Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Mookie Betts was back in the Dodgers’ lineup after missing three starts with a finger injury. He looked like he didn’t miss a beat, going 2-for-3 with home run, a double and a walk to lead the Dodgers to a 7-2 win over the Giants in the series opener at Dodger Stadium Friday night.
The Dodgers secured their 3rd straight win behind four dongs on the night. The bullpen also contributed 5 innings of work in relief, allowing only one run.
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Julio Urias had a lack of command of his fastball to start the game, and at one point he pitched six straight balls in the 1st inning. He was able to find the strike zone eventually, and pitched around the leadoff walk.
The Dodgers wasted a perfect scoring opportunity in the first, stranding two runners. Joc Pederson‘s leadoff walk was followed by Betts in his first at-bat since coming back from a finger injury. Impressively, he hit a double to left off Jeff Samardzija to give the Dodgers runners at second and third with no outs.
In typical Dodgers style, they failed to score or even manage a sac fly. Cody Bellinger popped out to third, and both Justin Turner and Corey Seager flied out.
Seager had to come out of the game in the top of the 3rd after he looked like he was gingerly limping after moving toward an Austin Slater groundout to second. Enrique Hernandez came into the game, taking over at second. Chris Taylor shifted to shortstop.
Seager’s been dealing with some leg issues, but Alanna Rizzo reported that he left the game with lower back discomfort. Dave Roberts said on SNLA that Seager was hurt earlier in the game diving for a ball.
The Giants got on the board first thanks to a Mike Yastrzemski double and a Donovan Solano RBI single, but the Dodgers took a 2-1 lead in the 3rd on three hits with two outs.
It’s so nice to have Betts back in the lineup.
Meanwhile, checking in on Giants fans.
With a little help from Darin Ruf in left field, the Dodgers scored their second run on singles from Bellinger and Turner.
Roberts dropped Max Muncy to 6th in the lineup in order to put less pressure on the struggling slugger. Perhaps there’s something to that. Muncy hit his fourth dong of the season, a leadoff solo shot in the 4th, expanding the Dodgers’ lead to two. Three of the four homers Muncy has hit this season have been vs. the Giants.
Speaking of dongs, Will Smith hit his second home run of the year, a two-run blast into the Dodgers’ bullpen to give L.A. a 5-1 lead in the 4th.
Brusdar Graterol using his magic powers to help the ball make it over the edge pic.twitter.com/QZnWJxTLR5
— Hannah (@heyimhannahlee) August 8, 2020
On the other end, Urías went 4 innings and allowed 1 run on 3 hits with 2 strikeouts and 2 walks on 78 pitches (48 strikes).
Dylan Floro was the first arm to come out of the Dodgers bullpen in relief of Urías. He was able to escape a bit of a jam after Slater tripled with two outs in the 5th, notching two strikeouts in a scoreless frame.
The Dodgers chased Shark from the game in the home half of the 5th after loading the bases with nobody out. Bellinger walked, and Turner and Hernandez both got hit by the pitch (maybe). Gabe Kapler went to lefty Sam Selman to deal with the mess, and the Dodgers had to settle for one run. Muncy flied out and Belli scored on a force out by CT3, while Edwin Rios ended the frame with a strikeout.
Wilmer Flores hit a solo shot off Dennis Santana in the 6th, and another fan nearly got decapitated.
Counterpoint, the stuff was filthy.
After Santana got four outs, Scott Alexander came into the game in the 7th with two on and one out. He struck out Alex Dickerson and Yastrzemski to end the threat and keep things at 6-2.
Edwin Rios was doing Edwin Rios things in the 8th and hit the 4th dong of the night for the Dodgers.
Joe Kelly and Jake McGee closed things out for the Dodgers with scoreless innings, the former allowing just one hit and the latter striking out two without giving up anything.
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Pederson has been providing us all with the live #content we need. Those poor cut-outs have to be subjected to his potty mouth.
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The Dodgers improve to 10-4 overall and 3-2 at home.
Next up: The Dodgers go for the series win. Saturday’s marquee matchup features Johnny Cueto vs. Clayton Kershaw. It will be Cueto’s 300th career start. Kershaw pitched 5.2 scoreless innings in his season debut. First pitch is at 6:10 PM PST.
