Los Angeles Times - 02.08.2019

L ATIMES.COM/SPORTS S FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 2019D5

BASEBALL

Major League Baseball issued eight suspensions two days after the fight at Great American Ball Park between the Pittsburgh Pi- rates and Cincinnati Reds. Pirates pitcher Keone Kelawas suspended for 10 games, Reds reliever Amir Garrettfor eight and out- fielder Yasiel Puigfor three. Reds manager David Bell was suspended six games and Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdlewas pe- nalized two games, to begin Friday night when the Pi- rates host the New York Mets. Three players on each team were suspended and fined undisclosed amounts, and all of them have elected to appeal.

Indians’ Francona has eye surgery Indians manager Terry Franconawas forced to miss Thursday night’s game against Houston after hav- ing eye surgery earlier in the day. The team said the opera- tion was unexpected. Fran- cona, 60, was expected to re-

turn Friday when Cleveland hosts the Angels. Bench coach Brad Mills served as manager for the finale of the three-game series.

Home run record should fall this year Batters are on pace to hit 600 more home runs than in any previous season, nearly 10% above the record set two years ago. A total of 4,478 home runs were hit in 1,621 games through Wednesday, an average of 2.76 per game. Batters are on pace to hit 6,712 home runs, well above the record 6,105 set in 2017 and up 20% from 5,585 last year. Strikeouts project to 42,607, which would top last year's 41,207 and set a record for the 12th straight season.

Etc. Danny Farquhar, who suffered a brain hemorrhage in the Chicago White Sox dugout last season, rejoined the team as its new minor league pitching instructor. ... The Chicago White Sox put third baseman Yoan Mon- cadaon the 10-day injured list with a strained right hamstring.

NOTES

MLB hands out eight

suspensions for brawl

associated press

The Joc Pederson first base experiment — a bumpy, six-week trial spawned by the Dodgers’ ability to treat the regular season as a play- off rehearsal because of their huge division lead — is over. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed its de- mise Thursday. He left open the possibility that Peder- son could return to first base later in the season. “We’ve given him an opportunity, and this is some- thing that Joc was asking for,” Roberts said. “So for us to oblige and give him that runway ... to give him an opportunity to see how he looks.” The look was hardly un- blemished. Pederson made six errors in 149 innings, in- cluding two in his final two games at the position. He made his debut at first as a defensive substitute in the ninth inning June 20. He started there the next day and 18 more games. His most recent came Monday against the Colorado Rockies. Pederson’s time at first base was trying. The 27-year- old said he had never played the position in a game at any level and had just pregame fielding sessions to prepare. Roberts, however, said Pederson “lobbied” for the opportunity and the Dod- gers decided to give it a try to maximize their offensive po- tential. “He’s worked his tail off to get better over there,” Rob- erts said. “So I really ap- plaud him.” Roberts spoke while Cody Bellinger took ground balls at first base during practice. Bellinger will shift from right field to play first base against right-handed starting pitchers. Roberts said he’ll play some right field against left-handers. Bellinger started in right field Thursday and hit a home run against San Diego Padres left-hander Joey Lucchesi. Playing Bellinger at first base against right-handers allows the Dodgers to move Pederson back to left field and Alex Verdugo to right field with A.J. Pollock in center. Roberts indicated Max Muncy will get occasional starts at first base against left-handed pitching. Roberts has said he avoided playing Bellinger at first base earlier because he feared Bellinger would re- injure his right shoulder.

May debut tonight Back in late March, when Roberts conducted his

spring training exit inter- view with Dustin May, the lanky red-maned right-handed pitching prospect, he challenged him. He told him to focus on pitching well and on continuing his rapid as- cendance. Four months later, the Dodgers, sooner than they envisioned, rewarded May, their top-ranked pitching prospect, for his swift pro- gression this week when he was notified he was going to Los Angeles to make his major league debut Friday against the Padres. “It’s definitely a huge sur- prise,” the 21-year-old May said Thursday. “And I’m definitely excited for the ex- perience tomorrow.” May had just been the subject of rampant trade ru- mors for the second straight summer, but the Dodgers kept the 6-foot-6 right- hander — and the rest of their top prospects — with the intention of giving him an opportunity at the major league level. On Friday, the chance will come as a starter in Ross Stripling’sspot in the rota- tion and he could get more starts, depending on Strip- ling’s recovery. But, ulti- mately, the Dodgers envi- sion May — and fellow prospect Tony Gonsolin — as an option to bolster their bullpen in October after not acquiring a top-tier reliever at the trade deadline. May will get his chance after com- piling a 2.30 ERA in five starts since joining triple-A Oklahoma City in late June. “I think every opportunity is an audition for some- body who is a young player who hasn’t had an opportunity to prove himself at this level,” Roberts said. “He’s earned it. He’s earned this opportunity to pitch here.”

