Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
After a miserable stretch of games, the Dodgers have rebounded with a series win against another playoff contender in the Mariners after a 12-1 victory this afternoon. They are now winners of three of their last four and definitely at least look like they’re playing better.
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It always helps when Clayton Kershaw is taking the mound, and he continued his run of excellence today. In the 4th inning with two down, he gave up a fly-ball double that hit the line and then a ground-ball single for a run. That was it. He went seven frames, allowed only two singles the rest of the game and walked a batter, striking out seven as he looks to reclaim his form even with a lesser fastball.
https://twitter.com/ChadMoriyama/status/1031316934489300992
After hitting the ball hard all last night but not getting the results they wanted, the bats exploded early today. They got five singles, a walk, and three stolen bases in the 1st, jumping out to an early 5-0 lead with Cody Bellinger, Enrique Hernandez, and Yasiel Puig accounting for driving in the runs.
Score five runs in the first? It's Seattled. pic.twitter.com/0wZymrF2bY
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 19, 2018
They got insurance in the 4th thanks to a Mariners miscue. With two down, Manny Machado grounded to third routinely, but Kyle Seager dropped the ball and allowed the inning to continue.
— Bryan Kephart (@thundercrat) August 19, 2018
Matt Kemp followed with a single and then Bellinger reached on a single that almost obliterated the pitcher’s ankle to load the bases. Enrique followed by drawing a walk to force in a run for their seventh of the game.
In the 5th they continued to add, and again with two out as well. Brian Dozier drew a walk and stole second, which is becoming a real weapon for the Dodgers now, and JT blooped in a single to right to plate a run.
Enrique made it a third inning in a row where the Dodgers scored with two outs, as in the 6th he bombed a breaking ball to left for a dong.
.@kikehndez knew, the pitcher knew, we all knew. pic.twitter.com/h9J7r3TIxk
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 19, 2018
In the 7th frame, the offense scored for the fourth inning in a row. Austin Barnes drew a one-out walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch, then Dozier singled to put runners on the corners. When JT followed with a single of his own, the Dodgers had their ninth run of the afternoon.
https://twitter.com/ChadMoriyama/status/1031321524152594433
The Dodgers added three more for good measure in the 9th, though it wasn’t that surprising since they were facing a position player in Andrew Romine. Barnes finally found somebody he could hit and doubled, then Dozier followed with a single to left, and JT capped it with a three-run dong to left for 12 runs. Arguably though, the most dramatic thing that happened was Romine hitting Machado on the hand with a fastball, briefly enraging me. Thankfully, he seems okay.
https://twitter.com/ChadMoriyama/status/1031318778930286592
Thankfully, this pen couldn’t blow this one. Kershaw probably would’ve gone the distance if it wasn’t a blowout, but Daniel Hudson fresh off the DL got some work in the 8th, and he gave up a hit but struck out two in a scoreless frame. Zac Rosscup, now a mop-up guy, got the 9th by striking out the side on nine pitches for an immaculate inning. Yay?
See guys, as long as the Dodgers score like 10 runs, everything is chill.
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With win improves the Dodgers to 67-58 on the season. Unfortunately, the Diamondbacks and Rockies both won, so the Dodgers remain 2.5 back of the former and 2 back of the latter in the NL West.
The Dodgers will return home tomorrow to face the final test of their brutal stretch to start the second half of the season, welcoming in the Cardinals starting at 4:10 PM HST/7:10 PM PST/10:10 PM EST. Alex Wood will look to continue building off his excellent return from the DL in his last time out against Austin Gomber.
