Daily Clips

September 15, 2016

LOS ANGELES DODGERS

DAILY CLIPS

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2016

LA TIMES: Clayton Kershaw is his dominant self during five innings in 2-0 win over Yankees- Andy McCullough

Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill, Kenta Maeda slated to start against San Francisco next week- Andy McCullough

DODGERS.COM: LA downs Yanks in 9th, boosts NL West lead- Bryan Hoch and Roger Rubin

Flashes of peak Kershaw in 2nd post-DL start- Roger Rubin

Cheer on: Vote for the Dodgers' top fan of 2016- Zachary Finkelstein

Dodgers to open '17 at home, close it on road- Ken Gurnick

Dodgers to use Urias out of 'pen rest of the year- Roger Rubin

Spotless as Dodger, Hill takes on D-backs- Roger Rubin

Farmer among top prospect performers Wednesday- William Boor

OC REGISTER: Clayton Kershaw returns to form, Dodgers score in ninth to win, 2-0- Bill Plunkett

Dodgers' 2017 schedule released; bonus time in Chicago, including Cubs' Wrigley opener- Bill Plunkett

On deck: Dodgers at Diamondbacks, Thursday, 6:30 p.m.- Bill Plunkett

DODGER INSIDER:

Triple-A Oklahoma City on the brink in PCL finals- Jon Weisman

Kershaw nearly perfect in second September stint- Jon Weisman

Dodgers escape from New York, 2-0- Jon Weisman

TRUEBLUELA.COM: Clayton Kershaw very sharp in second start back- Eric Stephen

Dodgers’ magic number to clinch NL West is 13- Eric Stephen

Vin Scully says he won’t call playoff games- Eric Stephen

Dodgers 2017 schedule breakdown, notes & quirks- Eric Stephen

Oklahoma City and Great Lakes hit hard in playoff losses- David Hood

ESPN LA: Dominant Clayton Kershaw has Dodgers seeing clear skies ahead- Doug Padilla

Dodgers fan meets Yasiel Puig after losing tooth to airborne souvenir- ESPN.com

Kershaw nearly perfect for 5 innings, Dodgers beat Yanks 2-0- Associated Press

What time is it? Ask Dodgers rookie Brock Stewart- Doug Padilla

Dodgers line up Big Three for Giants series next week- Doug Padilla

USA TODAY:

Dodgers pad NL West lead, set sights on postseason- Jorge Ortiz

NBC SPORTS: Clayton Kershaw Outlasts Rain to Lead Dodgers Over Yankees, 2-0, in Series Finale at Yankee Stadium- Michael Duarte

FANGRAPHS: Julio Urias Is Coming for One of Kershaw’s Titles- August Fagerstrom

The Dodgers Need Yasiel Puig Whether They Want Him or Not- Corinne Landrey

KNUCKLEBALL:

Column: Howie Kendrick quietly one of Dodgers’ most valuable players- Jeremy Dorn

FOX SPORTS:

Yasiel Puig meets with Dodgers fan after accidentally knocking out her tooth- Nick Schwartz

THE GUARDIAN:

Jaime Jarrín: the remarkable story of the Latino Vin Scully- Les Carpenter

MIAMI HERALD:

From Brooklyn to LA — and everywhere in between — Vin Scully says goodbye- George Richards

POYNTER.ORG:

Why Vin Scully is the greatest announcer in baseball history- Ed Sherman

LOS ANGELES DODGERS DAILY CLIPS

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2016

LA TIMES

Clayton Kershaw is his dominant self during five innings in 2-0 win over Yankees By Andy McCullough Some blemishes still exist. His slider did not always cooperate. His curveball sometimes bent too much. His efficiency did not meet his own standard. But for five innings, and one simulated frame during a rain delay, in a 2-0 victory over the New York Yankees, Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw resembled a version of himself. For a team with World Series aspirations, few things matter more than the status of their left-handed cornerstone. After a rocky outing over the weekend in Miami, his first game back after missing two months with a herniated disk, Kershaw held the Yankees to one hit. “His fastball seemed like it had more life than in Miami,” catcher Yasmani Grandal said. “It seemed like he was spotting it better. His slider was really good. His curveball, he was able to get it down. Miami was more of a ‘see what happens.’ This is more like, ‘OK, I’m back. And we’re ready to go.’” Shut out Tuesday, the Dodgers (82-63) waited until the ninth inning to score the game’s first run. The team benefited from two Yankees errors. Justin Turner roped an RBI double after Corey Seager reached on an error. Turner scored when Yankees closer Dellin Betances threw away a ball tapped back to the mound. And so the Dodgers boarded a flight for Phoenix in firm command of the National League West. Swept by San Diego this week, San Francisco now trails by five games. The Dodgers can clinch a fourth division title with any combination of 13 victories of their own plus losses by the Giants. With three weeks left in the season, the team cannot yet look past San Francisco. But the players can begin to imagine an October where Kershaw joins fellow left-hander Rich Hill as a two-headed menace for opposing clubs. The outing by Kershaw on Wednesday raised his spirits after his frustration about his three-inning, 66-pitch performance against the Marlins. “I was a little bit better today than the last time out,” Kershaw said. “Good to go back out there for five innings. Had a little bit better command of the offspeed stuff. Overall, a little bit better today.” Kershaw logged 80 pitches — 64 in the game, and 16 more during the rain. He can stretch out to seven innings Monday, when he is scheduled to face the Giants at Dodger Stadium. His outing Friday in Miami revealed the organization’s caution in bringing him back to the majors. The game did not trigger alarms, but it did not exactly assuage the concern about Kershaw’s condition. Pitching coach Rick Honeycutt told Manager Dave Roberts that Kershaw’s bullpen session in between starts was encouraging. Roberts intended to study the command of Kershaw’s fastball and the depth of his slider to gauge his readiness.

Kershaw acquired control as the game progressed. He barreled over the Yankees lineup during his first turn through the order. He pumped first-pitch strikes to six of his first nine batters. The weather delayed his dominance. The skies opened up during the top of the fourth inning. After Andre Ethier hit into a double play with the bases loaded, the grounds crew covered the diamond with a tarp. Nine minutes later, after the rain slackened and the workers rolled up the tarp, Kershaw jogged to the mound to warm up. He tore through the fourth in 14 pitches, stringing together four perfect innings. “He looked like the Clayton Kershaw we all know tonight,” Turner said. “So that’s a positive sign.” A thornier situation soon arose. The rain caused another delay in the fifth. This one lasted 48 minutes, long enough for Kershaw to throw an inning indoors. If the delay had lasted 10 minutes longer, Roberts said, Kershaw would not have returned to the game. “It was close,” Roberts said. The next few minutes erased any dilemma for Roberts. A grounder from Starlin Castro whistled toward third base, skipped off the dirt, clipped Turner’s bare hand and bounced into the outfield. The perfect game was gone. Two pitches later, so was the no-hitter. Kershaw fired a curveball that dipped at the knees of third baseman Chase Headley. Headley smacked a single through the left side of the infield, to avoid a reprise of Hill’s night in Miami on Saturday. “Under the circumstances, I don’t think there would have been an opportunity to go much deeper,” Roberts said. “But it did happen to cross my mind.” Kershaw would not allow the Yankees to break the deadlock. A bunt moved both runners into scoring position. They would not advance. Able to manipulate his slider into the zone, he fanned Rob Refsnyder and designated hitter Austin Romine. Kershaw pumped his fist after Romine swung through the last slider. “To see Clayton go out there and do what he does,” Roberts said, “it was a huge lift for us.” Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill, Kenta Maeda slated to start against San Francisco next week By Andy McCullough The Dodgers have arranged their starting rotation so their three most reliable pitchers will face San Francisco during a three-game series at Dodger Stadium next week. The current alignment would use Clayton Kershaw on Monday, Rich Hill on Tuesday and Kenta Maeda on Wednesday. The rotation resembles the one the team would likely use in October. To reach the playoffs, the Dodgers will need to hold off San Francisco. This task may not prove difficult. The Giants have collapsed in the second half, mutating from a budding juggernaut into a raging fire of tires.

To set the rotation, the Dodgers will start Hill on Thursday in Arizona, Maeda on Friday, Bud Norris on Saturday and Jose De Leon on Sunday. Ross Stripling pitched three innings in relief Tuesday, and Julio Urias will start a stint in the bullpen in the coming days. The Giants lead the season series with seven victories in 13 games. After meeting next week, the Dodgers travel to San Francisco on Sept. 30 for the final series of the year. Turner banged up, still playing On his go-ahead RBI double in the ninth inning of Wednesday’s 2-0 victory, Justin Turner crashed into the back of the knee of Yankees second baseman Starlin Castro. Turner stayed down for a few moments as he gathered himself back into working order. “Just went in headfirst, and the top of my helmet went right into his knee,” Turner said. “I jammed up my neck a little bit. We’ll see how it feels tomorrow.” Dayton moving up in hierarchy Grant Dayton, a left-handed rookie, appears to have surpassed Adam Liberatore as Manager Dave Roberts’ left-handed reliever of choice. Dayton struck out the side in the sixth inning, which lowered his earned-run average to 1.64. Liberatore is still dealing with elbow issues, which sent him to the disabled list in July.

DODGERS.COM LA downs Yanks in 9th, boosts NL West lead By Bryan Hoch and Roger Rubin NEW YORK -- Clayton Kershaw fired five sharp innings in the first Yankee Stadium start of his career and Justin Turner belted a ninth-inning double off a shaky Dellin Betances as the Dodgers edged the Yankees, 2-0, on Wednesday. Turner's deciding hit down the left-field line chased home Corey Seager, who had reached on an error charged to second baseman Starlin Castro. Betances then threw wildly past catcher Gary Sanchez on a Yasmani Grandal tapper, allowing Turner to score Los Angeles' second run. "It was a breaking ball. That's his bread and butter and he likes to go to it," said Turner, who has five go-ahead RBIs in the ninth inning or later this season. "Corey did a good job on the 2-2 pitch of getting a good jump and stealing second to get in scoring position. [Betances] just left that one over the plate a little bit and I kept it fair." The win was credited to Luis Avilan, who recorded four outs as the Dodgers took two of three games in the Interleague set. Kenley Jansen set the Yankees down in the ninth inning for his 44th save in 50 chances. Los Angeles pushed its National League West lead to five games over the Giants, while the Yankees missed out on a chance to gain in the Wild Card race.

New York now takes its pursuit of a postseason berth to Boston, where the rivalry will be heightened with so much at stake. The Yankees trail the Red Sox by four games in the AL East and are two behind the Blue Jays for the second AL Wild Card, with the Orioles holding the first Wild Card slot, a game ahead of Toronto. Making his second start since returning from a herniated disk, Kershaw retired the first 12 men he faced before having his outing interrupted by a 48-minute rain delay, the second of the day. Though Kershaw returned after the skies cleared, allowing two runners to reach on an error by Turner at third base and a single by Chase Headley, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts elected to end his afternoon after the left-hander struck out the final two batters of the fifth inning, stranding two runners in scoring position. Kershaw struck out five and permitted just one hit while throwing 64 pitches (42 strikes). Yankees right-hander Michael Pineda also struck out five and was done early, pitching out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth inning before handing the game over to the bullpen. Tommy Layne, Luis Severino and Tyler Clippard worked scoreless relief for New York. "It's unfortunate. We had a really good homestand," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "This could have made it a great homestand and we weren't able to get it done today. We didn't have a lot of chances. What it came down to is, they got the big hit and we didn't." MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Kershaw strikes back: Kershaw, who stayed in through a pair of rain delays while he had a perfect game going, got two big strikeouts -- on Rob Refsnyder and Austin Romine -- to escape the fifth-inning jam, and he was fired up afterward. "It was just an important at-bat. It was zero-zero still and I'm trying to keep our team in the game," Kershaw said of showing emotion. "I was throwing out of the stretch there for the first time all game and I was leaving a lot of stuff up. To be able to finally throw a really good slider? It was fun." Pineda gets a pair, then exits: Pineda was in a fourth-inning jam after Josh Reddick reached on catcher's interference to load the bases with one out, but the right-hander escaped by inducing Andre Ethier to hit into a 3-6-1 double play. The play ended awkwardly as Pineda fell to the ground covering first base, appearing to roll his ankle. That ended Pineda's afternoon after 82 pitches (50 strikes). Sloppy conclusion: Castro said that he was "disappointed" after missing Seager's low drive that opened the ninth inning, calling it "an easy play" that he should have made. That went two-fold for Betances, who fielded Grandal's tapper but had the ball roll off the fingers of his throwing hand toward the backstop. Betances said that his footwork has been the issue on similar plays in the past. More > "It's one of those plays, you've got to be quick," Betances said. "It probably would have been better if I did underhand it there. It just didn't feel good out of my hands. I've got to be better at that." QUOTABLE "As the usage, the intensity, the length of his starts ramps up, we're going to see a better Clayton each time." -- Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, on the progress of Kershaw WHAT'S NEXT

Dodgers: Rich Hill (12-3, 1.80 ERA) returns to the mound for the first time since he was pulled after seven perfect innings in Miami last Saturday as the Dodgers open a four-game series with the D-backs at Chase Field on Thursday at 6:40 p.m. PT. In three starts for the Dodgers since his trade from Oakland, Hill is 3-0 and hasn't allowed a run. He has 20 strikeouts in 19 innings during that span. Yankees: Masahiro Tanaka (13-4, 3.04 ERA) takes the ball on Thursday as the Yankees open a key four-game series against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET. Tanaka is 6-0 with a 1.94 ERA over his last seven starts, the second-lowest ERA in the American League over that span. Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez gets the call for Boston. Flashes of peak Kershaw in 2nd post-DL start By Roger Rubin NEW YORK -- The vintage Clayton Kershaw seems to be on the way for the Dodgers. The ace left-hander got more trouble from Mother Nature on Wednesday than he did from the Yankees as he carved up the New York batting order through five scoreless, one-hit innings of a 2-0 Dodgers win at Yankee Stadium. If anything, the big obstacles were a pair of rain delays -- in the middle of the fourth and fifth innings -- that totaled 60 minutes. Kershaw, in only his second game back since returning from a long stint on the disabled list with a herniated disk in his lower back, came back after each. He had retired all nine batters he'd faced and was coming out for the fourth when the first stoppage of play occurred. It lasted only 12 minutes, and he retired the Yanks in order in the fourth to take a perfect game into the fifth. During the second interruption -- which lasted 48 minutes -- Kershaw threw a simulated 16-pitch inning in a tunnel beneath the outfield stands. It kept him loose enough to go out and try to reach the approximate goal of 80 pitches for the day. Manager Dave Roberts said that if the delay had gone another 10 minutes, he would not have sent Kershaw back out. Kershaw lost the perfect game on the first at-bat in the fifth as Starlin Castro reached on an error by third baseman Justin Turner. Chase Headley followed with a single to end the no-hitter. It meant Roberts wasn't going to have to face another gut-wrenching decision on a pitcher making a bid at history. On Saturday, he pulled Rich Hill after seven perfect innings to be cautious of a blister condition that kept Hill off a mound for nearly six weeks. "I think that under the circumstances, there wouldn't have been an opportunity to go much deeper, but it did happen to cross my mind," Roberts said. "Individually for Clayton, I don't think it could have worked out any better," Roberts added. "The fastball was good. The velocity was really plus. And he got the strikeout when he needed to. To see Clayton go out there and do what he does -- it was a huge lift for us." Kershaw might have looked his best in getting out of that fifth inning. With two runners in scoring position, he whiffed Rob Refsnyder and Austin Romine to escape and showed some emotion after getting the final swing and miss.

