Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Donnie Baseball: You're Freakin' Killin' Me!




Donnie can't hide behind his shades
More Baddingly Moves

As the Dodgers face elimination tonight in Game 4 of the NLDS, I can’t help it—I want to slap manager Don Mattingly silly. His in-game “strategy” continues to confound L.A. fans. Going back to Game 1, he let an obviously spent Clayton Kershaw (game time temperature was 100 degrees) stay in the game, behind 1-0 in the 7th inning, until he walked the bases loaded. Then he brought in Pedro Baez, arguably the worst reliever in their bullpen in that type of situation. While his stats look decent from afar, up close, Mattingly KNOWS that batters have around a .330 batting average against Baez on his first batter of an inning. Of course David Wright lines a two-run single, effectively ending the Dodgers chances. In Game 3 he not only inserted dead-legged, weak-armed, no- hits-left-in-his bat Jimmy Rollins into the lineup, but also batted him second. WTF, Donnie!

Dodgers in 5.


Yes, I know that Kershaw is going on short rest tonight, and that has not usually boded well for him in the past, but I believe that he will come up big in tonight’s game. He will finally get the monkey off his back and win a huge postseason game for the Dodgers. Losing streaks only last so long for great players, and Kershaw is one of those types. The matchup is also favorable for Kershaw and the Dodgers, as Stephen Matz, the lefty going for the Mets, is coming off of a back problem, and the rookie is starting only his seventh game. Matz will either succumb to his creaky back or the weight of a stadium full of playoff starved Mets fans. Kershaw will thrive and carry his team. Also on the Dodgers side is that their big bats are awakening—finally. Gonzalez and Henricks both homered in the loss yesterday, and Justin Turner continues to scorch the ball. I think Kershaw will go 6 strong innings, followed by 1 nail-biting inning from Chris Hatcher, and 2 from closer Kenley Jansen because it’s now or never. Then it’s Grienke pitching in Game 5 and onto the LCS.

Ugly Uniforms And Other Random NLDS Thoughts
  • Mets donning minor league uniforms
    Pinstripe pants and a solid jersey is a good look…if you are playing in Double A. 
  • Noah Syndergaard’s big eye (or little one, depending on how you look at it) kind of freaks me out. Not trying to be mean. Just sayin’. 
  • I love hearing Mets fans chanting “we want Utley.” Not gonna happen unless they go back to L.A. Haha! 
  • Mets pitchers Noah Synergaard and Jacob deGrom should have a man-bun-off. 
  • I love that the Cardinals are down 2 -1 to the Cubs. I still think St. Louis will win though. Sorry Cubbies. 
  • Sorry Ernie Johnson, but MLB is not your thang. You are better hanging at halftime with the Chuckster. 
  • Ron Darling needs to dial back his Met-ness. I can’t stand his bias. I really want the Dodgers to wipe that stupid smirk off of his face. 
GO DODGERS!

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