Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers beat the Giants by a score of 5-0 in a very quick Sunday game lasting just under three hours. Avoiding the sweep brings their record to 93-52, dropping their NL West division clinching magic number to just two.
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Julio Urias took the mound for the Dodgers, going up against Dereck Rodriguez. The first three innings were relatively uneventful for both sides. Urias allowed two hits and a wild pitch in the top of the first, but got through Evan Longoria and Kevin Pillar to escape the inning without any damage. Meanwhile, the Dodgers were hitless through three with their lone baserunner coming from a walk by Gavin Lux.
That’s not great.
Thankfully, Cody Bellinger walked with one out in the fourth, bringing up Matt Beaty who naturally hit the aforementioned two-run bomb for their first hit of the day. 2-0 Dodgers.
In the bottom of the fifth, Russell Martin singled and Kenta Maeda advanced him on a sacrifice bunt, bringing Joc Pederson to the plate. The Giants’ second baseman Mauricio Dubon made an error on a 105 MPH liner, bringing up Corey Seager with runners on the corners. Seager promptly parked a changeup dead center solidifying the Dodgers lead. 5-0 Dodgers.
After Urias threw two shutout innings, Maeda came in with easily his best outing in a long time allowing just one hit over the next four innings while striking out six.
Maeda must’ve seen this tweet by Chad, as he’s now tied with Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Sonny Gray for the MLB lead with 12 sacrifices each.
Casey Sadler replaced Maeda in the seventh inning, retiring the side on just five pitches. Yimi Garcia got two quick outs to start the eighth before Adam Kolarek came in and promptly retired Brandon Crawford to end the inning. The Dodgers then went to the bullpen for the 26th time over the last five games, bringing in Josh Sborz to close out the ninth.
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The Giants had just two hits since the first inning, making it a quick and easy win to close out the series. The Dodgers have tomorrow off before they head on the road to face Baltimore and the Mets.
At 93-52, they still trail the Yankees (93-50) and the Astros (94-50) for the best record in baseball. With the magic number for the division at two, they should clinch the division next week in Baltimore against the Orioles (46-97).