"It was just an important at-bat. It was zero-zero still and I'm trying to keep our team in the game. I was throwing out of the stretch there for the first time all game and I was leaving a lot of stuff up. To be able to finally throw a really good slider? It was fun." Kershaw was removed after the fifth, having allowed one hit and no walks with five strikeouts. He threw 64 pitches. "His fastball seemed to have more life than in Miami and he spotted it good. The curve, he was able to get it down," catcher Yasmani Grandal said. "Miami was, 'Let's see what we've got?' This was more, 'Ready to go." Roberts sounds like he will remain cautious but said "as the usage, the intensity, the length of his starts ramps up, we're going to see a better Clayton each time. And the concern for his recovery will be a little less." Cheer on: Vote for the Dodgers' top fan of 2016 By Zachary Finkelstein Players, managers and executives receive their fair share of recognition each season. But what about the fans? The most important part of the game -- you -- should be cheered, too. That is why Major League Baseball has stepped up to the plate to honor the inaugural MLB Fans of the Year presented by Esurance. Nominees from all 30 Major League clubs will be featured on MLB.com/awards through Monday at 11 a.m. PT -- with winners to be unveiled an hour later at noon. Winners whose clubs reach the League Championship Series or Fall Classic will receive tickets to root for the home team on a late-October night. As for the top fans whose teams fall short of the sport's semifinals? Have no fear, as there's always next year (and free tickets to an April 2017 game of their choice). Major League Baseball and the 30 clubs worked tirelessly to identify the sport's top supporters. But, after great debate, the following Dodgers fans were chosen from among a long list of deserving candidates: • Laura Zimmerman: Zimmerman is passionate about all things Dodgers, as she attends every home game and follows the club's Minor League affiliates. • Vincente Reyes: Reyes dedicates his Instagram to sharing the dazzling photos he personally captures at Dodgers games in various locales. • Danny Del Toro: Elvis tribute artist Del Toro has combined his love of The King and the Dodgers, and he is now renowned as Dodger Elvis. • Emma X Amaya: Season-ticket holder Amaya is a savvy fan who rarely goes a day without posting about the Dodgers on her Facebook page.

The MLB Fans of the Year presented by Esurance program represents the "first inning" of the Esurance MLB Awards, which honor greatness in Major League Baseball and serve as the grand finale of the game's awards season. Esurance MLB Awards voting will run from 1 p.m. PT on Monday to 11 a.m. PT on Nov. 11 and include nominees in 19 categories -- from Best Major Leaguer to Best Social Media Post to Best MLB Interview. Media, front-office personnel, retired MLB players, the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) and fans will determine the most #AwardWorthy players and moments from 2016. The MLB Awards winners will be announced Friday, Nov. 18, live on MLB.com and MLB Network. Dodgers to open '17 at home, close it on road By Ken Gurnick LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers will open the 2017 regular season at home against San Diego on Monday, April 3, for a four-game series and close it on the road in Colorado on Sunday, Oct. 1, based on the schedule released Wednesday by MLB. The Dodgers will play the American League Central and the Angels in Interleague Play. There will be a two-game set against the Angels at home June 26-27 followed immediately by a two-game set in Anaheim June 28-29. The Dodgers host Kansas City (July 7-9), Minnesota (July 24-26) and the White Sox (Aug. 15-16). They play in Cleveland (June 13-15), visit the White Sox (July 18-19) and travel to Detroit (Aug. 18-20). The Dodgers will join all Major League clubs in celebrating Jackie Robinson Day on Saturday, April 15, and will host the D-backs following special pregame ceremonies. The rival Giants visit Dodger Stadium May 1-3, July 28-30 and Sept. 22-24, with the teams meeting at AT&T Park April 24-27, May 15-17 and Sept. 11-13. Dodgers to use Urias out of 'pen rest of the year By Roger Rubin NEW YORK -- The Dodgers are moving rookie Julio Urias from the starting rotation to the bullpen for the final stretch of the season. It is a way for the club to protect his arm and keep him an option for the postseason. Urias made what should be his last start in Tuesday night's 3-0 loss to the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, throwing 3 2/3 scoreless innings but allowing four hits and three walks while striking out two. The 20-year-old has thrown 117 innings between the Minors and Majors this season after throwing only 80 1/3 all of last season; teams typically increase the workload on a young arm gradually. Manager Dave Roberts said that Urias will have several days off after throwing 78 pitches on Tuesday. He envisions that Urias will become a relief pitching option for the team starting on Sunday at Arizona.

Roberts sounds like he would consider using the left-hander in a variety of situations, from getting a single left-handed hitter out to throwing multiple innings. "I think the great thing about Julio is he's pretty versatile in the sense it can be one batter [or] he can be a bridge guy and give us a couple innings, and I think it kind of depends on the situation," Roberts said. "For me, I feel comfortable with him in any situation. But we do have to put him in that situation as far as coming out of the 'pen and preparing. I think that's important. Anything beyond that, I trust him." Urias is 5-2 with a 3.50 ERA this season and was arguably the Dodgers' best pitcher in August, going 4-0 with a 1.99 ERA in five games (three starts). In parts of four Minor League seasons, Urias appeared in just nine games as a reliever. This season he has been in two big league games he did not start. Asked if there are circumstances where he might reconsider the decision, Roberts said "obviously if something happens to one of the [rotation] guys as far as an injury, then something might change. But at this point I don't see it changing." Spotless as Dodger, Hill takes on D-backs By Roger Rubin The National League West-leading Dodgers will look to put even more distance between themselves and the second-place Giants during a four-game series against the last-place D-backs at Chase Field. The Dodgers have won 10 of 15 against Arizona this season, including four in a row. Los Angeles has hit more homers against Arizona -- 22 -- than against any other team. Lefty Rich Hill, who will start Thursday's series opener for Los Angeles, is coming off pitching seven perfect innings in Miami last Saturday. Manager Dave Roberts pulled Hill from that start out of concerns about a blister condition that had shelved Hill for the first several weeks after the Dodgers acquired him in a trade with Oakland (Los Angeles lost the perfect-game bid with two outs in the eighth). Since he came off the DL, Hill has thrown 19 scoreless innings as a Dodger. Arizona has had an impressive offense this season, ranked fifth in the league in runs scored with 4.7 runs per game and 122 steals. But its pitching has been by far the worst in the NL with a 5.26 ERA. Three things to know about this game • Joc Pederson has feasted on D-backs pitching this season with a .385 average, six home runs and 10 RBIs in 10 games. He has two of those home runs against Arizona's starter on Thursday, Archie Bradley. • D-backs outfielder Yasmany Tomas is streaking at the plate. In his last 42 games entering Wednesday, he hit 16 home runs, tallied 40 RBIs and has a slash line of .304/.341/.658. • D-backs first baseman Paul Goldschmidt is known for his prodigious hitting, and he continues to thrive with a .302 average, 20 homers and 83 RBIs entering Wednesday. But he is also having a great season on the bases: He is 25-for-30 on stolen-base attempts. Farmer among top prospect performers Wednesday By William Boor

Chris Ellis spun six no-hit innings, but an elevated pitch count prompted Triple-A Gwinnett to turn to the bullpen. Despite the effort from the 23-year-old, Gwinnett lost 2-1 to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday night as the International League Finals evened up at a game each. Ellis, the Braves' No. 16 prospect, lost each of his final three starts of the regular season, but he has been nearly unhittable in the postseason. Ellis threw just 54 of his 104 pitches for strikes, but he struck out five in six scoreless frames. In his first start of the playoffs, the right-hander gave up just three hits in seven scoreless innings. "My fastball command was kind of hit or miss, so I had to rely on some breaking stuff," Ellis told MiLB.com. "I had a couple nice plays behind me, so I was kind of just relying on my defense, relying on pitching inside and getting some weak contact." Six no-hit innings are always impressive, but even moreso when Ellis' history is considered. The Braves prospect had struggled against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the past, giving up 13 runs on 11 hits in four innings over his prior two starts against the team. The rest of the best performances from top prospects Wednesday: • Padres prospects Manuel Margot (Padres' No. 2, No. 27 overall) and Carlos Asuaje (Padres' No. 20) led the way offensively as Triple-A El Paso topped Oklahoma City and took a 2-0 lead in the Pacific Coast League Finals. Margot, who finished 3-for-5 with an RBI, tripled and scored in the first to jump-start the scoring. Meanwhile, Asuaje joined the party a little later with a solo homer in the fifth and a sacrifice fly in the sixth. Asuaje finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs. • Francisco Mejia (Indians' No. 4, No. 88 overall) provided all of Class A Advanced Lynchburg's offense, but it was not enough as his club fell to Myrtle Beach in the Carolina League championship. Mejia doubled in the first and homered in the third, finishing a strong season with a 2-for-4, three-RBI night. • Richie Martin (Athletics' No. 6) isn't known for his power, (three homers in 91 games during the regular season) but the 21-year-old shortstop flashed some pop in Game 2 of the Texas League Finals. Martin hit a solo blast and also added a sac fly as part of a 1-for-3, two-RBI night. • Yairo Munoz (Athletics' No. 7) went 2-for-5 as Double-A Midland took a 2-0 lead in the Texas League Finals. Munoz drove in a run with an RBI single in the fifth and has three RBIs through the first two games of the series. • Donnie Dewees (Cubs' No. 11) scored the go-ahead run in Class A Advanced Myrtle Beach's title-clinching win. Dewees went 3-for-5 in the game, capping a playoff run in which he hit .423 with hits in five of six games. • Kyle Farmer (Dodgers' No. 24) put together another multi-hit game for Triple-A Oklahoma City. In Game 2 of the series (El Paso leads 2-0), Farmer went 3-for-5 with an RBI. Farmer has hits in all six playoff games he's played in and has at least two hits in four of the games. • Rob Kaminsky (Indians' No. 17) led Double-A Akron to a commanding 2-0 series lead with 6 2/3 solid innings in Game 2 of the Eastern League Finals. Kaminsky was knocked around a bit in his semifinals start, but he commanded the zone well in the finals. The lefty fired 68 of his 99 pitches for strikes, fanning eight and giving up two earned runs on seven hits. • Nellie Rodriguez (Indians' No. 24) gave Kaminsky some run support, going 1-for-3 with two RBIs in Akron's 4-2 win over Trenton. Rodriguez, a first baseman, played in 132 games for the RubberDucks this season, hitting .250 and collecting 85 RBIs.

• Luis Liberato (Mariners' No. 19) put together a three-hit night a Class A Clinton jumped out to a 1-0 series lead in the Midwest League Finals. After hitting .258 in 100 games during the regular season, the 20-year-old hit a pair of doubles and went 3-for-5 with an RBI in Game 1. • Ryan O'Hearn (Royals' No. 8) put together eight three-hit games during the regular season and added another in Game 2 of the Texas League Finals. The left fielder went 3-for-4 with an RBI in Double-A Arkansas' loss. • Billy McKinney (Yankees' No. 15) continues to hit well, but it has not been enough as Double-A Trenton finds itself on the brink of elimination in the Eastern League Finals after another loss. McKinney went 2-for-4 with a double and a triple and is now hitting .500 (10-for-20) in the postseason.

OC REGISTER

Clayton Kershaw returns to form, Dodgers score in ninth to win, 2-0 By Bill Plunkett NEW YORK – Clayton Kershaw had control over his fastball, curveball and slider on Wednesday afternoon at Yankee Stadium. He did not have control over the forces of nature. Kershaw endured two rain delays – one of only 12 minutes – to pitch five scoreless innings in his second start back from the DL. Four innings later, the Dodgers scored twice in the top of the ninth to take a 2-0 victory over the New York Yankees. Coupled with another loss by the second-place San Francisco Giants, the win moved the Dodgers’ lead in the National League West back out to five games and cut their magic number to clinch the division to 13. With a fourth consecutive division title now feeling inevitable, the more welcome news Wednesday for the Dodgers was the fact that Kershaw was more himself in his second start than he was in Miami on Friday, his first big-league start after spending 75 days on the DL with a herniated disc in his back. “The first game was more of a kick start,” Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal said. “This game was, ‘Alright, we’re here. Let’s get it done.’” Kershaw retired the first nine Yankees in order, waited out a 12-minute rain delay before the bottom of the fourth and retired the side in order again. That was enough for visions of another difficult choice to start dancing in Dave Roberts’ head just four days after he pulled Rich Hill from a perfect game for big-picture precautionary reasons. “It did cross my mind,” the Dodgers manager said. The rain returned in the fifth inning and play was suspended for 48 minutes this time. Kershaw threw “a simulated inning” in the batting cages under the stands while the rain passed and then headed back out to the mound for the bottom of the fifth. His perfect game and no-hitter did not survive the delay. The Yankees’ first batter in the fifth, Starlin Castro, hit a hard one-hop grounder to third baseman Justin Turner’s backhand. The ball took a nasty hop and clipped Turner’s throwing hand on the way through to left field.

