Dodgers 3, Tigers 0: 6 wins in a row, but all that matters is Cody Bellinger’s ankle

With a 3-0 win over the Tigers this afternoon, the Dodgers have now won six games in a row.

But, uh, honestly … who cares? The most important thing is Cody Bellinger rolled his ankle.

Please be minor. Please be minor. Please be minor.

Cody Bellinger left today's game with a mild right ankle sprain and is day-to-day.

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 19, 2017

We’ll see.

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Hyun-Jin Ryu didn’t have his best control today, walking four batters, which meant he didn’t have a single clean inning this afternoon. However, he also managed to put up five scoreless frames thanks to wiggling out of trouble with strikeouts. Though he only had four on the day, they generally came in important moments, and limiting the Tigers to three hits didn’t hurt.

Since coming off the DL, Ryu has a 1.55 ERA in his five starts, effectively pitching himself back into a solid rotation option. In particular, the strikeout rate (101.2 IP/98 K) has been a pleasant surprise considering his velocity is still down a tick from before the injury.

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Unfortunately for the Dodgers, Michael Fulmer seemed to find his form against them. Fulmer was dominating, allowing no earned runs in his seven innings, giving up just two walks and three hits while striking out six. In fact, he didn’t allow a runner into scoring position through six innings … fortunately Nicholas Castellanos‘ defense happened in the seventh when he couldn’t glove a Curtis Granderson pop-up with two outs, allowing him to coast into second. After a Yasmani Grandal walk, Adrian Gonzalez came through with the type of hit the Dodgers will want in the postseason, as he singled sharply to right to break the deadlock.

Ross Stripling then gave the Dodgers what they needed out of the pen, throwing two scoreless innings, allowing a walk but striking out four batters.

Still, a one-run lead was less than ideal, and in the eighth the Dodgers got insurance. After Chase Utley walked and Chris Taylor reached on an infield single, it seemed like the rally was over when Corey Seager grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. However, Justin Turner snuck a single up the middle for a run to double the lead.

Brandon Morrow took over in the eighth and got a scoreless inning with a strikeout, though he did allow an infield single after he botched a comebacker.

More insurance? The Dodgers got that in the ninth when Grandal blasted a solo shot to the opposite field for a three-run lead.

Kenley Jansen then entered in the ninth for a save, but he was protecting a three-run lead, so the suspense wasn’t there. There was a catcher’s interference, but was otherwise a routine scoreless inning with two strikeouts.

Another win.

BORING

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I dunno.

https://twitter.com/ChadMoriyama/status/899040730311675905

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87-34 on the year and 36-20 on the road. 116-win pace and quite close to a 117-win pace. The Rockies haven’t played yet, so the lead for now is 19.5 games in the NL West. The Astros also haven’t played yet, so the lead for the best record in baseball is currently 12.5 games.

Because nobody thinks about Hawaii, the Dodgers will go for the sweep of the Tigers at 7:10 AM HST/10:10 AM PST/1:10 PM EST. Kenta Maeda (3.76 ERA/3.89 FIP/4.06 DRA) will look to continue to nail down a rotation spot, and he faces a tough task in Justin Verlander (4.11 ERA/4.17 FIP/3.75 DRA).