic.twitter.com/JiPHVdLQVu
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 19, 2024
Statcast gave that a 15% chance for an out.
The Dodgers were down by 5 in the 9th. The last time they were down 5 runs in the 9th and came back to win was July 1929. I wasn’t around for that one. But the odds were not great, especially with Scott’s automatic outs coming up. Andy Pages walks on a 7 pitch AB. Miggy Ro hit a little flair into RF for a single moving Pages to 3B.
Kiké Hernández followed with K. Miguel Vargas also drew a 7 pitch BB on a 3-2 count to load the bases. Doc sent up Jason Heyward to bat for Chris Taylor and he did not disappoint. On the 6th pitch he saw, he hit a slider off the RF fair pole for a grand slam.
Jason Heyward hits a grand slam as the Dodgers try to mount a WILD comeback pic.twitter.com/ZIwcuGBTIB
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 19, 2024
But the Dodgers were still down 1. Bud Black brings in Victor Vodnik to close it down. Power against power facing Shohei and Ohtani drives a ball into LF for a single. Then a strange play. On a 3-2 pitch Will Smith was calling time out, and started to step out, but it was not given, and the pitch went pretty much center/center for a called strike 3.
That brought up Freddie, and the first pitch was a WP moving Ohtani to 2B. Not wanting to let Freddie have that AB, he was intentionally walked, bringing up Teoscar Hernández. Teo was hero in NY, could he do it again? On a 1-2, Teo was able to hold up according to 1B Umpire Lance Barksdale. Not according to Bud Black or the rest of the Rockies and Black was ejected for his outburst. Next pitch…3-run HR and a LAD 11-9 lead. Rockies RF immediately angrily gestured to Barksdale, I guess saying it was his fault that Vodnik gave Hernández a 100.6 MPH 4-seamer center cut pitch to hit.
Rockies manager Bud Black gets tossed arguing a check swing call on Teoscar Hernandez with two strikes and two outs in the top of the ninth.
Hernandez hits a three run homer to take the lead on the very next pitch. pic.twitter.com/Ebi4xkQeE0
— Russell Morgan (@NHLRussell) June 19, 2024
In all of the excitement, we have to also give kudos to 30 year old RHRP Michael Petersen who made his MLB debut, got his first K (2 Ks), and got the win. Petersen gave up a run in the 7th, but retired the side in order, striking out two in the 8th.
Baseball is Awesome Moment of the Day!
The "British Gas" "Big Mike" Michael Petersen got the W in his MLB debut against the organization he was with last year that never gave him a chance. Congrats Michael, awesome moment! #dodgers pic.twitter.com/vniTsIPRmF— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) June 19, 2024
The Dodgers were 2-5 WRISP, and got 4 HRs that directly resulted in 9 runs. The 2 hits WRISP were the HRs from J-Hey and from Teo in the 9th.
What an exciting come from behind victory. Undoubtedly the best game of the year.
BTW, that is 4 out of 5. Thank you Scott. Keep selling the Dodgers short. Maybe you meant 4-5 and the Dodgers will lose the next 4???
On May 7 on published a post…”Heeee’s Baaack” about the return of Walker Buehler. Badger called me out, and he was right to do so. I was caught up in the joy that he was making his first start in nearly two years.
It has been 43 days since his May 6 start, and he has pitched well in exactly 1 game. On May 18 he pitched 6.0 scoreless innings on 3 hits, 0 BB, and 7 K.
He has now started 8 games into his return. In those 8 games, he has 37.0 IP, He has allowed 27 runs (24 earned), 46 hits, 10 BB, 31 K, and 10 HR (2.43 per 9 innings). His WHIP is 1.514.
I heartily recognize that it is not easy coming back from 2 TJ surgeries, and Walker is proving that.
With Yoshi Yamamoto out for the next several weeks and with Bobby Miller trying to come back, the Dodgers need more than Glasnow, Stone, and Paxton.
10 HRs in 37.0 IP is not conducive to quality pitching. Getting way to much of the plate. His WHIP should be much better than 1.514 after 8 starts. Either he is not fully healed, or he has zero command, or maybe both.
