Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Dodger pitching struggled this series, but the offense picked up the slack once again as the Dodgers took the finale of the four-game series against the Reds with a 9-6 victory.
The Dodgers jumped on Sal Romano in the middle innings, scoring three in both the fourth and fifth innings to jump out to a big lead. Will Smith and Chris Taylor each had RBI hits in the fourth, and Gavin Lux hit his first of two homers of the day in the fifth. Lux hit another homer in the seventh off Craig Stammen, which surprisingly turned out to be decently important as the Dodger bullpen struggled once again.
Ross Stripling shoved for the Dodgers, allowing one run in his first seven innings. He remained in to start the eighth and left two runners on for Joe Kelly, who allowed both to score. Kelly then left two runners on for Adam Kolarek, who allowed both to score. In all, the Dodgers allowed five runs in the eighth to make the game a save situation, and Caleb Ferguson tossed a perfect ninth inning to secure his fifth save of the season.
“We swung the bats good throughout the lineup,” said Los Angeles skipper Dave Roberts.
The Dodgers move to 51-37 on the season and take a 2.5-game lead in the NL West. They welcome the Marlins to Los Angeles for a three-game weekend series starting tomorrow.
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On the transaction front, the Dodgers reached a contract agreement with an outfielder.
Joc Pederson agreed to a three-year, $60 million extension that will pay him $19 million next season, $20 million in the 2022 season that will most definitely happen and $21 million in 2023. Pederson also received a player option for $21 million in 2024, and a $62,000 bonus if he makes the All-Star team.
