Game of the Week: June 17: LAD @ TEX

[Commissioner Erick]

Los Angeles Dodgers (43-20) @ Texas Rangers (29-34)


LAD: Gio Gonzalez (6-1, 2.33)
TEX: Justin Verlander (3-3, 4.30)


The Los Angeles Dodgers have seen all their obstacles for the NL West title fall to the wayside. The Texas Rangers have seen their World Series goals put on life support.

Two teams going in opposite directions, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Texas Rangers, square off for The Game of the Week.

With Colorado and San Francisco struggling, the NL West is basically sewn up for the Dodgers as they have a 14-game lead on San Diego. Los Angeles made a pair of trades with AL West teams since the beginning of last season, and those trades have paid huge dividends. From Texas, the Dodgers received Nomar Mazara, who will be taking swings against his old club. From Seattle, they received Jurickson Profar.

Mazara is hitting .323 with 16 doubles and 14 home runs thus far, and looks like an absolute stud. Only 24, he's third in batting average, and second in OPS. The Dodgers gave up a lot to get him, but he'll part of the next great Dodgers teams for a lifetime. Meanwhile, all Profar has done has lead the league in average and on-base percentage. Profar is getting on base at a .449 clip, which is astounding. Only Xander Bogaerts and Allen Cordoba have better strikeout rates, and he has seven home runs and eight steals to boot. The Dodgers, already blessed with riches, found a way to get a pair of jewels to lead their team.

The Rangers bet hard on the Mazara trade, getting Yasiel Puig and Corey Seager in return. Puig was a malcontent who was shipped out after virtually all the veterans were turned off by his ways. Meanwhile, Seager has fallen apart. The power is still adequate, but he's hitting only .229. Not blessed with great speed and not a premium defensive player, Seager needed his average to carry him. His swing falling off, along with Mazara's ascent and Puig's toxic personality, have made the deal a catastrophic one for Texas just a year after its execution.

Texas' pitching staff consists of five pitchers with ace pedigrees and four arms with ERAs of 4.90 or higher. The one that doesn't is tonight's starter Justin Verlander, and he appears to be getting by on smoke and mirrors. Verlander's velocity has deserted him, and he now throws around 90 miles an hour. All the fastballs blown past hitters, all the power secondaries, they're only in the past. Verlander can still command his pitches, but the strikeout numbers are down and the home runs are up. Getting by on guile can work, but it's a dangerous proposition against the best lineups.

The offense for Texas may be getting back to speed. The loss of Rougned Odor, maybe their most important hitter, really left a void. With Corey Seager struggling, there were too many dead spots in the lineup. He returned last week, and Texas put up a pair of double-digit run-scoring games. Francisco Mejia and Paul Goldschmidt are having essentially the same seasons they had a year ago, and Billy Hamilton is actually getting on base better than he did last season by a good amount. With a hitter of Odor's caliber re-entering the lineup, this may be a different Rangers team than we've seen for most of 2017.


Questions for the GMs:


For Troy Allenbuagh, when you signed Gio Gonzalez, did you expect that he'd be 6-1 with a 2.33 ERA, one of the six best pitchers in the NL by most metrics?

You obviously took a huge risk in the Mazara trade. Looking backwards, what convinced you to make that deal. Are you surprised Seager has played the way he has?

It looks like Willie Calhoun will no longer be your second baseman. You've given the job now to Michael de Leon who doesn't have much upside but has hit for a nice average, gotten on base, and played good defense the last two seasons for you. In the minors you have Ian Kinsler destroying Triple-A, and Logan Forsythe had 24 home runs for you last season. Ultimately, who will be your second baseman in the second half?

For Clayton Piper, on your end, the Nomar Mazara trade has been disastrous. Where did it go wrong?

You're giving a lot of playing time to Jarrod Dyson, a guy who didn't play at all in 2018. What is it about Dyson that has given you confidence to slot him into the outfield?

You have a very left-handed lineup going up against one of the best lefties going right now. You have a pitcher relying on knowledge and guile facing a young, dynamic Dodgers' offense. What's the gameplan to pull off an upset?

[Commissioner Erick]

Dodgers 9 - Rangers 8 (11)


WP: K. Jansen (6-1)
LP: J. Parra (0-1)
SV: W. Chen (2)



With the season Nomar Mazara has had, and the seasons Corey Seager and Yasiel Puig have had, you can say the Los Angeles Dodgers have been taunting the Texas Rangers all 2019.

After last night, you can say the taunting got even crueler.

The Texas Rangers blew a four-run lead, came back with a ninth-inning surge, and saw an extra-inning rally short, falling to the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-8 in 11 innings.

The game was particularly torturous in that Corey Seager was involved in a pair of late-inning comebacks, hitting a ninth inning double off Kenley Jansen and an eleventh-inning home run off Wei-Yin Chen. They still lost. In fact, they saw Nomar Mazara hit two doubles, a single, and a home run as he drove in three runs with four hits against their old team. Texas also gave up two home runs to a badly struggling Yasmani Grandal. It was a perfect example of their season where things have spiraled away in the most frustrating fashion.

