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Cats Well, bad night for the Dodgers in San Diego. What was supposed to be a great pitching match up with Clayton Kershaw and Dylan Cees turned into a one sided affair as the Padres beat the Dodgers eight to one. Hi, everybody, and welcome to Dodger Talk here on an five seventy ELA Sports Live Everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
I got one line opened.
A lot of Dodger fans already anxious to weigh in, and I don't blame you. Eight six six nine eighty seven two five seventy eight sixty six nine eighty seven two five seventy. Tonight was a game in which the Dodgers were seeing one of the better pitchers in baseball, and Dylan sees it kind of had a playoff atmosphere to it. And I say that because the atmosphere at pet Go Park and the type of picture the Dodgers were facing. Now, certainly this is a different looking Dodger
lineup that we're going to see in October. He got no Freddie Freeman, no Mookie Betts, no Max Montci, but still a Dodgers team that's really talented and guys that are filling in needs as they are here in the month of July, and they go up against Dylan cees a good picture, a good test. This is a playoff type atmosphere, a playoff type game in which a good
pictures on the mound. You're not facing a guy who's seven and twelve with a six y ar ray who's just out there getting, you know, smacked around every five days. This is one of the better pitchers in baseball, and Dylan sees and he shoved tonight. He did five and two third innings. The Dodgers just couldn't put anything in play. He would have allowed one run on three hits, strikeout six along the way.
He did get a high pitch count.
Over five and two thirds innings, and that's the only reason he came out of the game. But he really had the Dodgers hitters off ballot striking out again eleven more strikeouts tonight for the Dodgers offense. They've struck it out now sixty six times on this road trip. On this road trip five games, three in Houston, two in San Diego, and the Dodgers are hitting one to eighty
eight on this trip with sixty six punch outs. The defense tonight looked like a defense of a team that you know collectively hasn't played together.
They looked like they were just I mean, Gavin.
Lux at second base tonight looked like Gavin Lux during spring training. And Gavin Lucks has been really good during the regular season, but tonight he just didn't look He didn't look like he was in solid at all at second base.
I don't even know who the best way to describe it.
A ball hit towards the middle and he throws off the wrong foot and the ball goes high for an error.
A ball in the in the.
Middle between second and first and he boots it away. Clayton Kershaw on a bun attempt, gets rushed, can't field it, and extends it inning. These little things add up and added to runs for the Padres tonight, and a game which wasn't clean defensively, only had three hits offensively against Dylan Ceese and this Padres bullpen and Clayton Kershaw goes out there and when you need Clayton to give you five, give you six. Go out there and battle like he
did in his first outing. So it's coming back from shoulder surgery, and tonight he had a rough first inning and even a rougher second inning. To his credit, he came back out after giving up four runs in the second and put up a zero in the third inning, and then the wheels fell off.
In the fourth inning.
He give up a home run to the second Battery, faced an RBI single later in the fourth inning, and with two outs finally gets pulled in favor of Joe Kelly to get the final out of that fourth inning. Just nothing went right for the Dodgers tonight. You know, if they if the.
Jolts are the.
Shot they were looking for from this trade deadline, it hasn't hasn't occurred yet, and I know only Michael Kopek has been the only one to play so far, where we haven't seen any of the other guys that they've acquired in the trade play. We'll see Jack Flaherty on Saturday in the second game of this series against the
Oakland A's. But whatever shot in the arm they thought they were going to get whatever jolt they were expecting, they haven't gotten now in the two games since the trade deadline and tonight having Michael Michael Kopek come in
and pitched. He pitched really well, struck out the side in the fifth inning, And if you want to hang on your head on something positive tonight, it's his outing and the fact that he was throwing ninety nine one hundred and one hundred and one miles an hour tonight, and even the Padres hitters seemed lost at the plate in those three hitters that he faced. So a little bit of a positive is maybe you found something to Mike Kopek, albeit only three batters he faced. He looked
really good, got life on that fastball. He's got a four senior that kind of goes up and tails away from left handers and up and in on a right hander.
He saw Jackson merrill off he struck.
Out, sort of motioning to Kim as he walked by him and the on deck circle. I get that ball's rising. Lookout, it's rising. That's exactly what it does at one hundred and one miles per hour. So maybe the bright spot is they see something in Michael Kopek that moving forward, he could be that guy towards the back end of a game that can get him out of a jam in the eighth inning or coming and maybe close it
to the ninth inning. We'll see what kind of role evolves from this, certainly after one outing.
