Guerrier picks wrong time not to be perfect as Dodgers fall, 10-8, to Cubs
Matt Guerrier wasn’t going to be perfect forever, but he picked a lousy time to prove vulnerable.
In one of those goofy, wind-blown Wrigley Field games, Chicago scored five runs in the eighth inning Saturday to come back and defeat the Dodgers, 10-8, to snap their three-game winning streak.
Guerrier, he of the 0.00 earned-run average after nine games, pitched a perfect seventh inning but struggled with his control in the eighth.
The Cubs jumped on him with four singles and a walk, Blake Hawksworth giving up a final hit to complete the Chicago scoring.
With the wind blowing out and the Dodgers playing less than sharp defense, they still managed to take an 8-5 lead.
The Dodgers hit three home runs -- one each by Casey Blake, Matt Kemp and Rod Barajas -- and collected 11 hits in the losing cause.
Andre Ethier’s double in the seventh inning -- pushing his hitting streak to 20 games -- gave the Dodgers a 7-5 lead in the sixth.
Former Cub Ted Lilly started for the Dodgers but lasted only 4 1/3 innings, giving up five runs on 11 hits. He never did look in control.
Guerrier took a three-run lead into the eighth, he left with the scored tied and two runners on base before Hawksworth surrendered a double to Jeff Baker to allow the winning runs to score.
One good note for the Dodgers: right-hander Vicente Padilla made his season debut and looked sharp in throwing a perfect sixth inning.
RELATED:
Dodgers-Cubs: How the runs were scored Saturday
An air of uncertainty surrounds the Dodgers these days
-- Steve Dilbeck
Photo: Dodgers second baseman Aaron Miles chases Chicago's Darwin Barney back to first base during a pickoff in the fourth inning Saturday at Wrigley Field. Barney would be awarded second base after an obstruction call against Dodgers first baseman James Loney. Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki / US Presswire
I'll say it again - this team hasn't the arms to compete for anything other than what place in the NL West.
Dread was lying again when he tried to sell the fans this 'we got 5 solid sp's this season' crap! No, we have 2; Kuroda, Lilly & Garland are all here as no one else would pay for them - come on Dread, 33 mil for Lilly, at his age & only pitching for 2 months last season for us ?! What a bonehead move, but just one of many, this alleged GM has made, makes & will again, until he is once & for all, shown the Exit door at the Ravine!
Let me again go back, for sake of argument. Where can an employee lose 170 Million dollars on just a few moves & keep his job ? Yep, in the Dodgers organization, that's where!
Open comment to you Dread - don't know you as a person, so no qualms there, but I hate you as a GM as you are horrible & you don't even have what it takes to admit all your mistakes & resign as a real man would! Grow a pair, then maybe. Not only are you the worst GM in all of MLB, you are most likely the worst GM in all of sports; how does it feel to be the wo9rst in MLB ?!
Let's all hope a new owner will come in, a true baseball man, or family, & can Dread for non service & get a real GM in here - this is SoCal, we NEED better management than what we have been stuck with for these past many years! McDork are a huge embarrassment to MLB & it cannot continue!
Posted by: Dallas | 04/23/2011 at 02:23 PM
the black holes in lf and 1b is gonna kill us. we should be getting 50 bombs and 200 rbi from that spot and a 900 combined OPS. Instead we will be lucky to get 30, 150 and a 750 OPS..I think the pitching will be fine.
Posted by: jason | 04/23/2011 at 03:58 PM
I feel that Johnson's surprise bunt change the whole momentum of the game in the Cubs favor. It just seemed, to me, to be the turning point. It was an exiting game that just didn't end well. It was great to see them hit 3 homers, Padilla got the first hold since April 3rd and Kemp and Ethier are really getting super. The saddest thing, besides losing the game is that Loney seems to be just fading away. Those two shots to CF shows he has only warning track power.
