Dodgers Go For 70th Win, 40th Road Win

In case you didn’t see last night, the Giants lost again in agonizing fashion. It was soooooo enjoyable. They had tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with a two-out hit. Then they lost it in the tenth. They lost to the White Sox. You can’t script this stuff.

So with that loss, the Dodgers are now six games up. The Boys in Blue had the largest division lead in the National League. At 69-52 the Dodgers have the best record in the league. The fun keeps going. This is fun. Even Orel, Charley and Normar were having a good time on the air last night. As Stacie was saying earlier, you don’t have to have a 42-8 run every year. Just winning series will do it for you.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Dodgers Lineup @ Atlanta

Gordon 2B

Puig CF

Gonzalez 1B

Kemp RF

Crawford LF

Uribe 3B

Ellis C

Rojas SS

Ryu P

Hyun-jin Ryu-13-5 vs. Ervin Santana-11-6

The Dodgers have now won all five games against Atlanta this year and with a win tonight, can clinch the series. The Dodgers haven’t won five consecutive games versus Atlanta since 1990. The Braves are just floundering. Talk about a nose dive. With the Dodgers Spanking the Braves this year, it means minimal chanting from the Atlanta crowd. That’s like music to our ears.

Anyways, last night we saw Dan Haren turn in another solid performance winning his tenth game. Tonight the Dodgers will give the ball to Hyun-jin Ryu. The Korean left hander has won four of his last five decisions, including last week’s seven inning shutout of the Angels.

Overall Ryu is 13-5 with a 3.21 ERA. He’s whiffed 115 and walked just 25 in 22 starts. His FIP is a beautiful 2.79. Ryu has faced the Braves twice in his career. He has no record, and a 2.13 ERA in 12.2 innings pitched. He’s made just one start at Turner Field. In that outing he threw five frames, allowing two earned runs on five hits. The Braves did rough him up a bit in game three of last season’s NLDS, but for the most part, Ryu has fared well against Atlanta. He has not faced them this year. Atlanta is 15 for 51 with a .294 batting average against Ryu.

Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

The Braves will counter with right hander Ervin Santana. I almost forgot he was with the Braves this year. He’s pitched well. He has an 11-6 record, with a 3.69 ERA in 22 starts. He’s whiffed 128 and walked 43 in 144 frames. His 8.0 whiff per nine rate, and 2.7 walk per nine rate are solid. His strikeout to walk ratio is about 3-1.

He is 4-4 with a 3.27 ERA in eight starts against the Dodgers. He’s whiffed 46 Dodgers against just 13 walks, and a 3.5 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio. He’s limited the Dodgers to a .240 (25 for 104) average against. Carl Crawford is batting .313 (10 for 32) with two doubles, and two triples off of Santana. Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp have both hit home runs.

The Dodgers should be rolling out a normal lineup today, but they have some house money to play with. Namely a six game lead. So I would expect some guys to get a rest before the club returns home on Firday.

Stacie was asking me about magic numbers yesterday. Is it time to start looking at those yet? Not yet, but we’re getting close. Only 41 games remain. The Dodgers are looking for their 70th win. They would be the first National League club to 70 wins this year. They’re also looking for their 40th win on the road.

We’re almost there guys. The playoffs are bound to be another wild ride, so buckle your safety belts. Now let’s stop the chop, and beat those Braves again!

Go Blue!

Stop The Chop!

Game Time – 4:10 PM