But uh, if I'm looking.
For positives, that's certainly one to take away from this game tonight. And that's about it. The Dodgers offense is just not in rinny rhythm right now. This Dodgers' offense is completely flat. Will Smith Oh for for tonite with three punch outs, show Hey Otani Oh for three with a walk.
Gavin Lux had a hit.
He con seems to be the only guy consistently getting hits the Dodgers. Andy Patas Oh for three, two punch outs, key Ky Hernandez Oh for three two punch outs, hitting now one to ninety seven on this season.
And what did he play tonight? Third base.
Again, a third base spot that has been a glaring whole offensively since Max Monsey went down with the oblique injury. Now the one positive on the third base situation is Dave Roberts said before the game today that Max Munsey has had a positive reaction to seeing a chiropractor. Now I'm not a doctor, but going to a chiropractor, maybe he got adjusted, maybe they did something to loosen up something in his back.
I don't know. Well, whatever they did, apparently it's.
Been a positive because he's feeling a lot better with his oblique injury. So hopefully he has now turned a corner. Hopefully he's now in a situation where he can start getting more at bats in a batting practice situation and maybe go out in a minor league rehab assignment and come back sooner rather than later. Because the Dodgers have a glaring hole of third base right now, and with Freddie Freeman out with the family emergency, our thoughts and
prayers are with his family. That has been another hole in this Dodger's lineup, and with Mookie bet still out, another glaring hole now. Assuming all three come back at some point between now and sometime in the month of August, here hopefully this Dodger's team will look a lot different in that power that one through four that we saw the first three months of the season should be back to what they were being really good for this Dodger's
offense and this Dodger's lineup as a whole. But right now, this offense is in a rut. Right now, this Dodger bullpen is gassed, and right now Clayton Kershaw couldn't get out of the fourth inning, And you gotta started wondering what kind of Clayton Kershaw are we going to see
moving forward. I was so happy and so fired up in his last start at Dodger Stadium, his first this year, especially that third inning in which he battled out of a tough jam to get out and get out of the inning without any damage done, and to come back out and pitch as strong as he did tonight. Maybe a setback, maybe not, maybe a blip on the radar,
maybe just a little bit of a speed bump. For the rest of the season, he could turn things around and have great starts after this, maybe, who knows, But tonight certainly one of those things in which you see Clayton Kershaw throwing ninety miles an hour, no bite on his slider, it was flat, and seeing a team like the Padre is just teeing off on what he was throwing.
Eight sixty six.
Nine eight seven two five seventy is our number. You heard Will Smith say he's not worried that this Dodgers team is too talented and they'll get things turned around. I think they will. But at what point the leads down now to four and a half games, You've got a red hot Diamonds Backs team and a red hot San Diego Padres team nipping on your heels in the division. And with the loss to night to the Padres, they
are now seven and three against the Dodgers. Both only three more head to head meetings, So if the Dodgers win all three of those in September, the Dodgers still lose the series in the season to the Padres, so they would have the advantage in a tiebreaker if it came down to these two teams tying at the end in the NL West standings. So just something to kind of put in your back pocket towards the end of
the season. Hopefully he doesn't come to that at all, but certainly the Padres get up for playing the Dodgers. Certainly the Dodgers go to San Diego and struggle. I don't know what it is.
I see, I.
Hear the fans, you hear the excitement. You hear and see the passion of these players down in San Diego. They get fired up for the Dodgers, and I know what happened last time around. They did this to the Dodgers where it was a playoff atmosphere, they had a record breaking crowd, and what happened after that? They went into a slump a tailspin. The Padje did after that. I think they lost a series or two right after the Dodgers series in which they got all fired up for and all excited for and all.
Jacked up for in San Diego.
It's like they put all their energy and they spent it all into the Dodgers, and they do a good job doing that, but then after they've got nothing left in the tank. Whereas the Dodgers the last two nights offensively, it just kind of felt like going through the motions, whereas every at bat for the Padres, every situation, it felt like they were trying to get.
A win and clinch a series.
I don't know, maybe you disagree, just kind of felt like they were playing for more the last two nights, and I understand it's one sixty two, it's two games with thirteen head to head I get all that, but still it is interesting to see the way this Dodgers team just as not matched the intensity or the play of the San Diego Padres. It goes back to the
NLDS two years ago. In that same season, the Dodgers dominated the Padres, and that was when they went into that NLDS series with all the confidence up, more of the same we did in the regular season. We're just gonna run through them in the postseason, and they got hit in the mouth and they got stunned, and then they get eliminated by the Padres in the NLDS two years ago. Ever since then, it kind of felt like the Padres play every game like it's a playoff game,
and the Dodgers just cannot match that intensity. And I know, it's a Wednesday night in San Diego and it's game two of a two game series, and they they'll play each other three more times and pump the brakes, kates.
