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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2011 16:42:39 GMT -5
[shadow=red,left,300]Los Angeles Dodgers (9-9) @ Atlanta Braves (12-7)[/shadow] LAD: Jered Weaver (2-1, 3.10) ATL: Jose Ortegano (1-0, 3.79)Two seasons ago these two teams met in the NLCS where a pair of bullpen meltdowns by the Braves and a huge base hit by Blake Dewitt allowed the Dodgers to move on to the World Series. Since that time, the teams have gone in different directions. Last postseason, Atlanta's rotation was so strong, the Braves barely needed a bullpen in winning a championship. However, the Dodgers struggled and finished just two games over .500. This resulted in a season-long jettisoning of talent that has the Dodgers lineup a shell of what it once was. Gone are Matt Kemp, Ryan Braun, Andre Ethier, and Hanley Ramirez. In their place, the Dodgers starting outfielders and shortstop have combined to hit just three home runs while driving in 24 runs. Meanwhile, after some early season problems, the Braves enter on a roll, sweeping the NL Central-leading Cubs, and taking two of three from the NL West-leading D-Backs, as the Braves have won eight of nine. While the Braves offense has been a season-long concern, the pitching has been sharp, and that doesn't just mean Stephen Strasburg. Jose Ortegano is coming off an 8 inning, no run, four-hit performance in Chicago against a potent Cubs offense. The fifth-starter really got good mileage out of his changeup against the Cubs, keeping the potent lineup off balance for the duration. However, he didn't receive much run support in that 2-0 win over the Cubs, and he might receive less today. Atlanta is second-to-last in NL OPS, and their star second basemen Dustin Ackley is on the shelf for a week with a bad wrist. Riian Spanjer-Furstenberg has made the most of his opportunities, cracking four hits in 10 at bats with two homers and six RBI's the final two games versus the D-Backs, but aside from him, nobody has more than seven RBI, and only two regulars are hitting above .224. This could be a problem considering how strong Jered Weaver has been to begin the year. Garza, who comes over from the Angels, is having his best season since his 17-win 2010 campaign and is working with a 2-1 record, a 3.10 ERA, and a 1.07 WHIP to start 2014. He's had three starts where he's worked 8 innings and allowed only two runs. Weaver's tendency to pitch up in the zone might not hurt with Atlanta's inability to make consistent contact, and he's helped by a combined 2.8 zone rating by his starting outfielders. Since the game figures to be close, the dodgers bullpen has a huge advantage, as it's been the best in the NL. Ramon Troncoso, Javy Guerra, and Ronald Belisario are mostly fastball/breaking ball pitchers, with Guerra riding his breaking ball to get strikeouts, while the other guys induce weak ground balls. Meanwhile, Jonathan Broxton finally allowed a run on Saturday and took the loss---both first for the season---on a Yunier Castillo walk off. Prior to that, though, he had allowed only three hits in nine innings of work. Questions for the GMs, For Tomas Bekker, the Braves hit a respectable number of home runs, but don't generally make solid contact. However, Garza does pitch up in the zone. How do you attack Atlanta's lineup? How happy are you with the outfield production? Troy Glaus is hitting .115 on a rebuilding team. How long do you stick with him on the roster? For Anthony Valentine, last time we checked in with you, you were getting shut out by the Nationals. Are you still worried about the team's lack of offense? Cody Johnson hasn't hit for you and his defense has been poor. What do you expect out of him? Report is that Grady Sizemore's finger is still bothering him. Is this true?
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Post by Dustin Ackley on Jun 1, 2011 18:04:21 GMT -5
Sizemore did miss the last 3 weeks of Spring Training and was shoved back into the lineup. After starting out slow, he does have 4 hits in his last 8 ab's.
While a below-average defender, Johnson has not hurt the Braves in the field. While he won't be winning any awards, his power potential and impressive numbers in AAA last year, along with his lack of options make it tough for him to be sent down. The Braves don't have many options to take over in LF for him as Rule V pick Raymond Fuentes has strugged during his opportunities after a strong spring training.
This team is built around its Starting Pitching... Once Ackley gets healthy, and Zimmerman begins to hit... The Braves offense will be there when it matters.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2011 20:14:27 GMT -5
UPDATE: The Dodgers have tweaked their rotation: Jered Weaver will get the Monday start.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2011 6:48:20 GMT -5
While offense is down, pitching is doing very well so far. Our new look rotation has had a fine start to the season. Surprisingly only Billingsley is struggling. The bullpen is arguably the best in the NL at the moment, and the scary thing is it will only get better in the next few years.
Glaus keeps his place until Austin Gallagher is ready to take over. Gallagher has huge power potential and could one day be our clean up hitter. He is currently working on his defense at triple AAA.
We expect the outfield to get better. Blake Smith's bat should improve, and Elian Herrera's recent switch to left field should give us some more production from the outfield.
