Series 7: Dodgers vs Pittsburgh Pirates

The Dodgers came home to host former manager Jim Tracy and the Pittsburgh Pirates and promptly took two out of three from the Bucs.

The first two games looked like as good a combination of great pitching (Randy Wolf, 10 SO in game 1 and Brad Penny in game 2) and timely hitting as any so far this season. While the first one was basically over by the third inning when the Dodgers put up six runs on the board, the second went right down to the wire with an amaizing bases-loaded walk-off HR by Russell Martin. At the moment Jeff Kent seems to be the hit/run machine for LA as he raised his BA to .355 after the first two Pirate games (going 5-for-7).

Game 3 of the series was not as fortunate for LA as sloppy fielding plays (three errors) ended up in a 5-7 loss. The Dodgers stranded sixteen baserunners that night, which partly explains how they ran out of outs.

First time over one thousand

I just checked the website stats. Regardless of the current choke with game reports (more coming up soon), we just broke the monthly unique visits record. For the first time in its existence the Ravings from behind the plate at Chavez Ravine registered more than 1.100 visits per month!

A big thank you for all of you readers around the world! :)

While it might not seem a lot from the perspective of other (sports) blogs, it means a lot to me personally (and Matt nods his head from the Bay Area, too). Keep'em coming. Let's break the record as early as in May, huh? What do you say? :).

Thanks again, folks.

The amazing story of Chin-hui Tsao

He's the mysterious and faceless out-maker. He really is.

The guy gets the nod from Grady Little more and more often lately, got a cover page story on the Dodgers MLB page with nothing but praise and what's most important to LA fans world-wide, he produces outs every single time he's out there.

And by mentioning producing outs I definitely do not mean Juan Pierre type of outs at the basepaths (OK, that was mean... ;)).

He's Chin-hui Tsao, a 26-year old, Taiwanese right-handed Dodger reliever who has so far found second life after his career-threatening arm problems which cut his stay short with the Colorado Rockies the last three years. 2007 has been like a dream for Tsao. The dream he's willing to maintain for as long as possible.

Since the day he was called up (as he did not make the opening day roster), he's been arguably the best Dodger reliever so far. Not a small task given the fact that LAD might as well lead the majors in most reliever categories. Wow.

For a close-up look at his stats, here's his game-by-game log so far:

DATE		GAME		W		L		ERA		G		GS		CG		SHO		SV		SVO		IP		H		R		ER		HR		BB		SO		NP-S		GO-AO
APR 18		@COL		0		0		0.00		1		0		0		0		0		0		1.1		0		0		0		0		1		2		26-16		2-0
APR 19		@COL		0		0		0.00		1		0		0		0		0		0		0.1		0		0		0		0		1		1		11-6		0-0
APR 21		PIT		0		0		0.00		1		0		0		0		0		0		1.0		1		0		0		0		0		0		12-7		3-0
APR 24		SF		0		0		0.00		1		0		0		0		0		0		1.1		0		0		0		0		0		0		14-11		2-2
APR 26		SF		0		0		0.00		1		0		0		0		0		0		1.0		0		0		0		0		0		1		10-7		1-1
APR 28		@SD		0		0		0.00		1		0		0		0		0		0		1.2		0		0		0		0		0		1		6-6		2-2
APR 29		@SD		0		0		0.00		1		0		0		0		0		0		2.0		0		0		0		0		0		1		15-11		1-4

Untouchable, right? And he looks that way on the mound, too. Sometimes the stats do not tell the full story. It's one of these times.

Here's what his every-day catcher has to say about the quality that Tsao brings with him to the mound:

"He's making nasty pitches," said [catcher] Russell Martin. "He's throwing strikes and going after guys and not shying away. When he needs a ground ball, he keeps his pitches down. When he needs a strikeout, he can reach back. He's got a good slider, a splitter or change-up, plus he can throw really hard."

Pretty amazing when you come to think of it. Let the dream continue into May. All we can ask for with an arm as fragile as his.

Series 6 Recap: Dodgers @ Colorado Rockies

The Dodgers found enough strength to split the short two-game series on the road with the Rockies in a lop-sided fashion.

Derek Lowe struggled to find his composure in the mountains and went only 4.2 IP of hittable baseball as he eneded up with 4H and 3 ER and 3 BB (to go along with his 2 SO) in a forgettable series opener. Dodger fielding errors (by Rafael Furcal and Andre Ethier certainly did not help the pitcher's cause that day), but not to take anything away from the Colorado hitters it must be mentioned that they still left on base 18 baserunners in a convicing 7-2 win over LA. Brady Clark spelled Luis Gonzalez in LF for a day and did not disappoint going 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored.

