Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodger streak of not having lost a series yet this season got off to a rough start with a series opening 10-8 loss against the rival Giants. That, of course, had to take what felt like 20 hours and lasted 11 innings.
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Facing Johnny Cueto for the third time this year already, the Dodgers seem to have figured him out a bit at least. They struck early in the 1st behind a Corey Seager single, Justin Turner double, and a three-run bomb to right from Max Muncy to make it 3-0.
Unfortunately, Julio Urias continued to struggle. His ERA has been reasonable but didn’t reflect his struggles this year, and things finally caught up with him. Urias gave the lead back immediately in the 1st, giving up a walk, single, and a three-run shot to Brandon Belt to make it 3-3.
The Dodger bats got the lead back in the 3rd with the long ball again, as Seager crushed a solo shot to right-center for the lead.
That was immediately followed by a JT single, a Cody Bellinger double, and a wild pitch to score JT. Joc Pederson later doubled to score Bellinger and make it 6-3.
Urias couldn’t settle in at any point, however. He didn’t have a single inning without a runner in scoring position, and finally got hurt in the 6th after a single and a double to open the frame that cut the lead to 6-4 and led to his exit. Urias went four-plus innings on the night, giving up the four runs on six hits and three walks, though he at least continues to miss bats with six strikeouts.
Dylan Floro did his job to escape trouble, getting all three batters he faced including a strikeout. Jake McGee continued to be effective, though he did give up an infield single. After a sac bunt, he got a ground out before giving way to Blake Treinen, who got the final out of the 6th. He continued in the 7th and immediately ran into trouble after a single off Muncy, a single up the middle, and another hard-hit ball off Muncy that was ruled an error to load the bases with nobody out. Treinen fortunately had the tools to escape the worst of it, surrendering a run to make it 6-5 but getting a double play from Joey Bart.
That brought in Caleb Ferguson, who struck out Pablo Sandoval to end the threat. He continued in the 8th, allowing an infield single that deflected off the pitching rubber, but he also got two strikeouts and a pop-up.
As the bats continued to do nothing, Kenley Jansen entered for the save in the 9th protecting a one-run lead. After a fly out, Belt ripped a ball over the wall again to tie the game at 6-6 for Jansen’s first blown save of the season. He rebounded with back-to-back strikeouts to send it to extras.
Amusingly enough, the Dodgers scored in the 10th, not through their hitting but because Bart couldn’t get on the same page with Jarlin Garcia. He got crossed up for a passed ball and Justin Turner took third, but also sailed the attempt to get him into left to score him and make it 7-6. They did also get two walks and another reached base on an error to load them up, but they couldn’t push another across.
Scott Alexander was then given the save opp and seemed to get the ideal result with a grounder to Corey Seager with a chance to get the lead runner at third. However, he opted for the easy out, which ended up costing them.
After Alexander came back with a three-pitch strikeout, he got a grounder down the line from Mauricio Dubon, which JT made a great play on but couldn’t complete and led to tie the game at 7-7. Alexander got out of it without allowing anything more, but the advantage swung back to the Giants.
After two quick outs in the 11th, the Dodgers hilariously got on the board again through a JT squibber to the pitcher, who basically fell over and desperately tried to apply a tag.
Again though, the Dodgers couldn’t tack on anymore.
Dennis Santana was then given the save chance, and he too failed. Getting an infield pop but then giving up a single to Evan Longoria that tied the game at 8-8. After getting a strikeout and smelling more baseball, he hung a curve to Donovan Solano for a two-run walk-off dinger.
10-8, bad guys.
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The Dodgers are now 22-9, which is a 115-win pace. With the Athletics winning, the Dodgers now have the 1-game lead for the best record in baseball. Meanwhile, the Padres lost and the lead in the NL West remains 4.
Clayton Kershaw and Kevin Gausman will face off tomorrow at 3:45 PM HST/6:45 PM PST/9:45 PM EST, and the game will be on ESPN if you want to torture yourself.