He has 5+ years of service time, so he does not have any options. However, he got hit by a line drive in the back hip pocket, and the Dodgers say they want to check on that. Perfectly set up for an IL stint to get back into MiLB rehab to try and work things out with his command.
It is not easy to get your command in check in Colorado. If this was the only game he was struggling, AF/BG could ignore it. But it is not. Let him take some time and work on things in a non-pressured environment. Landon Knack is more than capable of filling in. It seems as if it is all set up for him to get the call for Saturday’s start at home against LAA.
Great win, and that pushes the LAD to 9.0 games in the NL West over Arizona, 9.5 over San Francisco, and 10.0 over San Diego after they lost their 5th consecutive game.
The Cubs are 10th in the Wild Card race, and they are a mere 1.5 games back in the Wild Card. It sure does not make for determining who the buyers and sellers are at the break any easier.
The @Dodgers are the first team in MLB history to hit both a grand slam and a 3-run HR while trailing in the 9th inning or later in the same game.
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) June 19, 2024
The comeback 2024pic.twitter.com/zzFIgsk2fR https://t.co/K34okQPtcl
— Dodgers Tailgate (@DodgersTailgate) June 19, 2024
MiLB GAME SUMMARY REPORTS
I got caught up in the MLB game and did not have much time to review the MiLB games. The Great Lakes game was an afternoon affair so that was written before Colorado and LAD. I have provided the Box Scores for the others.
Albuquerque Isotopes (Colorado) 8 – OKC Baseball Club 5
Great Lakes Loons – Quad Cities River Bandits (KC)
I was really looking forward to seeing if Jackson Ferris could continue his impressive outings. He was outstanding for 5.0 innings. No hits, but 4 walks. In the 6th, he allowed a leadoff BB and then a 2-run HR, the first hit of the day off Ferris. He then walked his 5th batter, got a F7, and then a single.
Jackson Ferris cruised through 5 scoreless (5th time in a row). Despite a few walks, he was efficient & explosive with 7Ks through 4, 8 through 5 scoreless. Extended into 6th but ran out of gas & lost some command. But, all in all, lots to be excited about.
5.1IP 2H 4R 8K 5BB… pic.twitter.com/JdopReqSp3— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) June 19, 2024
Brandon Neeck relieved Ferris and induced a ground out that moved the two runners to 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs. Unfortunately, Neeck then gave up a 2 run single, with both runs charged to Ferris.
Great Lakes took a 3-0 lead in the 4th on a 1-out single by Jordan Thompson, and a 2-run HR by Yunior Garcia (5). With 2 outs, Jake Vogel singled, stole 2B, and scored on a Noah Miller single.
In the 6th, Garcia reached on E-5, and moved to 3rd on a Nelson Quiroz double. Jake Vogel followed with a run scoring single with Quiroz moving to 3B with 1 out. Noah Miller then flew into a double play, right fielder Jared Dickey to catcher Carter Jensen. Nelson Quiroz out at home.
The score stayed 4-4 going into the 10th. Kelvin Bautista could not keep the River Bandits off the board, giving up 3 runs. With 2 singles loading the bases with 1 out, Bautista gave up a third single to Jake Vogel in CF who made a late throw to the plate. Two runs scored, but more importantly, runners moved up to 3rd and 2nd. Next batter hit a sac fly which would prove to be the winning run.
In the bottom of the 10th, with Miller starting at 2B, Dylan Campbell drew a BB. Thayron Liranzo then grounded out to 1B moving both runners up. Chris Newell’s single scored both runners, but he was left at first to end the game.
- Chris Newell – 2-5, 2 RBI, double (12)
- Yunior Garcia – 1-4, 2 runs, 2 RBI, HR (5)
- Jake Vogel – 1-2, 2 BB, 1 run, 1 RBI
- Double – Nelson Quiroz (5)
Tulsa Drillers 6 – NW Arkansas Naturals (KC) 2
Edgardo Henriquez continues to domínate.
