Zack Greinke Streak Continues

Zack Greinke added eight scoreless innings against the Washington Nationals to run his scoreless streak to 43 2/3 innings. He only allowed three hits, struck out 11 and walked only one. He left with a 1-0 lead and the Dodgers added four runs in the top of the ninth to take the bullpen out of the equation.

Greinke now only trails Orel Hershiser and Don Drysdale, both Los Angeles Dodgers, in consecutive scoreless innings with Hershiser's record being 59. I never thought Orel Hershiser got enough credit for being a great pitcher. He pitched 18 seasons in the Majors, won 204 games with 135 of those coming as a Dodger. His 1988 season was great by any standard and he was awarded the Cy Young Award that season as well as winning a World Series title. He also batted .201, had 50 RBI's, and stole eight bases. The .201 batting average was considered high for a pitcher.

I was disappointed in what Bryce Harper had to say after the game. When asked about Greinke, Harper said "I think he was OK. For me, I don't think he was very tough." Harper referenced a couple of times in the interview that he thought Greinke got "five or six inches" off the plate. It is a good thing Bryce harper never had to face Greg Maddux or Tom Glavine of the Atlanta Braves during the early 1990's.

The Dodger Record Books

Los Angeles Dodgers records are hard to break. Clayton Kershaw ran his scoreless innings streak to 36 with 8 more shutout innings in the Dodgers 9-0 win over the Colrado Rockies last night. The 36 inning scoreless streak is only the third longest in Dodger history behind Orel Hershiser's 59 and Don Drysdale's 58. Kershaw improved his record to 10-2 and his ERA to 1.85. He even went 2 for 4 at the plate and drove in his first run on the season. He was leaving nothing to chance. Yasiel Puig hit his 12th homerun and Scott Van Slyke hit his 8th in support of Kershaw. Dee Gordon, Andre Ethier, and A.J. Ellis all had 3 hits among the Dodgers 19 hits and Gordon stole his 41st base. The win gave the Dodgers a 1 1/2 game lead on the San Francisco Giants with the All-Star break getting close.

Another Series, Another Sweep

The Dodgers swept the San Diego Padres this weekend and with 26 games to go, hold an 11 1/2 game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Zach Greinke was the pitching star in yesterday's 2-1 win, going 7 innings and giving up two hits and the one run, striking out 7 and walking 2. He improved to 14-3 on the season. He also had a hit and is batting .347 and even stole his second base on the season. He went in with the head first slide, beat a good throw, and is the first pitcher on the Dodgers since Orel Hershiser in 1987 to have two stolen bases in a season. Yasiel Puig hit his 14th homerun in the bottom of the 6th inning to provide the winning margin. Kenley Jansen closed it out for his 24th save.

Dodgers Potential Ownership Groups Part I

The Dodgers ownership looks like it is finally going to be settled. At least for the time being. The plan is for the sale of the Dodgers to be finalized by the end of April. They accepted somewhere in the neighborhood of ten bids and Frank McCourt predicted that the final sale price will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.5 billion.

All of the ownership groups have a face in front of the money. I am not familiar with the man behind the money so I am going to concentrate on the faces.

Joe Torre- This is the least attractive of the Dodgers ownership options. Although he is a career baseball man, I have never been a Joe Torre fan. I believe he and Ned Colletti are the biggest reasons behind the on field mess and the depleted minor league system (currently ranked #22 in a Minor league Ball website posting). I doubt there would be any improvement if he was the face behind the new ownership group.

Orel Hershiser and Steve Garvey- These two icons of Los Angeles Dodgers baseball are attractive as an ownership option for that reason. Steve Garvey was fired from his public relations position by Frank McCourt in the middle of last season because of his desire to own the Dodgers. Orel Hershiser is still actively involved with baseball as an anouncer for ESPN. Once again, the money behind the faces may not have enough clout to pull this off.