It's still July.
It's going a few hours until we even get to August, and we have two more months left in the season. I understand the flip side of it that you can't get caught in the emotion of one game or one two game series in San Diego. But it feels like these series are stacking on each other now, and we're seeing when the Dodgers go to San Diego, it becomes a place in which there's a lot of Dodger fans and it's Dodger Stadiu himself, but they're not getting the results.
And me I started looking at it this mentally thinking, oh no, if they get to October and they got to play him in a postseason series, I fight, the last place you want to be is San Diego playing the Padres, because that place is going to be rocking the atmosphere, and I feel like the Dodgers just don't match that atmosphere. They don't match the play of the Padres. So that's it. That's what I gotta say. I'm a little frustrated by the way the Dodgers are playing right now.
I understand that Max Munci, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts aren't in the lineup, but the guys that are in the lineup just clearly aren't producing right now. Hitting one to eighty eight on this series on this road trip, and they have now struck out sixty six times in five games. That is a staggering number Dodger fans. Eleven times they struck out tonight, eight sixty six, nine eighty.
Seven, two five seven.
All right, let's go out to the phones, Let's go to Roda Roda and Santa Monica's first up here on Dodger Dog Roda.
How you doing here?
I am, I'm doing fine. I just wish that people would realize, especially athletes and so forth, that it takes two years to get over anything. The doctor tells you, you know, six weeks or whatever, and they're pullipiloni. At the cellular level, it's two years. And so the guy comes out and he did pretty good, you know, on Saturday or whatever
it was. But he thinks he's there, but he's not, and that understanding only makes it worse, I mean, not understanding that, and then he the more he pitches, and the worse it gets, the worst it all gets, and he just needs to put on his big boy pants and realize that it's not going to be perfect. It's going to be a bumpy road for a while.
That's a good way of putting it. I don't know about the big boy pants part, but Rhoda, I appreciate it. I think we maybe do need to kind of step back from Clayton Kershaw coming back now eight it is eight and a half months since offseason shoulder surgery and realized he only made a few starts in the minor leagues. And you're right, Rhoda, when we hear Tommy John surgery, oh, eighteen months you're out. And even then you got to give a picture three four months to get right.
And it's really.
Two seasons after the surgery in which they're back to whatever quote unquote normal is again for a picture coming off of Tommy John surgery. Now, this was a lathoscopic shoulder surgery, but still nonetheless a serious shoulder surgery. And to be back eight and a half months later says a lot about his work ethic, his ability to heal and get back, and his desire to want to get back and help out this Dodgers team. Is he going to be the same cla Sayton Kershaw that he was ten years ago?
No?
Is he the same Clayton Kershaw that he was in seventeen eighteen. No, let's just be honest. No, But at Clayton Kershaw with a slider that's on and biting and breaking down to the foot of a right handed hitter in the back of the strike zone, and a fastball that you know he can hit ninety ninety one, but PenPoint it and get some swinging misses and maybe get some chases on pitches outside the strike zone, and that devastating curveball.
If his pitches are on, I'm okay.
With Clayton Kershaw out there, because that's still an effective Clayton Kershaw like we saw in his first start at Dodger Stadium, a night like tonight where he's fighting to find pitches, where he is struggling with his slider, where he is grinding through the first inning and second inning, and the third inning kind of falls apart on him. Nothing goes right, some blue pits, a missfield by Gavin, you've got an air where he's trying to feel the bunt,
and a run scores. Those don't help a situation at all, especially for a guy who's fighting for every out out there. But maybe this is just a blip. Maybe it's just one of those outings that he had to go through. In five or six days, when he's back out there and it's starting number three post shoulder surgery, Maybe he's out there and he gives you five plus innings, strikes out six or seven, and the slider is biting and
the fastball he is getting swinging misses. So I chalk it up as hopefully this isn't what is going to be the norm now for Clayton Kershaw. Right, Hopefully this was just a blip and what we see the first start is more like that. Hey, you got to credit the Padres hitters didn't. Chase didn't have the longest swinging misses. I mean, you've heard it now a couple of times. Forty one swings on. Clayton Kershaw pitches two swinging misses,
that's it. And one of them, folks, was in the fourth inning on a change up in which he's only thrown a few times this year. Probably probably surprised the hitters so much that he swung at it. Eight sixty six nine eight seven two five seventy. Matt and Woodland Hills is next up here on Dodger Talk after the Padres thumped the Dodgers eight to one in San Diego.
