Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers thankfully were back on SNLA with Joe Davis and Orel Hershiser tonight after the disaster broadcast yesterday, and the Dodgers were back in the win column as well with a 5-2 victory over the Reds.
While the bats were kept quiet early, they eventually broke through on a Trea Turner bomb and then piled on a bit, which was more than enough for Julio Urias and the Dodgers pen.
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Impressive rookie Hunter Greene started for the Reds and lived up to the hype, riding his 102 mph fastball to five shutout innings to start the game, facing just two over the minimum thanks to a double play after allowing just three singles.
In the 6th he seemed to tire a bit, as the fastball velocity fell. The Dodgers took advantage immediately, with Austin Barnes slapping a single the other way and Trea Turner following by bombing a no-doubter to left at 103.8 mph for a 2-0 lead.
Greene rebounded by striking out Freddie Freeman, but it got to the backstop and Freddie reached base. After inducing a pop out, that was the end of Greene’s night.
Buck Farmer took over and immediately got a strikeout, but then surrendered a single through the shift to Edwin Rios, uncorked a wild pitch to advance both runners, and then Chris Taylor singled sharply the other way to drive in both runs to double the lead at 4-0.
The Dodgers continued to add against Daniel Duarte in the 7th, who started things by walking Gavin Lux, and runners were cornered after a Trea single. Freddie Freeman then cashed in his first RBI of the year with a sac fly to deep center, making it 5-0.
Dauri Moreta closed the book on the Dodgers in the 8th, walking a batter but facing the minimum thanks to a double play.
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The zeroes were there for the Reds until the very end.
Julio Urias made some (like me) worry with his season debut at Coors Field, but Mark Prior apparently found some mechanical issues that they fixed.
Well, based on the results one could certainly say things seemed a lot better. Though he threw just five innings as he continues to build up, he faced just one over the minimum and never faced a runner in scoring position.
As promised, Urias’ velocity was up a tick over his debut at 92.3 mph over 91.4 mph: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, 65 Pitches.
Relieving him in the 6th was Evan Phillips, who went 1-2-3, debuting a 98 mph fastball and throwing his nasty slider. He has now retired his last 11 batters in a row.
David Price entered for the 7th, who is still getting a disturbing amount of trust from Dave Roberts, but he returned the favor this time, getting a clean inning with two strikeouts.
With a big lead, the Dodgers went with Mitch White, who allowed a single in the 8th but then followed up by striking out the next three. He continued in the 9th but looked like a different pitcher. He issued a lead-off walk, gave up a single, and then uncorked a wild pitch to move both along. Tyler Naquin then grounded out to score a run and put the Reds on the board, and Tommy Pham followed by singling for his first hit of the season to make it 5-2.
That brought Dave out of the dugout and Daniel Hudson into the game for a sudden save situation. He got a strikeout after a long battle and then got a grounder up the middle with a nice play ending the game.
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Trea’s hit streak has reached 27 games and now has the third-longest one in Dodger history.
Swig mechanics.
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The Dodgers move to 6-2 on the season and have a five-game winning streak.
The finale of the four-game series will be tomorrow on Easter Sunday with the Dodgers looking for a big sweep. Andrew Heaney will look to build on his impressive debut, and he’ll face Tyler Mahle at 10:10 AM HT/1:10 PM PT/4:10 PM ET.