Edgardo Henriquez was impressive again racking up 3 Ks in 1.2 innings, giving up not hits and walking no one. FB 100+, slider to both righties & lefties is ridiculous. He has yet to give up a run so far in June, 2 outings with GL 1 with Tulsa. #dodgers pic.twitter.com/j0snhezjp4
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) June 19, 2024
Diego Cartaya starting to heat up.
Edgardo Henriquez was impressive again racking up 3 Ks in 1.2 innings, giving up not hits and walking no one. FB 100+, slider to both righties & lefties is ridiculous. He has yet to give up a run so far in June, 2 outings with GL 1 with Tulsa. #dodgers pic.twitter.com/j0snhezjp4
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) June 19, 2024
Inland Empire 66ers (LAA) 11 – Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 7
The Dodgers improved to 21-0 when Miguel Rojas gets a hit. Drew Goodman, the Rockies play by play announcer, said just after Rojas singled that the Rockies were going to break that streak. Uh, not so fast Drew!
Well I aim to please Jeff! Why do you think I do it!
What a comeback! I’ll keep short selling the Dodgers if they keep winning….
You’re all welcome!
Wow, what a game!Easily the most fun game of the year.
Best comeback since 1929?Wow.Just wow.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Biggest comeback in the 9th inning since July 18, 1957.
https://www.baseball-refere…
Was I surprised?
Well yeah, of course I was. Greatest comeback in nearly a hundred years and I was here to see it.
But I wonder how surprised this team was. They are good and they know it. The whole league knows it.
And I wonder who might want to be a part of this going forward? You mentioned the Cubs. Thoughts?
Buehler. Sad to see, but the Dodgers need to deal with it. Miller. His minor league numbers aren’t suggestive of his being ready. June 13th, 4.2 IP, 5 earned, 3 BB, 1 HBP. Box score says 93 pitches, 51 strikes. In a minor league game. Does all that sound ready to you?
As has been said here the Dodgers will need to score. The upcoming schedule says they should be able to do that, but good teams are on the horizon. From where will pitching come?
I liked what I saw from Michael Peterson. The ball moved well, and after his likely initial nervousness, he settled down. Let’s see him again.
I did NOT think Colorado would be a good place for Buehler to pitch and I do NOT think Bobby Miller’s return after a so-so rehab stint in the minors should be in Colorado either. I would’ve pushed Buehler and Miller back to face the AAAA team, Anaheim Angels this weekend. However, the schedule is what it is.
Vargas looked calm at the plate yesterday; let him play!
In an innjng that was so improbable, the impossible happened!
And, of course, I watched the entire game through the 8th inning. After Doyle’s catch of Ohtani’s ball in the 7th I figured it wasn’t the Dodgers night. No, it wasn’t my night! I missed the biggest comeback in the ninth inning in over a 100 years for the Dodgers. Even as I’m reading Jeff’s article and not knowing the final score I’m going what the heck is he writing about. Reading further and finishing my first cup of coffee I finally realized what had happened.
Watching the highlights from the ninth it looked like the game was played in LA. Especially, the lower level which looked like it was mostly Dodger fans. Watching history and going crazy.
I’m going to catch the squeeze replay on Sportsnet today.
It’s tough watching Walker pitch right now. Like Bear mentioned he had that one excellent outing, but couldn’t build on that performance. He is really having control issues and is throwing too many center cut pitches. Those are some ugly stats Jeff threw out there. He’s a competitor so I’m hoping he and the coaching staff can get him back on track.
Let’s see if Bobby Miller has better success today.
“Regular rest” for the starters this season has been 5 days in between starts with a few exceptions. That would mean, Miller on Wed, Stone on Thur, Knack? on Fri and Glasnow on Sat, then a rare off day on Sunday. Any reason for a Sunday off?