Etc. Jedd Gyorko, acquired by the Dodgers on Wednes- day, will begin a rehab as- signment with double-A Tulsa on Saturday. Gyorko, 30, hasn’t played since the St. Louis Cardinals placed him on the 10-day injured list June 8. The Cardinals notified Gyorko he probably would get traded when they transferred him to the 60- day injured list Tuesday. He is eligible to return next week but probably won’t join his new club immediately. Gyorko explained he was close to a return when he suffered a calf injury this summer. While he was out, he decided to have surgery on his right wrist to remove a bone spur. ... Verdugo was a late scratch Thursday because of knee soreness and Pollock left with a sore left groin.

DODGERS REPORT

Who’s on first?

Pederson isn’t

answer for now

By Jorge Castillo

center field wall.
“I wasn’t sure,” Smith
said. “I didn’t know if I hit it
too high or not.”
Aday after supplying a
go-ahead three-run home
run in the ninth inning
against the Colorado
Rockies, Smith fist-pumped
as he rounded first base.
Dodger Stadium shook. It
was his sixth home run in 48
plate appearances. Two
have been walk-offs. Two
others have given the Dod-
gers a late lead. He added a
double in the eighth inning
and has conjured memories
from another rookie splash
earlier this decade.
“I’m cautious to make
this comparison, but Puig
was like this when he came
up,” Dodgers manager Dave
Roberts said. “That’s the
only time I’ll compare Will
Smith and Yasiel Puig.”
Kershaw watched his
batterymate’s blast from the
dugout with gratitude. It
meant he was in line for his
10th win, one he secured de-
spite a rare round of impreci-
sion.
Kershaw walked a sea-
son-high five batters in six
innings. He struggled to land
his curveball for a strike.
And yet he managed to limit
San Diego to two runs and
six hits as the Dodgers’ lead
in the National League West
ballooned to 16 games.
Along the way, he accu-
mulated five strikeouts. The
fourth tied him with Sandy
Koufax for third all-time in

Dodgers history. It came, fit- tingly, on a looping curveball to strand two runners in the fifth inning. The fifth strikeout, the 2,397th of his career, was a three-pitch knockout and jumped him to third on his own. Kershaw reached the total in 2,219^1 ⁄ 3 career innings. Koufax retired in 1966

after 2,324^1 ⁄ 3 innings. Only Don Sutton and Don Drys- dale sit ahead of Kershaw. “It’s really cool, man,” said Kershaw, who took the ball from his tie-breaking strikeout home. “I don’t know what to say either other than it’s a special thing.”

The clubs exchanged solo home runs in the second inning. Hunter Renfroe went first, slamming a slider from Kershaw for his 30th homer. Cody Bellinger responded with one to end a 12-game skid without hitting a ball over the wall. It was Bell- inger’s 35th this season. He remains on pace for more than 50. The Padres, specifically their young star shortstop, ran into outs at third base to spoil opportunities twice in the early innings. Fernando Tatis Jr. made the gaffes in the first and third innings. They allowed Kershaw to stay afloat despite his worst bout of command trouble this season. The left-hander walked two batters in the third inning and one in each of the next three frames. The Pa- dres capitalized on the im- precision just once, in the third, and left seven runners on base with Kershaw on the mound. Kershaw, as a result, pushed through at least six innings for the 19th consecu- tive start to begin the season. He exited with 87 pitches and a 2-1 deficit because Lucchesi, a Kershaw admirer, was silencing the Dodgers’ bats. That soon changed once Lucchesi was bounced and the Dodgers’ rookie catcher stole the show again. “When he comes up,” Roberts said, “guys want to watch him.”

