Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
This is the first time Juan Uribe hasn’t been a Dodger since before the 2011 season. They lost tonight without Uribe in the organization. Coincidence??? (yes)
While Uribe didn’t have much involvement in the outcome offensively (0-for-3, walk, two strikeouts, a nice ovation from the crowd), he knocked down a sure A.J. Ellis double play ball in the bottom of the ninth (was a fielder’s choice). Still, the Braves got the best of the Dodgers 3-2 on Wednesday night.
Atlanta got on the board first with a legitimate home run from Cameron Maybin off Zack Greinke in the third inning. It was hit a 424 feet and left the bat at 104 MPH. Like I said, legit.
Greinke didn’t have his best command, as he was at 59 pitches through three innings and ended up throwing 97 in six innings. He was squeezed a bit by the home plate umpire, but so was Braves’ starter Alex Wood. Something something robot umps. He ended up striking out nine and giving up just three hits. The line looks good, but it was a struggle for Granick.
The Dodgers got on the board with a run-scoring single from Justin Turner that scored Jimmy Rollins. The offense was held in check by Wood, who should prove to form a solid 1-2 with Julio Tehran (despite his poor showing last night). Alex Guerrero hit his ninth home run of the season in the ninth inning (of course he did), but that’s as close as the Dodgers would get. Alberto Callaspo flied out to end the game as a pinch-hitter.
Trouble came calling in the eighth inning. Chris Hatcher began the inning by allowing a single to Andrelton Simmons and walking the always dangerous Todd Cunningham on four pitches. Adam Liberatore came in and looked like he might preserve the 1-1 score. On a 3-1 pitch to Freddie Freeman, Liberatore uncorked a 96 MPH fastball that went to the backstop. It allowed Simmons to score. Nick Markakis would follow with a ground-rule double to put the Braves up 3-1.
Friendly reminder about Hatcher, et al.
Reliever ERA after 15 innings doesn't matter for analyzing how good a pitcher is, by the way.
— Daniel Brim (@DanielBrim) May 28, 2015
True. But Hatcher has struggled with his command this season. His walk rate is just 3.1 per nine innings, but his hits per nine innings (11.3) is where it shows. He isn’t able to place his fastball and off-speed stuff where he wants it, and his ERA (and perception among the fan base) is suffering because of it. Perhaps it’d be good for him to be used in lower-leverage situations until he figures out his command.
The Dodgers are off on Thursday to travel to St. Louis for a 3-game weekend set with the Cardinals. Mike Bolsinger (3-0, 0.71 ERA) takes on John Lackey (2-3, 3.18 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. Pacific time.
