Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
A team that looked every bit like they could challenge the win record for the first two weeks has looked like a disaster for the last week. Riding a three-game losing streak coming into tonight, the Dodgers didn’t exactly shake all their struggles off, but they did come up with 12 hits and had a three-run game-winning rally in the 6th to take a 5-4 victory over the Padres.
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Trevor Bauer started for the Dodgers and was greeted immediately and rudely by a Fernando Tatis Jr. homer on the second pitch of the game to make it 1-0.
Tatis also clowned Bauer a bit for the one eye thing.
Things continued to look messy in the 2nd, as a single, a dropped pop foul by Will Smith, a stolen base, and another single led to another run to make it 2-0.
On the other side of things, Blake Snell took the hill for the Padres again. The Dodgers got their first scoring chance in the 2nd, but were unable to capitalize. That wasn’t the case in the 3rd, as a two-out rally was led by a Mookie Betts single, Corey Seager single, and Justin Turner single to plate a run and make it 2-1.
It then seemed like they’d have another shot after a Smith walk, but the umpire rung him up on an absolutely brutal call to end the threat.
Regardless, they rallied again in the 4th as AJ Pollock started with a single and Max Muncy followed with a walk, then both runners advanced after Pollock stole third and Manny Machado dropped the ball to allow Muncy to take second. Then a bit of fortunate luck struck as a Sheldon Neuse roller down the line was picked up by Snell and led to the tying run scoring at 2-2 while Machado threw a mini-tantrum.
However, they couldn’t capitalize on another golden chance, with a strike out, a caught stealing pick off, and a ground out to end it. After that mess in the 4th, they missed a chance in the 5th as well after a walk and a double with two outs set them up.
Meanwhile, Bauer had retired 11 batters in a row, but Tatis stepped up and got him again on a seemingly impossible to hit pitch for a 3-2 lead.
Tatis also again had some fun with it.
That 6th was the last time Bauer would be out there as he kinda labored at times in this start and the pitch count ran up with all the strikeouts he tallies. Still, his line was solid: 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R (2 ER), 0 BB, 9 K, 103 Pitches.
As for Snell, well he pitched into the 6th for his first time as a Padre, but made it only one out before being relieved by Pierce Johnson. The meme lives.
It also immediately started a rally like the last time Snell was relieved with one out in the 6th against the Dodgers, as Neuse singled, then Chris Taylor pinch-hit and singled, and Matt Beaty also singled to load the bases. Johnson was then allowed to face Betts, who walked to tie the game. Tim Hill then was tasked with getting Seager, but Corey followed by somehow getting a ball past Jake Cronenworth for a single to drive in two more and take a 5-3 lead, though Hill prevented further mess.
Aaron Northcraft would make his MLB debut after and make sure no further insurance crossed the plate in the 7th and 8th.
So that would leave things up to the Dodgers pen. Victor Gonzalez relieved Bauer in the 7th, issuing a lead-off walk, but rebounding with a strikeout and seemingly getting another K that was called a ball. That led to a bloop single and the end of his night.
Blake Treinen entered and immediately allowed a bloop single of his own to load the bases for Tatis. After uncorking a wild pitch in the at-bat to cut the lead to one at 5-4, Treinen struck out Tatis and then Trent Grisham to escape. Treinen then continued in the 8th, getting a questionable strikeout before giving way.
High leverage Scott Alexander was given the ball next and he immediately allowed a single. He then seemed to induce a GIDP, but to nobody’s surprise the Dodgers couldn’t turn it, and a stolen base followed to give the Padres a threat. Alexander then hit a batter to put the go-ahead run aboard.
And so Kenley Jansen entered with a task to get four outs, and after a double steal he got out of the 8th with a grounder. He continued in the 9th, getting a strikeout but then walking a batter. After a stolen base made things interesting, he got Tatis to ground out, and then with the tying run on third he decided to gas it up and got Grisham to end it.
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The Dodgers are now 15-6. I mean, it’s a 116-win pace.
The finale of the four-game series will be tomorrow at 1:10 PM HST/4:10 PM PST/7:10 PM EST with Dustin May facing Joe Musgrove, who fans should definitely boo.
