Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
While the series against the rival Giants was still in the balance tonight, the main focus was undoubtedly on the Max Muncy–Madison Bumgarner rematch and the potential reality that this will be MadBum’s final start in Dodger Stadium as a member of the Giants, as he’ll likely be traded at the deadline and the teams don’t play again until September.
Well it feels safe to say that Muncy and the Dodgers got the better end of things, as MadBum was shelled and didn’t make it out of the 4th inning in a 9-8 victory for the Dodgers.
Just like last game, a Muncy hit put the Dodgers up by one against Bumgarner in the 1st. Instead of a homer, this time it was a single to right with two outs, which scored Enrique Hernandez from third after he was hit to lead the game off and then stole both second and third.
After a quiet two innings, they absolutely exploded in the 4th. Chris Taylor — who has been red hot since Corey Seager went down — doubled to start the frame, and Kyle Garlick worked a nine-pitch at-bat that ended with him yanking his second homer on the year down the line in left for a 3-0 lead. Alex Verdugo followed with a single, and then Austin Barnes yanked his fifth homer of the year that looked almost identical to Garlick’s for a 5-0 lead.
Eventually the Dodgers loaded the bases with two outs behind singles from Enrique, Justin Turner, and David Freese, and once again it was CT3 that came through with a single to drive in a run and make it 6-0.
That knocked MadBum out of the game, saddling him with his worst start ever against the Dodgers.
The stadium certainly had their fun.
In case you were stumped by any of them:
— Organist Alert (@organistalert) June 21, 2019
“Under The Sea” – 🧜♀️
“(Sitting On) The Dock of the Bay” – Otis Redding
“Smoke on the Water” – Deep Purple
“Cake by the Ocean” – DNCE (x 2)
“The Ocean” – Led Zeppelin
Meanwhile, Julio Urias started for the Dodgers and looked dominant. He went three shutout innings on 43 pitches, allowing just a double and striking out five batters.
The recently recalled JT Chargois took over and he also looked razor sharp. He struck out five in two innings, though he did give up a run on a single and a double in the 5th that cut the lead to 6-1.
The bats did get that run back in the 6th behind a Turner double and a two-out single by Garlick to make it 7-1.
Ross Stripling was next out of the pen, and he did get a 1-2-3 inning to start, but ran into trouble in the 7th. He issued a walk to start, a CT3 error at short put two on, and a ground out put runners at the corners. A sacrifice fly drove in one run and a Mike Yastrzemski two-run homer accounted for three runs in total against Stripling, who also allowed an infield single before he got out of it.
That unfortunately put the game back in play at 7-4, but the Dodgers rectified that in a hurry in the 7th. Barnes had himself a day and doubled to start, then Joc Pederson provided a cushion again with a two-run dong, his 20th of the year, to make it 9-4.
Josh Sborz then entered, making his MLB debut following a stellar MILB year (aside from one horrific game that destroyed his ERA).
He got a 1-2-3 frame in the 8th, showing a 94-95 mph fastball that touched 97 mph, along with a sharp 85-87 mph slider.
Sborz continued in the 9th, which went poorly, as he issued a walk, gave up a single, and then surrendered a double to cut the lead to 9-6. At least normally he likely wouldn’t be tasked with two frames, I guess.
Anyway, now that it was a save situation, Kenley Jansen was brought in to lock it down. Initially he didn’t do that, giving up a single that drove in another run, walking the next batter, and then giving up another single to drive in another and make it 9-8.
With runners still at first and second, the Giants tried a sacrifice bunt, but a risky play got the runner at third, which was upheld on review.
Kenley then got back-to-back fly outs to end it, even though both were hit quite hard.
Phew?
——
The victory puts the Dodgers at 51-25, a 109-win pace. They are 10 games up on the Rockies in the NL West, 6 games up on the Braves in the NL, and 2 games clear of the Twins in the MLB.
The Dodgers will welcome the red-hot Rockies to Chavez Ravine for a series starting at 4:10 PM HST/7:10 PM PST/10:10 PM EST. Walker Buehler (RHP/3.06 ERA/2.92 FIP/2.58 DRA) will face off against German Marquez (RHP/4.57 ERA/3.68 FIP/2.54 DRA).
