Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
It’s hard to overstate just how unbelievable the Dodger offense was in their opening homestand against the Diamondbacks and Giants. They had a lot to live up to in their first road game of the year at Coors Field. Predictably, they showed up big again, plating double digits for the third time in seven games. Though the bullpen made the game more interesting than it should have been, the Dodgers won by a score of 10-6.
Kenta Maeda walked many tightropes today but never really got punished for it. He walked four (to four strikeouts), allowed eight baserunners, and threw away a potential double play ball, but only one run came around to score. Maeda’s final escape was from a bases loaded jam, when Trevor Story stared at an 0-2 belt-high slider for strike three. Thanks Trevor. Maeda’s last outing wasn’t exactly clean either, but it’s hard to separate today’s sort of troubles from Coors Field being Coors Field. He is extremely lucky that the damage wasn’t worse, as the Dodgers ended up needing lots of cushion later in the game.
Once again, the offense was the main story today. Max Muncy turned in the best performance, finishing a double shy of the cycle (yes, Max Muncy tripled). Muncy struggled during the opening homestand, but finished 3-for-4 with a walk today, including his second home run of the year:
Perfectly Rectangular Man pic.twitter.com/UJbfWDNjSw
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) April 5, 2019
Justin Turner and Corey Seager both snapped out of their respective slumps against Rockies starter Tyler Anderson, who finished the day allowing six runs in four innings. Cody Bellinger provided the biggest blow, because who else would?
At this point, @Cody_Bellinger‘s just not being fair. pic.twitter.com/EmW9ajfbiw
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 5, 2019
Following Maeda’s departure, the Dodger bullpen did their best to let the Rockies back in the game. Brock Stewart was asked to give the team some length and only managed to record two outs, one of which was gifted to him by a disastrous baserunning gaffe. Story hit a homer two pitches later. Stewart is throwing harder and from a lower arm slot, but so far it sure doesn’t seem to be helping. His 2019 ERA currently stands at 18.
After Pedro Baez put the fire out and threw an extra scoreless inning, Joe Kelly entered to pitch the ninth. Following two big misses and one good fastball, Charlie Blackmon hit a line drive comebacker. Initially it appeared that the ball hit Kelly in his glove, but it clipped his pitching arm and he was removed from the game.
Yimi Garcia then entered and promptly allowed home runs to David Dahl and Story, as he and Stewart continue their race to see who gets demoted first when Clayton Kershaw returns. Kenley Jansen had to warm up in a game the Dodgers were once winning by seven runs, which could have an effect on the rest of the series.
Ultimately, though, the Dodgers found the correct side of the scorecard. After today’s win, they will face Jon Gray tomorrow at 5:10 PDT. Walker Buehler will start for the Dodgers, looking to recover from his disastrous season debut.