The climate and outcome of the game changed completely the following day, as th Dodgers scored eraly and often on a windy afternoon and won 8-1 behind the pitching of spot starter Mark Hendrickson. He replaced Jason Schmidt who was earlier DLed for precautionary reasons. Hendrickson gave LA all he got, making 76 pitches (while conditioned to relieve) in 5.2 IP of 1 run, 5 hit ball. Most of the offense was provided by a trio of Jeff Kent, Luis Gonzalez and Andre Ethier (good sign!), who collectively went 6-for-10 with 4 runs scored. 3B Wilson Betemit is still hitting below the Mendoza line (currently at .118) and is a prime candidate to be replaced in the lineup by either Wilson Valdez (on the ML roster) or Andy LaRoche (in Triple-A Vegas).

Series 5 Recap: Dodgers @ Arizona Diamondbacks

This one was the first short (two-game) series of the short season and the Dodgers managed to sweep both games from the 'backs in the desert.

The first W came on the heels of another strong outing by Brad Penny (7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER) and timely hitting against Arizona SP Ed Gonzalez. The Dodgers managed to tack single runs in four of the first five innings and were never in real danger of losing the game in the late innings due to the spectacular play of their bullpen guys, Joe Beimel and Chad Billingsley (collective one hit through the final two IP).

The second game of the series was the top/heart of the order affair as Juan Pierre and Jeff Kent combined for 5-for-9 with 4 runs scored and 2 RBI. Every Dodger starter (but struggling Andre Ethier and Wilson Betemit, got at least one hit). The bullpen was again spectacular bailing out SP Brett Tomko after only 5.0 IP. Though they mae 65 pitches on the game, the bullpen limited the D'backs to measly 3 H and 1 BB through the final 4 IP. Marvellous!

Blue Man Matt missing in action

Since Blue Man Matt has been obviously MIA for the last couple of series, I will do my best to quickly wrap things up for you so that you feel up to date. This should happen later today. Over and out :)

The Andy LaRoche report (part 1)

Photo: Cashman Field in Las Vegas, LV aka Andy LaRoche's cubicle.

As promised, we will follow the developments in the AAA and MLB legs of the career of the 3B phenom, Andy LaRoche - my favorite Dodger all over the system (how about you, Blue Man Matt? ;)).

Andy has started the year a little bit under the weather due to the fielding mistakes that cost him a place on the Dodgers opening day roster. To date he's played in 13 games (making only 2 errors). Andy is currently hitting a paltry .259 (.317 OBP) with 3 HR and 7 RBIs. He also has two doubles and 5 walks to his credit.

Series 4 Recap: Dodgers vs. Padres

Well, the Dodgers take down another series. This time, it was against the pesky Padres. Series wins were few and far between for the Dodgers over the Padres last year, with the Padres taking 13 of 18 games throughout the season.

It was definitely a psychological series for the Dodgers.

On Friday, Derek Lowe took to the hill, pitching eight strong innings. He improved to 2-1 on the year, while allowing seven hits and walking two. He struck out six.

It wasn't all smooth for Lowe though. He found himself in a bases loaded jam in the seventh. He pitched his way out of it by forcing Marcus Giles to hit a comebacker. Lowe tossed it back to Russel Martin who then threw to Nomar Garciaparra at first, completing the 1-2-3 double play.

The only run Lowe gave up was on another double play grounder by Khalil Greene.

The Dodgers helped out Lowe by striking against David Wells early. They got eight hits and five runs in the two-and-a-third innings Wells survived.

Luis Gonzalez, proving to all the critics, including myself, that he may just have enough fuel in him for another season, hit a solo homer and an RBI single off of Wells. Rafael Furcal, just reactivated off the disabled list before the game went two-for-five with two RBIs, making it look like he hadn't missed a thing.

Garciaparra had a two-run single in the fourth by reliever Mike Thomspon. This was first run the Padres bullpen had given up all year. Lowe was happy a team he was on finally did well against Wells.

"It was good to see a team that I was on finally get to him," Lowe said of Wells. "Knowing you're facing a guy like that, you've got to be on your game. Over the years, going back to the Yankees-Boston games, I wouldn't say he dominated us -- but he came close. Anytime you face a guy like that, you know that nine out of 10 times it's going to be a low-scoring game. This kind of game probably doesn't happen very often for him."