Keith Law’s latest mock ($$$)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5572706/2024/06/19/mlb-mock-draft-2024-charlie-condon-bryce-rainer
has the Dodgers selecting Vance Honeycutt, OF with this gossip:
In April of 2016, I went to two games at Coors. On Saturday, I sat in left field with my son and his wife. LA won 4-1 with Maeda shutting down the Rocks. The next day, I decided to splurge, and I bought a ticket right behind home plate in the 5th row. It cost 70 dollars. Alex Wood started for the Dodgers. By the third inning they were up 7-1. The Rockies chipped away and when they came to bat in the bottom of the 8th, they were behind 7-5. They scored 5 runs off of Chris Hatcher and Luis Avilan before Joe Blanton came in to get the last two outs. Jake McGee came in to pitch for the Rockies and the Dodgers scored 5 runs to take a 12-10 lead. Jansen gave up only a walk and struck out two for the win. Closest thing I have seen to what happened last night.
Quakes game for tonight has already sold out. Kersh is packing them in! Wait until the first time he is back on the mound in LA. Place will be rocking.
RIP #24. As the idols of my childhood pass it gives, me thoughts of my own mortality. But I got to watch the man in his prime and it is etched in my memory.
Just like tedraymond, when Ohtani flied out, I called it a night. I know better. I will now hope I didn’t delete the recoding. I never watch anything in real time so maybe I still have it. Incredible 9th from the box score.
I wasn’t all that excited about the game as once again Buehler had dick. The home run to Montero was a mystery pitch. I guess they judged it a slider. It was 86, middle in and did nothing. I know it’s Colorado and stuff doesn’t break but there was no life to anything. Straight as a string fastballs and no bite to breaking balls.
As mentioned he’s going to have to learn how to pitch without 97 and stay out of the middle of the plate. Down the can at 92 with no life, doesn’t play. It’s sad to watch.
I see MLB is scraping ABS in AAA and experimenting with 2 different challenge systems; one league with 3 challenges per game and the other with 2. You retain a challenge if you’re right. I have expressed my objection with a challenge system but now I will shut up about it as a challenge system seems inevitable for 2026.
A couple of nights ago, Manny Gonzales missed 26 pitches in a game, according to the Umpire Scorecard. He had a 77% accuracy rate. How many challenges would it take to correct that? 15? 20? 26? That would be fun to watch.
Now Paul Skenes throws a “splinter” pitch. I’ll have to add that to my list I posted the other day.
I guess I’ll go hunt for a replay of the 9th inning.
I don’t know how many of you are familiar with writer Joe Posnanski, but to me he’s one of the very best out there.
Here’s a link to a beautiful article he put out today on Willie M.
“Isn’t Willie Mays Wonderful?” – by Joe Posnanski
Great write-up, Jeff…. Yes, truly a game to remember.
It’s easy to overlook just how clutch Pages and Vargas were in 9th. These are young guys who want to prove themselves with their bats. Instead, they showed newfound discipline and collected the walks that enabled Heyward and Teoscar to be heroes.
And how about “Big Mike” Peterson, born in Middlesex, England and getting his first major league K at age 30! Inspiration for late bloomers everywhere.
As for the other Walker… Buehler clearly needs more than a day off. Perhaps the shellacking is another blessing in disguise.
While I try to be optimistic about the returns of Bobby Miller and later Kershaw, there’s no guarantee they won’t have their struggles as well. And Yamamoto is suddenly iffy too. With Glasnow pitching like an ace, and first Stone and now Paxton stepping up, the Dodgers may not need more pitching.
Clearly not to win the West. But the playoffs could be different.
So if young, ace-potential talents like Crochet and Luzardo are on the market, I hope AF will explore the possibility… even while he ponders adding Sasaki over the offseason.
Right now, the Dodgers are leading the majors in team OPS at .778, with the Yankees, Orioles and Phillies close behind. In terms of ERA, the Dodgers ranked 4th at 3.36, trailing the Yankees, Orioles and Phillies.
I keep on seeing Crochet getting mentioned. Why? Do the Dodgers really need him? Sure, he’s young, talented and controllable, but is that really a position of need?
Just on the top of my head, I’m counting potentially eight really good starting pitchers on the Dodgers roster next year, and that’s assuming Buehler is gone.
Speaking of Buehler.