How you doing there, Matt, Yeah, there's a going So let's say that this slide continues. They don't win the division getting wild card, Like, what's the chances Friedman and Roberts sprout next year? So this is getting a bit embarrassing.
Uh, that's a decision that's gonna have to be made in the offseason. Then I don't see uh, those decisions being made at any time soon. I mean, let's let's stay in the moment, Matt. It's July thirty.
First.
This is a team that's sixty three and forty six. This is a team that's still got a four and a half game lead in the division, and they're gonna get healthy, and they're gonna fight, and they're gonna make a postseason run. And we all hope it's a deep postseason run, and we all hope these guys come back healthy, and we all hope that Clayton Kurdishaw can be effected. A lot of hoping right now for Dodger fans, And certainly, they've put themselves in the best position going into October.
They have put themselves in the best position with one of the deepest rosters in baseball. There's a lot of teams around baseball that would love to have the depth of this Dodgers team have right now. Now it's not clicking. Guys are hurt. You're asking guys to play different roles on your team, play different positions, like Calvin Biegio playing first base, Kick Arnani is.
Playing a lot of third base.
You're asking a lot of different guys out of the bullpen to perform three out of four nights, two out of three games in a series.
And we're seeing a team.
Sort of hit a wall. And again, I just got a text about this. Maybe this is that summer wall. Maybe this endto July summer wall is exactly what the Dodgers need to get to and then get over and get ready for the second stretch of the season here in August and September. I mean, there aren't points in a season where pitchers get dead arms. There are points
of season in college football, high school football. In the NFL in particular, you see that jump from college to the NFL, and players hit the rookie wall because there's so many games in the attrition of the season, and all of a sudden, you're playing year round and you're practicing into December and it's January and you're still playing a regular season NFL game. In baseball, it's attrition it's how long can you be healthy over the course of one sixty two and do it effectively? Maybe this team
right now, the injuries have caught up. Guys aren't clicking at the same time, and it's the perfect storm. It's that twister, so to speak, because the movie twisters out again. It's that that twister. That's just the perfect storm for this Dodgers team right now that they just need to get over the hump. They need to get over this month of July and get ready for August and September, because it affects teams at many points of a season.
You go through these stretches which you lose seven to twelve. You know, there are stretches in which you didn't go to twelve and two over two weeks play it happens, and let's just hope this this is this period right now with the Dodgers over the last couple of weeks, going back to pre All Star Break, I mean the heck they went with five and six in the last home stand, but away from Dodger Stadium, no doubt, they are struggling.
They are struggling.
Eight sixty six nine eight seven s Aaron next up here on Dodger Talk, welcome.
Eron how you doing good?
How you guys doing Dude?
Okay, a little frustrated, but I'm going to stay a little bit more positive than a lot of Dodger fans who are really getting after me right.
Now on Twitter.
You know what, I'm I'm right there with you. I was at the game tonight, and uh you know I I go back to this as a as a former athlete and coach myself. You can tell that the team right now is just missing leaders.
You know.
It's it's missing those guys who are the stabilizing forces, the guys who right the ship.
You know.
You know, you look back at twenty twenty, those guys that that where's that where's the Jock Peterson in this clubhouse? You know, we're missing guys like Mookie, We're missing Max, We're missing Freddy. We're really missing the those guys that are at the core of this team, you know, the guys that bring that energy and tail can offer that at times, but the dugout is just missing that stabilizing force, the guy. And it can't come from days. It's got
to come from within the locker room. It's got to come from the guys on the field. You know, we're just missing that stabilizing force right now.
That's a good point eron and just to piggyback what you had to say, and I appreciate the phone call. Somebody brought this up earlier today to me and talking about the Dodgers. You know, no Mookie Bets around this team. Obviously, the situation that Freddie Freeman is what it is. And you know, we continue to think and pray for his family and everything that's going on. But Mookie Bets isn't around this team. Mats months, he hasn't been around this team.