That was surprisingly ruled an error but Chase Headley followed with a clean single. After a sacrifice bunt put both runners in scoring position, Kershaw regained his footing and struck out Rob Refsnyder and Austin Romine to end the threat – and his day. Kershaw didn’t go back out for the sixth after throwing 64 pitches in his five scoreless innings. With the rain-delay inning added in, he threw about 80 pitches, the number the Dodgers had targeted for his second start. Next up for Kershaw will be the Giants and a matchup against their ace, Madison Bumgarner, on Monday. As strong as he looked in New York, Roberts is not quite ready to declare Kershaw fully back to normal. “No, I think we’re still, I don’t want to say in the woods, but I still think that it’s not full go with Clayton,” Roberts said. “I talked about it being sort of a rehab start in Miami, but as the usage, the intensity, the length of his starts ramps up I think we will see a better Clayton each time. The concern for his recovery I think will be a little less. But I think after the start, the intensity of today, the unforeseen circumstances, I’ll feel a lot better tomorrow when I talk to him.” Kershaw would have none of the “rehab mode” talk. “I was obviously thankful to be back the first time, but I wasn’t thinking about that,” he said. “Once you start pitching, you’re pitching. You’re trying to get guys out and if you’re not doing that effectively you need to look at it. So I did that. “Just a little better overall today. Maybe back on a normal routine, a normal four days almost – or whatever my normal is now. Maybe that helped a little bit, I don’t know.” Kershaw rated the outing “a little bit better than last time” but his pitch efficiency was significantly better and his breaking pitches, in particular, looked more like their lethal selves. “Yeah, the secondary stuff looked sharper today and I think that’s probably one thing he was more frustrated with in Miami, the secondary stuff,” Turner said. “It looked like the Clayton Kershaw we all know tonight. So that’s a positive sign.” A relay of relievers kept the Yankees at bay, allowing just two more hits the rest of the way. The Dodgers’ offense finally put together the winning rally in the ninth – with the Yankees’ help. Corey Seager led off with a sinking liner at the feet of second baseman Starlin Castro. Castro botched it for an error and Seager stole second base. He scored when Turner sent a double down the third-base line. Two batters later, Turner scored when Yankees reliever Delin Betances fielded an easy comebacker in front of the mound and tossed the ball over the head of his catcher and to the backstop. The runs (both unearned) were the Dodgers’ first since Monday, ending a string of 17 scoreless innings during which they managed just eight hits. Dodgers' 2017 schedule released; bonus time in Chicago, including Cubs' Wrigley opener

By Bill Plunkett NEW YORK – If the Chicago Cubs are going to end their 107-year championship drought, the Dodgers might get a chance to stop them this fall – and then watch them celebrate it in the spring. Major-League Baseball’s preliminary schedule for 2017 has the Dodgers opening the regular season at home against the San Diego Padres on April 3. After a four-game series against the Padres, they go on the road to Colorado and Chicago, where they will be the opposition for the Cubs’ home opener at Wrigley Field on April 10 – an opportune time for World Series rings to be distributed if the Cubs end their 107-year run of futility (the longest current championship drought of any team in the four major pro leagues). The Cubs currently have the best record in baseball. The Dodgers will spend a little extra time in Chicago next season. They travel there as part of an interleague schedule that sends them to AL Central cities to play the Cleveland Indians (June 13-15), White Sox (July 18-19) and Detroit Tigers (Aug. 18-20). The Kansas City Royals (July 7-9), Minnesota Twins (July 24-26) and White Sox (Aug. 15-16) each come to Dodger Stadium. The annual Freeway Series between the Dodgers and Angels is once again a four-game stretch with the first two games at Dodger Stadium (June 26-27) and the final two at Angel Stadium (June 28-29). The Dodgers face their rivals, the San Francisco Giants, for the first time next season in San Francisco on April 24-27, but the Giants don’t come to Dodger Stadium for the first time until May 1-3. The Dodgers’ regular-season home schedule ends with a six-game homestand against the Giants and Padres on Sept. 22-27. The Dodgers’ season ends on the road in Colorado on Oct. 1. TOUGH TURNER In the fifth inning Wednesday, Starlin Castro’s hard ground ball took a bad hop and hit Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner in the thumb on his right hand, leaving an impression of the seams – “a new tattoo,” Turner joked. In the ninth, his double drove in the first run of the game. But on his headfirst slide into second base, he ran into Castro again. This time, Turner jammed his neck when the top of his helmet collided with the back of Castro’s leg. After a visit from the trainer, Turner stayed in the game. “It’s been a long season for everyone,” Turner said. “Everybody has their bumps and bruises they’re dealing with, playing through stuff right now. It’s not just us.” Turner has already been dealing with a contusion on his right hand suffered in mid-August when he was jammed by a fastball. Manager Dave Roberts gave him a couple days off at the time and Turner has been receiving daily treatment on the hand since then. But his production has dropped a little since then. Turner is batting .258 with six home runs and 14 RBI in his 25 games since then. “It’s a long season and he’s played more than he’s ever played,” Roberts said. “But with J.T. it seems like there is always something he does to help us win a game. He’s not slugging like he was maybe a few weeks ago. But he’ll still get a walk, make a good defensive play, a good baserunning play.

“This is the time you have to dig deep and to take him out of the lineup at this point of the season would be a knock-down, drag-out (fight). So it’s about winning baseball games.” TBD NO MORE With Ross Stripling’s long-relief appearance in Tuesday’s game, he is out of the running for a start in Arizona this weekend. Instead, Rich Hill and Kenta Maeda will start the first two games of the four-game series followed by right-handers Bud Norris on Saturday and rookie Jose De Leon on Sunday. Norris pitched two-thirds of an inning in relief Friday in Miami but has not started a game since Aug. 31. The Dodgers have the front three in their rotation – really, the only part of their rotation that can be considered set – lined up to face the second-place giants in next week’s series at Dodger Stadium. Clayton Kershaw will start Monday followed by Hill and Maeda, all on regular rest. The Giants have done the same with Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and Matt Moore scheduled to start in Los Angeles. On deck: Dodgers at Diamondbacks, Thursday, 6:30 p.m. By Bill Plunkett Where: Chase Field TV: SNLA (where available) Did you know? In three starts for the Dodgers, Rich Hill has not allowed a run in 19 innings. Opposing batters are 6 for 63 (.095) in those games with no extra-base hits, two walks and 20 strikeouts. THE PITCHERS DODGERS LHP RICH HILL (12-3, 1.80 ERA) Vs. Diamondbacks: 1-1, 4.13 ERA At Chase Field: 0-1, 11.25 ERA Hates to face: None Loves to face: Rickie Weeks Jr., 2 for 12 (.167), 5 strikeouts DIAMONDBACKS RHP ARCHIE BRADLEY (6-9, 5.10 ERA) Vs. Dodgers: 1-1, 3.06 ERA At Chase Field: 4-6, 5.61 ERA Hates to face: Joc Pederson, 2 for 5 (.400), 2 home runs Loves to face: Adrian Gonzalez, 0 for 7, 4 strikeouts UPCOMING MATCHUPS Friday: Dodgers RHP Kenta Maeda (14-9, 3.28 ERA) at Diamondbacks RHP Zack Greinke (12-6, 4.54 ERA), 6:40 p.m., SNLA Saturday: Dodgers RHP Bud Norris (6-10, 5.05 ERA) at Diamondbacks RHP Shelby Miller (2-11, 7.12 ERA), 5:10 p.m., SNLA Sunday: Dodgers RHP Jose De Leon (2-0, 4.09 ERA) at Diamondbacks LHP Robbie Ray (7-13, 4.46 ERA), 1:10 p.m., SNLA

DODGER INSIDER

Found in translation: Dodgers push to make U.S. adjustment easier for international players

By Jon Weisman In a recent piece for Dodger Insider magazine by Bob Harkins, we look at the extra steps the Dodgers are taking to ease transition of international players into the organization. An excerpt: … The Dodgers are aggressive about helping their international signees as soon as they arrive at their academy in the Dominican Republic, Campo Las Palmas, and also every step of the way as they move into the minor leagues. The education efforts go well beyond English lessons, as some players, typically ages 16-18 when they arrive, haven’t attended school since they were 10. They live and breathe baseball, but there is much to learn before suddenly being thrust into the American culture. “These guys are developing life skills beyond just the cultural acclimation part,” Dodger senior manager of player development Matt McGrath said. “For us, it’s as much developing them as men as it is culturally or language-wise. “We’re trying to make them stronger men, give them the ability to communicate across languages with teammates. That makes everybody better. That’s the ultimate goal of what we’re trying to do.” … Harkins begins the story by talking with Juan Castro, whom the Dodgers first signed 25 years ago, to illustrate the evolution from then to now. Triple-A Oklahoma City on the brink in PCL finals By Jon Weisman Despite three hits apiece from Kyle Farmer and Drew Maggi, Triple-A Oklahoma City dropped their second straight game in the Pacific Coast League finals, losing 10-4 to El Paso and falling within one game of elimination in their best-of-five series. Oklahoma City tied the game at 2-2 in a bizarre top of the fourth that featured four El Paso errors and two runners thrown out on the basepaths. The Chihuahuas’ Carlos Asuaje homered off Chase De Jong to give El Paso the lead for good. The remaining three games of the series, as needed, will be played at Oklahoma City beginning Friday, with Brett Anderson taking the Game 3 start. Clinton 16, Great Lakes 6: In the opener of the best-of-five Midwest League Finals, DJ Peters (2 for 2, two walks) hit a three-run homer in the first inning for Single-A Great Lakes, but the Loons never recovered after allowing eight runs in a fourth inning that included three errors and three wild pitches. Great Lakes pitchers had 10 walks and eight wild pitches in the game. Brendon Davis and Jake Henson each added two hits for Great Lakes.

Kershaw nearly perfect in second September stint By Jon Weisman As Clayton Kershaw showed he was ready to reign over New York, the only problem was how much it rained over Clayton Kershaw. In his second start since returning from the disabled list, Kershaw threw five shutout innings — the first four of them perfect — despite being interrupted by two separate rain delays, in a game ultimately won by the Dodgers in the ninth, 2-0. Taking an impressive step forward in his his comeback from a disk herniation, the Dodger left-hander needed only 44 pitches to retire the first 12 batters he faced at Yankee Stadium. That included a 12-minute rain delay that separated his third and fourth innings by 26 minutes. Pitching on four days’ rest after using 66 pitches in three innings at Miami in his initial comeback game, Kershaw sliced through the Yankee lineup with Greg Maddux-like efficiency, using 11 pitches to complete the first inning, 10 pitches in the second, nine in the third and 14 in the fourth. While the first pause barely disrupted the flow of the game (innings at Coors Field, for example, might take just as long), a 48-minute stoppage seemed like it would end Kershaw’s outing before the bottom of the fifth. But as SportsNet LA’s Alanna Rizzo reported, Kershaw threw 16 simulated pitches for a psuedo-inning while it rained, and then returned for one more frame. His perfect game ended when Justin Turner made an error on Starlin Castro’s hot shot to third. Next, the no-hitter bid adieu on a single by Chase Headley. Didi Gregorius nearly beat out a bunt, but settled for moving the runners to second and third with one out. Suddenly, Kershaw would be tested. His answer? Strikeouts of Rob Refsnyder and Austin Romine, the latter punctuated by a classic Kershaw shout. In his four innings, Yankees starter Michael Pineda used 83 pitches, forcing him out of the game for reliever Tommy Layne to start the fifth. Nevertheless, the score remained 0-0, after the Dodgers couldn’t convert their best chance. One out into the top of the fourth, Adrian Gonzalez walked and Yasmani Grandal doubled him to third. Josh Reddick appeared to line out, but catcher’s interference was called on Yankee backstop Gary Sanchez, putting Reddick on first base. In his seventh at-bat of the season, Andre Ethier hit a hard shot to first baseman Tyler Austin, who started an inning-ending, 3-6-1 double play that nailed Ethier at first by half a step. The first rain delay began at that moment. With the simulated pitches, Kershaw pitch count reached 80 for the day. He is next scheduled to pitch for the Dodgers on September 19, when they open their three-game series with the Giants. The forecast is for a low of 65 degrees, with 0 percent chance of precipitation.

Dodgers escape from New York, 2-0 By Jon Weisman Scoreless for 17 innings, the Dodgers left Yankee Stadium as winner of tonight’s game, winners of this week’s series and holders of a five-game lead in the National League West. With five shutout innings from Clayton Kershaw and four from the bullpen, Los Angeles took advantage of two errors in the ninth inning to defeat New York, 2-0. Corey Seager reached base on an error by second baseman Starlin Castro, stole second and came home on Justin Turner’s RBI double. Turner, who appeared momentarily dazed from his head-first slide into second, stayed in the game. He went to third on a fly out by Adrian Gonzalez, then scored when Yankees reliever Dellin Betances threw away Yasmani Grandal’s infield grounder. Eric Stephen @truebluela "I jammed up my neck a little bit," Justin Turner tells @alannarizzo after the game. "I'll probably be a little bit sore tonight." A rested Kenley Jansen, who had thrown only two official pitches in the past week, closed the game, following shutout relief by Grant Dayton, Pedro Baez and Luis Avilan. The relievers struck out nine in their 12 innings, with Dayton and Jansen striking out the side. Never before in franchise history had four Dodger pitchers each had at least three strikeouts in a nine-inning game. This tied an NL record. In 8 1/3 innings since August 27, Jansen has faced 26 batters and struck out 16, allowing two players to reach base. In the same time period, Dayton has faced 32 batters and struck out 15, also with a 0.00 ERA and no inherited runs scoring. A dozen games into the month, the Dodgers’ September ERA is 2.06. Earlier in the day, San Diego completed a three-game sweep of San Francisco. The Dodgers’ divisional lead matches their season high, and with 17 games remaining, their magic number to clinch the NL West is 13. Los Angeles also clinched its sixth consecutive winning season, its longest such streak since 1969-78.

TRUEBLUELA.COM

Clayton Kershaw very sharp in second start back By Eric Stephen Clayton Kershaw did not factor into the decision, but most importantly looked very much like his usual self on Wednesday against the Yankees. Just about the only thing standing in his way was the weather.