David Wells was a t a loss for words on how he wasn't able to get the Dodgers out.

"I couldn't get them out," Wells said. "It's like they knew what was coming -- whether there was a guy on second or nobody on. I don't know. I know I don't tip my pitches -- but if I do, I wish one of those guys would come forth and tell me. That would be an admirable thing to do."

Yeah, thats gonna happen. If a veteran like Wells needs the other team to point out his problems, its time to hang up the cleats and walk away from the game.

Final score: Dodgers 9, Padres 1

On Saturday, the Padres came out looking for revenge. Unfortunately for Jason Schmidt, the Padres came out swinging.

Schmidt gave up first pitch homers to Brian Giles and Kevin Kouzmanoff.

That made things easy for Jake Peavy, who is 5-0 in his last six starts against the Dodgers.

Schmidt gave up six runs, five of which were earned, on seven hits in two plus innings. He faced sixteen batters, but was only able to retire six of them.

Final score: Padres 7, Dodgers 2

On Sunday, the entire Major League Baseball remembered and honored Dodger Hall of Famer, Jack Roosevelt Robinson for his corageous breaking of the color barrier. That, though will be another post.

In Sunday's game the Dodgers struck early and often. They scored in each of the first three innings and never looked back.

Furcal, Gonzalez and Wilson Valdez each got an RBI. Valdez went three-for-five, increasing his average to .417. Russell Martin went three-for-four with two RBIs and Andre Ethier went three-for-five with four runners knocked in.

Randy Wolf helped his own cause by reaching base twice on walks. He continues to impress on the mound as well. He pitched six solid innings, giving up three runs on six hits. He struck out seven.

Final score: Dodgers 9, Padres 3

Series 3 Recap: Dodgers vs. Rockies

Monday's game started on a high note-- The Dodgers Season Opener at Chavez Ravine, but ended on a low note. Jason Schmidt left the fifth with what originally looked liked a pulled hamstring and Matt Kemp came out the inning before with an injured right shoulder after running into the scoreboard attempting to make a play.

Neither of them look to be very serious, fortunately.

"It's OK. It's definitely not a hamstring pull," Schmidt said. "I just got dehydrated out there and got a little cramp in it."

"At first I thought it was worse than what it was," Kemp said. "It hurt really bad when I was walking off the field. I thought I was done. But everything will be all right."

This 6-3 loss could have been much worse.

Tuesday's game, after the Dodgers held a collective sigh of relief knowing the injuries weren't as serious as originally feared, got back to their winning ways. It should definitely be noted, that Brett Tomko was amazing on his first outing of 2007. He allowed just one hit, in six scoreless innings in his first start since June 2006.

As a regular critic of Tomko, whom I affectionately nicknamed Bombko for his tendency to Bomb out after a couple months, I feel it important to give him credit where credit is due.

I am still no where near ready to remove the monkier of Bombko from him, as his M.O. is to start strong then fade fast, and it is much too early to tell, but I am reluctantly optimistic.

The Dodgers took Tuesday's game 2-1.

Wednesday's game gave Brad Penny another chance to dominate the Rockies, beating them for the sixth consecutive time dating back to last season. In a show of his off-season weight loss he showed a new flash of athleticism, making a brilliant diving catch.

Penny started the game out slow. he retired the first batter he faced, then proceeded to give his critics some ammunition by walking the next three batters. When all appeared lost, he regained composure and struck out Matt Holliday on three straight pitches. He then retired Brad Hawpe on a fielders choice to third, getting out of the inning without giving up a run. It took him 24 pitches, but he made it.

Rockies pitcher, Jason Hirsch, who grew up in nearby Burbank and grew up a Dodgers fan, didn't go very well for him. Although he denies it, his head wasn't in the game-- his first start at the hallowed Chavez Ravine.

"It was everything it was cracked up to be," Hirsh said. "It was a thrill of a lifetime to be out there. I had a lot of family and friends here, screaming and hollering. It was enjoyable. I mean, obviously it was not the outcome I wanted, but it wasn't bad."

The fourth inning was especially horrendous for Hirsch. Russell Martin and Juan Pierre each singled with two out. Then, while Hirsh looked like President Bush when stumped, as he absent-mindedly gazed at the catcher for a sign, Martin and Pierre exectued a brilliant double steal. He kept his foot on the rubber and never even made a throw. Even Rockies catcher, Chris Ianetta jumping out of his crouch and pointing towards second base didn't take Hirsh out of his Bushism.

