Post by Blunashun on Mar 31, 2018 13:11:48 GMT
Wood superb but Jansen stung by homer
Starter turns in eight scoreless innings, gets no run support
By Ken Gurnick MLB.com @kengurnick
Mar. 30th, 2018
LOS ANGELES -- First Clayton Kershaw on Thursday, then Kenley Jansen on Friday night, the Dodgers' two best pitchers beaten by Joe Panik home runs in a pair of shocking 1-0 losses to the Giants to open the season, sending media to the record books and fans into a Panik.
The only other time the Dodgers were shut out in the first two games of the season was 50 years ago. The only other team to open a season with back-to-back 1-0 losses was the 1943 Cardinals, who lost to the Reds. The Dodgers lost back-to-back 1-0 games for the first time since 2000 and the Giants won back-to-back 1-0 road games for the first time since 1908. Panik is the first player to homer in back-to-back 1-0 wins.
www.baseball-reference.com/teams/STL/1943.shtml
Add to that Jansen's cutter velocity struggling to touch 90 mph, all of it undermining Alex Wood's spectacular eight scoreless innings of one-hit ball, and it left the Dodgers reassuring the populace that freaking out two games into the season is a little premature.
Add to that Jansen's cutter velocity struggling to touch 90 mph, all of it undermining Alex Wood's spectacular eight scoreless innings of one-hit ball, and it left the Dodgers reassuring the populace that freaking out two games into the season is a little premature.
"No, that's not how we scripted it," said Roberts. "[Jansen's] first outing in Spring Training, he touched 94. As I've learned, when his velocity is down, it's mechanical. He's a big body guy, but I do think when it's 4 miles an hour, 3 miles an hour, it's not a health thing. He feels great, feels strong. It's not usage. It's a mechanics thing and he'll work through it.
"The ball to Panik was belt-high, 89, kind of a cement mixer right there, in his nitro zone. Very uncharacteristic of Kenley."
And, Roberts insisted, four errors by his club -- three by Logan Forsythe, subbing at third for the injured Justin Turner -- were equally uncharacteristic.
"That'll be the last time, I can assure you, that will happen to Logan," Roberts said. "Just one of those nights, one I'm sure he wants to forget. Very uncharacteristic of our defense."
Then again, there was Wood. Stuck in the bullpen a year ago, he parlayed a breakout, All-Star season in 2017 into the No. 2 starter role in 2018 and began it pitching like an ace, allowing only a perfectly placed chop infield single by Brandon Crawford with two out in the fifth inning.
"I'm sure everybody's freaking out because we lost our first two, but we have a great ballclub," said Wood. "Keep the big picture in mind."
Wood's fastball didn't light up the radar gun either, but he kept all pitches low and the Giants had as much trouble squaring them up as the Astros did when he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning against them in the World Series.
"Wood's very deceptive," said Panik. "He made a lot of pitches pitching backwards."
"Woody, to his credit, outpitched [Cueto]," said Roberts. "Went eight innings. Stuff was really good, unfortunately, we couldn't support him."
Ah, yes, run support. Any day now would be nice.
"We had this a couple years ago, it's just more magnified right now," said Roberts. "We're still aware that it's 18 scoreless innings, we understand that. We've got good players. Give credit to those guys, they pitched well against us."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Can't cash in: The Giants had their best early chance after Forsythe's fourth-inning error. Panik bunted Austin Jackson to second base, but Andrew McCutchen struck out and Buster Posey grounded to shortstop.
Still got it: Left fielder Matt Kemp, whose defense has been the Dodgers' biggest area of concern, made a long run to flag down Jackson's towering fly on the warning track in the corner to end the top of the eighth inning.
Starter turns in eight scoreless innings, gets no run support
By Ken Gurnick MLB.com @kengurnick
Mar. 30th, 2018
LOS ANGELES -- First Clayton Kershaw on Thursday, then Kenley Jansen on Friday night, the Dodgers' two best pitchers beaten by Joe Panik home runs in a pair of shocking 1-0 losses to the Giants to open the season, sending media to the record books and fans into a Panik.
The only other time the Dodgers were shut out in the first two games of the season was 50 years ago. The only other team to open a season with back-to-back 1-0 losses was the 1943 Cardinals, who lost to the Reds. The Dodgers lost back-to-back 1-0 games for the first time since 2000 and the Giants won back-to-back 1-0 road games for the first time since 1908. Panik is the first player to homer in back-to-back 1-0 wins.
www.baseball-reference.com/teams/STL/1943.shtml
Add to that Jansen's cutter velocity struggling to touch 90 mph, all of it undermining Alex Wood's spectacular eight scoreless innings of one-hit ball, and it left the Dodgers reassuring the populace that freaking out two games into the season is a little premature.
Add to that Jansen's cutter velocity struggling to touch 90 mph, all of it undermining Alex Wood's spectacular eight scoreless innings of one-hit ball, and it left the Dodgers reassuring the populace that freaking out two games into the season is a little premature.
"No, that's not how we scripted it," said Roberts. "[Jansen's] first outing in Spring Training, he touched 94. As I've learned, when his velocity is down, it's mechanical. He's a big body guy, but I do think when it's 4 miles an hour, 3 miles an hour, it's not a health thing. He feels great, feels strong. It's not usage. It's a mechanics thing and he'll work through it.
"The ball to Panik was belt-high, 89, kind of a cement mixer right there, in his nitro zone. Very uncharacteristic of Kenley."
And, Roberts insisted, four errors by his club -- three by Logan Forsythe, subbing at third for the injured Justin Turner -- were equally uncharacteristic.
"That'll be the last time, I can assure you, that will happen to Logan," Roberts said. "Just one of those nights, one I'm sure he wants to forget. Very uncharacteristic of our defense."
Then again, there was Wood. Stuck in the bullpen a year ago, he parlayed a breakout, All-Star season in 2017 into the No. 2 starter role in 2018 and began it pitching like an ace, allowing only a perfectly placed chop infield single by Brandon Crawford with two out in the fifth inning.
"I'm sure everybody's freaking out because we lost our first two, but we have a great ballclub," said Wood. "Keep the big picture in mind."
Wood's fastball didn't light up the radar gun either, but he kept all pitches low and the Giants had as much trouble squaring them up as the Astros did when he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning against them in the World Series.
"Wood's very deceptive," said Panik. "He made a lot of pitches pitching backwards."
"Woody, to his credit, outpitched [Cueto]," said Roberts. "Went eight innings. Stuff was really good, unfortunately, we couldn't support him."
Ah, yes, run support. Any day now would be nice.
"We had this a couple years ago, it's just more magnified right now," said Roberts. "We're still aware that it's 18 scoreless innings, we understand that. We've got good players. Give credit to those guys, they pitched well against us."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Can't cash in: The Giants had their best early chance after Forsythe's fourth-inning error. Panik bunted Austin Jackson to second base, but Andrew McCutchen struck out and Buster Posey grounded to shortstop.
Still got it: Left fielder Matt Kemp, whose defense has been the Dodgers' biggest area of concern, made a long run to flag down Jackson's towering fly on the warning track in the corner to end the top of the eighth inning.