A 12-minute rain delay was a brief hindrance in the middle of the fourth, and Kershaw retired his first 12 batters of the game. But another, more significant rain delay brought the tarp again, this time a 48-minute stoppage of the game. Kershaw is in just his second start since coming off the disabled list, is walking a tightrope of making sure he’s healthy while also needing to build up his pitch count and arm strength for the playoffs. So he was back out on the mound once play resumed to start the fifth. His perfect game ended on an error by Justin Turner, then Chase Headley cleanly singled to left to put two runners on. A sacrifice bunt put both runners in scoring position with one out in a scoreless game, but Kershaw struck out Rob Refsnyder and Austin Romine to end the threat and keep the game tied. Kershaw screamed in triumph as he walked off the mound. “It was an important at-bat, 0-0 still. You’re trying to keep the team in the game,” Kershaw told reporters, as seen on SportsNet LA. “I was throwing out of the stretch for the first time in the game and I was leaving a lot of stuff up. I was finally able to throw a good slider, so it was good. It was fun.” Kershaw finished his day with just one hit allowed and five strikeouts in his five innings, and on the season has 155 strikeouts against only nine walks in 129 innings. “I don’t think he could have done any better under the circumstances,” manager Dave Roberts said after the game. “The fastball was good, the velocity was really plus. He got the strikeout when he needed to. To see Clayton go out there and do what he does was good for us.” Kershaw threw just 64 pitches in the game on Wednesday, but add in the 16 pitches he threw in a simulated inning during the second delay, per Alanna Rizzo during the SportsNet LA game broadcast, and Kershaw threw the equivalent of six innings and 80 pitches. “We wanted to have him keep going to get his pitch count up,” Roberts explained after the game. “Another 10 minutes [of rain delay], I think we would have went to the pen in the fifth inning. It was close.” That lines up Kershaw to be ready to go at likely nearly full bore in his next time out, next Monday against the Giants at Dodger Stadium. “It’s a good springboard for the next one,” Kershaw said. Turner update On his game-winning double in the ninth inning, Justin Turner slid full speed into the back of Starlin Castro’s leg at second base. After a visit from team trainer Nate Lucero, Turner stayed in the game and eventually scored. "I jammed up my neck a little bit," he told Rizzo after the game. "I'll probably be a little bit sore tonight." Up next

The Dodgers fly to Phoenix, where they will start a four-game weekend series against the Diamondbacks on Thursday night. Rich Hill starts the opener with an active streak of 22 consecutive batters retired. Archie Bradley starts for Arizona in the 6:40 p.m. PT start. Dodgers’ magic number to clinch NL West is 13 By Eric Stephen As the Dodgers try to capture their fourth consecutive National League West title and a fourth straight trip to the postseason, unprecedented in franchise history, we will keep track of their magic number, the combination of Dodgers wins and Giants losses needed to clinch the division. The Dodgers beat the Yankees in New York, and the Giants lost at home to the Padres 3-1. LA’s lead in the division for now is five games, with 17 games left to play. NL West standings Dodgers 82-63 (.566) Giants 77-68 (.531), 5 GB That leaves the Dodgers’ current magic number to clinch the NL West at 13, embodied below by former infielder Alex Cora. The Dodgers on Thursday move to Phoenix to open a four-game series against the Diamondbacks, while the Giants start a four-game wild-card-affecting home series against the Cardinals. Wednesday scores Dodgers 2, Yankees 0 Padres 3, Giants 1 Thursday schedule 6:40 p.m.: Dodgers (Rich Hill) at Diamondbacks (Archie Bradley) 7:15 p.m.: Cardinals (Adam Wainwright) at Giants (Johnny Cueto) Vin Scully says he won’t call playoff games By Eric Stephen Vin Scully said in his clearest terms yet that he will not call any Dodgers playoff games in 2016, per Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. Instead, Scully plans for the final broadcast of his Hall of Fame 67-year career to be the Dodgers’ regular season finale on Sunday, October 3 in San Francisco against the Giants. Per Shaikin: “Otherwise, I’d be saying goodbye like in grand opera, where you say goodbye 12 different times,” Scully told The Times.

Said Scully: “I’m going to say goodbye at Dodger Stadium the last game with Colorado. I will say goodbye in San Francisco. And then that will be it.” In previous years, Scully would call Dodgers postseason games on radio, splitting duties in recent seasons with Charley Steiner and Rick Monday. Scully would call innings 1-3 and from the seventh through the end of the game, with Steiner and Monday calling innings 4-6. The date of the Dodgers’ regular season finale has some significance for Scully, who grew up a New York Giants fan. Oct. 2 is the 80th anniversary of Game 2 of the 1936 World Series, when Scully, then nearly two months from his ninth birthday, became a Giants fan after noticing they lost to the Yankees by the lopsided score of 18-4. Back at FanFest in January at Dodger Stadium, Scully dropped hints that he might not call postseason games, though not in as certain terms as today. "Rick and Charley do such a great job all year on radio. I feel like it's unfair that suddenly it's the playoffs and I do six of the nine innings,” Scully said in January. “Maybe, because it will be the last year, I might do playoffs but I don't think I'd do the World Series.” Scully’s decision means there are only 10 games remaining in his broadcast career — Sept. 20-22 against the Giants, Sept. 23-26 against the Rockies, then Sept. 30-Oct. 2 on the road in San Francisco against the Giants. Dodgers 2017 schedule breakdown, notes & quirks By Eric Stephen Major League Baseball released its tentative 2017 schedule on Wednesday, and after a little more digging into the minutiae here are some quirks and notes about the Dodgers’ schedule for next season. The MLB season opens on Sunday, April 2 with three games on ESPN — the Yankees at the Rays, the Giants at the Diamondbacks in a battle of 2015-16 offseason champions, and an undetermined third game, likely the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball game, to be announced at a later date. This third game will be a rescheduled game from one of the other opening series. After the Dodgers play the Padres for four games at home, they hit the road starting with three weekend games against the Rockies in Denver. It is the first time in 25 years of franchise existence that Colorado will host the Dodgers in their home opener. Jackie Robinson Day, Saturday, April 15, is a home game for the Dodgers, against the Diamondbacks. That Dodgers’ second homestand includes series against the Diamondbacks and Rockies, but is split in an odd fashion. The first four games of the homestand are against Arizona, a rare four-game home wraparound series starting on Friday and ending on Monday, followed by two games against the Rockies. There is no weekend wraparound series on the road on the schedule.

The Dodgers have two three-city road trips, the longest coming Sept. 11-21, a 10-game, 11-day road trip to San Francisco, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia, playing the Phillies for four games. The other long road trip is 9 games over 10 days from Aug. 1-10, with three games apiece in Atlanta, New York (Mets) and Phoenix. There is only one scheduled stretch of 20 straight games, from June 13 to July 2. It comes in one of the best scenarios possible. That stretch starts with six games in Ohio against the Indians and Reds, but then the Dodgers don’t leave southern California for three weeks heading into the All-Star break. The only road games during that stretch are two in Anaheim and three in San Diego, meaning the Dodgers could at least in theory (they will probably have hotel accommodations in Anaheim if needed) sleep in their own beds 18 times in a 21-day stretch, followed by the break. The homestand during that stretch is the second-longest of the season, a nine-gamer at Dodger Stadium against the Mets (4 games), Rockies, and Angels (2 games). The Dodgers have more off days (8) in July than road games (7), and two of those road games are the first two days of the month in San Diego. The longest homestand for the Dodgers is 10 games in 11 days from July 20-30, against the Braves (4 games), Twins and Giants. Memorial Day is the opener of a four-game series against the Cardinals in St. Louis. The Dodgers are home on Tuesday, July 4, hosting the Diamondbacks. Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 4, is a home game for the Dodgers, hosting the Diamondbacks. The Dodgers have four different off days in the middle of homestands in 2017 — Monday, May 22; Thursday, June 8; Thursday, July 27; and Monday, Aug. 14. The Dodgers play 20 games against NL West teams in April, 13 in May, 4 in June, 8 in July, 9 in August, and 22 in September/October. The game times won’t be finalized until some time after the new year, but for the moment it looks like there is one weekday day game scheduled for Dodger Stadium (outside of the 1:10 p.m. start on opening day) — the series finale on Wednesday, June 7 against the Nationals, in what could be an NLDS rematch. The Dodgers’ home and road splits by month: April: 13 home / 13 away May: 16/13 June: 15/13 July: 16/7 August: 8/19 September: 13/16

LA’s home schedule consists of 6 four-game series, 17 three-game series, and 3 two-game series. On the road, the Dodgers play 5 four-game series, 19 three-game series, and 2 two-game series. The Dodgers end their season in Colorado for just the second time, and the first time since 1997. Oklahoma City and Great Lakes hit hard in playoff losses By David Hood Both Oklahoma City and Great Lakes were hit hard in playoff losses, surrendering a combined twenty-six runs. Player of the day DJ Peters came up big for the Great Lakes Loons despite the loss, going two for two with a home run, double, three RBI, and two walks. Peters has hit in two of the three playoff games he's been a part of since being called up, providing needed pop for a lineup that has lacked offense at times this season. Though Peters might have been a candidate for an earlier promotion, he was instrumental in helping Ogden reach the Pioneer League playoffs and has been rewarded with playing time now in the Midwest League playoffs. Triple-A Oklahoma City The Dodgers surrendered four runs in the fifth and three in the sixth to blow open a close game, losing to the El Paso Chihuahuas (Padres) 10-4. Chase De Jong could not escape the fifth inning, pitching four and a third innings while allowing five runs on seven hits and three walks. Seth Frankoff also struggled, giving up three runs in the sixth inning, his only inning of work. The Dodgers managed fourteen hits, but none went for extra bases in an inefficient offensive performance. Kyle Farmer and Drew Maggi led the way with each rapping three hits in five at bats. The dodgers lost one of their leading power producers when O'Koyea Dickson left the game in the first inning with an injury. Alex Verdugo got his first Triple A hit with a single in his only pinch hit appearance. Low Class-A Great Lakes An eight run fourth inning proved to be too much for the Loons, as they failed to comeback in a 16-6 defeat to the Clinton LumberKings (Mariners). Jordan Sheffield started and pitched two innings, allowing two runs in the first. The pitching struggled for most of the evening, with each pitcher allowing at least one run. Dennis Santana was hit the hardest, surrendering five runs in just a third of an inning, walking four batters. DJ Peters led the offense with a home run, double, and two walks while driving in three runs. Omar Estevez had a triple, while Brendon Davis went two for five with a pair of runs scored. In addition to shaking pitching, the Loons also committed four errors. Transactions Triple A: The Loons added Leonardo Crawford and Walker Buehler to the roster, while sending Erick Meza and Jose Santos to the AZL.

Tuesday box scores El Paso 10, Oklahoma City 4 Clinton 16, Great Lakes 6 Thursday schedule 4:30 p.m.: ET: Great Lakes (Walker Buehler) at Clinton (Pablo Lopez)

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Dominant Clayton Kershaw has Dodgers seeing clear skies ahead By Doug Padilla NEW YORK -- Clayton Kershaw took on all challengers Wednesday and showed that he is ready to dominate once again. It was exactly what the Los Angeles Dodgers wanted to see as they envision a run to a fourth consecutive National League West title, and then dare to consider life ahead in the postseason. The team's ace battled his recent inactivity, the New York Yankees and the elements to fire five scoreless innings of one-hit baseball in his second start since coming off the disabled list. He started the Dodgers toward a 2-0 victory and a series triumph over the Yankees. He transformed from a pitcher who had limited feel into his old Cy Young Award-winning form in a matter of five days; and the massive transition from a rocky start at Miami to a dominating performance at Yankee Stadium was unfathomable. But then again, this is Kershaw. "It was more about getting back into that playing mode, that competition, and what we need to do to win," catcher Yasmani Grandal said. "So the first game was more of a kick-start, and this game was, 'All right, we're here, let's get it done.'" Did he ever get it done. Yankees manager Joe Girardi wrapped it up succinctly: "Kershaw was Kershaw." In his first start at Yankee Stadium, the left-hander showed that baseball's main stage suited him just fine. He fired a perfect four innings around a 12-minute rain delay, and then gave up a lone hit in a 20-pitch fifth inning that followed a 48-minute rain delay. On the field he threw 64 pitches. He added 16 more pitches in the underground batting cage area of Yankee Stadium to build himself up to the 80-pitch range. Afterward, Kershaw's competitive spirit still showed when he was asked if the outing was as good as could be expected given the circumstances he faced. "I gave up a hit so there's a bad pitch there," he said. "But for the most part ... it's tough to be satisfied when you only pitch five innings. I guess really six. But with the rain delay and everything considered, it was OK. It was good."

As far as Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was concerned, it was great. Not so great were the circumstances, especially with two rain delays. Roberts almost pulled the plug after the second delay, but Kershaw was able to get one more inning and 20 pitches under his belt. "We were in constant contact with the grounds crew, constant contact with the training staff and obviously Clayton," Roberts said. "We felt comfortable with that delay to go back out there for the fifth. I think that just individually for Clayton it couldn't have worked out any better under the circumstances. Fastball was good, velocity was really plus. He got the strikeout when he needed to, but to see Clayton go out there and do what he does, it was a huge lift for us." The Yankees did not get their first baserunner until their first batter up after the second rain delay when third baseman Justin Turner couldn't handle a ground ball from Starlin Castro for an error. Chase Headley followed with the Yankees' first hit on a single to left field. But Kershaw got nasty again, getting the first out on a sacrifice bunt that put both runners in scoring position. He then struck out both Rob Refsnyder and Austin Romine to end the threat, adding a roar of accomplishment when the inning was done. "It was just an important at-bat," Kershaw said when asked about his public display of determination. "It's 0-0 still, trying to keep our team in the game. I was throwing out of the stretch there for the first time all game. I'd been leaving a lot of stuff up early and was finally able to throw a good slider there. It was good. It was fun." Kershaw's 64-pitch day was actually two pitches fewer than he threw at Miami on Friday. But in a move more in line with spring training or a rehab start, Kershaw had his extra work in the privacy of the team's underground hitting area. "Obviously it's great to have him out there," said Turner, who had two hits, including a go-ahead RBI double in the ninth inning that broke a scoreless deadlock. "I think the more positive thing for me is the 48-minute delay and he goes back out there and it didn't look like he missed a beat. So obviously, that's a real positive sign for us and we're happy to see it. It's good to get him lengthening out a bit." Kershaw's next start will be even more prime time than Wednesday evening's outing in the Bronx, as he will face the San Francisco Giants in the opener of a three-game home series. He is expected to pitch opposite Giants ace Madison Bumgarner. The Dodgers' victory Wednesday gave them a five-game lead over the Giants in the National League West and reduced their magic number to 13 to clinch the division. The Giants will have to think they are getting the Kershaw of old, as Kershaw himself has not been looking at his past two starts as if he is in rehab mode. "It was pretty much the same [intensity] both times," Kershaw said. "I was obviously thankful to be back the first time, but I wasn't thinking about that. Once you start pitching, you're pitching. You're trying to get guys out, and if you're not doing that effectively you need to look at it. So I did that. Just a little bit was better overall today. Maybe it was back on a normal routine, a normal four days almost -- or whatever my normal is now. Maybe that helped a little bit, I don't know."

