Results tagged “rafaelfurcal”

This game was supposed to be an exhibition by St. Louis Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter to display his dominance over a completely overmatched Dodgers club. But what was the name of the game? Let’s leave runners on base! The Dodgers and Cardinals broke an NLDS record combining for 30 runners left on base. Three times the Dodgers had the bases loaded only to bring home one runner - and that was on a hit batsman.

Dylan Hernandez, the 28-year-old Dodgers beat writer for the Los Angeles Times, is set to embark on his second full season covering the team. The native Southern Californian and graduate of UCLA has worked for a slew of papers before the Times hired him in 2007. He recently ended one of the more difficult periods in his professional life: covering the Manny Ramirez saga for the Times through sleepless nights and hundreds of stories. I recently caught up with him about the rigors of covering the sport, how traditional sports journalism has been affected by baseball bloggers and what has to happen for the Dodgers to resign Manny Ramirez.

Ken Rosenthal from Fox Sports is reporting that shortstop Rafael Furcal has decided to rejoin the Dodgers. Details of the agreement and whether it's really happening is unclear at this point. This week has seen Furcal going to the Oakland A's and Atlanta Braves, so until something concrete happens, it's best to be wary.

LA Lakers defeat New York Knicks 116-114. The Lakers are a very infuriating team. They had moments of great defensive stops which led me to believe they play defense only when they want to. They also missed a lot of shots right under their basket by being tentative and trying to lay it in rather than dunking authoritatively. This against a team that has no big man! Even though the Lakers are now 21-3, why does it seem so unfulfilling?

San Jose Sharks defeat LA Kings 3-2 (SO). The Kings really brought their A-game at the Staples Center against the best team in the league. They took an early 2-0 lead in the first period, but the Sharks naturally came back to tie things up in the second period. However the Kings stayed with it and kept the Sharks scoreless for the remainder of the game. The Kings get a point for the overtime loss, and they are really showing the promise of good things to come in the future.

LA Dodgers defeat Cincinnati Reds 6-1. Can the Dodgers play the Reds everyday? Seriously. Not only do the Dodgers score more than one run, they give beleaguered starter Derek Lowe run support. Pitching on a strict count, Lowe pitched only 5 1/3 innings making 85 pitches giving up only one run on three hits with six strikeouts. James Loney helped the cause hitting a solo homer and an RBI double. Dare we wish for three straight wins?

What a glorious day for baseball. Not too hot, not too cold and a bright blue sky. Well as bright as it can get in LA.

So the guys are in Vero Beach now, and now my sphincter pulsates in anticipation for March 31: Opening Day at Dodger Stadium.

Rockies 10, Dodgers 4 - Los Angeles was swept by Colorado. Again. At home. Where's the heart? Where's the effort? When we looked at the schedule before the season, it looked like LA would be able to propel itself into the playoffs with a bunch of late games against the lowly Rockies. Instead, the Rockies have made a wild card charge on the shoulders of the Boys in Blue. They've won 11 in a row,...

Fuck Bill Plaschke. Fuck TJ Simers. Fuck the LA Times. Fuck Grady Little. Fuck Ned Colletti. Fuck Frank McCourt. Fuck Jeff Kent. Fuck the Dodgers. When I read Plaschke’s column Wednesday morning that basically put Matt Kemp in the hangman’s noose, my blood started to boil. How does he have the unmitigated gall to scapegoat Kemp and let the veterans have a free pass just because they have “experience”? This entire mess became public...

After I declared the Dodger season over last week, they go and make me look like a complete asshole by winning the next four games in convincing fashion. But thanks to the Giants, I didn’t look like a complete asshole. As the Dodgers won game after game, the Giants tanked game after game against the wild card leading Padres. With each win instead of inching closer to the postseason, they were merely jogging on...

Photo by Jory'z Shotz via Flickr. Ex-Padre David Wells sent his ex-teammates on a loooooooong trip home to San Diego last night. Just when you thought the season was over, the Dodgers win two-in-a-row against the insanely awesome Padres. It was Maddux vs Wells (old vs old?). Wells allowed only 4 hits, Maddux allowed 11 including 2 from Wells himself (his first multi-hit game ever). Dodgers win 6-3. Saito made his impressive 38th save...

The Dodgers are winning. They’ve won nine of their last 13 games crawling back to 4 ½ games within the NL West lead. It looks like a rosy picture, but I’m still not buying into it. The problem is the Dodgers are merely a singles-hitting team that can only run station-to-station. Of their 1,232 hits 225 are doubles (ranked 13th in the NL), 27 are triples (tied for 8th) and 96 are home runs...

The Dodgers hitters shortened up their swings. They were a bit more patient at the plate. They hit with runners in scoring position. And most importantly of all the Dodgers won a game! In fact Tubby got the first victory for a Dodger’s starting pitcher since July 26th when he posted a 5-4 at Colorado. Now Tubby didn’t have his best stuff. The Astros managed to get 10 hits off of him in six...