CODY BELLINGER IS CONGRATULATEDby third base coach Dino Ebel after Bellinger’s solo home run in
the second inning tied the score at 1-1. He added a two-run double in the seventh inning.

Photographs by Luis SincoLos Angeles Times

Kershaw wins despite walks

[D odgers, from D1]

MANAGERDave Roberts, left, visits Clayton Ker- shaw, who passed Sandy Koufax in career strikeouts.

nitely,” Jansen said. “It
always starts with me.”
His earned-run average
is up to a career-high 3.59,
the velocity of his trade-
mark cutter is down to a
career-low 92 mph, but the
former all-world closer had
solid talking points Thurs-
day, which was a start.
Better for him to be talking
optimistically about the
coming months than taking
refuge in the dining room
the way slumping players
often do when reporters are
permitted in the clubhouse.
“Whenever I become
deadly again ...” he started
one sentence.
He opened another with,
“Whenever I get back that
consistency ...”
Notice he didn’t say, “If.”
And when — not if —
Jansen regains the form
that made him baseball’s
second-highest-paid closer
of all-time, he said, “The
same people who say, ‘Ken-
ley’s done,’ will say, ‘Kenley’s
back.’ ”
By the time the playoffs
start, Jansen will be 32. He’s
already endured some
particularly laborious years,
as he’s pitched 10^2 ⁄ 3 innings
in each of the last three
postseasons.
Jansen, who posted a
combined 1.58 ERA in 2016

and 2017, disputed the wide- spread notion that he’s in decline. Rather, he argued that hitters have improved. “You have to make an adjustment,” he said. “There’s a lot more stuff available to hitters. The technology is getting so much better now.” So if Jansen throws a first-pitch slider, he said it’s not because he’s lost confidence in his cutter. He said it’s because he knows opposing hitters likely strapped on a pair of virtu- al-reality goggles and stud- ied the movement of his signature pitch. “The game changed,” he said. He went as far to say that if such technology was available earlier, he never would have been able to blow cutter after cutter by hitters. Eliminate a grand slam he gave up in a loss to the Padres on May 5, ignore a meltdown against the Phila- delphia Phillies on July 16, and Jansen said, “Nobody’s saying Kenley Jansen’s done.” Remove the two games from the ledger and Jansen’s ERA drops to 2.16. Still unconvinced? Jansen said that wouldn’t affect how he views himself.

“I always have that confidence,” Jansen said. “Why should I lose it? No one’s going to bring me down. It’s not going to happen. People can root against you or rip you or whatever. At the end of the day, we’re trying to win a championship here. Try to take that 1988 to make it a 2019. That’s all we care about. Why should I worry about negative stuff? You just have to be positive. If you’re going to put negative stuff in your life, you’re going to bring yourself down. Why should I bring myself down?” He sounded certain the team’s other relievers shared his attitude. “We’re not worried about the noise out there,” he said.

He said he wasn’t overly concerned about the team not adding an elite arm, pointing to the improve- ment of Joe Kelly, as well as the possible inclusion of Julio Urias and Kenta Maeda in the bullpen. Jansen said his focus was on setting an example for rookies such as Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin, who could be part of the team’s postseason bullpen. “My role is to push myself harder and harder now, so when they come out here, they see me, [Clayton Ker- shaw] ... how we prepare ourselves, how we’re working out in the gym, how we’re working out outside,” he said. Jansen’s routine includes 45 minutes on a stationary bicycle at home before he eats breakfast. He tries to be at the ballpark by 1:45 p.m. so he can run in the outfield, lift weights, watch video of himself and study opposing hitters. At the same time, he said he understood why fans were concerned about the bullpen. “People aren’t seeing the results right now,” he said. “But you just have to peak at the right time.” To Jansen, it was a mat- ter of when, not if.

Jansen is remaining confident

[Hernandez, from D1]

‘I always have

that confidence.

Why should I lose

it? No one’s going

to bring me down.

It’s not going to

happen.’

—Kenley Jansen, Dodgers closer

Los Angeles Times - 02.08.2019

L ATIMES.COM/SPORTS S FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 2019D5

NOTES

DODGERS REPORT

Get our desktop app

Company

Features

Documentation

Resources