1. Dodgers hitters locking in on Hamels

Since mid-August, Cole Hamels has pitched 21 innings against the Dodgers with a 2.57 ERA. With his team one victory away from the World Series, Hamels will face Los Angeles again Wednesday.

Not tinkering with success, Hamels has used a similar approach in his three previous starts versus the Dodgers. The first time through the batting order he throws mostly fastballs with some changeups and occasional breaking balls. On the next pass he goes primarily to his change, and throws twice as many breaking pitches. For the third time through, Hamels mixes in more fastballs.

Five of the Dodgers' core hitters -- Manny Ramirez, Russell Martin, James Loney, Matt Kemp and Casey Blake -- have seen a combined 176 pitches from Hamels in the past two months, and they've started to get comfortable with his stuff and approach:

Five core Dodgers vs. Hamels
OPS Changeup chase % Fastball miss %
Aug. 12 .690 60.0 27.3
Aug. 23 .800 50.0 16.7
Oct. 9 .862 36.4 14.3

If the trend continues, Los Angeles might be on the cusp of engineering a big inning against Hamels, particularly if Dodgers manager Joe Torre stacks these hitters 3-7, as he did in Game 1. Hamels commanded 67 percent of pitches for strikes and allowed just a .160 well-hit average in that outing, but will his predictable pitch mix give Dodgers hitters enough of an edge to stay alive in the NLCS?

Rafael Furcal ss
Andre Ethier rf
Manny Ramirez lf
Russell Martin c
James Loney 1b
Casey Blake 3b
Matt Kemp cf
Blake Dewitt 2b
Chad Billingsley p

The Dude wrote:Floppington I can't take that kind of news

TenuredVulture wrote:For Victorino, more than the NLCS is at stake, his honor is on the line here. He will, I think, crush the ball.

TenuredVulture wrote:You people really think this is going to take six games? I mean, you can knock my superfan prediction on the other page, but I really do think we'll get this in 5.

Phan In Phlorida wrote:Manny's car on eBay

Manny donated his fully restored 1967 Lincoln Continental to raise money for the Franciscan Hospital for Children.

TenuredVulture wrote:

Phan In Phlorida wrote:Manny's car on eBay

Manny donated his fully restored 1967 Lincoln Continental to raise money for the Franciscan Hospital for Children.

HE IS THE MOST AWESOMEST HUMANITARIAN SINCE MOTHER TERESA. NO, HE'S BIGGER THAN THAT.

Mountainphan wrote:

phdave wrote:Ethier's blog

Tomorrow we've got a day off. I'll have to try to find a way to relax and find something to take my mind off. But right now it's sinking in that if we play this way again, it will be a whole lot worse than this. We'll be packing up and going home and we'll know we gave a series away to a team that is not better than ours. Nobody in here wants that.

From the comments:

You're absolutely right, they're are NOT better than us. It isn't over, we can still win this. If the umpires can call a fair game, we'll be able to win the NLC. GO BLUE!
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buddy, pal, you kicked *** tonight. That diving catch in the 6th was unbelievable. They even have a whole article on that on the website. This series is far from over. Don't believe me? Ask Tommy Lasorda. He'll tell you nothing is over until it's over. This is Hollywood, where the good guys always win in dramatic fashion, and the Dodgers are the good guys. (Will anyone really watch a Phillies/Rays World Series???) I believe in you, LA believes in you, the world believes in you, SO GO OUT THERE AND SHOW WHY YOU GUYS ARE CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!


p.s. and if nothing else, take solace in the fact that i'm still picking you first in 2009 fantasy baseball.

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Don't worry,

Keep disrespecting your opponent that way and you'll have plenty of time in the offseason, starting Wednesday night, to think about how your lost to an "inferior team".
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I can't believe how much of a bandbox Dodger Stadium has become. The Stairs HR would have been a popup anywhere else.
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I hate to break it to everyone, but the reason LA is down 3 - 1 is because they AREN'T the better team. You can constantly argue calls, you can say you gave away games, that you defeated yourselves, etc...

The fact of the matter is, it's baseball, it's 9 innings. In October baseball, anything can change. Right now, the Phillies are hot, and they are playing the game when it counts.

If you manage to win game 5 against Cole, get ready for Philly... You thought our crowd was loud in the first 2 games, you haven't heard anything yet.

Phillies realized last night that they have what it takes to play with anyone in the playoffs right now, you're not striking any fear into them now...

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Andre- yeah it was a tough loss last night but I want you to know that even though you guys lost, I know that you still brought comfort to many people in the Valley last night. I live in Porter Ranch where the Sesnon/Porter Ranch fire is and as my family and I sat waiting to see where the fire was going to go and if we would need to evacuate, it was comforting to be able to somewhat take our minds off of things and have the normalcy of watching a Dodgers game. So just know that even though it was a tough loss, there are a lot of people who are proud of you guys and are happy that you guys are still playing cause it's a little bit of normalcy in an otherwise bad situation. And afterall this thing ain't over until a team wins 4 and I have faith that you guys can do it.
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I just want to let you know that your catch was the talk of the morning here in my classroom. They didn't care that you lost, they didn't care that there's is another game to be played tomorrow. All they cared about was that it was a great game and you were part of it. So, take heart in knowing that there is a classroom full of first graders who think you, along with your teammates, are remarkable.
Have a Ethieriffic Day Andre!!
Debbie (Mrs. Nelson) ~
Dodger Fan Forever and an Ethieraholic !!!
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Oh yeah, let Furcal know that he was out at home.
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PS –To relax, instead of eating out...cook something or try inventing a recipe for future cooking. This should get to stop thinking of yesterday’s game. Also when you are up to bat, pretend your grandfather is pitching you...relax.....and the BAM...get the ball out of the park! Also God is with you all the time!
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Rose – Ethieraholic-Dodgeraholic!

Dear Ethier (aka the player),

You are what your record says you are.

dude you are totallyI feel that kicked-in-the-stomach feeling. After everything we've been through this year, to come this far and have it end like this, it leaves a sour taste and it will be tough to let it go. It will take a little time until I'm able to stop looking back at this and start getting the itch to get back at it.

We just had a lack of execution. I'm guilty. I was not getting on base in front of Manny so he could drive me in. He hit something crazy like .538 but we didn't score enough runs. I have to get the job done a little better. I have to come back next year with the knowledge I've gained from this and be a better baseball player.

The writers have asked if I feel we were beaten by a better club. I don't, no way. I'm not shy in saying that. They definitely beat us, but we also beat ourselves a bit. You can look at Game 1 and Monday's game. If we don't make mistakes in those games, we just as easily could have won them. They executed better than we did, no doubt.

As for next year, we'll see if I'm here. You never know. I want to see what the off-season holds. We've got a lot of outfielders coming back.

As for this year, I want to thank the fans for their support, for showing up all year. It was a tough season with a lot of ups and downs. I appreciate your support and the encouraging words on and off the field and I hope to see everybody again in 2009.