Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers are somehow on the precipice of a sweep of the Cubs after a 5-0 victory today, notching back-to-back shutouts in the series, the first time that’s happened to the Cubs since the Giants did it in May of 2014 before the Cubs became THE Cubs.
Dodgers are simply playing great right now.
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Brandon McCarthy turned in his second sterling start in a row, bouncing back nicely after a rough return from the disabled list. McCarthy only threw 79 pitches today, but that’s all he needed to get through 6 shutout innings. McCarthy struck out 6, cutting through the powerful Cubs lineup while only surrendering 2 hits and 1 walk for the start. In 2 starts against the Cubs this season, McCarthy has now thrown 12 scoreless innings.
The only concern is that in the 6th inning after having to cover the bag at 1st, Dave Roberts and the trainer had to come out and check on him. For what I couldn’t quite figure, but everything looked fine afterward and he got out of the inning without trouble.
After Roberts and trainer visited mound, McCarthy struck out the next two batters.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) May 28, 2017
Update
Apparently it was a knee issue.
Roberts said McCarthy was removed with a knee issue.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) May 28, 2017
Roberts called it tendinitis, surfaced in fourth inning.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) May 28, 2017
Offensively it looked like it was going to be another struggle against John Lackey, especially after he cruised through three innings. In the 4th, however, the Dodgers got a two-out rally going behind an Enrique Hernandez double. Enrique then stole third, and after a walk to Cody Bellinger, Chase Utley came through with a single to break the ice.
But that still made it a tenuous game, so it was fortunate for everybody’s blood pressure that the Dodgers put up a crooked number in the 5th. McCarthy drew a lead-off walk, which set the table for Chris Taylor taking the first pitch of the at-bat and yanking it over the left-field wall for a 2-run shot.
Somehow that didn’t kill the rally (Steve Lyons sheds a single tear), as Yasmani Grandal came up with a one-out single, Adrian Gonzalez then reached on an infield single somehow, and later Bellinger drew a two-out walk to load the bases.
That left things up to Utley again, and he came through yet again with a 2-run single knocked through the right side of the infield.
This Lackey is the best Lackey.
Again though, the Dodgers were relatively limited to just 6 hits, but they drew 6 walks and took advantage of the chances they got.
The pen today consisted of just Ross Stripling, who went 3 innings to notch the save and to really help keep the pen fresh as can be. While he did get in some trouble in the 8th (mainly due to his own throwing error), he managed to wiggle out of trouble without damage. Stripling allowed just 1 hit and struck out 2 en route to closing the game for the Dodgers.
Saves for everybody!
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#SensualBaseball
https://twitter.com/ChadMoriyama/status/868609828410671104
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The Dodgers move to 30-20 on the year and 20-8 at Dodger Stadium, which is a 97-win pace, but still puts them third in the NL West. Alrighty.
As mentioned to start, the Dodgers are going to go for the sweep of the Cubs tomorrow afternoon at 10:10 AM HST/1:10 PM PST/4:10 PM EST. Things are looking promising in that regard because Clayton Kershaw (2.01 ERA/2.68 FIP/2.36 DRA) goes tomorrow, and he’s recently fixed whatever just made him an ace instead of the best. It’s not going to be easy, however, as Jon Lester (3.19 ERA/3.13 FIP/2.64 DRA) will be going for the Cubs and he’s pitching outstanding as well.
