Dodgers 10, Padres 0: Hill dominates as bats explode again for wins in 6 of last 7

After a decisive 10-0 victory over the Padres to complete the series sweep, the Dodgers have all of a sudden won four in a row and six of their last seven.

https://twitter.com/ChadMoriyama/status/913253244737957888

Honestly though, the biggest news out of today’s game is the status of Chris Taylor‘s knee. To start the game, CT3 grounded to short and awkwardly hit the bag on an errant throw to reach.

That led to him limping around, eventually coming out of the game. However, he did jog off normally and didn’t look like he needed immediate attention in the dugout.

Chris Taylor diagnosed with a left knee contusion

— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) September 28, 2017

That is hopefully something that won’t linger too badly.

The good news is that the offense didn’t need him, as they rallied after that in the first. Corey Seager drew a walk, then Justin Turner hit a “single” off the wall in right-center to load the bases, which was only a single cause Curtis Granderson (running for CT3) misread the ball. Cody Bellinger cashed in a run with a sac fly and Enrique Hernandez got an RBI of his own with a ground out.

The bats added on in the second inning behind none other than The Rakeman. Austin Barnes started things with a double, but Rich Hill was the one to drive him in with a lined single to left.

The third is when the Dodgers blew it open. JT walked, Enrique singled, Logan Forsythe singled, Barnes doubled, and Yasiel Puig singled in the inning to plate four runs.

Everybody took a break in the fourth before the fifth came around and Puig added to the fun with his 27th dong of the year.

The sixth inning led to two more runs coming across thanks to back-to-back homers from Granderson (26) and Corey (22).

It was a bloodbath out there, and things looked even worse for the Padres because Hill was on the mound for the Dodgers and looking as good as he ever has. Hill went seven shutout innings on the night on 93 pitches, allowing just two singles and two walks, striking out a whopping 10 batters.

Hill appears to be ready for the playoffs, folks.

https://twitter.com/ChadMoriyama/status/913244644359643136

Brandon McCarthy was then brought on in relief, and while he allowed a walk, he got a scoreless frame with two strikeouts.

https://twitter.com/ChadMoriyama/status/913262372512448512

Kenley Jansen then entered, apparently to get work or whatever. Jansen actually surrendered a double, but got a scoreless frame with two strikeouts to end it.

Yay.

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I know it’s just the regular season, but 102 wins to just 57 losses is crazy to me, and so is a 57-24 record at Dodger Stadium. Cleveland also won today, so the lead for the best record in baseball remains at 2.5 games, but they would have to win out with the Dodgers losing out for the Dodgers to lose home-field advantage (Dodgers have the tiebreaker).

After an off day tomorrow, the Dodgers travel to Colorado for the final series of the season against the Rockies, with the game starting at 2:10 PM HST/5:10 PM PST/8:10 PM EST. Clayton Kershaw (2.21 ERA/3.02 FIP/3.12 DRA) will make an abbreviated tune-up start against Chad Bettis (5.72 ERA/5.32 FIP/6.04 DRA).