Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
For at least one night, the Dodgers conquered their left-handed starter bugaboo and ran away with a game early, putting on a dominant showing in a 9-3 win that also netted the Dodgers the series win and gave them a nice bit of breathing room in the divisional race.
Matt Moore, who was last seen by the Dodgers throwing a no-hitter against them through 8 2/3 innings at Dodger Stadium, this time threw a seven hitter … through one-plus innings of work. The Dodgers offense struck early, with Adrian Gonzalez singling to left in the first to score Corey Seager from second. But that was just the start, as Yasiel Puig stepped up with Justin Turner at second and A-Gon at first and crushed a ball out to right-center field for a three-run shot.
But even that wasn’t the end of the inning, as Carlos Ruiz and Enrique Hernandez both reached on singles, and then Kenta Maeda drove in Ruiz with a single of his own to center for the fifth run of the frame.
Moore started the second as well, but he didn’t finish it. After hitting Kendrick, Moore gave up a sharp single back up the box to Seager to put runners on the corners and Bruce Bochy came with the hook. JT then hit a sacrifice fly to center to drive in another run, and the book was closed on Moore’s day: 1 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 0 K.
Joc Pederson was pumped.
Kenta Maeda was on the hill for the Dodgers and his line was a lot better than it felt watching him today. Over five innings, he surrendered two runs (one earned) on just three hits and two walks, striking out six batters. Seems impressive, but he definitely didn’t look his sharpest today, and both his 88 pitches and the fact he was yanked after five will attest to that. Or hell, just the fact that he gave up a homer to Ehire Adrianza will do. Or that the defense made plays like this behind him.
Additionally, I’m glad the offense came to play today, and thus we’re saved from endless hot takes about Ruiz’s first inning passed ball and drop on a play at the plate in which the runner would’ve been safe anyway.
https://twitter.com/ChadMoriyama/status/778780525624385536
The offense continued the onslaught in the third, as Howie doubled to right to drive in Ruiz and Charlie Culberson.
Of course, that was a bit of a fortunate thing considering Hunter Pence‘s route.
https://twitter.com/ChadMoriyama/status/778800405220241408
Looks about right, IMO.
The Dodgers offense scored their last run in the fifth when Andrew Toles entered the game and immediately hit a double to left to score Enrique. It makes sense, since he’s gonna with the NL MVP.
https://twitter.com/ChadMoriyama/status/778809137106784256
Thankfully, the rest of the game was rather non-descript. The offense didn’t do anything, but the Giants didn’t do much either. Julio Urias came out of the bullpen to get two innings, and he gave up three hits, including a run-scoring double to Brandon Belt. Urias still doesn’t really look comfortable out of the pen, so I’m not sure his utility would be that great in that role.
More importantly, Alex Wood returned after missing months due to an injured elbow swinging at damn bat, and he looked sharp in his perfect inning of work. His arm angle and curve from the left side is honestly an intriguing option to test out over the next two weeks or so.
To nail things down, J.P. Howell entered and struck out two batters in his scoreless inning of work to nail down the victory. Things were comfortable enough that fans started a ‘Don’t Look At Me’ chant at one point.
Nice to win like this and be able to exhale.
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More than the game, Vin Scully getting national attention on ESPN was the highlight. And Vin wanted the cash.
Absolutely classic – Vin Scully appears on ESPN and after signing off – "PAY ME" video (h/t @shahanLA) pic.twitter.com/KN9k7hMJrU
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) September 22, 2016
Vin Scully made a brief appearance on ESPN, now he wants to get PAID (req @shahanLA) pic.twitter.com/Oxc4c7Tkf9
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) September 22, 2016
Vin was also telling the story about Puig’s cleats a while back.
https://twitter.com/scottkilleen/status/778779082670604288
People trying to go against the grain when it comes to Vin worship can go fuck themselves. Thanks.
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The Dodgers are back to 20 games above .500 with the win at 86-66 overall and a sorta ridiculous 49-29 at home. The win also gets the Dodgers back to a 6-game lead in the NL West and reduces the Magic Number to just 5. Okay, now I feel a lot better and less like Dustin probably ruined the entire season.
Tomorrow the Dodgers remain at home and get the Rockies at 4:10 PM HST/7:10 PM PST/10:10 PM EST on SportsNet LA. For whatever reason, the Dodgers send Brett Anderson (24.75 ERA/14.66 FIP/6.61 DRA (LOL (LMAO (FML)))) to the hill against Tyler Chatwood (4.12 ERA/4.43 FIP/4.47 DRA).