It most definitely helped the psyche of the Dodgers, who had struggled at times on this trip and could have been looking at consecutive series losses if the Yankees could have taken advantage of the Dodgers' bullpen. But after getting shut out Tuesday, the Dodgers returned the favor Wednesday. "I just felt that I knew we were going to find a way to get one across," said Roberts, whose team had been scoreless for 17 innings in the Bronx before pushing across two in the ninth Wednesday. "I liked the way we were pitching. The way the pen threw today, and then what Luis Avilan gave us was huge. We picked our spots, tried to match guys up and there were some big outs that the pen guys got us." Dodgers fan meets Yasiel Puig after losing tooth to airborne souvenir By ESPN.com Yasiel Puig has met with the Los Angeles Dodgers fan whose front tooth was knocked out when the outfielder tossed a ball into the stands at Yankee Stadium as a souvenir. Alyssa Gerharter also came away with a busted lip from Puig's throw, which followed the final out of a Dodgers win Monday night in the opener of a three-game set in the Bronx. Puig made amends with Gerharter and tweeted a photo of the meeting Wednesday.

Yasiel Puig ✔ @YasielPuig

Had to make sure my friend was ok after she was hit with a ball #PuigMyTooth ⚾️💢😁 Gerharter described part of the sequence of events in a statement to the New York Daily News. "I saw it coming at me and I remember thinking, 'I don't have a glove to catch this ball' ... and I think I put my hands up in front of my face," Gerharter told the newspaper. "I saw it was coming at me and registered that it was coming at me, and I felt it hit me. "It wasn't so much painful as it was shock," she added. "So I felt it hit me and I could feel immediately with my tongue there's a hole. And I looked down at my hand and saw there's a tooth in my hand." Gerharter was taken to a hospital after being ushered to a first-aid room inside the stadium, according to the Daily News report. "Everybody was going after it. And I guess we all missed," said Gerharter, who said she was in attendance with a group of 30 or 40 New York-based Dodgers fans. "It was so fast that I don't think it's anybody's fault for not catching it." She also shared the experience via Twitter. Alyssa Gerharter @alyxxg Just got home from the ER... But at least we won the game? @YasielPuig @Dodgers 12:21 AM - 13 Sep 2016 · Manhattan, NY, United States Alyssa Gerharter @alyxxg okay @Dodgers i'm coming for you today. try not to throw anything at me this time #puignotyourfriend

Alyssa Gerharter @alyxxg Hey @Dodgers I'm back 1:23 PM - 14 Sep 2016 · Yankee Stadium, United States Alyssa Gerharter @alyxxg

"can you catch this one??" 😂😂😂 @YasielPuig #puigmyfriend #puigmytooth "In our whole group there was only one person who had a glove," Gerharter told the Daily News. "So everybody was trying to catch it with their bare hands. I caught it with my face." Kershaw nearly perfect for 5 innings, Dodgers beat Yanks 2-0 By Associated Press NEW YORK -- For Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers, pitching five innings was nearly perfect. They almost were, too. Kershaw gave up just one hit in a start twice interrupted by rain, and Justin Turner grounded an RBI double off Dellin Betances in a two-run ninth that sent the Dodgers over the New York Yankees 2-0 Wednesday. "For us to see Clayton go out and do what he does, it's a huge lift for us," manager Dave Roberts said. The lefty ace threw 64 pitches in his second start since missing 10 weeks because of a herniated disk in his lower back. Last week in his return, he gave up two runs and five hits in three innings at Miami. "Overall, a little bit better, for sure," Kershaw said. Of course, the three-time Cy Young Award winner still saw room for improvement. "I gave up a hit," he said, "so there's a bad pitch there." As they head to Fenway, Yankees can'€™t let many more opportunities slip away If the Yankees end up falling short of the playoffs, losses like the one they suffered Wednesday against the Dodgers will haunt them. The Dodgers took advantage of errors by second baseman Starlin Castro and Betances to increase their NL West lead to five games over San Francisco. The Yankees completed a successful homestand and remained two games behind Toronto for the second AL wild card. Next up, they begin an 11-game trip -- their longest of the season -- to Boston, Tampa Bay and Toronto. "I don't think you can forget the positive homestand that we had. We were 7-3 against some pretty good teams," manager Joe Girardi said. "Obviously, this is a big road trip and we understand that."

Kershaw walked none in his first career start at Yankee Stadium and exited with a 1.81 ERA. He struck out three and has fanned 153 while walking just nine this season. "It's a good springboard," he said. There was a brief, 12-minute wait in the middle of the fourth. Kershaw kept loose by throwing underneath the stands during a 48-minute stoppage before the bottom of the fifth. Castro became the first Yankees batter to reach when Turner misplayed a hard grounder to third base for an error. Chase Headley followed with a single, and a sacrifice put two runners in scoring position. Kershaw toughened, striking out Rob Refsnyder and Austin Romine to keep it scoreless. Kershaw gave a quick fist pump after the escape. "It was good to see that emotion," Roberts said. Castro previously played for the Cubs, and faced Kershaw in the National League. Castro said Kershaw looked as good as ever. "Yeah, I can tell that. His velocity is up there. All his breaking balls are up there. I think he's the same guy," Castro said. Luis Avilan (2-0) got four outs and Kenley Jansen completed the three-hitter, matching his career high with 44 saves in 50 chances. Los Angeles threw its major league-leading 15th shutout and won two of three in an interleague series between old October rivals. It was scoreless when Betances (3-5) took over to begin the ninth. Corey Seager led off with a liner that got under Castro's glove for an error, stole second and scored when Turner grounded a double down the third base line. Turner moved to third on a flyball and scored as Betances fielded a comebacker by Yasmani Grandal but threw it over the head of catcher Gary Sanchez. Yankees starter Michael Pineda pitched four innings, giving up two hits and two walks. INTERLEAGUE INTEL The Dodgers went 10-10 in interleague play this season, including a 5-3 mark at AL East parks. Los Angeles is 7-6 against the Yankees in regular-season play -- Philadelphia, at 14-13, is the only other team in the majors with a winning record vs. the Yankees in the regular season. ... The Yankees went 8-12 against NL teams this season. TRAINER'S ROOM

Yankees: Rookie RF Aaron Judge is likely done for the regular season because of a strained right oblique, general manager Brian Cashman said. Judge hurt himself taking a swing Tuesday night, and has been put on the 15-day disabled list. UP NEXT Dodgers: LHP Rich Hill (12-3, 1.80 ERA) starts at Arizona vs. RHP Archie Bradley (6-9, 5.10) as LA continues a 10-game trip. Hill has won nine straight decisions, and was pulled with a perfect game in progress after seven innings at Miami in his last start because of concerns about a recurring blister. Yankees: New York begins a bruising trip when RHP Masahiro Tanaka (13-4, 3.04) starts at Fenway Park against Red Sox LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (2-7, 4.70) on Thursday night. The Yankees play four games in Boston, three at Tampa Bay and four in Toronto. It matches their longest trip in 10 seasons. What time is it? Ask Dodgers rookie Brock Stewart By Doug Padilla NEW YORK – What is the going rate for a uniform number these days? Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Carlos Ruiz set the bar fairly high with the gift he gave to teammate Brock Stewart on Wednesday. The 24-year-old Stewart is now the owner of a new Louis Vuitton designer “business watch” after switching to uniform No. 48 a few weeks ago in order for Ruiz to wear his longtime number of 51 when he came over to the Dodgers from the Philadelphia Phillies. There appeared to be no number request from Ruiz. When he was acquired by the Dodgers via trade on Aug. 25, the No. 51 uniform was hanging in his locker when he arrived. Stewart, who previously wore 51, was in the minor leagues at the time of the trade and when he was recalled a day later, his uniform number was different. The whole number swap seemed fairly insignificant and seemed to go unnoticed. But when Ruiz found out he was actually given a number worn by somebody else before him, he went out of his way to make the kind gesture to Stewart, making his watch purchase after the team arrived in New York. “That’s the kind of guy he is,” Stewart said, showing the sleek stainless steel watch inside of a blue leather box. “He has already helped me out so much just in the short time he has been here. He’s just a nice guy.” Dodgers line up Big Three for Giants series next week By Doug Padilla NEW YORK – The Los Angeles Dodgers are taking direct aim at the San Francisco Giants, lining up their rotation to give their division rivals the toughest test possible.

Manager Dave Roberts confirmed Wednesday that the Dodgers will line up Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill and Kenta Maeda, in succession, when the Dodgers return home Monday to open a three-game series against the Giants. Roberts also revealed that Bud Norris and Jose De Leon will start the final two games of the upcoming series at Arizona. Kershaw is rounding into form after going 75 days between starts because of a lower back issue. He finally returned from the disabled list Friday at Miami, but he threw only 66 pitches and lasted just three innings. The second start of his comeback was Wednesday at Yankee Stadium. He is expected to start every fifth game until the end of the regular season. Hill, meanwhile, has emerged as a force after making just three starts with the Dodgers so far. He was acquired from the Oakland Athletics on Aug. 1, but he arrived on the disabled list because of blister issues and like Kershaw is rounding into form now. Hill threw seven perfect innings at Miami on Saturday but was removed after 89 pitches. Reliever Joe Blanton gave up a hit the following inning. Maeda, 28, has been everything the Dodgers could have hoped for in his first year from Japan. He leads the Dodgers in victories (14) and strikeouts (159). He has a 3.28 ERA over 159 innings with 42 walks. The Giants have ace Madison Bumgarner lined up to pitch opposite Kershaw in Monday’s game at Dodger Stadium.

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Dodgers pad NL West lead, set sights on postseason By Jorge Ortiz With their fourth consecutive NL West crown now secure, the Los Angeles Dodgers can now go about the business of setting up their playoff rotation. The Dodgers haven’t quite clinched the division, you say? Oh, that’s a mere technicality. Anybody who paid attention to Wednesday’s games knows that. It goes beyond the San Francisco Giants’ pratfall in getting swept at home by the ripe-for-the-taking San Diego Padres, although that’s certainly a big part of the story. In the three-game set, the Giants faced two starters with ERAs above 5.40 and managed one run total in those losses. They’re five back of Los Angeles and, even though there are six games left between them, it’s hard to envision the Giants making a run. They’ve gone 0-57 in games they trailed after eight innings, not exactly the sign of a contending team.

At the same time San Francisco was getting stifled by Luis Perdomo, a bigger development was taking place on the opposite coast, as Clayton Kershaw threw four perfect innings in his first career outing at Yankee Stadium. It was Kershaw’s second start since missing more than two months with a mild disk herniation in his back. Despite two rain delays – the second one lasting 48 minutes, which prompted Kershaw to throw a simulated inning under the stands – he completed five innings while allowing one hit and no walks in the Dodgers’ 2-0 win as they took two of three against the Yankees.

Bill Plunkett ✔ @billplunkettocr 5 scoreless IP for Kershaw in 2nd start back from DL. That was more "Clayton being Clayton" than 1st start. Fewer hits than rain delays All of which paints an ugly picture for the Giants, who will be trying to defend their slim wild-card lead in a four-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals that begins Thursday. Then they will head down to Dodger Stadium, where they will be greeted Monday by none other than Kershaw, owner of a career mark of 18-7 with a 1.62 ERA against them. With Kershaw’s return and his big step forward Wednesday, the Dodgers are lining up their top guns in an effort to vanquish the Giants and not have to worry about their season-ending series in San Francisco. Kershaw will be followed by Rich Hill, he of the incomplete perfect game and blister issues, but also the author of six brilliant innings in his outing against San Francisco on Aug. 24. Hill has yet to allow a run in 19 innings over his three starts as a Dodger, all victories. Kenta Maeda will follow him Wednesday. Of course, the Giants have their own top three – Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and Matt Moore – set to start those games. Cueto and Moore looked sharp the last time these clubs met, with the latter coming an out short of a no-hitter. But that doesn’t seem to matter much these days as San Francisco and its incendiary late-inning relievers keep coming up with creative ways to lose. After entering the now-distant All-Star break with the majors’ best record, the Giants have gone 20-35, worst in baseball. “This second half’s been something like I’ve never seen before,’’ Bumgarner said after Wednesday’s demoralizing loss. “A lot of guys who have been around for a while say the same thing.’’ Well, at least there’s the wild card.

Andrew Baggarly ✔ @extrabaggs Giants lose. Mets lose. Cardinals lose. Pennant fever: catch it. PLAYOFF PRIMER Days left in the season: 19 Wednesday’s big mover: Seattle. Nobody seems to be noticing, but the Mariners have won eight in a row to slip past the Yankees and move within 1½ games of the second wild card in a crowded race. They have trimmed 4 ½ games from their deficit in a little over a week while holding opponents to less than two runs a game during the streak.

Wednesday’s big loser: Houston. Even while notching a rare victory over their tormentors – aka the AL West-leading Texas Rangers – the Astros incurred two significant losses when MVP candidate Jose Altuve (oblique) and rookie third baseman Alex Bregman (hamstring) had to leave the game. The Astros take on the scorching Mariners in Seattle over the weekend and manager A.J. Hinch said he does not expect either player to be available Friday. Oh oh, it’s magic: It has long been a formality, but it had to be extra special for the Chicago Cubs to lower their magic number to one by winning two out of three against the usually formidable Cardinals – now way back in the distance – at Busch Stadium. Thursday's can’t-miss game: Yankees at Red Sox, 7:10 p.m. ET. It doesn’t have the cachet of the days when these two teams ruled the game’s top division, but the four-game series at Fenway will go a long way toward determining whether the Yankees’ late-season push has legs. Cardinals at Giants at 10:15 p.m. ET serves as an appealing alternative, with wild-card implications in the four-game set.

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Clayton Kershaw Outlasts Rain to Lead Dodgers Over Yankees, 2-0, in Series Finale at Yankee Stadium By Michael Duarte You can't have a rainbow without a little rain. Clayton Kershaw pitched five shutout innings around two rain delays and the Los Angeles Dodgers slipped past the New York Yankees, 2-0, in the rubber match of the series on Wednesday night. After eight scoreless innings, Corey Seager reached base on an error by Starlin Castro to leadoff the ninth inning. Seager then stole second and scored on an RBI double by Justin Turner. Two batters later, Grandal bounced back to Yankees' closer Dellin Betances, whose throw to home sailed past catcher Gary Sanchez, and the Dodgers scored an important insurance run as Grandal advanced to second. "I knew we were going on contact there no matter where it was hit," Turner said of the play. "Betances fielded it, I took off, and he made a high throw and I slid in. Thank God Gary didn't land on top of me, I'm just glad we got the win." The two runs were all the Dodgers needed in the game as Kershaw and the bullpen combined to throw a two-hit shutout in the series finale. "It ended up working out. It wasn't too long of a rain delay," Kershaw said of the two separate stoppages that interrupted his start. "It was a good test for me to make sure I could do that and the pitch count was still in order. It's a good springboard for next time." Kershaw had a perfect game through three innings when the rain began to fell at Yankee Stadium and the officiating crew called for the tarp. Minutes later, the rain stopped and the tarp came off as Kershaw pitched another perfect frame in the fourth.

