Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers and Cardinals got their series underway with the Dodgers not having much to play for at this point and the Cardinals in the thick of a race for the NL Central and NL Wild Card. However, it certainly didn’t look it by the way the Dodgers dominated from start to finish in a 8-0 blowout.
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Tony Gonsolin made his second start for the Dodgers following his bad luck debut and impressive relief appearance. He seemed intent on proving the bad luck results were exactly that, dominating a strong Cardinals lineup.
Gonsolin went a season-high 90 pitches over six shutout innings, carrying a no-hitter into the 5th frame. He allowed just two hits and a walk, striking out seven batters.
The offense of the Dodgers made it easier for him to cruise as they jumped out to an early lead. Joc Pederson started things in the 1st with a single, then Max Muncy walked, and eventually Cody Bellinger absolutely obliterated his 37th dong of the year for a 3-0 lead.
In the 3rd, Justin Turner singled and stole second, then Will Smith reached on an infield single to put runners at the corners. Corey Seager followed later with a ground-rule double into the left-center field gap to make it 4-0. However, the most entertaining thing is that Charley Steiner did his thing on it.
The onslaught continued in the 4th, and with one out Joc hit a laser over the right-field wall for his 24th ding dong of the year.
Muncy followed by drawing a walk, ending Michael Wacha‘s night. Did I mention it was Michael Wacha starting? It was Michael Wacha starting.
The bats stuck him with one more run for good measure after Muncy advanced to second on a wild pitch and was scored by a JT double to make it 6-0.
The offense continued to roll in the 5th, as Seager singled and advanced on a wild pitch, a Kristopher Negron single fell in to put runners on the corners, and they both scored after Matt Beaty doubled to make it 8-0.
JT Chargois ended up taking over for Gonsolin, getting a 1-2-3 frame in the 7th with two strikeouts and a ground ball. Just a routine ground ball, you know?
Casey Sadler continued to keep thing scoreless in the 8th, though he struggled a bit. He hit a batter, got a double play, walked a batter, and then got a fly out to the warning track. Thankfully, he also got the 9th and got back to his pen savior ways, securing a 1-2-3 inning to end it.
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The Dodgers are now 75-40 on the year, a 106-win pace. They have an 18-game lead in the NL West over the Giants and Diamondbacks, an 8-game lead over the Braves in the NL, and a 0.5-game lead over the Yankees in the MLB.
The two teams will do it again tomorrow night at the same time of 4:10 PM HST/7:10 PM PST/10:10 PM EST. Clayton Kershaw will head to the mound to face Miles Mikolas.
