December 9th, 2012 at 11:01 AM
By BJ RobinsonWith the Major League Baseball season ending and the Los Angeles Dodgers having to watch as their biggest rival the San Francisco Giants win the World Series, the team knew they would need to make some major upgrades in the offseason. That first upgrade came via the free agent route as the Dodgers signed pitcher Zack Greinke to a six year $147 Million deal.
photo © 2009 Keith Allison , Flickr Greinke is a former Cy Young winner who will be trading in his Los Angeles Angels red for Dodger blue this season.
Greinke was acquired by the Angels last season from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for Jean Segura and a pair of minor leaguers.
The Dodgers will now have two former Cy Young winners on their staff as they will have Greinke and staff ace Clayton Kershaw taking the hill for them.
The Dodgers offseason is not complete however as it is expected they will continue to try and lure several more free agent pitchers to Dodger-town.
Read more... Join the Conversation... October 4th, 2012 at 9:41 AM
By BJ RobinsonWith the Los Angeles Dodgers being eliminated from the playoff running the Dodgers only had pride to play for on Wednesday. The Dodgers showed us that pride they have however as they went out and defeated the San Francisco Giants 5-1 to finish with a season record of 86-76.
Clayton Kershaw earned his 14th win of the season pitching eight innings allowing one earned run on three hits and three walks while striking out eight batters.
photo © 2008 wish_nbk , Flick
The Dodgers did most of their damage in the eighth inning as they were nursing a 2-1 lead when Alex Castellanos hit a home run and then Juan Rivera followed up with a two run home run of his own.
After struggling for the first half of his time with the Dodgers, Adrian Gonzalez finished up his Dodgers season with a 15 game hitting streak that saw his batting average finish at a very respectable .297.
Read more... Join the Conversation... October 3rd, 2012 at 9:23 AM
By BJ RobinsonThe Los Angeles Dodgers last second hail mary came up short as they lost the the San Francisco Giants Monday night by a score of 4-3.
With the Dodgers trailing by a run in the ninth inning, the Dodgers got a leadoff runner as Andre Ethier was hit by a pitch. Dee Gordon eventually ran for Ethier and stole second base to give the Dodgers a man in scoring position. However with two outs Mark Ellis failed to come through as he hit a line drive to center field that found the defenders glove ending the game and the Dodgers chance to make the playoffs.
The Dodgers had several miscues in the game that can be looked at as the reason they lost the game, however ultimately there are always the would have, could have, and should haves but you can’t change what happened.
In the fifth inning Don Mattingly intentionally walked Angel Pagan with a man at second with two outs to face Marco Scutaro. Scutaro then doubled home both runner to give the Giants a 4-3 lead. In the eight inning Mark Ellis hit a one out double but instead of stopping at second he tried turning it into a trip and was thrown out going for third base. Shane Victorino followed Ellis’ at bat with a triple down the line that could have tied the game for the Dodgers.
Read more... Join the Conversation... October 2nd, 2012 at 9:32 AM
By BJ RobinsonThe Los Angeles Dodgers pulled off a late victory and kept their slim playoff chances alive as they earned a 3-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Monday night.
With the score tied at two in the bottom of the ninth, the Dodgers were able to load the bases and Elian Herrera came through with a base hit to give the Dodgers a walk off 3-2 victory.
Aaron Harang pitched six strong innings for the Dodgers allowing only two hits and two walks and one earned run while striking out three in the victory.
Andre Ethier only went 1-4 on the night but he made his one hit count as he came through with a two run home run in the fourth inning to give the Dodgers an early lead.
photo © 2011 Brendan C , Flickr Brandon League earned his second win with the Dodgers in relief as he pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Dodgers remain two games back of the St. Louis Cardinals as the Cardinals also won on Monday night and the Dodgers will now need to win their final two games of the season and have St. Louis lose their final two to be able to earn a chance at a play-in game for the second wild card spot.
Read more... Join the Conversation... September 30th, 2012 at 10:32 PM
By BJ RobinsonThe Los Angeles Dodgers earned a three game sweep of the Colorado Rockies as their stellar pitching continued on Sunday as the Dodgers earned a 7-1 victory.
Josh Beckett pitched six solid innings allowing one earned run on six hits and three walks while striking out five batters.
photo © 2009 Keith Allison , Flickr Matt Kemp continued his stellar weekend series as he hit another home run in the game and recorded two RBI’s.
Adrian Gonzalez brought his batting average while with the Dodgers up to a solid .291 as he went 2-3 on the day with a run scored.
Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis had a solid game as he hit his 12th home run of the season and finished 1-4 with two RBI’s in the game.
The Dodgers unfortunately did not make up any ground in the wild card race as the St. Louis Cardinals earned a victory on Sunday to keep a two game cushion.
The Dodgers will wrap up the regular season with a three game series against the San Francisco Giants.
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