The drizzle then became a downpour and once again rain delayed the game for nearly an hour before play resumed. To many peoples shock and amazement, Kershaw returned for the fifth, but an error followed by a single ended the perfect game and no-hitter for the three-time Cy Young Award winner. "It was one of those situations where we wanted to have him keep going to get to that pitch count," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of the decision for Kershaw to head back out to the mound after the lengthy delay. "So he threw a simulated inning in the tunnel down below. Ten more minutes and we would have gone to the pen." Kershaw did not factor in the decision, allowing just one hit with five strikeouts and no walks in just his second start since coming off the disabled list last week. "It was a little bit better today than my last time out," Kershaw said of his first start at Yankee Stadium in his career. "It was good to go back out there for five innings. Overall it was a little bit better today." Michael Pineda pitched well through the first four innings for the Yankees, allowing no runs on two hits with two walks and five strikeouts before he exited the game after the first rain delay. Betances (3-5) took the loss allowing two runs (none earned) on just one hit with one strikeout in the ninth inning. Kenley Jansen worked the ninth and survived a scare by the Yankees to earn his career-best 44th save of the season. Los Angeles increased their lead to five games over San Francisco in the National League West after the Giants were swept by the San Diego Padres earlier in the day. The Dodgers magic number is now 13. Players of the Game: Clayton Kershaw: Five shutout innings. Corey Seager: Scored go-ahead run in the 9th. Justin Turner: Game-winning RBI double. Three Takeaways: 1. Groundhog Day: The stop and start nature of the game sandwiched between rain delays felt a little bit like the 1993 movie Groundhog Day. So who better to be in attendance than Bill Murray himself. 2. Interleague Play Record: The Los Angeles Dodgers concluded their interleague play with a 2-0 victory over the New York Yankees. They finish with a record of 10-10 in interleague play for the second consecutive season. 3. WHIP it Good: Clayton Kershaw lowered his WHIP to 0.72, the lowest mark in the live-ball era with at least 120 IP. Pedro Martinez in 2000 finished the season with a WHIP of .73. Up Next: Dodgers (82-63): Los Angeles heads to Arizona where Rich Hill will make his first start since he was pulled from a perfect game in the eighth inning when he takes the mound on Thursday at 6:40PM PST. Yankees (77-68): One of the greatest rivalries in sports adds another chapter when New York takes on their rivals, the Boston Red Sox, at Fenway Park with first place in the American League East on the line.

FANGRAPHS Julio Urias Is Coming for One of Kershaw’s Titles By August Fagerstrom All things considered, Julio Urias is having an extraordinary rookie year. In his age-19 season, Urias has struck out a quarter of all the batters he’s faced in 72 innings. He’s got a 3.50 ERA and a 3.25 FIP, and the list of starting pitchers, age 20 or younger, with better adjusted ERAs and FIPs over the last 50 years runs just six deep. ZiPS already sees Urias as being the near-equal of Cy Young candidate Masahiro Tanaka, and Steamer thinks even more highly of the Dodgers’ young phenom. Already, Urias has put himself on the map as one of baseball’s best young pitchers. And already, Urias is coming after one of teammate Clayton Kershaw‘s crowns. Kershaw wears plenty of crowns. You know about the big ones. Among the lesser-known ones: since he’s entered the league, Kershaw’s been baseball’s Pickoff King. Dating back to his debut in 2008, Kershaw has picked off 57 base-runners. Next-most is the probably-retired Mark Buehrle, with 49. After that? James Shields, with just 29. In other words, among active pitchers, Kershaw, as is the case with so many other pitching traits, stands completely alone when it comes to the art of the pickoff. Or course, Kershaw’s also thrown more innings (and allowed fewer base-runners per inning) than most any other pitcher during that period, so perhaps it would be more instructive to rank baseball’s best pickoff artists by percentage of base-runners picked off, rather than total pickoffs. Pickoff%, 2008-16, min. 500 innings pitched Clayton Kershaw, 3.3% Danny Duffy, 2.8% Bruce Chen, 2.8% Julio Teheran, 2.6% Drew Smyly, 2.5% So, yeah, it’s still Kershaw, and it’s still Kershaw by a mile. It’s clear: Clayton Kershaw is baseball’s reigning Pickoff King. Except lately, a challenger has emerged. And that challenger plays on Kershaw’s team, and that challenger just turned 20 years old. Julio Urias picked off his sixth batter of the season on Tuesday night. His six pickoffs lead all pitchers in the major leagues this season. Urias has pitched 72 innings. No one else in the majors has even five pickoffs. Urias picked off a base-runner in four consecutive starts back in June. To really drive that point home: in a four-start stretch, Urias picked off as many base-runners as any other pitcher has all year. You know how Kershaw leads all of baseball over the last eight years by picking off 3.3% of his base-runners, and how that number is substantially larger than anyone else’s? Urias has allowed 105 base-runners, and he’s picked off six of them. That’s a rate of 5.7%. He’s nearly doubled down on the rates posted by the game’s truly elite pickoff artists. And, of course, Urias has a tiny, tiny sample, and Kershaw’s thrown more than 1,700 innings in his career, so there’s a lot more signal in Kershaw’s pickoff rate than Urias’. But, get this. Urias threw 45

innings in Triple-A this season, and in a four-start stretch in May, he had five more pickoffs. Minor-league data is spotty, and so far as I can tell, nobody tracks minor-league pickoffs. But we can say for sure that Urias has at least 11 pickoffs this season, in just 117 innings, with just 143 base-runners. Minor-league base-runners are probably somewhat more prone to being picked off than their major-league counterparts, but my gut tells me the deviation in true-talent level of “not getting picked off” between Triple-A players and big leaguers is relatively inconsequential. So, we see Urias’ crazy major-league pickoff rate against Kershaw and the rest of the league since 2008, and we see that Urias’ crazy major-league pickoff rate gets even crazier when you combine this year’s minor-league numbers. We already addressed the sample-size concerns, so to account for that, I wanted to gain some single-season context. In doing so, I turned to Baseball-Reference’s Play Index. Using the Play Index, I grabbed every pitcher in the expansion era, dating back to 1961, with at least five pickoffs in a season, and I calculated their pickoff rate, with total base-runners as the denominator. The all-time expansion-era single-season pickoff rate leaderboard: Single-Season Pickoff%, 1961-Present Player Year IP PO BR Pickoff% Julio Urias 2016 117.0 11* 143 7.7% Jerry Garvin 1977 244.2 23 308 7.5% Steve Avery 1995 173.1 13 205 6.3% Steve Carlton 1977 283.0 19 302 6.3% Greg Smith 2008 190.1 15 243 6.2% Jack Sanford 1966 108.0 8 134 6.0% Steve Carlton 1978 247.1 16 271 5.9% John Martin 1981 102.2 6 103 5.8% Mark Guthrie 1990 144.2 11 189 5.8% Tony Cingrani 2013 104.2 6 104 5.8% SOURCE: Baseball-Reference PO: Pickoffs BR: Base-runners *Unofficial total, split between MLB and Triple-A Jerry Garvin had an absolutely insane pickoff season in 1977. His 23 pickoffs that year are an expansion-era record by raw total, and also by a staggering margin on a rate basis. And yet, between Triple-A and the majors this season, Urias has Garvin beat. Urias’ combined numbers, of course, won’t go down in the record books, but even now his major-league pickoff rate of 5.7% falls just outside the top 10 of a leaderboard that dates back more than 50 years. Urias has more than one pickoff move. The one that nabbed Starlin Castro in New York on Monday was a lightning-fast, side-arm move, thrown off the back foot: The more common move is a more traditional, leg-lift style pickoff move that invokes memories of Andy Pettitte: Watching Urias’ move, what strikes me is the speed of the arm action. It’s immediately obvious in the first clip. But even with the leg lift, notice how compact Urias keeps him arm, and how quickly he’s able to get the ball out of his hand from the moment he commits toward first base.

And, about that committal: This is where we really see shades of Pettitte, in the way Urias creates deception with his back leg by having his momentum begin ever-so-slightly toward home before taking the 45-degree step toward first base. And while opposing players and coaches will surely begin crying balk over this, as they did against Pettitte throughout most of his career, Rule 5.07(d) of the MLB Rulebook states a pitcher “may throw to any base provided he steps directly toward such base before making the throw.” The subjectivity of the word “directly” perhaps leaves the above move in a bit of a gray area, but the step is certainly more toward first than it is home, and the tip of Urias’ foot is pointed directly at the bag, so he ought to be in the clear. So long as Clayton Kershaw’s still around, Julio Urias is going to have a hard time getting past playing second fiddle, let alone achieving the title of baseball’s Pitcher King. But, at in his age-19 season, Urias may already be moving in on Kershaw’s status as baseball’s Pickoff King. Beyond that, anything is possible, I suppose. He’s got all the time in the world. The Dodgers Need Yasiel Puig Whether They Want Him or Not By Corinne Landrey In the eighth inning of Monday night’s game at Yankee Stadium, Yasiel Puig was asked to pinch-hit against a left-handed relief pitcher named James Pazos. With two outs, nobody on and the Dodgers already winning 6-2, the stakes weren’t terribly high. However, with Puig’s recent return from purgatory Triple-A, it was a good opportunity to give the right-hander an at-bat off the bench over the left-handed Joc Pederson. The result was the first pinch-hit home run of Puig’s career. However, beyond the actual outcome of this one at-bat, Puig’s pinch-hit performance served as a reminder of exactly how important he can be for the Dodgers in September and October. The latest whispers and rumors indicate that, leading up to the August 31 waiver trade deadline, the Dodgers and Brewers were tantalizingly close to completing a deal that would have sent Puig to Milwaukee and Ryan Braun to Los Angeles. Reportedly, it’s a trade scenario that may be revisited this offseason. For now, however, Puig remains a Dodger. Whatever discord does or doesn’t exist between the player and team ought to be put on the back burner for now because the Dodgers have a role that needs to be filled and Puig is the one here to fill it. There are a lot of different directions in which the Dodgers could go as they construct their postseason roster, but one of them includes taking the five pure outfielders currently with the team. Did you ever watch Sesame Street either growing up or with your own kids? You know that “One of these things is not like the other” song? Go ahead and sing it in your head while taking a look at the Dodgers five outfielders: Andre Ethier, Joc Pederson, Josh Reddick, Andrew Toles, and Yasiel Puig. (Yeah, that song will be in your head all day. Sorry.) Who is not like the others? Okay, obviously it’s Puig. This article is about him, after all. But it’s striking to see it laid out like that because those first four outfielders listed are all left-handed batters and Puig is the sole righty. To be fair, that list absolutely overstates the lefty situation in the outfield because there are two other super-utility-type righties who have gotten significant playing time in the outfield for the Dodgers this year: Howie Kendrick and Enrique Hernandez. However, if you’ve watched the Dodgers this

season you know that the list of left-handed batters doesn’t end in the outfield. There’s also first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, second baseman Chase Utley, and shortstop phenom Corey Seager. The only unmentioned starters to provide at-bats from the right side regularly are Justin Turner and switch-hitter Yasmani Grandal. It’s very much worth noting that the Dodgers offense is among the best in the league even despite their left-handed tilt. Only the Cardinals and Cubs have a better team wRC+ than the Dodgers’ mark of 99. If it’s working for them, is it even necessary to worry about their options from the right side? Well, yes, very much so. The Dodgers are an offensive force that should make any opponents they face this October nervous, but they’re far from infallible. Take a look at their team performance against right-handed pitching relative to the league: Team wOBA vs RHP Now take a look at what they’re doing against southpaws: Team wOBA vs LHP Oh. Yeah, that’s less than ideal. The Dodgers are vulnerable to left-handed pitching and if they want to win the World Series, chances are they’re going to have to get through any of a variety of challenging lefties. Perhaps it will be Madison Bumgarner or Jon Lester in the NLCS. Or maybe they’ll go up against Cole Hamels or J.A. Happ or David Price in the World Series. There’s also the prospect of facing tough lefty relievers like Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller or even Zach Duke and Kevin Siegrist. Lefties are coming and the Dodgers need a counter attack. So what are the Dodgers’ options for facing left-handed pitchers? Below, I’ve provided some generic estimated platoon splits for the most likely possibilities, based on ZiPS rest-of-season wOBA projections. (I’ve assumed roughly two-thirds plate appearances against right-handed pitchers.) Projected Platoon Splits, Dodgers Hitters Name Bats ZiPS wOBA vs. RHP vs. LHP Justin Turner R .352 .345 .366 Yasiel Puig R .341 .334 .355 Yasmani Grandal S .338 .338 .338 Corey Seager L .348 .357 .329 Howie Kendrick R .315 .309 .328 Joc Pederson L .336 .345 .318 Adrian Gonzalez L .333 .342 .315 Trayce Thompson R .297 .291 .309 Austin Barnes R .296 .290 .308 Enrique Hernandez R .295 .289 .307 Andre Ethier L .322 .331 .305 Josh Reddick L .321 .330 .304 Carlos Ruiz R .291 .285 .303 Chase Utley L .297 .305 .281 Derived from rest-of-season ZiPS wOBA projections.

After Turner, the impact options against left-handed pitchers are few and far between. Gonzalez, Pederson, Seager, Turner: all four are projected to produce a .340 wOBA or better against right-handers. Against left-handers, however, it’s only Turner and Puig. In other words: whether or not Puig is the additional right-handed threat they want on their team right now, he’s the one they have. Puig was demoted at the end of July, but that month he hit .283/.389/.417 in 72 plate appearances with the major-league squad. Since being recalled when rosters expanded on Septermber 1st, Puig is hitting .278/.391/.778 with three homers and four walks in just 23 plate appearances. Overall, he’s posted a 113 wRC+ against lefties this season and a 97 wRC+ against righties — and ZiPS sees success in his future, as well. Not too bad for a troubled season that led to a demotion. Considering Puig’s role with the Dodgers is always tricky, as there is clearly so much more than meets the eye. The fact that Puig was performing well and still was sent to Triple-A for a month makes it perfectly clear that the team is not completely content with his performance in a major-league clubhouse. Making a trade to give a fresh start to both the team and Puig this winter may be the right move for both parties, but for now he’s a guy they need. They need him to be able to make those pinch-hit at bats against lefty relievers and they need him to make starts against lefty starters. Sometimes he’ll hit a home run like he did against Pazos on Monday night and sometimes he’ll pull an 0-for-4 like he did last night with a start against CC Sabathia. The Dodgers can only hope they’ll see more of the former performances than the latter ones throughout the rest of their season.