"That was the first time a runner had gotten to second base, so I really didn't even think about it," Hirsh said. " Chris told me to step off, and I thought maybe a beach ball had fallen onto the field because that's happened many times since we've been here. The next thing I know, both guys had moved. I wouldn't say I was rattled, but I was definitely surprised by it."

Nomar Garciaparra lined the next pitch to left field for a two-run single.

Before Hirsch could even make another pitch, he balked Nomar to second. Jeff Kent then singled home Garciaparra and the Dodgers took a 3-0 lead, in which they never looked back.

At the end of the series, the Dodgers remain just 1/2 game out of first place.

Penny and Tomko deja vu?

Is it April 2006 or 2007?

You wouldn't know that judging by the early-season performance of two Dodger starting pitchers Brad Penny and Brett Tomko. The former is 1-0 after his start with 1.29 ERA in 7.0 IP with 1 SO and 1 BB. The latter, after last night's gem against the Rockies at the Ravine, opens the season up at 0.00 ERA after 6.0 IP with amazing 9 SO and 3 BB.

Early days, but the PROMISE is there. As much as there was last year where Penny and Tomko opened their respective seasons very strong (remember that Penny actually starter the ASG? That's how good he was in the first half of 2006!). If my memory serves me right their collective W-L record at some point in time was about 15-5 or something. Than the promise started fading away...

This is why these two Dodger pitchers, unlike perhaps any other starter or reliever wearing blue this season, have to focus on the PREMISE. It will be crucial to their overall success this season if they can maintain the momentum past the first two months. First checkpoint for Penny is tonight against the Rockies. He was something like 6-0 last season against them. Can he continue like this in 2007?

Series 2 @ San Francisco Giants: Sweeeeeeeeeep!

Ladies and Gentleman, as you may recall a few days ago, I predicted the Dodgers would sweep and they did just that.

Friday night's game was beautiful, with Brad Penny looking good; even better than last year. He seems to be more of a pitcher, rather than just the thrower he used to be in the past. He had some more finesse on his pitches. It was worrisome, just a little, that he seemed to give up quite a bit of hits, but he did well nonetheless.

Russell Martin is fast approaching the top echelons of current MLB catchers. He threw out two runners and made what turned out to be the game saving block of home plate that would have made Mike Scoscia proud had he not been too busy trying to deflate the possibile cheating situation he had with K-Rod.

That being said, props are due to Luis Gonzalez for his great throw from deep LF to start the throw out at home. Nomar Garciaparra, Matt Kemp and Gonzo each hit safely twice.

In Saturday's game, Derek Lowe bounced back from his bad outing on opening day and notched his first win of the season and Jeff Kent hit the go ahead RBI double in the fifth for the Dodgers.

And Sunday's game-- What a beauty!!!

Randy Wolf looked like he was about through in the first and second innings, but he adjusted and came back stronger than ever. The Dodgers beat the gnats for the eighth consecutive time, dating back to last season. All eight victories have been in SF. What made this game so great was the fact that we beat the $126M man. No, we embarassed him and the Giants organization for signing him.

Gonzalez became the most successful visiting home run hitter at Steroid Boy Central Park, hitting his sixth and seventh homers of his career on Sunday. Kemp had three hits with two RBIs and scored twice while Kent, amongst booing, jealous gnats fans, scored three runs.

It was great to be at all three games live, but more of that to come.

Recap:

Friday: Dodgers 2, Giants 1
Saturday: Dodgers 4, Giants 1
Sunday: Dodgers 10, Giants 4

We finish the road trip 4-2 and sit just a half game out of first place. Colorado is coming to town for our opening season at Blue Heaven on Earth.

Going up against their ace will be a challenge, but taking two of three should be pretty realistic.

James Loney Shout Out

It is completely bullshit that the Dodgers couldn't find a place for James Loney on the roster. As much as I love Nomar, I would much rather see J-Lo at first.

Now, before all of Nomar's supporters jump me, I do not advocate releasing him or benching him.

I would much prefer to keep him in the lineup. With a gaping hole at 3B that Wilson Betemit doesn't seem able to fill, I think it makes more sense to move Nomar to third base and put Loney at first. Both their bats, coupled with Loney's defense and Nomar's defense apparently being better than that of Betemit, it would be a win-win situation.

