Blog Kiosk: 7/10/2016 - Dodgers Links - Toles, McCarthy and Liberatore

It was "Pups in the Park" day at Dodger Stadium and the four-legged canine guest in attendance were entertained with a fantastic victory.  Brandon McCarthy went five innings; giving up three runs on three hits, three walks and six strike outs.  Per Ken Gurnick and Jack Baer at MLB.com:

"It felt very weird and it was a struggle, but at least I'm happy to get through five [innings], keep the game close and give the offense and bullpen a chance to win it," said McCarthy, who had surgery April 29 of last year.

As McCarthy said the bullpen was solid.  Per Doug Padilla at ESPN:

 “I know all of us would like to get deeper into games and it’s something we want,” McCarthy said. “There are a lot of guys dealing with a lot of different situations, so it’s not a group of five horses that are healthy, happy and have been here all year. It’s guys that are a little bit of hodge-podge, so it’s on all of us to get deeper into games. The bullpen has been outstanding in picking us up, but we need to do our share in the second half to make sure we take some of the load off them.”

In fact, Dodgers reliever Adam Liberatore broke a franchise record last night.  He threw his 24th consecutive scoreless inning; breaking John Candelaria's record.

“He told me congrats, and I really didn’t know what he was talking about,” Liberatore said. “It seemed like a really weird thing to say in that situation. I’m getting pulled and the guy is saying congrats. I was like ‘What?’”

In the dugout, he soon learned what all the fuss was about, getting a game ball and the adoration from his teammates. The moment was made better for the Pittsburgh native when he learned of Candelaria’s involvement in the record.

“I know that name a little bit so that’s cool,” Liberatore said of the former Pirates and Dodgers pitcher.

The photos above via Jill Weisleder/LA Dodgers 2016.  Go here to check out more pics by Jill and Jon SooHoo from yesterdays game; including more dogs.  Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodger History:  In 1943 a Dodgers clubhouse dispute almost leads to a players strike.  Teammates were at odds with management due to a suspension of pitcher Bobo Newsome.  Durocher suspended Newsome for insubordination and his teammates threatened to not play.  Eventually Branch Rickey intervenes and the game against Pittsburgh is played.  In 1984 Fernando Valenzuela and Dwight Good combine to strike out six consecutive AL batters in the All-Star game in Candlestick Park.