Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
After alternating wins and losses for their previous six games in a row, fortunately the Dodgers made it seven tonight against the Padres by taking a 4-2 win.
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The Dodgers put up a crooked number in the 3rd, plating three thanks to some timely hitting and poor Padres defense. Enrique Hernandez got the rally going with a one-out double, and then with two down Matt Kemp (who else) came through with a single up the middle to drive in a run.
After Max Muncy blooped a single to left to put runners at the corners, Logan Forsythe finally came through (sorta) with an infield single up the middle to plate another run.
After a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third, yet another run came home on a Cody Bellinger grounder to short that led to an error.
Kenta Maeda‘s night started in a less than ideal way, as he allowed a sharp single to center and then a double that was lined into the corner in right, which gave the Padres a run. However, he rebounded in a big way, getting 16 of the next 19 batters out (including a double play). Nine of those outs came via the strikeout, and he allowed just a double, a single, and a walk the rest of the start. Maeda’s outing ended up lasting 5.2 innings before he was relieved by Scott Alexander.
Perhaps a bit of an odd choice, but ultimately understandable given that Alexander and Eric Hosmer resulted in exactly what you’d bet on it resulting in.
https://twitter.com/ChadMoriyama/status/1017264841457741824
Daniel Hudson continued to be a trusted high-leverage reliever, and this time it cost the Dodgers a bit. While he was generally effective in the 7th, he also surrendered a solo homer to cut the lead to just one run at 3-2.
Aside from the three-run 3rd frame, the bats didn’t do much of anything in seven other innings. However, they got insurance in the 8th thanks to a Chase Utley two-out double and a Chris Taylor single to make it 4-2.
That left it to Dylan Floro in the 8th, and while he was primarily a grounder machine with the Reds at 91-93 mph, today he was elevating gas at 94-96 mph. The results will work, as he went 1-2-3 and got two strikeouts. Hm.
For the 9th, things fell to Kenley Jansen as usual. It definitely didn’t start ideal, as a four-pitch walk was issued to start, but he rebounded by inducing two ground outs and then got a routine fly ball to end it.
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Alanna Rizzo interviews Ross Stripling, who says he’ll retire after this season and take Orel Hershiser‘s position as the color analyst for the Dodgers.
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The victory means the Dodgers have gotten to 50 wins on the season, though it has taken a somewhat surprising 92 games to do it. Due to the Diamondbacks getting absolutely pasted by the Rockies tonight — Daniel Descalso and Alex Avila pitched 4.2 innings, seriously — the deficit in the NL West is down to a half game.
The Dodgers will go for the series win tomorrow in the finale of the four-game series against the Padres at 4:00 PM HST/7:00 PM PST/10:00 PM EST. Newly-dubbed All-Star Ross Stripling will take the bump, and he’ll square off against Tyson Ross.
