I got my Mother’s Day wish last night! The Dodgers beat the Padres in a 4-2 nailbiter that was not decided until the very last beautiful solitary strikeout from Caleb Ferguson! We won the series (2nd in a row from those Friars and our 5th series win in a row!), and it was our 14th win in 16 games. BOX SCORE After a 13-13 start to the season, we’re now in 1st Place by 3 games over Arizona. Wow!
Curiously, the night before (Friday, May 12), we also beat San Diego 4-2. I got there late, so I didn’t take score, but Stephen and I had a great time all alone in our topmost row of the Top Deck. BOX SCORE It’s always a much shorter walk home when you leave a winner.
Last night (Sat., May 13), I did take score, as evidenced by my illustration above, and I have to say that I’m now kind of appreciating the pitch clock for a very selfish reason. When I’m watching and recording every pitch and nuance of a game, it is impossible for me to visit the Ladies’ Room. I have to wait until the end of the game. Well, the end comes much faster when the pitches are served like hot cakes in a truck stop diner.
I’m wishing all the mothers out there a very happy day, and GO DODGERS!!!
In that first series, Max Muncy absolutely crushed a walk-off grand slam. In the second series, Dustin May stood up to Blake Snell in a pitching duel for the ages. Also, Mookie Betts hit a solo homer to tie it up, and rookies Michael Busch and James Outman drove in 3 runs the top of the 10th. That same game, reliever Evan Phillips blew away Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado — BOOOOOO! — and Juan Soto, 1-2-3, to record his 5th save of the season. Those are my Dodgers of the last few years!
Max Muncy walks off to glory (May 9, 2023).
I simply cannot wait to get back to the Ravine. It’s so exciting to see Clayton Kershaw vying for yet another Cy Young! Our bats have come alive, and the clutch hits are coming from everywhere! Those are MY Dodgers!
My fellow Aries, Andre Ethier, celebrates today (April 10)!
Are this year’s Dodgers really doomed to go up and down constantly throughout the season until they wind up in the middle of the pack watching the Diamondbacks or Padres go to the playoffs? Can that really be the case?
I messed up the other day when I talked about how great our starting pitching is. (Jinx much, Pam?) I knocked on wood and everything! So now there’s no stopping hitters from all the other teams just trouncing us mercilessly, I guess.
We started off well Thursday (April 6) with a 5-2 win over the D’backs in Arizona. BOX SCORE I only kind of half-watched it around the latest episode of “Ted Lasso.” But Dustin May had another quality start, so that’s the only bright light in an otherwise dismal series in Phoenix.
On Friday (April 7), they nipped us, 6-3, with Clayton Kershaw not having his best appearance on the mound. But we were still in a one-run game until reliever Yency Almonte gave them an extra two runs in the bottom of the 8th. BOX SCORE
My hunch is that Kersh isn’t adjusting to the dreaded pitch clock well. He has a very deliberate and calculating delivery. It takes him a few moments to aim his slider just right. He likes to take a little stroll around the mound after stunning a batter with a delicious eephus. He’s also one of the best guys to pick off players at first that has ever played the game. So this rushed pressure of counting down the seconds is really (pardonnez mon français) FUCKED! It takes all the beauty and artful consideration out of pitching. Now it’s just hurl it and hope for the best, hurl it and hope for the best! (Plus, with all the talk of bigger bases and only two throws to first allowed, I have only seen one attempt at a stolen base this whole season! You’re destroying the most beautiful game, MLB assholes!)
My birthday (April 8) saw a wild one! Thor (Noah Syndergaard) pitched about as well as Chris Hemsworth would have. Staked to a 4-0 lead in the first, he wasn’t throwing lightning bolts, that’s for sure. Arizona took him for 8 hits and 6 earned runs in four innings. We ended up losing, 12-8.BOX SCORE
And then on Sunday (April 9), the Snakes sealed the series win with an 11-6 drubbing. Michael Grove gave up 9 runs on 9 hits in the first 3.1 innings. Yikes! BOX SCORE
Can we right the ship? Is that awful timebomb of a pitch clock going to destroy America’s Pastime altogether? We have 152 more Dodger games to go. We’ll see.
Piewalla's Dodger Blues 