Bergman Vs. Greinke in Regular Season Finale

Well folks we’ve reached the final day of the 2014 regular season. Game number 162. The Dodgers have already clinched the division title and are just tuning up for the postseason. As expected third baseman Juan Uribe will manage the game for the Dodgers. And he could institute some interesting new rules as manager. Will he institute a mandatory empanada consumption rule? Perhaps. Either way this will be an interesting day. Clayton Kershaw will act as pitching coach. I wonder if Don Mattingly will even be with the club this afternoon? The skipper deserves a day off in my opinion.

Dodgers Lineup vs. Colorado

Barney 2B

Puig CF

Gonzalez 1B

Kemp RF

Crawford LF

Ellis C

Rojas SS

Arruebarrena SS

Greinke P

Christian Bergman-3-4 vs. Zack Greinke-16-8

The Dodgers (93-68) will be looking to sweep the hapless Rockies on fan appreciation day, and win their fifth in a row to end the season. That would be nice, but remember the most important thing is keeping everyone healthy in a meaningless game. Last night Dee Gordon had to be lifted after grounding out in the first inning. Apparently he aggravated his right hip. The Dodgers got him an MRI as a precautionary measure. He’s ok and it doesn’t appear to be very serious. He’s had the injury before. Fortunately the Dodgers have five days off before their division series begins on Friday night at Dodger Stadium. Gordon should be alright by then.

Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

Speaking of injury updates. Hyun-jin Ryu threw a 20-pitch bullpen session the other day. Apparently it went pretty well. He’s scheduled to throw another bullpen session today. The Dodgers expect him to be ready for the division series next week. We’re all Crossing our fingers here.

The pitching matchups for today will feature young right hander Christian Bergman going up against Zack Greinke.

The 26-year old right hander is a Southern California native from Glendale California. He was drafted by the Rockies in the 24 round of the 2010 amateur draft. This season he is 3-4 with a 5.29 ERA in nine starts. He’s whiffed 27 and walked 10 in 49.1 innings pitched. He doesn’t miss many bats.

The Dodgers have seen Bergman once back on September 15 in Colorado. That was the game they roughed him up for six earned runs on nine hits over five frames. Although he did whiff seven and walk just one. The Dodgers won that game 11-3. Bergman is 0-1 with a 3.12 ERA in three starts away from Coors Field. The Dodgers are hitting .391 (9 for 23) with one home run against Bergman. Matt Kemp has hit the lone home run.

The Dodgers will counter with right hander Zack Greinke. The feathered starter will be getting ready for the playoffs and should be on a pitch count. I wouldn’t expect him to go more than four or five innings at the most.

Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

Greinke is 16-8 with a 2.74 ERA in 31 starts. He’s whiffed 201 and walked 42 in 197 innings pitched this season. Greinke has quietly put together a very good season. He has a 9.2 whiff per nine rate, to go along with a 1.9 walk per nine rate. He has never won more than 16 games in his career, and now has four seasons of 100+ strikeouts. Greinke is 2-0 with a no-decision against Colorado this year. Greinke is 5-2 with a 3.65 ERA in 13 starts against Colorado. He’s whiffed 81 Rockies in 74 innings pitched.

Greinke has held Colorado to a .254 (50 for 197) batting average against with one home run and a .630 OPS against. Drew Stubbs is the only guy that has really given Greinke any headaches. He’s hitting .400 (10 for 25) against Greinke in his career.

Speaking of appreciation, Monday will be Lasorda’s Lair reader appreciation day. We won’t be giving anything away, although look for more of our giveaways in the future. It’ll just be a big thank you to our readers for following along with us all season. We just want you all to know how much we appreciate all of you. We hope you’ll stick around for our postseason coverage. We’ll bring you all the action, and I’ll probably curse a few more times before the season is over. Good times!

Stacie will bring you the final recap of the regular season, and then things get real on Friday night! Let’s bring this home guys! See you all on the other side. (The playoffs!)

Game time – 1:10 PM

Go Blue!