This is a Dodgers team. You think of leadership, who do you think of who's the voice of the team. I mean, for years we talked about Justin Turner being the voice of the team, the guy you can go to. Freddie Freeman's the guy the media goes to after a win or a loss, because he's going to give you an honest answer and he'll stand in front of his locker win or lose, good game or bad game and
talk to the media because he's a professional. But he's not around Mookie Betts outside of a couple of games in the booth with sports and at LA he's not around. Last time I saw Mookie Betts he was on Twitter at rams practice over the weekend, so he's not with the team. And Aaron brings up a good point. Who's the leader of this team? Who's the emotional heartbeat right now of this Dodgers team?
Is it ta Oscar? Is it Kei k?
Keik is not an everyday player. He's struggling right now to even hit two hundred. You know, at one point he was that role player having fun. He was Keik the Banana Hernandez, you know, having a good time back in seventeen and eighteen.
But we don't see that anymore.
And outside and throwing some some flower seeds and people's faces from ta Oscar.
Not a lot of emotion, not a lot of you know, getting.
Guys faces and let's let's turn this around, sort of an attitude. And I don't think the Dodgers quite frankly, have that voice on this team. Is it Mookie Betts?
I don't know.
He's not really a raw rock guy, but certainly leads by example.
That is definitely the case.
And you look at the pieces the Cavin b Show and Andy pat has a Jason Hayward. He's a leader on this team, but not necessarily a raw rock guy, but a good veteran everybody can go to sort of that father figure, so to speak, on this Dodgers roster. But right now, those Dodgers, I just you're right, Aaron, they just don't have that emotional leader. They just kind of feel like the head of a snake has been cut off and they're just kind of flailing right now.
Eight sixty six, nine eighty seven, two five seventy. Bill and Ontario is next up here on Dodgers Talk. Bill Welcome, How you doing.
I am doing very well, sir.
How are you doing?
I'm doing little. I'm okay, I'm okay.
I'm a little frustrated with the way the Dodgers are playing, but I'm confident though, once they get healthy, things will be okay.
I get it to him, but you know what everybody's saying, do not blame Doc, do not blame Freeman to get in the pieces, and we went out. I didn't want Crochet after what he said. You know, he wants the contract. Come on, the guy's never fished a full year, you know, full year.
He's been in the bullpen.
So I'm glad the pieces that we got, but you're right, we don't have the round rock guy. But I think Hayward needs to step up. He's he's Freddy for you, his best friend. He needs to get in there and say come on guys, like like uh, like Danny Cleverer did and and uh in the Angel movie, and you know, we need to get stuff done.
Yeah. I can't believe he just referenced angels in the outfield. But go ahead, Bill.
I had to, man, because we don't have a Dodger movie besides forty two.
But yeah, no, we we we just need we got this.
We're two games, we're the second best record in the National League, and people are already giving up on us.
We shocked too much left, you know, stop stop giving up on us. I'm glad we're hearing the wall right now instead of in the playoffs.
Amen to that, Bill, work out now. Yep, appreciate a great point. I love the positivity.
You're right. Look at the standings. The Phillies are sixty five and forty three. They've lost four in a row.
Wow, they must be going crazy in Philadelphia right now. They've lost four straight. They've lost seven or they've lost seven of ten. Oh, my gosh, they gotta be freaking out of Philadelphia fans must be riding as citisens Big Ballpark because the Phillies have lost four in a row. There leads only six and a half in the NL East. Oh, no freak out. Dodgers are gonna be okay. Dodgers are gonna be all right. They still got the second best
record in the National League. As Bill said, they're playing five hundred baseball right now with a lineup that, when in healthy, will not look like this, will not look like this at all. A couple of things they do need to clean up on, and this is to me more mental than any thing. This is more things that you can fix individually. Is the Heirs Gavin LUCKX two
airs tonight clean it up. The Dodgers have been very good defensively and played well and quite frankly, Freddie Freeman's bailed him out on a lot of plays at first base. Let's be real cards on the table here, folks. Freddie Freeman is a witch with the glove. At first he should he should have already had the gold glove in the Gold Glove Award inscribed and in his house for twenty twenty four because how many throws he has saved,
how many stretches he has made. It like a goaltender in hockey out there, all the all the flexing and twerkin. His body is done to catch the ball, jump up and get high, throws balls in the dirt, picking it like a witch over there with his glove, and they don't have them. Eight six, six, nine, eighty seven, two, five seventies a number. We'll take a break, we'll come back, we'll get to your more of your phone calls. I know you're fired up. I know you a little bit
worried about the way this Dodgers team playing. I'd like to see a little bit more fire in the belly of some of these players, no doubt. But at the same time, baseball you have to stay even keel. You can't get too high, you can't get too low. The Dodgers would have come out and been raw, raw, excited, gotta win tonight. Guess what they get on a plane they head to Oakland, and they got to play another two months of the season because there'll just be one game.