Posted by: OldBrooklynFan | 04/23/2011 at 04:00 PM
respectfully, I fully disagree that the pitching will not be fine. And I don't give a rat's fanny about a hold or any of these other new-fangled stats folks want to come up with to justify business within baseball. Its still pitch, hit, catch and throw. Simple game. And up 3 with 6 outs to go, we didn't get it done.
dallas is a heck of a lot more right than he is wrong, too. But neither flanders, or even clyde torkel (soboroff), is going anywhere until magoo (frank) goes first.
Posted by: alanw19 | 04/23/2011 at 04:21 PM
Well N.P., the 1970 film 'Tora! Tora! Tora!' comes to mind - the Manager goes to the well once more and... finds it dry nee barren.
Keeping with his 'attack' the opposition theme, Don 'Torre! Torre! Torre!' Mattingly once again runs Guerrier out there - and into the ground, soon enough appears.
He's been in more of the dudgers first 22 games - 10 - than any other pitcher and has thrown more innings than any reliever; at this pace he will appear in about 74 games (and end up out/on the DL list for all of 2012).
Use em or lose em?
Mike Marshall of Walt Alston's Dodgers in '74, more recently Scott Proctor early of the Yanks/later Dodgers (Torre x2) or several others 'object lessons' learned whom affirmed via later performances 'aft'...
In the immortal words of former Houston Oilers Head Coach Bum Phillips - "you just 'cain't' do that! I'm a telling ya if ya does your a gonna have more trouble than not."
Bum(m)erooski.
Posted by: 16blows | 04/23/2011 at 04:31 PM
Please let Padilla finish the game! We need a guy to eat innings after Lilly clearly couldn't get it done. Padilla looks great, the game is even, and we burn through the bullpen. Padilla is the ideal long-man. Let him pitch.
Posted by: Caballero#1 | 04/23/2011 at 04:31 PM
Geez guys(or gaals), lay off Loney !
Let me remind you all; in a 6 year Minor League career James hit a total of 36 dingers & his highest output for any given season, was 11 - why do you all think he will now become a slugging 1B ? He has averaged 91 rrRBI's & a /285 BA in his previous Major League seasons & we're 20 games in & you are complaining he doesn't hit enough HR's or his Ave. is down?
The problem has been at 3B - of late he has picked it up a bit, & it's not his fault, but Casey Blake is not a HR machine & since we already had Loney, Dread screwed up by not adding that 35+ HR hitter at 3B! And not adding a slugging LF the past 4 years. At least Barajas is a bigger threat to go deep than Martin & neither one is great with the glove.
If Loney is still hitting this way - lack of Ave. come season's end, fine, but you all need to do what McDork & Dread need to do & that is let him be -he only started to press after last season when Dread said he wanted more power from him.
& the pitching will NOT be fine; CK will be our Ace, Bills is a good, not great # 2 & from then on ? It's Pick-The-Oldest-Wheezer for 3,4,5 as it doesn't matter! 33 Mil for Lilly after a 2 month showcase ?! & as Alan correctly stated, 3 up w/ 6 to go, that door HAS to be closed!
Wow, some people just don't understand baseball....
Posted by: Dallas | 04/23/2011 at 05:07 PM
And maybe slot Loney in the 2 hole, so he will have legitimate protection behind him!
Posted by: Dallas | 04/23/2011 at 05:11 PM
this loss is on Mattingly. in the absence of Kuo, he should've let Padilla go one more inning, have Guerrier pitch the 8th, and let the Broxtonian finish it, or revert to form, and blow it.
do you miss me now?
Posted by: charlie haeger | 04/23/2011 at 06:34 PM
Loney has been in the bottom third in OPS the last three seasons by all 1b. RBI is a counting stat. give a guy 600 at bats in the middle of the order and he is bound to get rbi totals. Also he has come to the plate with more runners on base than most players in baseball the last three years. . The thing is I am fine with him being a MArk Grace type. But he isn't. Grace in 12 of 14 starting seasons had OBP over .370, many seasons hovering around .400..Loney has done it one time in 6 seasons and has a career .340ish OBP. So fine, be a gap hitter, but get on base. Ned is terrible I agree in that between lf, 3b, and first base were not gonna get the hitting we need to win.
