Only solace I can take from our abortion of a ninth inning is that we ended up hurting the Dodgers, as Lester can start game 1 on full rest. You're welcome, Cubs

Ha!

Here's a great quote from one of the bloggers at dodgersdigest...

Chad Moriyama from dodgersdigest Wrote:...inevitably the playoffs devolve into desperate messes and that’s probably the best chance for the Dodgers to survive and advance yet again.

Sounds about right to me.

Maeda will start Game 1 tomorrow; Kershaw Game 2 (regular rest considering yesterday was his between starts throwing day).

1st factoid of the night:
The 8 position players in the Dodgers' lineup tonight went 3 for 32 against Jon Lester this year. That is not a typo!

so Maeda now 14 earned runs allowed in last 4 starts- in 11 innings. 11.45 ERA.

this game is an absolute must win for the Cubs. going down 1-0 with Kershaw going tomorrow would be devastating.

I'm a little disappointed about the loss but I really didn't think Maeda had much of a chance to beat Lester. Dodgers tied the game with Chapman on the mound and that's huge. Blanton making a mistake? Happens. Feeling as good as I can considering the situation.

(10-16-2016 12:31 AM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  I'm a little disappointed about the loss but I really didn't think Maeda had much of a chance to beat Lester. Dodgers tied the game with Chapman on the mound and that's huge. Blanton making a mistake? Happens. Feeling as good as I can considering the situation.

yeah, but now the Dodgers are in an absolute must win tomorrow with Kershaw pitching. If they lose, the series is over. They aren't going to beat the Cubs 4 of 5 games with Kershaw only starting once. Even if they start him on short rest in 5 so they could come back to him game 7 in relief(which I don't think they would do).

heckuva game. go cubs go!

(10-16-2016 12:38 AM)stever20 Wrote:  

(10-16-2016 12:31 AM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  I'm a little disappointed about the loss but I really didn't think Maeda had much of a chance to beat Lester. Dodgers tied the game with Chapman on the mound and that's huge. Blanton making a mistake? Happens. Feeling as good as I can considering the situation.

yeah, but now the Dodgers are in an absolute must win tomorrow with Kershaw pitching. If they lose, the series is over. They aren't going to beat the Cubs 4 of 5 games with Kershaw only starting once. Even if they start him on short rest in 5 so they could come back to him game 7 in relief(which I don't think they would do).

Right, but that isn't really different than how things looked yesterday.

Fun facts: Dodgers going against the league ERA leader in Hendricks today (2.13). Kershaw was lower but didn't qualify because he was short 13 innings. If he HAD pitched an extra 13? He could have given up 10 runs in those 13 and STILL would have been the ERA leader.

1-0 top 7 but Kershaw incredibly efficient (72 pitches). Seems like he's got a lot in the tank. 1 run lead late is never comfortable but I think this is about as good as I can feel under the circumstances.

Cub domination is officially postponed.

If Kershaw and Jansen can pitch all 9 innings in 3 more games in this series, the Dodgers are set.

On Tuesday Jansen goes 6 and Kershaw goes 3? Sounds like a winning formula. They can do that, right?

thing that's amazing to think with Kershaw-
2014 IP 211 total
2015 IP 246.1 total
2016 IP 168.1 total

Kershaw looks very fresh right now. Looking at last year, he was at 169 IP after the start on August 18. From that point on regular season- he was 6-1 with a 1.55 ERA. 10/89 bb/k ratio in 63.2 IP.

(10-17-2016 12:29 PM)stever20 Wrote:  thing that's amazing to think with Kershaw-
2014 IP 211 total
2015 IP 246.1 total
2016 IP 168.1 total

Kershaw looks very fresh right now. Looking at last year, he was at 169 IP after the start on August 18. From that point on regular season- he was 6-1 with a 1.55 ERA. 10/89 bb/k ratio in 63.2 IP.

Threw only 84 pitches in 7 innings. He's just about a lock to start Game 5 if they're down 3-1.

Looks like the Sports Fairy dumped a whole truckload of magic fairy dust on the city of Cleveland this year....

Jayson Stark ESPN Senior Writer:

"How bout the starting pitching in this NLCS. Top 5 in starter ERA since 9/1/15:



1. Clayton Kershaw 1.69
2. Rich Hill 2.00
3. Kyle Hendricks 2.26
4. Jon Lester 2.43
5. Jake Arrieta 2.59"

Gotta get something solid out of Hill tonight!

Urias announced for Game 4 and rumor has it that Kershaw will pitch Game 5 if it's 3-1 or 1-3. 2-2 it's Maeda?