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Post by Derek _ Red Sox on Jun 2, 2011 7:19:35 GMT -5
I love this game of the week thing and I hope to see more GMs participate in the questions asked, I think it just adds another huge element to the league and a nice way for teams to learn about whats going on around the league, not just batting leaders or win/loss records.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2011 7:29:11 GMT -5
Iv'e got a question for the dodgers... If Billingsley continues to struggle into the summer, will you put him on the block?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2011 16:58:05 GMT -5
Iv'e got a question for the dodgers... If Billingsley continues to struggle into the summer, will you put him on the block? Don't know yet, probably.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2011 21:35:42 GMT -5
Weaver pitched well, but he didn't get enough support.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2011 22:54:38 GMT -5
I'm under the weather and about to get some sleep. Anyone want to get a recap of this game done, and a preview of the next one?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2011 0:27:37 GMT -5
I'll do the recap in 4 hours if somebody wants to do the next preview. (I would do the next preview but I think I might be a little baised..hehe)
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2011 4:27:21 GMT -5
Atlanta Braves 3 Los Angeles Dodgers 1
Jose Ortegano W (2-0) Jared Weaver L (2-2) Peter Moylan S (7)
The packed house at Turner field went home happy on a cool spring evening in Atlanta tonight.
Jose Ortegano, an unknown Venezuelan with a slender frame, out-dueled veteran Jared Weaver to earn his second win of the year and solidifed his spot as the Braves's 5th starter this season.
Ortegano pitched a gem of a game, only allowing 1 hit over 8 innings, using an efficient 92 pitches. He got ahead early and often in the counts and then mixed in his slider and change up to fool the impatient Dodger bats. LA had 10 ground ball outs and six strikeouts against Ortegano.
Weaver, also pitched well but may have ran out of gas in the 7th inning.
1B Riaan Spanjer-Furstenburg had a great at-bat to start the top half. He got behind in the count 1-2, but then worked it back to a full count before he muscled out a fast ball over the left field fence. Later in the inning RF Melky Cabrera singled home 2B Rafael Furcal and pinch hitter Raymond Fuentes to make it 3-0 Braves.
This game did have a little drama at the end when Atlanta's closer, Peter Moylan, came into the game. With one out the Dodgers rallied in the bottom of the 9th when, defensive specialist 2B Brian Bocock got lucky on a 0-2 inside fastball and doubled down the left field line. Then LF Elian Herrera moved Bocock over to third after a groundout, and Bocock crossed the plate after new addition Rebel Ridling flared a single to right field. However Ridling also killed the rally by greedily stretching his ducksnort into a double and was gunned down by RF Melky Cabrera to end the game!!
stay tuned for post game questions..
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2011 4:36:27 GMT -5
Dodgers
tough loss. It seems Weaver ran out of gas in the top half of the 7th. He has good stamina but really lost badly in an at bat battle with Riaan Spanjer Furstenburg. In the future, do you have any plan to pull Weaver earlier, or place a pitch count on him?
Did you have a word with Ridling after the game about his cowboy baserunning mentality? His baserunning blunder killed your rally against Moylan, and ended the game.
Do you have plans to upgrade your lineup via trade or callup, which looked anemic against Atlanta's 5th starter Ortegano?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2011 4:45:22 GMT -5
Braves,
Would you say that Ortegano has been a pleasant surprise for you this season?
Talk to us about RSJ's at bat in the 7th, and how can this help his confidence moving forward?
What was more clutch in your opinion: Melky Cabrera giving you insurance runs in the 7th with a two out, two RBI single....or Melky Cabrera's game ending assist, throwing out Rebel Ridling at 2nd base??
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Post by Dustin Ackley on Jun 3, 2011 8:25:51 GMT -5
Ortegano has pitched well for us in the past 2 seasons so we do have confidence in him when he's on the mound. Thrust into action 2 years ago, we sported a solid 3.51 ERA in 21 Starts (Along with 6 relief appearances). While he struggled some last year, he still had an ERA of 4.80 which was a product of a few bad starts.ose thru 8 great innings against a potent Cubs lineup in his previous start allowing only 4 hits and allowing no runs. While he's been a little more wild than we would like him to be (17:16 K:BB ratio in 32 IP he is holding Left-Handed Hitters to a .167 AVG and Right-Handed Hitters to a .193 AVG.
RSF after instant success in the Majors during an emergency call up last season, teams have found a way to pitch to him and they are having success. RSF needs to make the adjustments and get back on track. He knows what hes doing, and I have no worries that he won't find his way back to being a .300 hitter. He's currently leading the Braves in HR's and RBI's and I expect him to get his average back up soon.
As for Melky, both plays were the key to winning. Its always nice to get some add-on runs, and those 2 RBI's to put us up 3-0 definetly takes some pressure off of Ortegano and the bullpen. Melky has always been one of the better defenders on the Braves and with his Arm and Range and ability to play all 3 outfield positions, it makes him very valuable to our team.
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