KNUCKLEBALL

Column: Howie Kendrick quietly one of Dodgers’ most valuable players By Jeremy Dorn If I told you to name a veteran second baseman hitting around .270 and on pace for about 10 homers and 50 RBI, most of you would probably accurately assume that Howie Kendrick is the man in question. Over his career, Kendrick has been one of the steadier, more consistent players in baseball. You know what you’re getting with him. His ability to provide that sure thing is one of the reasons the Dodgers brought him back on a two-year deal this winter. The 33-year-old hasn’t contributed as much offensively as last season, but he might be the team’s low-key MVP. Yes, you read that right. On a team with Clayton Kershaw, Kenley Jansen, Corey Seager and Justin Turner, the team’s most valuable commodity might be a post-peak infielder with a relative lack of pop and speed. Let me explain. Kendrick, who has played in 129 games for the Dodgers this season, was pushed to the outfield in favor of another veteran player, Chase Utley. As someone who had started just 20 career games (over 11 seasons) in the outfield prior to 2016, and one who hadn’t played anything but second base and DH since 2013, Kendrick made the transition without complaint. Now, on a team that values flexibility in its players, Kendrick has morphed himself into one of the most important players on the team because of his ability to change positions and fill any hole in the lineup.

Kendrick moved out to left field when Utley won the starting second base job and never complained. He stayed in that spot when Andre Ethier went down with a Spring Training injury and never complained. When Scott Van Slyke and Trayce Thompson hit the DL, Kendrick remained one of the steadiest presences in the outfield, and never complained. Then, he moved around to spell the veteran infielders or fill in when injuries hit. Kendrick started multiple games at second base, third base and first base. In the last couple weeks, there was a four-game stretch where he started four games in a row at four different positions. Make no mistake; moving around that much, especially at Kendrick’s age, is no easy task. It’s not like he’s a spritely young player like fellow utility-man Kiké Hernandez. He is not a lifelong mover of positions like Van Slyke. But he was able to competently play the outfield and produce enough offensively to stick in a lineup that has needed his presence. When you look at the numbers, nothing really stands out about Kendrick’s season. He’s been worth 0.9 WAR (according to Baseball-Reference.com) and hasn’t been a world-beater, save for a couple hot stretches during the summer. But it’s his remarkable consistency — the thing Kendrick’s career will always be remembered for — that has made him so valuable to the Dodgers. Nobody will mistake Kendrick for an actual MVP candidate, but he’d probably be among the leaders if you were to poll the team’s clubhouse. Anyone who will give up his comfortable position to play all over the diamond for the benefit of the team and still produce while doing so will be valuable in the grand scheme of things.

FOX SPORTS

Yasiel Puig meets with Dodgers fan after accidentally knocking out her tooth By Nick Schwartz Los Angeles Dodgers fan Alyssa Gerharter paid a very high price for a souvenir ball Monday night at Yankees Stadium after the Dodgers won 8-2. Yasiel Puig caught a fly ball for the final out of the game, then tossed the ball into the stands as he's done countless times before - but Gerharter didn't make the grab with her hands. Alyssa Gerharter @alyxxg Just got home from the ER... But at least we won the game? @YasielPuig @Dodgers The ball made its way through the sea of hands and struck Gerharter in the face, knocking out one of her front teeth. "I saw it coming at me and I remember thinking, 'I don't have a glove to catch this ball.' It wasn't so much painful as it was shock. So I felt it hit me and I could feel immediately with my tongue there's a hole. And I looked down at my hand and saw there's a tooth in my hand." On Wednesday, Gerharter was back at Yankees Stadium to see another Dodgers victory, and she got to meet Puig - who gave her a signed baseball.

Alyssa Gerharter @alyxxg okay @Dodgers i'm coming for you today. try not to throw anything at me this time #puignotyourfriend Alyssa Gerharter @alyxxg

"can you catch this one??" 😂😂😂 @YasielPuig #puigmyfriend #puigmytooth

THE GUARDIAN

Jaime Jarrín: the remarkable story of the Latino Vin Scully By Les Carpenter They come with their fathers, they come with their mothers. They come with their grandmothers and grandfathers and uncles and aunts, some of them dabbing tears from their eyes. They stand outside the Vin Scully Press Box at the LA Dodgers’ stadium on Vin Scully Avenue waiting not for Vin Scully, known as baseball’s greatest announcer, but for the Spanish language Vin Scully; the voice of their lives. And when he emerges from the elevator, they embrace him and ask for photos and then they beg that he never, ever leaves. “So many people they come up to me and say: ‘My father used to hear you, my grandfather, my grandmother ... and so we started growing up together,’” the Dodgers Spanish language broadcaster Jaime Jarrín says softly. “It really pleases me to hear that.” Lost behind the year-long farewell to Scully is remarkable story. It’s a story many baseball fans don’t know because when they think of the Dodgers they think only of Scully, the team’s narrator for nearly 70 seasons and a man who calls games in such vivid detail he was voted into the Hall of Fame more than 30 years ago. Even as they mourn Scully’s October retirement, they have barely heard of the regal 80-year-old legend in Scully’s shadow. Nor do they realize that for 58 years, millions of Southern California Latinos have had a Vin Scully of their own. And that without him the Dodgers might not be the $2bn franchise they’ve become. “I think we opened the door to some organizations to realize how important the Latino market is,” Jarrín says. And that market matters. In the winter of 1958 Walter O’Malley moved his Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles. Being a businessman he looked around the vast, booming city and he saw opportunity in immigrants from Central and South America with no understanding of American sports. He would make them baseball fans by not only broadcasting each game in English but in Spanish too. No team had ever done something like this before, putting every game on Spanish radio. But O’Malley dreamed that someday these new fans would flock to the stadium he was building on a hill above downtown LA – a hill once-populated by Mexican immigrants who had been pulled from their homes in part for the ballpark’s construction. The man who came to be O’Malley’s Spanish broadcaster barely knew baseball then. He was 23 years old and had arrived three years before on a boat from Ecuador. But soon Jarrín was telling the same Dodger story as Scully, only to an audience that didn’t know Scully. And they did listen, And they did

come to his ballpark on the hill, driving from places like Bakersfield and Fresno, several hours away, lured by the story of a team that Jarrín told nightly. Now nearly half of the Dodger Stadium crowd is Latino, and a little less then half of that group speak Spanish as their first language. “In the Mexican community in Southern California, I don’t know if Jaime is God-like but he’s at least a notch below,” says Charlie Steiner, who broadcasts Dodgers games in English. Then he laughs. “I’m so lucky,” Steiner continues. “I have two of the greatest broadcasters of all time to go to work with every day.” Jarrín stands outside the Nationals Park press box on a scorching Washington afternoon watching the Dodgers take batting practice. He still travels with the Dodgers, covering every game on every trip. His only exception is a small vacation he takes each summer. He figures that he’s earned the right after more than five decades. Otherwise he keeps flying on the planes, moving from hotel to hotel, climbing press box staircases because he enjoys the grind of baseball and the camaraderie of being around a team. He wants to do this for two more seasons, until he reaches his 60th in the game before deciding if he will cut back. His wife, Bianca, who he married long ago back home in Ecuador continues to let him go. He promises her he will stop the moment she asks. So far she hasn’t. Maybe she understands how vital his voice is to a population that looks forward to hearing it the way LA’s English-speaking fans take comfort in Scully’s. “I am so blessed doing what I do,” he says. “I have the best seat in the house and [am] respected by my colleagues. I respect everybody in the organization, I demand respect and they do that, I am very well paid. The main thing is: I love what I do. Most people hate what they do.” A few years ago, Jaime’s son Jorge became his broadcast partner. Each morning they have lunch together and share a ride to the stadium where they sit side-by-side, switching every three innings. Jorge talks a lot about statistics and Jaime likes that. It allows him to tell stories. To him, his nightly conversation with Southern California is a public service. He knows his listeners. They are the working people; the ones who leave home at 6am and don’t come back until after 5pm. They are tired by day’s end, they need a diversion and his Dodger broadcasts are their refuge. “It’s a chance for me to give them something they can enjoy,” he says. “Something that can really relax them.” He constantly worries about doing that. He is a worker too. For years he did radio news stories for Spanish language station KWKW in Pasadena, in addition to baseball, only giving it up a decade ago. He has covered riots and protests and presidents. He was the only Spanish-speaking reporter to be at John F Kennedy’s funeral, flying to Washington that day without a credential and calling on a Latino congressman who got him a pass and a car within an hour. He became the first Spanish-language journalist in Southern California to win a Golden Mike Award for his coverage of the 1970 Chicano Moratorium. He later won another. For a few years, he was also the sports director at Telemundo 52 in LA, giving the job up when he found he loved radio more than TV. He remembers a five-year period where he worked from 4am to 1am six days a week and he wonders now how he managed to keep going. But then Jarrín was aways a newsman. His first radio job came when he was 15 reading news and writing scripts for station HCJB – “The Voice of the Andes” – in his hometown of Quito, Ecuador. Two years later, he was the official announcer for the Ecuadoran senate. He could have had that job forever but he

longed for something bigger. Bianca, who he married at 18, urged him to search saying she would follow wherever he went. That opportunity came when after interviewing the American consul in Quito, he told the man: “I want to emigrate to the United States.” Three days later Jarrín had a visa. He bought his passage on a boat bound for Florida, and sailed through the Panama Canal. Twice the ship was rocked by huge storms that kept him trapped below deck for three days. He got sick. But when the boat finally reached America the first thing he saw was a great bridge traversing Tampa Bay and he thought: “Any country that can build something like this can do anything” He was torn about what to do in his new homeland; choosing between flight school in New Jersey, or a radio career in Los Angeles. He picked LA and arrived on 24 June 1955, the same day as Sandy Koufax’s big league debut. For six months he worked in a factory making metal fences while trying to convince KWKW to hire him. Eventually they did. Bianca joined him and by 1958, he was the station’s news and sports director, broadcasting Thursday night boxing at the Olympic Auditorium. One day the manager called everyone into his office and told them O’Malley wanted the station to call the Dodgers games in Spanish. Jarrín, the manager said, would be one of the announcers even though he knew almost nothing bout baseball. “Don’t worry,” the station manager told him, he would have a year to learn. And so Jarrín spent that first summer of the LA Dodgers listening to their games on the radio and watching the city’s minor league teams, the Los Angeles Angels and Hollywood Stars. When the 1959 season began, he sat with his first partner Rene Cardenas in a makeshift pressbox in the LA Coliseum’s stands. In front of them were Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra. He was 23 years old and a long way from writing scripts and reading news in Quito. “So as you see, I never applied for the [Dodgers] job,” Jarrín says with a chuckle. “I never looked for the job. It was extended on a silver platter.” He thought he would do it for six or seven years. Instead he never stopped, toiling all those years in Scully’s world, invisible to Scully’s listeners. And now he is sad that Scully will soon be gone. “Vin has been my mentor, my idol, my friend,” he says. “I don’t have words to say how I feel towards Vin Scully.” When Jarrín was young and new to baseball, Scully gave him two vital lessons: Prepare for every game as if it is your first and never get too close to the players. Everything he has done as a baseball broadcaster has been built around those words. For the first eight years the Dodgers were in Los Angeles he and Cardenas didn’t travel to road games. Instead they did re-creations from the KWKW studios. A special line was set up to the ballpark in New York or Chicago or wherever the Dodgers were playing. An hour before the game, Scully would get on the line and gave Jarrín details about the weather and the crowd and what the Dodgers players and coaches had said that day. Then when the game started, the Spanish broadcasters listened through headphones to the broadcast of Scully and his partner, Jerry Doggett, trying to repeat in Spanish what they were hearing in English. And something wonderful happened to Jarrín during all those nights listening to Scully in his headphones. He started to sound like Scully. When Scully told stories, he told stories. When Scully

described the way the stadium felt or how the pitcher stalked the mound, he did too. For a young man new to America and even newer to baseball there was no better teacher than the announcer who would be the best. He learned things from a distance he would never have known if he had travelled to the games. “You have to realize he was translating Vin’s words and if you are translating Vin Scully for eight years you are going to become Vin Scully,” his son, Jorge, says. Standing now, on the balcony at Nationals Park, Jaime Jarrín looks away, gazing out toward the field and the players finishing batting practice. “It’s impossible to copy Vin,” he says. “But I adopted his style. He was such a big part of me. He gave me so much confidence at my work. He gave me so many lessons that I adopted his style. I am like him. I am not a screamer. I pray to God to give me the quality of watching what is going on with my eyes, not with my heart and I try to be very impartial.” Which he has been. With the exception of one player. His name was Fernando Valenzuela and he arrived from the tiny Mexican town of Etchohuquila in September 1980, a portly left-handed pitcher, all of 19 years old who rolled his eyes heavenward every time he threw the ball. Almost nobody had ever heard of him. By the next spring, Valenzuela was the biggest thing in baseball winning his first eight games, five by shutout. What followed was like nothing Jarrín had ever seen before or since. Spanish-speaking fans filled Dodger Stadium on the nights Valenzuela pitched. The organist played bullfighting music and everyone shouted “Ole!” One night a woman ran onto the field wearing a Fernando shirt and kissed the pitcher. For the first time baseball had a transformative Latino star. Nobody, not even Roberto Clemente, had seized the nation the way Valenzuela did in the first weeks of the 1981 season. Every place the Dodgers went they had to set up special press conferences for Valenzuela, who spoke no English. The team needed a translator so they asked Jarrín. “It was like a dream,” Jarrín says of those months. “What Fernando did for baseball is amazing. I think that he is the one single player who created more baseball fans than any other player. It doesn’t matter if it is Willie Mays or Roberto Clemente or Stan Musial or whatever because thousands and thousands of Mexicans, Central Americans, South Americans were very, very indifferent to baseball. They didn’t care about baseball. They were big on soccer and boxing – that’s it. But thanks to Fernando he created so much enthusiasm and created so much interest, especially among ladies, mothers and grandmothers and grandfathers. Everybody became Fernando followers and later on Dodger followers and baseball followers.” Suddenly everything changed. So many new Spanish speakers came to Jarrín’s broadcasts wanting to know about this Mexican star. His ratings grew. As time went on the crowds at the ballpark changed too. Not only did Latino fans show up on days Fernando pitched, they came every game, buying tickets in family-sized blocks. Then their children grew up and brought their children until the Dodgers were no longer a Fernando fad but a culture passed down through generations. The number of Latinos in the stands soared from the 8% when the Dodgers first came to LA and kept growing until today where they make up 46-52% of the crowd on any given day.