It didn't start that way. The first five batters reached off Gio Gonzalez in the first, on the way to a pair of runs. There could have been more, but Yairo Munoz and Jarrod Dyson struck out with the bases full to end the inning. Texas added to their lead in the second. Billy Hamilton singled, advancing on an error on the play, before stealing his third base of the day. Francisco Mejia shot a ball up the middle for La Cabra's 26 RBI of the season making it 3-0. Texas added another run in the third when a hit batsman, error, force out, and single added a tally to their ledger, thus increasing their lead to 4-0.

Unfortunately, Texas went 0-5 with men in scoring position until the ninth inning, capping their offense.

The Dodgers took advantage. Yasmani Grandal, who had been having a rough season, homered to make it 4-2, before Nomar Mazara took one deep in the fifth to make it 4-3.

After the home run, both teams went to their bullpens. Gio Gonzalez had one of his worst starts of the year, allowing four runs on six hits and three walks over 4 innings. The Dodgers also committed two errors behind him while the Rangers stole five bases, making it a minor miracle he only allowed four runs. Meanwhile, all things considered, Justin Verlander had a solid day. He struck out five Dodgers over 5 innings, and though he allowed eight hits and three walks, managed to find a way to limit the damage basically every time. Only the two home runs put points on the board while Verlander was on the mound.

The Dodgers' middle releif pitchers were terrific, toeing the line until the ninth. Paco Rodriguez, Josh Fields, and Pedro Baez combined to go 4 scoreless innings. Rodriguez allowed two walks and a hit in his 1+ inning of work, but after a Fields' error on a pickoff throw put Hamilton on second with nobody out, Fields struck out Mejia, walked Paul Goldschmidt intentionally, and got Carlos Santana and Corey Seager on short fly balls to end the inning.

That bullpen work allowed the Dodgers to stay close until they could break through in the eighth. A weak infield hit by Michael de Leon followed by a sharp ground single by Alex Verdugo put runners on the corners with one out. A.J. Pollock hit a ground ball to short that could have ended the inning, but Yairo Munoz' relay throw and Pollock's speed beat it out allowing the tying run to score. Mazara followed with a big fly to put the Dodgers ahead after their inspiring comeback.

Texas, down to their final out in the ninth, didn't go quietly. Against Kenly Jansen, Corey Seager doubled to keep the game going, before brother Kyle homered to keep the Rangers alive, tying the score at 6-6.

In the eleventh, though, Texas called upon its eighth pitcher to work, Juan Parra. The former independent leaguer had been having a decent rookie year, but ran into trouble immediately, allowing hits to the first two men he faced. With the infield in, he got a pop up for the first out. However, with the count 1-2 to Grandal, Parra hung a changeup, and Grandal got all of it for a back-breaking three-run home run.

Corey Seager got some of the runs back with a two-run blast of Chen in the bottom of the eleventh, but the hole was too deep for Texas to crawl out of. Chen retired Kyle Seager on a groundout, dropping Texas to 29-35.


Questions for the GMs:


For Troy Allenbaugh, Yasmani Grandal's average has been really poor this year, but you continue to stick with him. He rewarded that loyalty with two huge home runs. What is about Grandal that has you sticking with him day in and day out?

Josh Fields worked 2 big innings, lowering his ERA to 2.30. He also has closing experience in the past. If Jansen continues to struggle, any thoughts on replacing him with Fields?

Michael de Leon started and had another multi-hit game as he continues his uncannily strong start to his career. Will he be your second baseman going forward?

For Clayton Piper, it's been a horrendous go of it. First and foremost, are there any positives you can glean from the game?

You gave Monte Harrison a look and he went 0-5. How will he be deployed going forward?

Corey Seager committed an error, and Munoz' slow turn on a double play contributed to Mazara's home run in the ninth. Do you look at your defense as a trouble spot right now?

[dodgerstroy]

For Troy Allenbaugh, Yasmani Grandal's average has been really poor this year, but you continue to stick with him. He rewarded that loyalty with two huge home runs. What is about Grandal that has you sticking with him day in and day out?

Josh Fields worked 2 big innings, lowering his ERA to 2.30. He also has closing experience in the past. If Jansen continues to struggle, any thoughts on replacing him with Fields?

Michael de Leon started and had another multi-hit game as he continues his uncannily strong start to his career. Will he be your second baseman going forward?

Great questions, first I would like to address Grandal... The Dodgers have been waiting for him to find his stroke and his eye for the plate again. Its easier to do when you have a large lead in the division. However, with that being said the catching duties will be split between him and Austin Barnes for the remainder of the season.

Josh Fields has exceled in his position and will stay there, Jansen is our Closer.

Michael DeLeon has taken over the second base duties and baring injury will stay there this year. We will see what happens in the future but he has a head start with his positive results over the past 143 games.