On the flip side, the loss is just one.
Game, just a two game series. You gotta turn the page and get ready for Oakland. And turn the page on this disastrous start to the road trip, in which the Dodgers have given away two games, one in Houston and give away the game last night at pet Go Apart. They lose tonight eight to one the final. Clayton Kershaw roughed up for seven runs in three and two third innings. He gets the loss. Dodgers fall to sixty three and forty six.
Will come back.
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Dodgers lose in San Diego tonight eight to one. Is your final, Padres win it. They win both games of this two game series. Dylan Seiz gets the win. He's eleven and eight overall. Clayton Kershaw the loss. He's now zero to one in his second game back from offseason shoulder surgery.
He can't get out of the fourth inning.
Gives up seven runs, three of which were earned, six hits, no strikeouts, one walk. He got only two swinging misses on forty one swings from the Padres hitters. Tonight, in two starts, he's given up nine runs, twelve hits in seven in two third innings. Dodgers now one in four on this road trip. They're leading the division down to four and a half games over the San Diego Padres.
They're going to wrap up the month of July with a eleven and thirteen record overall, first losing month for the Dodgers since twenty eighteen pre COVID, the last time the Dodgers had a losing month of baseball. Can only go up from here for the Dodgers, as they flipped the calendar to August eight, six, six, nine eighty seven, two five seventy. Ronald and Elsa Gundo love Elsa Gunn. What a great little city out there, Ronald, how you doing?
Welcome to Dodger Talk, Hey Tim, thanks for taking the call. Sure you know I want to preface everything I'm going to say with I understand Freddie and Mookie or not on this team right now, and they're not around both of them for different reasons. And Miguel's out right, and I think people are really over, really over that. That's something that's really big on my mind, is Miguel Rojas, like the catalysts of the infield, who's not there. And
I think that came two things. I just don't think and you, I'm glad you're doing this like getaway game because you know Dave can play, you know, Hector the protector, and you kind of tell it like it is in a different way. I don't think this team has that elevator to get up high, like like the Phillies or the Padres or the Diamondbacks two against us right like it is their super Bowl, and like you know what,
maybe just one series. Pretend like you care, like like it does mean more because to your fan base it does.
And I think that's the message that I think the organization can sell to the fan base, like, hey, it's one hundred and sixty two, but man, these three games are fun to win, right Like, it doesn't feel good to that right up to five isn't gonna be great for the team, yea, And then secondly, Kershaw, you know, a big piece of right Austin Barnes is even on this roster is because he's been his Let's not pretend like it's not what it is. He's his battery mate.
Yep.
And in these moments where Kershaw's getting strung along in the two three four hits at a time, Will Smith isn't going to the mound.
They're not.
I don't know if it's the sequencing, but like Barnes knows him better than Kershaw probably knows, and it might come out when Kirsha writes a book like he owes some of his career success to Barnes because navigating those innings is not easy. And this is no knock on will Smith. He's gonna get better. He's what twenty six, but man, like it's night and day when when it
comes cut in time, it doesn't look the same. And then last thing I'll end with tim is, you know, you look at what we're playing like this next series with Oakland, Like how are they going to get up for that? Like that's Oakland super Bowl again, Like there's a lot of risks upcoming, and I know we're missing a ton of bodies but you know, we got to be honest as a fan base. Like we know it's a long rulings. It's a marathon, right, this is the
this is the fifteen hundred meter. This isn't one hundred butterfly or whatever. But man, like, just once, I would like to be able to like call my friends and be like, hey, we got youa because it feels like every time we go to San Diego, we go to Philly, we go to Arizona, we leave a tail between our legs and we're quiet. So thanks for giving me the voice.
Absolutely, Ronald appreciate the phone call. Eight six seven.
You're gonna face an Oakland A's team, by the way, who lost a tough one nothing game to Logan Web tonight in the San Francisco Giants. But an Oakland A's team, I understand. They're forty five and sixty five, they're twenty games under five hundred, but they've won six of their last ten and a team that can sneak up on you and though they're not playing for much, He's right. You know, the Dodgers come to town, the big lights
show aotani la across their jersey. You know, teams get up for that, And it's hard to explain the raw raw effect. I don't necessarily think you need a guy like a coach Lou Brown, that for our manager Lou Brown from the movie Major League, where he's gonna yell and scream and you.