More people heard Jarrín’s broadcasts. More people knew his name. And in 1998 he was elected to the broadcaster’s wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame, just as Scully had been many years before. He went to Cooperstown for the induction ceremony, and was led into a room only for Hall of Famers. Nobody else was allowed inside. Not family. Not staff. Just the tiny handful of men who had been great enough to earn the game’s highest honor. There he was, Jaime Jarrín who came from Ecuador on a boat in 1955, never having seen a baseball game in his life, standing beside Stan Musial and Willie Mays. “I appreciate that because it’s very unique,” Jarrín says. “The Dodgers with two Hall of Famers working simultaneously – the only organization that has two Hall of Famers. And to be near [Scully] and near the titans of our sport...” He shakes his head. Who could have imagined? “It was destiny first of all that got him here,” Jorge Jarrín says. “First of all, it was destiny that got him to Los Angeles and it was destiny that he got to a radio station that said: ‘you’re going to do the games, this will be good for you, you are the guy to do it.’ That was in 1958 and he’s still doing it in 2016. That’s a book. That’s a movie.” The improbable story of a young man in Quito who took a boat to America and moved millions to love baseball.

MIAMI HERALD

From Brooklyn to LA — and everywhere in between — Vin Scully says goodbye By George Richards Vin Scully announced his retirement from the broadcast booth last year. On Tuesday, he told the Los Angeles Times his final day on the job will be Oct. 2. As Scully might say, ‘what a day that’ll be.’ The longtime announcer of the Dodgers — Scully started calling Brooklyn Dodgers games in 1950 and followed the team west — told the Times he would not call any postseason games as he has in the past and will end his career at the end of the regular season when the Dodgers visit the rival San Francisco Giants. Scully, 88, said he didn’t want too many farewells. READ MORE: Vin Scully, 88, tells Los Angeles Times he ‘will go home’ after final broadcast Oct. 2 Scully’s final game at Dodger Stadium will come Sept. 25 when the Dodgers play host to the Rockies. Scully will then follow the Dodgers on the road for their final road trip of the regular season in San Francisco.

“Otherwise,” Scully told the Times, “I’d be saying goodbye like in grand opera, where you say goodbye 12 different times.” Scully told The Times. “I’m going to say goodbye at Dodger Stadium the last game with Colorado. I will say goodbye in San Francisco. And then that will be it.” As for broadcasting, Scully leaves a long and varied career. He began his career in broadcasting following a two-year stint in the Navy while a student at Fordham. After taking a job with CBS Radio in 1949, Scully found himself on Dodgers broadcasts in 1950 with the legendary Red Barber. Although Barber left the Dodgers during the 1953 World Series giving Scully the chance to be the youngest to ever call a World Series. When the Dodgers won the World Series in 1955, Scully was behind the mic. When the team left Brooklyn for Los Angeles following the 1957 season, he followed and called the World Series won by the L.A. Dodgers in their second year out west in 1959. Although Scully’s most famous call may be one of Dodgers’ pinch-hitter Kirk Gibson beating Oakland in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, that call was on NBC’s national broadcast. Scully was NBC’s national voice for many years and he also called the famous Bill Buckner play in the 1986 Series and called football for CBS throughout the 1970s. As will be the case next month, Scully’s final CBS call came in San Francisco. In that game, Dwight Clark and Joe Montana famously teammed up for a touchdown in the 1981 NFC title game at Candlestick Park.

POYNTER.ORG

Why Vin Scully is the greatest announcer in baseball history By Ed Sherman There are many ways to measure the incredible longevity of Dodgers announcer Vin Scully. Given my background, I will go with the sportswriter perspective. When Scully made his debut in 1950, Grantland Rice, the most influential sportswriter of all time, was writing columns about Jackie Robinson for a Dodgers teams located in Brooklyn. Now that is some longevity. Well, it turns out old Vin couldn’t go on forever. After 67 years in the booth, he finally is hanging up the microphone at the end of the Dodgers season. It truly has been an epic run for Scully, and the fanfare will be unprecedented for his final game broadcasts. In the vast pantheon of great announcers in baseball history, there is no debate about No. 1.

"He's so much greater than anyone who has ever done this," Cubs radio announcer Pat Hughes told me for a Chicago Tribune column on Scully. "It's not even close. It's an embarrassment of riches. He's the best, he's done it the longest and he's been with one franchise. It's amazing all of this can be said about one man." Scully will leave behind numerous lessons for current and prospective members of the media. First and foremost is his emphasis on preparation. Hughes and Cubs TV announcer Len Kasper each made a point of marveling at how much research Scully does for a broadcast. He still is grinding at 88. Yet something Kasper said really gets to the essence of what makes Scully so great. "It's so striking that what he says, and the words he uses, plays as well on paper as it does on a broadcast," Kasper said. "He's like a great author. His pen is his voice." The perfect example is Scully’s call of the ninth inning of Sandy Koufax’s perfect game against the Cubs on Sept. 9, 1965. How fitting that Koufax and Scully both had the signature moments on their great careers on the same night. You can listen to Scully’s radio call on YouTube. However, also take a few minutes to read the entire transcribed version below. As Kasper says, it does play incredibly well on paper. Let’s break down what students of sports media can learn from Scully’s use of language and storytelling in his call: Three times in his sensational career has Sandy Koufax walked out to the mound to pitch a fateful ninth where he turned in a no-hitter. But tonight, September the ninth, nineteen hundred and sixty-five, he made the toughest walk of his career, I’m sure, because through eight innings he has pitched a perfect game. Scully quickly and simply sets the mood by calling it “a fateful ninth” and saying it is “the toughest walk of his career.” Also, note that he uttered “no-hitter” and “perfect game,” eschewing the baseball superstition that using those terms could doom a pitcher’s bid for history. Here’s the strike one pitch to Krug: fastball, swung on and missed, strike two. And you can almost taste the pressure now. Koufax lifted his cap, ran his fingers through his black hair, then pulled the cap back down, fussing at the bill. Krug must feel it too as he backs out, heaves a sigh, took off his helmet, put it back on and steps back up to the plate. Scully begins to build the suspense talking about tasting “the pressure.” Remember this was a radio broadcast. So Scully had to paint a picture for listeners. He shows he is the master by talking about Koufax running his fingers through his hair. “Fussing at the bill.” What a great image for someone listening in a car. Scully also notes Krug “heaves a sigh.” He didn’t say, “let out a sigh.” Heaves is another wonderful descriptive verb. You almost could feel Krug’s exhale.

In the Dodger dugout Al Ferrara gets up and walks down near the runway, and it begins to get tough to be a teammate and sit in the dugout and have to watch. I love this one. Scully displays the power of observation. He wasn’t just watching Koufax and the batter. He also described how the tension was building with his teammates in the dugout. It is a terrific example of the many ways to tell a story. I would think that the mound at Dodger Stadium right now is the loneliest place in the world. I mean, how perfect is this description? As a listener, you can picture Koufax standing alone on the mound, feeling the burden of being so close to perfection. So Harvey Kuenn is batting for Bob Hendley. The time on the scoreboard is 9:44. The date, September the ninth, nineteen-sixty-five, and Koufax working on veteran Harvey Kuenn. Scully famously decided to detail the exact time several times during the ninth inning. Referring to the time added weight to what loomed to be a historic moment in baseball. In a GQ interview in 2011, he explained that he did it for Koufax’s use when he replayed the tape for his grandchildren. "When the game was over, the biggest impact in the city was that they thought it was the most dramatic, theatrical calling of a game they’d ever heard because I’d put the time on it,” Scully said. “And it was purely for him, not for anybody else! Because as we all know time doesn’t mean anything (in baseball)." Two and two to Harvey Kuenn one strike away. Sandy into his windup, here’s the pitch: Swung on and missed, a perfect game. (Thirty-eight seconds of cheering by the crowd.) Keep in mind, Scully was doing a radio broadcast. Yet he went silent for 38 seconds. He felt the roar of the crowd captured the immediate moment much better than words. In a 2014 interview with Dan Patrick, Scully explained the use of silence in a broadcast: “I love it," he said. "It’s probably selfish on my part. When I was about 8 years old, the reason I went in this direction … we have a big old four-legged radio. I would get a pillow and a glass of milk and some saltine crackers and I would crawl under the radio to listen to a football game. I knew nothing about [the teams]. But the roar of the crowd absolutely intoxicated me. That’s what drew me to get into sports. Now I try to shut up so I can enjoy the roar of the crowd.” And Sandy Koufax, whose name will always remind you of strikeouts, did it with a flurry. He struck out the last six consecutive batters. So when he wrote his name in capital letters in the record books, that “K” stands out even more than the O-U-F-A-X. Scully wraps it up, by labeling Koufax’s dominance as “a flurry.” The word depicts the pitcher completely overwhelming the Cubs hitters. With “K” being the scorecard symbol for a strikeout, Scully naturally used it in emphasizing the spelling of Koufax’s last name. Surely, there was much more to this broadcast. Scully did a postgame report and interviewed Koufax on his feat. He likely had more pearls in describing what just happened on the field.

However, the passage below more than shows his greatness. Like Koufax, on September the ninth, nineteen, sixty-five, Scully also was perfect. Here's Scully's unabridged ninth-inning call: Three times in his sensational career has Sandy Koufax walked out to the mound to pitch a fateful ninth where he turned in a no-hitter. But tonight, September the 9th, nineteen hundred and 65, he made the toughest walk of his career, I’m sure, because through eight innings he has pitched a perfect game. He has struck out 11, he has retired 24 consecutive batters, and the first man he will look at is catcher Chris Krug, big right-hand hitter, flied to second, grounded to short. Dick Tracewski is now at second base and Koufax ready and delivers: curveball for a strike. 0 and 1 the count to Chris Krug. Out on deck to pinch-hit is one of the men we mentioned earlier as a possible, Joey Amalfitano. Here’s the strike 1 pitch to Krug: fastball, swung on and missed, strike 2. And you can almost taste the pressure now. Koufax lifted his cap, ran his fingers through his black hair, then pulled the cap back down, fussing at the bill. Krug must feel it too as he backs out, heaves a sigh, took off his helmet, put it back on and steps back up to the plate. Tracewski is over to his right to fill up the middle, Kennedy is deep to guard the line. The strike 2 pitch on the way: fastball, outside, ball 1. Krug started to go after it and held up and Torborg held the ball high in the air trying to convince Vargo but Eddie said nossir. One and 2 the count to Chris Krug. It is 9:41 p.m. on September the 9th. The 1-2 pitch on the way: curveball, tapped foul off to the left of the plate. The Dodgers defensively in this spine-tingling moment: Sandy Koufax and Jeff Torborg. The boys who will try and stop anything hit their way: Wes Parker, Dick Tracewski, Maury Wills and John Kennedy; the outfield of Lou Johnson, Willie Davis and Ron Fairly. And there’s 29,000 people in the ballpark and a million butterflies. Twenty nine thousand, one hundred and thirty-nine paid. Koufax into his windup and the 1-2 pitch: fastball, fouled back out of play. In the Dodger dugout Al Ferrara gets up and walks down near the runway, and it begins to get tough to be a teammate and sit in the dugout and have to watch. Sandy back of the rubber, now toes it. All the boys in the bullpen straining to get a better look as they look through the wire fence in left field. One and 2 the count to Chris Krug. Koufax, feet together, now to his windup and the 1-2 pitch: fastball outside, ball 2. (Crowd boos.) A lot of people in the ballpark now are starting to see the pitches with their hearts. The pitch was outside, Torborg tried to pull it over the plate but Vargo, an experienced umpire, wouldn’t go for it. Two and 2 the count to Chris Krug. Sandy reading signs, into his windup, 2-2 pitch: fastball, got him swingin’! Sandy Koufax has struck out 12. He is two outs away from a perfect game. Here is Joe Amalfitano to pinch-hit for Don Kessinger. Amalfitano is from Southern California, from San Pedro. He was an original bonus boy with the Giants. Joey’s been around, and as we mentioned earlier, he has helped to beat the Dodgers twice, and on deck is Harvey Kuenn. Kennedy is tight to the bag at third, the fastball, a strike. 0 and 1 with one out in the ninth inning, 1 to nothing, Dodgers. Sandy reading, into his windup and the strike 1 pitch: curveball, tapped foul, 0 and 2. And Amalfitano walks

away and shakes himself a little bit, and swings the bat. And Koufax with a new ball, takes a hitch at his belt and walks behind the mound. I would think that the mound at Dodger Stadium right now is the loneliest place in the world. Sandy fussing, looks in to get his sign, 0 and 2 to Amalfitano. The strike 2 pitch to Joe: fastball, swung on and missed, strike 3! He is one out away from the promised land, and Harvey Kuenn is comin’ up. So Harvey Kuenn is batting for Bob Hendley. The time on the scoreboard is 9:44. The date, September the 9th, 1965, and Koufax working on veteran Harvey Kuenn. Sandy into his windup and the pitch, a fastball for a strike! He has struck out, by the way, five consecutive batters, and that’s gone unnoticed. Sandy ready and the strike 1 pitch: very high, and he lost his hat. He really forced that one. That’s only the second time tonight where I have had the feeling that Sandy threw instead of pitched, trying to get that little extra, and that time he tried so hard his hat fell off — he took an extremely long stride to the plate — and Torborg had to go up to get it. One and 1 to Harvey Kuenn. Now he’s ready: fastball, high, ball 2. You can’t blame a man for pushing just a little bit now. Sandy backs off, mops his forehead, runs his left index finger along his forehead, dries it off on his left pants leg. All the while Kuenn just waiting. Now Sandy looks in. Into his windup and the 2-1 pitch to Kuenn: swung on and missed, strike 2! It is 9:46 p.m. Two and 2 to Harvey Kuenn, one strike away. Sandy into his windup, here’s the pitch: Swung on and missed, a perfect game! (38 seconds of cheering.) On the scoreboard in right field it is 9:46 p.m. in the City of the Angels, Los Angeles, California. And a crowd of 29,139 just sitting in to see the only pitcher in baseball history to hurl four no-hit, no-run games. He has done it four straight years, and now he caps it: On his fourth no-hitter he made it a perfect game. And Sandy Koufax, whose name will always remind you of strikeouts, did it with a flurry. He struck out the last six consecutive batters. So when he wrote his name in capital letters in the record books, that “K” stands out even more than the O-U-F-A-X.”