July 26th, 2013 at 7:44 am 
by Ron Cervenka Anyone who was at Thursday night’s game at Dodger Stadium undoubtedly noticed that the team appeared to be a bit flat. It wasn’t something that was blatantly obvious and if you were watching the game on TV you might not have even noticed it. It was one of those things that you just sort of noticed when the team came off or went back onto the field between innings which, of course, was not visible to those watching the game on TV because of the commercial breaks. Again, it wasn’t something blatantly obvious, just a lack of spring in their step.
The first thing that came to mind upon seeing this was the fact that because of MLB’s sometimes really dumb scheduling, the Dodgers concluded their series in Toronto with the final game being a night game with a 7:07 PM local start time (where did that come from – as opposed to… say… 7:05 or 7:10 PM?). Games on getaway day with a lengthy flight afterwards should always have a 1:10 PM local start time. Granted, a late start time might be favorable for television viewers, but they are an absolute butt-kicker for the team when they have a four or five-hour flight after these games – which somehow always seem to be extra-inning games. As I said, my first thought was that the boys were simply exhausted after their all-night flight home (they arrived around 5 AM PT).
There is no way that a cross country flight after a late-night game in an eastern time zone doesn’t have a negative effect on a team. (Google Images)
I also noticed that Dodger hitters were the victim of the ‘atem ball’ – you know, where they hit the ball hard but hit it right at ’em. There isn’t much a team can do when this happens as they are usually just a fraction of an inch or a fraction of a second off from these balls going for hits. It’s just one of those things in the game of baseball and the only remedy is to just keep hitting the ball hard somewhere and eventually it will go through or fall for a hit.
Adrian Gonzalez hit two ‘atem’ balls on Thursday night. Fortunately there was a runner on third base both times and they both scored. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
Another consideration is that the Dodgers are now playing a much more worthy opponent in the Cincinnati Reds. I mean let’s be real here, the recently concluded six-game road trip was against two teams that are struggling right now whereas the Reds are and have been hot all season long and are most likely playoff bound. The Dodgers also went up against Reds ace Mat Latos who pitched extremely well, and they then had to face one of the most dominate closers in the game in Aroldis Chapman.
Having to face an Aroldis Chapman 102 MPH fastball in the 9th inning after getting very little sleep the night before has to be extremely difficult, yet the MLB continues to schedule late games on getaway days. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
It was also evident that Dodger co-ace Zack Greinke did not bring his ‘A game.’ It’s not that he was bad, it’s just that he made a couple of huge mistake pitches which landed in the Right and Left Field Pavilions respectively.
And then there is Carlos Marmol who, quite frankly, shouldn’t even be on this Dodger team. Why Dodger GM Ned Colletti saw fit to grab this guy off the trash heap after he was DFA’d by a (near) last place team is yet another one of those Ned Colletti all-to-frequent unsolved mysteries. The Dodgers went from worst to first in 30 days on the strength of their suddenly explosive offense and on the shoulders of their extremely successful bullpen. Why Ned even considered screwing with this successful recipe makes no sense whatsoever. As they say: ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!’
Regardless, the Dodgers have their other co-ace Clayton Kershaw on the mound tonight and the boys should be well rested (barring any late-night excursions to the Playboy Mansion or other popular L.A. hot spots) and they should come out of the gate hard and fast tonight. They will, however, have to contend with the Reds hard-throwing right-hander Homer Bailey, who just so happens to have the last no-hitter of 2012 and the first no-hitter of 2013.
Stay tuned…
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Homer Bailey has given up 27 hits in his last 18 innings since the no hitter and 11 earned runs. He did strike out 12 in his last outing against Pittsburgh. No matter – you have to be able to beat the good ones too.
Don’t know where the 7:07 P.M. start time comes from. The Jays game tonight is again at 7:07 P.M. and the Tigers game starts at 7:08 P.M. Must be an ET thing. If I knew how to reach the Blue Jay announcers – they field questions – I would ask about the unusual start time.
I expect the team was a bit weary for the game last night. Tonight will be a better test.
Talked to my friend Wayne last night about his trip to Toronto for the Dodger series. He really is a Blue Jays fan. He had a great time and especially complimented Andre Ethier and Skip Schumaker for their friendliness to the fans, spending time and talking. Wayne was irritated that the fans get to see the opposing team take batting practice but not the Jays. Another head scratcher.
Yes, last night was a combination of bad luck hitting right-at and jet lag. If Greinke doesn’t serve up the big hanger to Bruce, it is a different game. It takes a lot of energy to come back and it seems like they have been doing that a lot lately. It almost felt like a possibility in the 9th but then fizzled. Maybe too much to ask after such a great run.
The 7:07 start time is because you Canadians use the metric system for time, right Harold?
Never thought of that Kevin. LOL.
All those things you mentioned in this article, I agree most likely contributed to the loss. I was also wondering if the Dodgers were due for a low scoring game. It always seems like sooner or later the hitting slumps a little after scoring runs like 9,14,10 and 8 in cosecutive games. Sooner or later they would run into a Mat Latos along the way.
Let’s hope things go back the way they were and as you say, this was just a bump in the road.
I thought the Dodgers were somewhat unlucky last night. As you mentioned, the Dodgers were hitting the ball hard, but right at the Reds defense. Crawford could have had like 3 hits last night. He was driving the ball as well as I’ve seen since his return.
As for Marmol, unpopular opinion here, but I’m not ready to say he’s done yet. He’s pitched like 2 innings, and IMO, I thought he got unlucky last night. Marmol got a bunch of groundballs; one of them probably should have been a double play. Plus, his velocity is still there. I think the Dodgers are thinking the same thing. They want to see what they have in Marmol, hence they got rid of Lilly.
Oh and also, as a former pitcher myself, I could relate to the way Marmol was pitching last night. He got down in the count 2-0, but both of those pitches were quality pitches down near the knees. The Reds did a good job laying off of them. You always want to make sure that the first pitch is a quality pitch, and a lot of times, you don’t mind if it’s a ball, as long as it’s real close. Just my 2 cents.
So let me ask you CY – when Jose Dominguez is ready to come off the DL next week, would you prefer that he be sent back down to Albuquerque and keeping Marmol instead?
Not me.
No, I’d rather have Dominguez. I think the organization is actually being smart by taking a look at Marmol and Brian Wilson, because I think Jansen is being taxed too much.