I know I said I wouldn't do a write up on this game, but what happened in the ninth inning just can't be left unsaid. Picture this. Andre Ethier doubled to right, and then moves to third on a wild pitch during Shea Hillenbrand's at bat. Hillie walks. Mark Sweeney hits a pinch-hit single that scores Andre Ethier. THE DODGERS SCORE ON A HIT WITH A RUNNER IN SCORING POSITION!!!! Dodger's are still losing...

Dodgers 5, Reds 4, 11 - After being shutout for 28 innings, the Dodgers scored early and late to snap their six game skid. Rafael Furcal yo-yo'd throughout the game. After scoring on a sac fly in the first, he stranded runners in scoring position three different times. He redeemed himself in the 11th, smacking the game-winning home run. Takashi Saito got the save. DC United 1, Galaxy 0 - In the humid rain of...

What will it take for the Dodgers to score a run? I’ll give Grady Little some credit in tweaking the lineup a little in Wednesday’s 1-0 loss to the Reds. Juan Pierre was the leadoff batter with Rafael Furcal hitting second. Andre Ethier was put in the fifth spot, and Luis Gonzalez was given the night off. But that’s about all the credit I’ll give him for now. Something that absolutely confuses me is...

Thank heavens baseball is back. Despite my week of partaking in bacchanal debaucheries there was a void akin to eating empty calories. But enough about me.

Dodgers 7, Braves 6 - It feels like a good summer in LA. The weather is hot, the Dodgers are in first, three of the Blue Crew are going to the All Star Game, and everybody has the day off for the 4th. Well, almost everybody. The Dodgers will be back in action tonight and hope for some more on-field fireworks. Last night they connected for 13 hits to power home 7 runs. Wilson Betemit...

Which team has the best record in the National League? Two teams share this distinction: the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

B-Dizzle Up-Dizzle - LA's last hope is out of the NBA playoffs. The Utah Jazz beat the Golden State Warriors 100-87 and took the series in five games. It was a battle until the end, and we mean battle.  There were 50 personal fouls, 31 against the Warriors. Several were flagrants and technicals. Ducks 5, Red Wings 0 - After stealing home ice advantage with a split in Hockeytown, USA, the Ducks were cooked when they...

Ducks 3, Canucks 2, OT - Trailing 2-0 in the final period, Anaheim came storming back in Vancouver. All three of the team's goals came within 20 minutes of ice time, the last one just a couple minutes after the puck was dropped in overtime. The Ducks now lead the series 3-1 and can advance with a win at home on Thursday. Dodgers 2, Diamondbacks 1 - Brad Penny is still smoking hot, hurling six...

Brad Penny is the man of my dreams. Ok not really, but any man who can pitch seven scoreless innings to beat the San Francisco Giants 2-1 on the road deserves a little nookie, right?

Well after two games, there's sure a lot to wallow in. New acquisitions Luis Gonzalez and Juan Pierre are 0-for-15. Starting pitchers Derek Lowe and Randy Wolf have combined for a not-so-stellar 9.00 ERA in 10 innings. And Rafael Furcal remains mired on the disabled list with a sprained ankle (not necessarily the best of injuries for a speedy lead-off hitter).

Every night around midnight LAist will tell you what went down the day before in the world of LA sports Since both the Lakers and Clippers are off today, as they prepare to square off against each other tomorrow night, let's turn our attention on the Blue Crew. Today the Dodgers signed Nomar to $18.5 million for two years of fun. They are also close to signing Juan Pierre to $45 million for four years...

This evening was another tough day for the Dodgers at Flushing Meadows. After ending the season with a seven game winning streak they start the National League Division Series by losing the first two games. They came up short in yesterdays’ game losing 6 to 5, and looked lackluster tonight in a 4 to 1 loss.

We told you to watch this game. We told you to watch Rafael Furcal who has been hot, and sure enough he hit a homer tonight. But so did half of the Dodgers. Four of them in a row. In a game that might permanently stop LA fans from leaving early, in the bottom of the ninth, friends, down 9-5, after just giving up three runs to San Diego in the top of the...

When the Dodgers had just a two game lead on the Padres, LAist was shocked at the air of confidence that locals had that the Blue Crew were going to just cruise into the playoffs without a care in the world. Well yesterday the other shoe dropped and so did the Dodgers when San Diego continued their dominance over LA with a 2-1 victory, extending their season series lead over the home team to...

The Cincinnati Reds, in town the past 3 days, were in 2nd place in the Central Division and 1st place in the Wild Card standings when the series started. They have a formidable line-up that includes future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey, Jr., slugger Adam Dunn, former Dodger David Ross, gruff and hard-nosed player Ryan Freel, and rookie phenom Edwin Encarnacion. Fortunately, these Reds were no match for the mighty men in Blue this week. Cincinnati was swept and they now find themselves a game and a half behind the Padres in the Wild Card race. The Blue Crew earned a 5 game winning streak.

1. Two words: Hall of Fame shoo-in Greg Maddux (328 wins) is pitching like a HOF shoo-in. Two earned runs in 12 innings isn't bad for an old man who looks like Ferris Bueller. 2. When Rafael Furcal is hitting homers (three in the last 12 games), the big Dodger in the sky is smiling down on you. 3. Just like "Moneyball" says, spending big bucks on closers is silly. Much love to Game...