Know, start getting everybody. You don't necessarily need that.
You don't need somebody's gonna get in there and start kicking over stuff as a player and calling out guys. I don't think you need that, But you need somebody's gonna be a vocal leader, somebody that's gonna hold people accountable for their play on the field and sometimes mess to just get sent through the media. And you know, there's different ways of doing it, certainly, but it'd be nice to see a little bit of a spark there.
And Rick Monday and David Vesta talked about it on the Club Out or the Dodgers on Deck show, you know, Showio Tin's getting thrown in a lot on you know, there's not a lot of Dodger pitchers who are making it uncomfortable for other teams in the batter's box.
You know.
Last night, Machada was just teeing off and Rick Monday said it really well you don't have to hit a guy. You know it'll be cheap, and you know, throwing at a guy and making things dangerous, you don't have to do that. But don't be afraid to throw in on the inner half of the plate. Don't be afraid to make sure you let the hitter know you're there. You don't want to get them too comfortable in the box where they're just teeing off on a fastball that's ninety
and a slider that's not breaking. It's gotten a little bite to it. And I'm not pinpointing just Clayton kershed all, but in general, that's a message that could be sent. Hey, we're not gonna take any of this from anybody. Tired of our guys getting thrown in on and we're gonna make sure we'll protect our guys. You know, there's other ways to do things, necessarily just going and start yelling and being the raw rod guy.
But emotion is certainly part of it. And we saw Joe Kelly getting a little chippy in Houston over the weekend. It doesn't necessarily have to be that, but just to show some emotion, you know. Jackson Merrill hits a home run last night throws his bat and had the entire Padres dugout on their feet fired up, gets the fans fired up.
You know.
I wonder if the fans.
Are the reason why the Dodgers at home or so well, because the Dodger fans know the game and are very smart and get get up on.
Their feet with two strikes with two outs.
You know, when they're not at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers players don't have the fans behind them.
It's us against the world mentality.
You know, maybe that's the mentality they need to take more of, you know, and it's us against them and let's protect ourselves where it's only us and we got to protect ourselvesselves out there.
I mean, what are they going to?
You know.
That's that's part managing, that's coaching. That's also on leadership on this team. So there's different ways of being the raw rock guy. It doesn't necessarily just like I said, have to be yelling and be emotional and being in your face type of coach.
So let's go to Kenan, Newport Beach. Ken Welcome, sir, how.
Are you.
Now? San Diego is tough for me because I've got so many friends that are Padre fans yelling at me at the cigar store. But a couple of points, like you mentioned, the Lakers Dodgers are eleven thirteen the month of July, and now they play Oakland, who is fifteen and nine in the month of July, and Will Smith in the last thirty games is hitting one seventy one and it's really occurting the team. Yes, they're two top three players Freeman and Lookie aren't playing, but man, this
roster is bad. They can't hit the ball, they can't feel the ball. And these are all players that are brought in late this year and they're just horrible. They've got to have some attitude, and really that needs to come from the manager who just seems to be too busy chewing on whatever he's chewing on. They got to make a change because then they go to Philadelphia after
Oakland and it doesn't look good right now. They need those players back because the guys they got are bench players and most of them should be in the minors. I think it's going to get better for sure. Right now this is as low as it's been in a couple of years.
Yeah, no doubt about it.
Kid.
I mentioned it earlier. This is the first time since twenty eighteen that the Dodgers have had a losing month of baseball. You got to go back to twenty eighteen to have the Dodgers finish below five hundred and right now they're going to finish the month of July at eleven and thirteen. Unbelievable the month of July for this Dodgers team.
And think about that road trip before the All Star Break, coming out red hot at home in those six games, they go five to one at home, but then then lose two to three in Houston, to blow games against the Tigers, that five run ninth inning lead, to blow a lead in Houston, to blow a lead last night to the San Diego Padres. Yeah, it's tough times and this bullpen is worn out and it's got a lot of older arms on this team. Hopefully Michael Kopek can come in and help alleviate some of that and also
keep it in mind. Michael Grove, Dave Roberts said, Michael Grove is probably the first guy back. When you look at the guys on the injured list that are on minor league rehab assignments, Michael Grove is gonna be the first one back, followed by Bruce dar Graderol, and then the Dodgers are hoping they can get back Ryan Brazier after that. Certainly they're gonna get Mookie Betts back sometime
probably in late August, and Yoshinobi Gaba Moto. We just don't know what the status of the young right hander is gonna be. On top of that, Max Munsey hopefully has turned the page so to positive as far as the arms are concerned. Some healthy arms in Bratall, Gradol In Brazier and Grove. Those are three guys right there. They can come in and help alleviate some of the stress on the Dodgers bullfit. Let's squeeze on one more call if we can. Let's go to James and North
Hollywood be our final call to night. Thanks for being paid to James.
