Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
After a dramatic walk-off win yesterday, the Dodgers had won four straight games. After a dramatic walk-off win today, the Dodgers have won five straight games.
While it was a back-and-forth affair and rather messy early, the game was a tense affair throughout and the Dodgers were lucky enough that the rookies showed out once again and so did the pen in a 5-4 win over the Rockies.
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On the surface, Hyun-Jin Ryu wasn’t at his best today, and maybe he wasn’t as sharp as he usually is. However, a big part of that was simply having to get extra outs.
With one out in the 1st, Ian Desmond was credited with a double, but he was really dead out at second had Max Muncy been able to hold onto the throw in from the outfield. That runner came home on a two-out single by Nolan Arenado. Disaster struck again in the 3rd. After a single to start, runners were at first and second with nobody out after Chris Taylor dropped a ball in the transfer before he touched second while trying to turn a double play.
That was immediately cashed in by a Desmond single for a run. After a strikeout and a walk to load the bases, Ryu induced a grounder that should’ve been a double play, but Joc Pederson at first couldn’t decide how to catch the throw and dropped the ball for another run before Ryu got out of the frame.
Ryu gave the Dodgers 107 pitches and six innings, giving up just the described three runs, so basically all the runs against him were unearned (despite being charged with one). He gave up six hits and a walk (!!!), striking out five.
The offense got started in the 2nd, going Muncy double, Taylor single, and Matt Beaty single to plate a run. However, three straight outs meant nothing else. They scored again in the 3rd behind a double by Alex Verdugo and a single by Justin Turner.
The Dodgers then tied the game at 3-3 in the 5th behind a Verdugo solo shot to start the frame, his sixth of the year.
Yimi Garcia took over for Ryu in the 7th and he got his man with a strikeout. Caleb Ferguson then took over for a lefty-lefty matchup but was immediately burned for a homer to give the Rockies a 4-3 lead. Ferguson got out of the frame, but the damage was obviously done. Thankfully, Dylan Floro got a scoreless 8th in 1-2-3 fashion with a strikeout, and that gave them the chance to come back.
The Dodgers did exactly that in the 8th. Cody Bellinger started things with a lead-off double, advanced to third on a grounder, and then scored on a two-out Beaty single to tie the game, 4-4.
Kenley Jansen was tasked with maintaining the tie and he got it done with a 1-2-3 inning. That brought on Pedro Baez for the 10th, who secured a dominant 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout that he got done on just nine pitches.
The Dodgers threatened to walk it off in the 10th, as Muncy led off with a walk and then CT3 singled. Beaty was allowed to hit and smashed a ball but right into an infielder for a double play, and after a Martin walk, Austin Barnes struck out to end the threat.
Joe Kelly was then entrusted with the 11th, which turned out better than expected. While he did issue one four-pitch walk, he got a scoreless frame with two strikeouts.
That set things up for Verdugo in the Dodgers half of the 11th, as he pounced on a 1-1 fastball middle-up in the zone and lined it over the right-field wall for his second dong of the game and seventh of the year to walk it off.
Fun times.
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The Dodgers are now 53-25, which is a 110-win pace, and hold a 12-game lead in the NL West over the Rockies.
In the series finale, Kenta Maeda faces off against Antonio Senzatela at 10:10 AM HST/1:10 PM PST/4:10 PM EST.
