Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The best team in the NL faced off against the worst team in the NL at home, and boy did it look like anything but. But hey, no weather problems.
Eventually, the Dodgers had to count on the mistakes of the Marlins to prevail, taking a close one 2-1.
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Against the worst team in the National League, this series was supposed to be a walk in the park, but rookie Zac Gallen had other plans. The offense had been hot to start the second half, averaging eight runs per game on the road trip, but they managed just three hits and four walks off Gallen.
After blowing second and third with one out in the 2nd and a man on second with one out in the 4th, the Dodgers did manage to breakthrough in the 6th. A single from Alex Verdugo and walks from Justin Turner and A.J. Pollock loaded the bases with just one down, knocking Gallen out of the game. Corey Seager then hit a grounder and beat out the double-play attempt when Starlin Castro struggled to feed it to second, tying the game at 1-1.
Enrique Hernandez then followed it up with another grounder, but this time Starlin literally booted it and that plated another to give the Dodgers the lead at 2-1.
He also dropped a pop fly later in the game. Thanks, bro.
On the other end, Hyun-Jin Ryu didn’t have his best stuff. He walked three batters tonight, which is just shocking for him. Yet, when the dust settled, he went 102 pitches and seven innings, giving up just one run on four hits and three walks.
A stellar performance to keep his team in it when they needed every out.
Kenta Maeda, who had his last start cut short by, entered in what is likely to be his playoff role and looked sharp.
Yeah, death by sliders against righties is the plan, but even more promising is that he was 93 (or 94 in the stadium) with his fastball in relief, much like he was in 2017.
Kenley Jansen then tried to rebound from a dramatic blown save against the Phillies and an injury to his ankle after he was hit with a comebacker. Well, Kenley struck out the side to complete a drama-free win.
Phew.
Everybody say thank you to Starlin Castro.
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The Dodgers get to 65-35 on the year after 100 games, which is a 105-win pace. They are now 14 games up on the Diamondbacks in the NL West, 5.5 games up on the Braves in the NL, and tied with the Yankees in the MLB.
The two teams play an hour earlier than usual tomorrow night at 3:10 PM HST/6:10 PM PST/9:10 PM EST. Clayton Kershaw (LHP/3.00 ERA/3.62 FIP/3.17 DRA) will face Sandy Alcantara (RHP/3.94 ERA/4.63 FIP/5.05 DRA).