How you doing, hey man?
I mean, obviously not too good after that loss. I called in today just to you know, before it becomes Asian history, just to say that I thought that Ryan Yarborough for Kevin Kiermeyer is a bad move. We can have James Outman hit one ninety in play close to gold glove defense in center field for us, and with you know, pitching being such an uncertainty as far as guys staying healthy, I think that he has been invaluable to us. And they have two long guys, a lefty
and Yarborough and a righty and Grove. When he comes back, I think is huge. But I want to talk about that raw raw factor that you said it's kind of hard to quantify. I have a theory about that. Let's get your take on it. I think when you're expected to do huge things because of the money, because of the moves that have been made by the front office, you're it's kind of like you got a vice gript
around you. And I think maybe that's why we don't see as much raw rah when you're the underdog and you're chasing and you're fighting, you know, to take down the Kings, which are the Dodgers. Let's be honest. I think that we have to get that swagger back by simply saying, guys, it's an expanded postseason. The two best teams, meaning the team of the best record in each league. When have they faced off in the World Series. I think thirty percent of the time in the last ten years.
So when you look at that and you know that nothing's guaranteed. You are the underdog when it goes into postseason, even if you got the best record. So I think that, you know, I don't think the Dodgers are resting on their laurels, are taking anything granted. But you got to act like you got a claw because that is what you have to do when you get into the postseason.
Good point.
I mean, what do you think about the raw rap factor and uh, you know that that vice gript pressure.
That's that's a great point, James. I'm glad you brought that up.
I'm gonna get more into it on Dodger Talk tomorrow night,
because that's a great point. When you are the one doing the hunting, you've got a little bit dog in you and you got a little bit of a fire in your belly to get to that person's spot, whether you're chasing them in the division or chasing them for a playoffs bot because you want to win a championship when you when you're at the top spot as often as the Dodgers are, you know, sometimes you guy to do a little extra to get up for a game just because you're so dominant.
And that's that's a good problem to have, don't get me wrong.
But when you're the Padres and you're chasing all the time, and you want to be the Dodgers, and you keep chasing and you're hunting, and you you want to have that dog in your belly, you know, you start catching up to the one you're chasing in the Dodgers, and you start beating them a little bit. It's time for the Dodgers to react. It's time for the Dodgers to then say uh and slap them back down, say nope, nope, this is our division. No, no, no, we're the ones
they're gonna win this division. You're the ones that are hunting. No, get out of here. So that's an interesting take and I will get into it more on Dodger Talk tomorrow night, as the Dodgers are off in the Bay Area before they start a three game weekend set against the A's on Friday night. Daniels Jueliers is the official sponsored the
Trip around the Diamond. Stop by any Daniels Jeweler's location and say home run for your free team bracelet and a fifty dollars gift card towards any purchase or ninety nine dollars or more. Daniels Jewelers own the dream. Well, the Padres have owned the Dodgers the last two nights. Not to say the Dodgers can't turn things around, and it's gonna be a fun stretch in August and September as we get ready for postseason baseball. Hopefully the Dodgers get a little fire in their belly now after what
happened on this road trip. Now one and four any combined one to eighty eight, sixty six strikeouts, eleven more tonight. Only three hits tonight for the Dodgers as the Padres winning by a final of eight to one. Dylan sees the wain Clayton Kershaw. The loss Dodgers a four and a half game lead in the division.
Day off tomorrow.
Then it's off to open for the final time ever, so they start a three game series Friday night against the A's. It'll be Gavin Stone in this series opener. Jack Flairy will make his Dodger debut on Saturday night, and then River Ryan will go on Sunday afternoon. Thanks to Colin ye, Thanks to you for listening, Thanks to you for being a part of Dodger Talk. And thanks to you for podcasting the show and making it one of the most downloaded postgame.
Shows in all the countries. We appreciate that.
Until Friday night, when the Dodgers are in Oakland, have a safe rest of your Wednesday night. We'll have off night Dodger Talk on Thursday, so everybody