And seriously we are going on 4 months of baseball now where Loney has hit about .220 with 4 homeruns in 400 at bats (or for you rbi types, 30 rbi in his last 400 at bats)
--
Alan I am not steadfast in the pitching will be fine debate..lol. I just think in general it will be more fine than what our offense will be. I would love for it to happen but have my doubt that both Either and Kemp will be OPs'ing over 1.000 all year.
Posted by: jason | 04/23/2011 at 09:13 PM
You called it 16. Not only pitching him 2 days in a row but expecting multiple inns. Hawksworth still has a starter's mindset. Cormier should be playing in mexico. Both should go down for anyone in Albequerque or Chatanooga. Here's to hoping Garland goes nine every time.
Posted by: N.P.Krohn | 04/23/2011 at 10:29 PM
hindsight will almost always be 20/20, but bullpen handling that led to saturday loss doesn't have to be a reverse look....
why does guerrier have to try to pitch an entire inning? let him throw ever how many pitches and batters and take him out
workload was not unreasonable entering saturday except for wusses
thurs - brox 28 pitches, guerrier 25
fri - jansen 25 pitches, cormier 17
If every bullpen pitcher has to avoid back-to-back days, this bunch is worse than I thought or believed. Kuo (DL now) I have no problem with, we're lucky he's pitching at all. Padilla (just back from DL) I have no problem with kit gloves until he's proven up and ready, which should be soon this coming week unless he needs more DL time. The rest, correct me where I'm wrong, but I am unaware of any excuse.
The job is to pitch when called upon, whether a batter, some outs, full inning or not a full inning. If they can't do that, shouldn't be on our team - or probably anybody else's.
We're not a great team, we have to pretty much max out in a lot of places to be a good team, meaning somewhere near .500 plus or minus. These are what I call 50/50 games, can go either way, and we've got to win a game up 3 runs, 6 outs to go, 5 relievers (guerrier in game 7 pitches thrown, hawksworth, cormier, jansen, brox) to choose from.
Posted by: alanw19 | 04/24/2011 at 04:59 AM
The Dodgers looked horrible yesterday in the field. It can only get better.
Posted by: California Sun | 04/24/2011 at 05:40 AM
Hawksworth? Worthless... Why the hell is this guy on the club.
He cannot find the plate, consistently throws pitches low and away..........
Posted by: waldobinney | 04/24/2011 at 08:43 AM
Wow!!!!! chill out people. The pitching obviously hasn't been as good as it's going to be but this team is starting score some runs, and they look like they at least have a pulse. Two weeks ago if they were down more than 3 runs I would have written them off but they are starting to show some heart. Our starting pitching has been pretty good actually. Lilly is a notoriously slow starter but at the end of the year he will do what he always does....10 or so wins with a ERA in the mid 3's which is exactly what you need from a #3. Kuroda and Garland are above average #4 and #5 starters. I am a little worried about our bullpen but if we can stay in the race, and trade for a legitimate closer (Heath Bell anyone?) we can contend. Yesterday was just one of those games. Let's win today and take the series.
Posted by: Kevin | 04/24/2011 at 09:19 AM
Ladies and gentlemen, I submit to you that, slight resurgence or not, this team is comprised of the same players as the week before when they sucked hind teet.
Frank owns this team, Ned built it, and Little Joe manages it (albeit a little better than Joe Sr.) Its got black holes in the outfield, infield, catcher and bullpen. Enjoy the wins when they happen, but don't get your hopes up. Like Alan19 said, we're not going anywhere until Frank goes first.
Posted by: Labeldude | 04/24/2011 at 10:01 AM
does anyone know or realize that russell martin (with the yankees) is hitting .333 with 6 dingers already? he only hit 5 with L.A. year. i'm guessing he's back on the juice again! maybe he's borrowing boli from a-rod. it seems like he needs a random drug test!
