Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
As readers of this site know full well by now, I detest the Astros and enjoyed the early-season matchup insofar as Joe Kelly becoming a meme and getting to tell the Astros to go fuck themselves again. However, nothing will fill the hole in my heart other than an actual World Series win, so I didn’t care much about this series (and neither did the Dodgers given their probable starters).
Well, after yesterday, it’s safe to say I was wrong and that this is of utmost importance. Thankfully then, the Dodgers went on to win the World Series 3-1 on the season and 8-1 today. Finally, folks. The goal is achieved!
——
A pen game to start isn’t as crazy of an idea as it seems when you consider the amount of rest the team is about to have, and as it turns out, Brusdar Graterol is a starter after all. He went through his debut inning smoothly, striking out three and only giving up a single.
Facing off against old “friend” Zack Greinke, who #ShouldOf covered third base, the Dodgers struck first with a homer from AJ Pollock.
Josh Sborz was given the 2nd and he did his job, issuing just a walk in his scoreless outing. Victor Gonzalez then entered and continued to look as legit of a reliever as possible this year, carving through two scoreless innings, giving up just a double and getting two strikeouts.
After threatening a bit in the 2nd, the Dodgers went quietly in the 3rd and 4th, but the 5th proved to be their breakout frame. A Cody Bellinger infield single was followed by a Chris Taylor check swing double, and that led to an Enrique Hernandez single with one out to drive in two and make it 3-0.
Three pitches later, Mookie Betts deposited a homer for two more to make it 5-0, much to the displeasure of George Springer.
Back to the pen game, Jake McGee continued to thrive with a 1-2-3 frame in the 5th that included a strikeout. The first blemish from the pen came in the 6th after Dylan Floro allowed a solo shot to Springer to make it 5-1, but otherwise had no trouble in the inning.
Alex Wood was tasked with the 7th and had a bit of a struggle, allowing a single and hitting a batter, but rebounding and getting a strikeout in his scoreless inning. Caleb Ferguson got the 8th with two groundouts and a strikeout.
The Dodgers got insurance in the 8th behind a Chris Taylor three-run ding dong after moron Alex Rodriguez says it would be better to not score for whatever reason. He drove in Max Muncy, who singled, and Will Smith, who doubled.
After having a disaster last night, Kenley Jansen was right back at it tonight in the 9th. Mercifully he got a fly out, strikeout, and ground out to end it in routine fashion.
——
Broadcast was absolutely cursed.
——
The Dodgers are now 33-14 on the year and with the Padres winning twice today, the NL West lead is down to 3 games.
The Dodgers go to San Diego tomorrow for a three-game series against the Padres with potentially the NL West at stake, which would mean a lot if winning the division meant anything this year. The game will be at 3:10 PM HST/6:10 PM PST/9:10 PM EST and will feature Clayton Kershaw against Dinelson Lamet.
