The sometimes fierce rivalry with the San Francisco Giants ramped up to red-hot on Tuesday night when the Dodgers were beaten 7-5 at Chavez Ravine and saw three members of the staff suspended.
As well as manager Joe Torre and bench coach Bob Schaefer, both banned for one game, key starter Clayton Kershaw was handed down a five-game sanction for intentionally throwing at Aaron Rowand.
Kershaw’s seventh inning indiscretion was not particularly harsh and his reaction when asked after the game came with a grin that suggested it was nothing other than a typical baseball incident. He has appealed the ban so he can continue to pitch in the meantime.
But the incident costing Torre and Schaefer their places on the bench probably cost the Dodgers a win, with the bullpen blowing a 5-4 lead in the ninth for a sixth successive defeat for the team.
MLB betting pundits note that it sparked a catalogue of errors from the team and management, with hitting coach Don Mattingly making a rare blunder during a visit to the mound that forced Jonathan Broxton to leave the game.
Mattingly spoke with the inner sanctum on the mound, and went to leave, making a couple of steps back towards home plate before turning and telling James Loney where he wanted him to play at first base.
After an appeal from the Giants, the umpires determined that Mattingly's turning constituted a second visit to the mound, meaning Broxton had to come out of the game. He was replaced by George Sherrill, who was then not given the unlimited number of warm-up pitches he should have been allowed.
The lefty, looking rusty, proceeded to give up the game-winning double to Andres Torres as a game Kershaw and the Dodgers looked to be winning went to the Giants in the most confusing fashion I can remember.
Strange how these things always seem to happen when rivals are playing – you can bet if Kansas City had been playing Tampa Bay MLB betting predictions would have suggested that it would never have happened!
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