Posted by: Lakeshowinphx | 04/24/2011 at 10:10 AM
This was Don Mattingly's loss. All over LA people were yelling at the screen, right about the time that Guerrier had loaded the bases, to get him out of there. Even if he were the next Sandy Koufax he was clearly struggling. So what was Donny Boy's reasoning? Let him work his way out and it will toughen him up and he will be a better pitcher? Instead he leaves after totally tanking the game, probably damaging his confidence. And any loss for this team could be a critical loss. And what was DM doing pitching a relatively unproven pitcher, without anyone warming up in the bullpen? All Mattingly on this one.
Posted by: Michael Hurst | 04/24/2011 at 10:51 AM
Unless Bud Selig knows a whole lot more than he is saying right now I would bet that Selig will lose his job as Baseball Commissioner before Frank Mc Court loses the Dodgers. Granted Frank and Jamie went through a very public and embarrassing divorce. Frank relied on a legal document that was botched by his attorney. But the fact that the Dodgers were short of cash at the beginning of the season should not be a surprise. Season ticket sales dropped from a high of 27,000 a few years ago to 17,000 this year. Those tickets are paid for up front during December and January. So the Dodgers would be short about $30 million at the start of the season when the players paychecks begin. Mc Court knew that and so negotiated a 20 year deal with Fox that provided $375 million cash up front. More than enough money to put the Dodgers on solid financial ground, but the Commissioner is sitting on the paperwork and neither approving or disapproving the deal. If Selig is concerned about how Mc Court uses that money he certainly has the ability to condition his approval.
What we are witnessing is mob mentality that comes about as a result of the daily pummelling of Dodgers that has been led by Simers, Plaschke, et al. (who themselves work for a company in bankruptcy). Is it Frank Mc Courts fault that Jonathan Broxton fell apart in 2nd half last year and the big three of Kemp, Either and Loney could not hit with runners in scoring position. I think Ned Colletti is a genius. I like the teams he has put together. As a long time Top Deck season ticket holder ($6 per seat per game) I love the Dodgers and Frank Mc Court's stewardship has been good for me. They will not always win. They will make mistakes, but isn't that the case with most things?
Fortunately, this is a country ruled by law and not the mob. Frank Mc Court can be thankful he hired Steven Soberoff as well. This story isn't done by a long shot.
Geoffrey Vanden Heuvel
Posted by: Geoffrey VandenHeuvel | 04/24/2011 at 12:04 PM
Think I need to take a break from this blog - for a moment there, I thought the 19th post of this thread was serious.
Posted by: alanw19 | 04/24/2011 at 02:08 PM
Do not like how Mattingly is managing the pen. He is stuck in granite with predetermined #s of innings for each reliever NO MATTER how they're doing, leaving crap in when it smells all the way to here, and taking really good out if it's "time" to, acc to Grandpa's Rules of Relieving, 1931 edition, as if oblivious to what's going on---"I know this guy has loaded the bases and laboring so hard he's giving birth, but i gotta keep him out there and lose the game or i might screw up the bullpen rotation!!!" I remember when Davey Johnson let a pitcher hit with the bases loaded and the Dodgers behind by 2, when the pitcher was lucky to get out of the previous inning. He of course tapped out, then returned to the mound, and dug a deeper hole the team could not climb. After the game, Davey was quoted in the papers saying he didn't wanna hurt the bleepin bullpen rotation. Is that what D Baseball also thinks his job amounts to?
That kind of automatic pilot managing has gotten predictable. You can forecast what D Baseball will do 5 batters, as in 4 hits and a walk, ahead of his move. It's time for any responsible GM, which we don't have, to yank the manager and sit HIM down for a talk: "Donnie, Mr Bleepin Yankee Baseball, YOU are blowing games the team could win! If the reliever doesn't have it, you yank his butt. If another guy strikes out the side in 12 pitches, you leave his butt in. Got it?!" As stated, we don't have that guy. RIP, McCourt managerial team, ASAP.
Posted by: Native Angeleno | 04/25/2011 at 01:10 PM