Friday, April 11, 2008

Los Dodgers Series Preview

Wanna win? Gotta play right? Well, the benefit of not playing is you can't lose either which made yesterday's off-day fairly relaxing after the frustration that was the Giants series.

But, it's back to business with a 3-game series starting tonight in Los Angeles. But first, I wanted to draw your attention to a few things:

- Gaslamp Ball (http://www.gaslampball.com/) has a great post about whether Trevor Hoffman blows more games in tie games than in save situations. He then compares those numbers to Mariano Rivera. I can't do it justice really so head over there, say hello and check it out.

- Arizona Diamondback pitcher Doug Davis pitched his last game before undergoing treatment by having his thyroid removed. If you want to send well wishes, AZ Snake Pit is your place. http://www.azsnakepit.com/2008/4/9/391144/doug-davis-get-well-soon-t

- Through the first week and a half of games the Padres offense has looked great and terrible all at the same time. Case in point: The Padres team batting average of .282 is tops in the National League. However, that great average has only lead to 32 runs, good enough for 13th out of 16 NL teams. Getting guys on is great. Getting guys in...better. Let's hope we see more of that batting average with runners on (when the Padres team batting average drops to .244).

Padres vs Dodgers

If I have to get you pumped up for Padres/Dodgers, then you're probably reading the wrong blog. We know what this is and we know we hate the Dodgers. There's a slight bit of urgency right now as the Padres have dropped their last two series (1-2 against L.A., 1-2 against S.F.).

Game 1 will feature a rematch of the April 5th game in which Peavy spun a 2-hit complete game. This is also the first start for Peavy since the "infamous" mystery smudge pictures surfaced. Peavy vs Penny is by far the best matchup of the weekend and should be enough to draw attention away from that "other" rivalry across the country.

LCB prediction for the series: Padres take 2 of 3 behind Peavy on Friday and Young on Saturday.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Maybe this series will get more media coverage not only because of Peavy and Penny, but also because now we've got Torre involved too!

bfadds said...

GTH, I think you're good with this series also. The Dodgers started off hot, but once Rafael Furcal cooled, Jeff Kent remembered he was 40+, and Blake DeWitt realized he was a Double-A player, they came back to Earth. Let's also not forget about Andrew Jones, who has everyone wondering what in God's name happened to the former annual All-Star selection...

Good post, keep it up.

GTH said...

Where is Andrew Jones? 4 for 40 and one extra base hit? Ouch! I agree, the Dodgers without Jones are not a contender. Beyond Lowe and Penny, that pitching staff doesn't scare anyone. Great to get the series win up there.