Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Well the six-game series against the Rockies is off to a great start, as the Dodgers blew them out 10-1 in the opener. They have now won three in a row.
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Despite getting shafted a bit on BABIP luck, Clayton Kershaw basically cruised through a start with the intensity of a simulated game. He did have to work around two baserunners in both the 2nd and 3rd, but managed to get through six shutout to continue his great year.
6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 88 Pitches
On the other side was Chad Kuhl, who worked around a bases-loaded jam in the 1st, but wasn’t as fortunate in the 2nd when a Chris Taylor single was cashed in by a Mookie Betts double.
After a quiet 3rd, the 4th was basically an unmitigated disaster for Kuhl. Back-to-back singles from Gavin Lux and CT3 were immediately plated when Cody Bellinger crushed his 18th dinger of the year to make it 4-0.
A Mookie double followed for the fourth hit in a row, and after fly out to the wall from Trea Turner and a walk to Freddie Freeman, Kuhl’s night was done.
The Dodgers were not done, however. Jake Bird immediately surrendered a Will Smith single to score a run, a Max Muncy double to score another, and then Trayce Thompson single for yet another run. After a wild pitch advanced Trayce and a strikeout, Chris furthered the damage by dumping in a single of his own to make it 9-0.
The bats were quiet from there until the 8th, when with two outs back-to-back doubles off Ty Blach from Will and Hanser Alberto made the lead double digits at 10-0.
Taking over for Kershaw was Yency Almonte in the 7th, who was dominant yet again, striking out two in a perfect 11-pitch inning.
David Price followed with a scoreless 8th, giving up just a single, and hilariously it was Hanser for the 10th time this year to close things out in the 9th. He did give up a run on a double and eventually a sacrifice fly, but that was it in the 10-1 win.
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That’s 109-48 for the Dodgers, which again, is a new franchise record. They have also clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
The series continues tomorrow at 3:10 PM HT/6:10 PM PT/9:10 PM ET with Michael Grove facing Kyle Freeland.