Sometimes their thinkin amazes me.

Now Loney is unhappy, and rightly so. He is respectfully asking for a trade and as much as I want to see him don that Dodger blue one day, I think the Dodgers owe it to him.

Ned (Colletti), you have probably made the worst decision of your short GM career by sending Loney down.

Many more gaffes, and it will be time to promote Kim Ng.

Blue Man's MLB Picks

Ths is number one in a series of picks, etc. I have made for the 2007 season.

American League West

1. Oakland
2. Anaheim
3. Texas
4. Seattle

American League Central

1. Cleveland
2. Detroit
3. Chicago
4. Minnesota
5. Kansas City

American League East

1. Boston
2. New York (WC)
3. Toronto
4. Tampa Bay
5. Baltimore

National League West

1. Dodgers
2. San Diego
3. Arizona
4. Colorado
5. San Francisco

National League Central

1. Chicago
2. Houston (WC)
3. Milwaukee
4. St. Louis
5. Pittsburgh
6. Cinncinatti

National League East

1. Philadelphia
2. Florida
3. New Yok
4. Atlanta
5. Washington

ALDS: Boston over Oakland
Cleveland over New York

NLDS: Dodgers over Chicago
Philadelphia over Houston

ALCS: Boston over Cleveland

NLCS: Dodgers over Philadelphia

World Series: Dodgers over Boston

Series One Dodgers at Milwaukee (1-2)

Well, this sure wasn't a good startfor the Dodgers. It was understandable to lose to Ben Sheets, but the Dodgers should have won the second game.

Derek Lowe had an uncharacteristically poor showing in Milwaukee and the Dodgers' offense seemed to still be in Vero Beach, on vacation.

Randy Wolf looked rather good for being such a risk when signing. I was a little concerned that he was left in to bat, but him getting walked made that point moot.

In the finale, Jason Schmidt looked decent in getting the win, with continued shaky bullpen that held onto the win.

It was a beautiful win, especially for mysef. Being a Bay area resident, I am forced to live with tons of gnats fans as neighbors. It sure was great to see Schmidt get a "W" before the San Francisco Gnats won a game as a team.

We look forward to a weekend road series against the hated and over rated San Francisco gnats. Anything less than a sweep of the lowly gnats will be a disappointment. We need to send those bottom dwellers deep into the basement where they belong.

I will be at all three games, with my hair and face painted blue. If any of my fellow Dodger fans see me, give a shot out. On Easter, keep an eye out on the pissy smelling streets of San Francisco (Moises Alou must have left his mark before bailing out of that hell hole) for the Dodger mobile. An emphasis wll be on the downtown area near Steroid Boy Central Park and North Beach.

Take Me Out To The Ballpark...

This has been an extremely long six months. A six months where I have tried everything to get out some form of sports into my brain. I ended up joining several March Madness Pools, but having never watched a NCAA hoops game in whole, it just wasn't the same.

But, alas, the Dodgers season has once again begun!

We have what shows to be a solid team, especially the starting rotation. In the coming days, I will share with all of you my season picks for each division, post season and a few surprises.

The only big difference this year, as Marcin has pointed out is that we will be doing series recaps, rather than individual updates.

My plans this baseball season is to catch games in San Francisco (all of them), San Diego, Phoenix, Denver, Chicago and Pittsburgh. So, if any of you readers are there, look for the guy decked out Dodger style. Hair dyed blue, face painted blue (or blue and white) and if I can get my Dodger flag back from my neighbor who is a gnats fan, you should see my flag waving proud.

Series wrap-up reports coming up!

We have agreed with our major newscaster - Blue Man Matt - that this season he will be doing *series* wrap-up reports (rather than individual games). The first one, from the Milwaukee Brewers series (lost 1-2), should be hitting the net later today.

We might be able to use the good-bad-ugly format to bring you our perspective on how the Dodger pitching/hitting/fielding and intangibles fared in a given series.

All that while looking ahead to a weekend road series at arch-rival San Francisco Giants.

In the meantime, here's a sneak peak at the current NL West standings:

San Diego	2	0	1.000	-
Colorado	2	1	.667	0.5
Arizona	1	2	.333	1.5
LA Dodgers	1	2	.333	1.5
San Francisco	0	2	.000	2.0

In the battle of "if"s, if the Giants could take the final game away from the Padres tonight, it would help the Dodgers climb up the standings after the weekend series in SF is over. I just can't imagine LA being swept clean there :).