Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
After having their win streak snapped in the finale of the series win against the Padres, the Dodgers looked to start a new one on the road in Seattle, but the Mariners weren’t accommodating as they rode a pair of homers and took advantage of shoddy defense to win the opener, 4-3.
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Dustin May took the mound looking to continue the development he’s shown so far this season. And while it has progressed, he also struggled a bit with fastball command. Things started immediately in the 1st when a single and a Jose Marmolejos homer on a center-cut sinker made it 2-0 early.
This one's coming in HOT 🥵☄️ pic.twitter.com/0eBeaNg3j6
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) April 20, 2021
That trend continued in the 2nd when a sinker ended up over the middle of the plate again and was punished by Taylor Trammell for a homer to make it 3-0.
The bats that have gone cold continued to be ice in the first two frames against Justus Sheffield, who allowed just a walk over that span. He began the 3rd similarly with two outs, but then Mookie Betts found a gap with a double and Corey Seager jumped on the first pitch for a dong to center. Another double after that would provide a wasted chance, but the lead was cut to 3-2.
Meanwhile, after May finally got a clean inning in the 3rd, he looked on pace to get another in the 4th. However, with two outs, Chris Taylor booted a grounder and Trammell made him pay with a double to plate an unearned run to make it 4-2.
Still, May generally had a promising outing. Stuff like not having your best fastball command is understandable, but the improvement on the breaking balls is real, resulting in all of his eight strikeouts. His final line: 5 IP, 4 H, 4 R (3 ER), 1 BB (1 HBP), 8 K, 92 Pitches.
Sheffield meanwhile generally settled after the homer, with just a minor chance in the 4th that was wasted. The 6th gave him more trouble due to a walk of Justin Turner to start and then hitting Taylor with a pitch with one down. While he was on the verge of getting out of it, Zach McKinstry capitalized with two outs, singling to center to cut the lead to 4-3 and knocking Sheffield out.
Will Vest got out of the jam without further damage in the 6th, but Anthony Misiewicz started the 7th and later got into trouble with one-out single and walk. That led to Kendall Graveman entering, and he got out of it with a strikeout and then a lineout to Dylan Moore at third base. Graveman continued in the 8th and got a perfect frame.
David Price was then given the 6th on the other side, notching a scoreless frame even though he issued a walk. Jimmy Nelson continued to put up a run of his own, getting a clean inning in the 7th, which feels like a miracle. Scott Alexander was tasked with the 8th and secured a perfect inning.
That meant closer Rafael Montero was brought in for the 9th, and after Edwin Rios walked with one out, Betts took a fastball to the forearm.
That has me concerned, but it did create an opportunity to come back. Unfortunately, Seager rolled over a changeup into a 4-6-3 game-ending double play.
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After the loss, the Dodgers are now 13-4.
It’s just a two-game series, so the two teams will play the finale tomorrow at 10:10 AM HST/1:10 PM PST/4:10 PM EST. Julio Urias will face Marco Gonzales.
