Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
After the day off, a Freeway Series that’s at least important for the Dodgers started tonight against an Angels team without their four elite bats in the lineup. Didn’t matter, as the Angels got the Dodgers to extras and drowned them in the deep water like every other team this year, handing them a 4-3 loss.
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Angels starter Patrick Sandoval has been a quietly effective starter for the team this year, and he found a way to generally make things work tonight as well. The Dodgers seemed primed for a quick start behind a Mookie Betts single and Justin Turner double, but only managed to push a single run across on an Albert Pujols groundout for a 1-0 lead.
Sandoval worked around a walk and a single in the 3rd, but the Dodgers added to their lead in the 4th. An AJ Pollock walk, an absolutely crushed David Price single at 105 mph, and a Betts single made it 2-0.
But the Dodgers also let him off the hook again in the 5th, stranding a lead-off double from Max Muncy with a couple of ground outs and a strikeout to complete his outing.
Meanwhile, Price was cruising, both in terms of effectiveness and pitch count. He retired nine in a row to start and faced the minimum through 12 after a David Fletcher double was erased by an Austin Barnes pick-off. However, the long-ball bit him later, as solo homers from Jose Iglesias in the 5th and Jack Mayfield in the 6th ended up tying the game at 2-2.
That knocked Price out of the game, and though the homers certainly weren’t ideal, he gave the Dodgers the length they needed: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 62 Pitches.
Phil Bickford entered in relief and got unlucky, giving up a Fletcher infield single, stolen base and error on a Barnes throw that put him at third. However, he bounced back with back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat.
Jose Quijada entered for the Angels in relief for the 6th with an 8.44 ERA, so of course he sat the bats down in order. Sam Selman started the 7th, giving up a single but then getting an infield pop and a hilariously-framed strikeout on Max Muncy.
Austin Warren then took over and got out of the frame without further trouble. He continued in the 8th as well, giving up a single. Surprisingly, he continued in the 9th, getting Trea Turner in his Dodger debut to pop up as part of a 1-2-3 frame.
Joe Kelly was given the 7th for the Dodgers, getting a ground out and a strikeout, but losing a 10-pitch battle to Iglesias for a walk. That brought out Dave Roberts, who turned to Blake Treinen against Juan Lagares, seemingly because Shohei Ohtani was lurking on deck. The move worked, with Lagares bouncing out, and he continued in the 8th by working around a walk and stolen base for four important outs. Kenley Jansen entered in the 9th, looking to get right, and he certainly took a step in the right direction by getting a ground out and two strikeouts.
Eventually though, they got to extras and things immediately went south. Garrett Cleavinger gave up a double to Iglesias to score Rob Manfred‘s ghost runner and make it 3-2. After an intentional walk, he got a groundout that advanced both runners before he exited. Brusdar Graterol relieved him and gave up a single to score another run and make it 4-2 before a caught stealing and ground out ended things.
Raisel Iglesias entered to lock down the save in the 10th, giving up a single to Muncy to corner the runners. After Albert Pujols struck out, Corey Seager hit a ball to the warning track in left-center for a sac fly to make it 4-3. Chris Taylor followed with a single, but AJ Pollock then grounded out.
1-12.
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Orel Hershiser always has the best quotes.
Great.
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65-44 on the year, 4 games back of the Giants in the NL West.
Game tomorrow at 3:10 PM HT/6:10 PM PT/9:10 PM ET with Julio Urias against Jaime Barria.