“The home run to Montero was a mystery pitch. I guess they judged it a slider. It was 86, middle in and did nothing. I know it’s Colorado and stuff doesn’t break but there was no life to anything. Straight as a string fastballs and no bite to breaking balls.” – Phil Jones
I actually had a long conversation with my nephew last night. He’s very smart and very knowledgeable about the Dodgers and we got to talking about Buehler. I pointed out that I don’t think overall velo is Beuhler’s problem. It’s about where it was when he had his best year in 2021. I think he lacks command … and also having that 98 four seamer that he can occasionally rear back and throw when the occasion calls for it.
He made a really good observation. My nephew pointed out that Buehler doesn’t have the same spin rate on is pitches anymore. I noticed this when he was struggling before he went down in 2022 and went under the knife. Less spin, less late movement. My nephew observed that his high four seamer just doesn’t have that late rise, and it’s true that his fastball is getting hammered. I think it’s more than location. Sad to say, but Buehler might be done.
We also talked about Ohtani next year, and he asked my thoughts on him pitching. I said I don’t think he should be a starter, even presuming he recovers from TJ#2. It’s just energy management. Doing both wears you out, mentally and physically. I proposed a couple of additional roles for Ohtani. Use him as a spot, high leverage reliever, and maybe just for the playoffs. The fact that he gives you that extra roster spot to do stuff like this is really a big advantage. You have yet another right handed power arm at your disposal.
Could you imagine? WS game 7 against the Yankees, and in the 9th inning here comes Judge. Phillips has already thrown 25 pitches. Bring in Ohtani! That would be epic.
The downside to dual use Ohtani is that, if you rely on him to be your best starting pitcher AND your best hitter, if he gets injured you just lost your two best players. Having him as your occasional spot reliever lessens the impact of losing him and reduces the wear and tear.
Another role was occasional left fielder. Not all the time, but if you want to put Will at DH to give him a breather, Ohtani in the OF makes sense.
And I wish folks here would give the “Slug! …Slug! … Slug!” canard a rest. This whole notion that AF, because of some weird bias, has constructed this flawed lineup of players that only swing for the fences at every at bat at the expense of bat-to-ball skills and don’t hit with RISP is not borne out by the statistics … reality, in other words.
The Dodgers are 4th in baseball in batting average with RISP, higher than the Yankees and Orioles (the Astros are #1), and are 21rst out of 32 MLB teams in K%.
Your narrative simply isn’t true.
…and slugging percentage is now a bad thing? That’s a pretty weird take.
Miller is shown as on the roster, but a corresponding move has not been made yet.
Milwaukee has DFA Elieser Hernandez. He pitched 4 games for Milwaukee and threw 6.0 innings. He 2 earned runs, 5 hits, 2 BB, and 2 K.
Some here have been suggesting we go after Marlins reliever Tanner Scott. I just checked his 2024 stats against Vesia’s.
Vesia has a higher k rate, a lower bb rate, a lower WHIP and is making about 1/5 the salary.
Then there is the fact that Scott is a free agent at the end of the year and apparently we are bidding against the Yankees, Phillies and Orioles, among others. That will only serve to drive up the price.
I seem to remember AF saying that he hates to go after relievers at the deadline because, on good ones, the prices are always exorbitant. I think I’d rather spend my prospect capital on something else.
Walker Buehler has been placed on the 15 day IL with what is termed as hip inflammation. I suspect he will find his way to Camelback Ranch to work on his mechanics and pitch shape. I also suspect he will not get a rehab assignment until they are satisfied that he has better command. Keep him out of Colorado.
Can we come from multiple runs down two days in a row?
Guess we’ll see won’t we.
Kershaw thru 3
1 run 1 bb 2hits 5ks 36 p
can the pitcher hit for Barnes and Kiki? Sarcasm
Miller 5 earned in 6.1. Meh. Something to build on anyway. Double plays saved his bacon a couple of times.
Suspect defense raises its ugly head again.
Miller got tagged early and then held the line until the 7th. BP loses the game. Still unsure why Hernandez was pulled from the game. Ohtani needs to understand, you don’t take strike three looking like that.