Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
A brunch game on Easter Sunday led to an easy 9-1 win for the Dodgers as they cruised against the Reds thanks to a wonderful Andrew Heaney start and a fourth inning seven-run explosion.
That’s six wins in a row.
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Tyler Mahle was the Reds starter on Opening Day and he lived up to the billing early, giving up just a double through three dominant innings.
The 4th was a completely different story for him. Freddie Freeman started the rally with a bloop single, Trea Turner then drew a walk, and both came home on a Max Muncy double ripped down the line in right. Justin Turner followed with a single to corner the runners, and Will Smith smashed a double to plate Muncy and make it 3-0 as well as five straight batters reaching base.
After finally getting an out on a grounder, Chris Taylor then ripped a double to plate two more, and Gavin Lux drew a walk (he’s now reached in all nine games) to put two on yet again. At that point they utilized a double steal to get both runners in scoring position, and after a strikeout Freddie came up again and lashed a single to plate two more again and make it 7-0.
Luis Cessa relieved him and mercifully ended the rally in the 4th, and then got another a clean 5th. Alexis Diaz loaded the bases in the 6th, but didn’t give up anything further. Jeff Hoffman walked a batter in the 7th, but otherwise had no issues.
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Hey remember the Heaney who was terrible last year and didn’t impress in Spring Training? Well, who the hell was that guy? Cause this guy is amazing.
Coming off a stellar start in Minnesota that led to posts about his new slider, he was even better this afternoon against the Reds. Heaney really only faced any trouble in the 3rd, when he issued a one-out walk and a two-out double, but got out of that without any damage. The rest of the way he had three clean innings and issued just a single walk in two others.
Heaney did all this while getting 16 whiffs, a bunch coming against that slider: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 11 K, 89 Pitches.
Alex Vesia was great in a 1-2-3 frame in the 7th, including getting a strikeout. For whatever reason he went back out for the 8th and gave up a double before being removed.
Justin Bruihl entered and immediately gave up a single to corner the runners, but Freeman made a great play on a sharp grounder to him, tagging the bag for an out and throwing a strike home to get the runner for two.
Unfortunately, Tyler Naquin then singled home the other runner to break the shutout (charged to Vesia), before the 8th ended.
For the Reds, the 8th was given to Art Warren where the main tension was Trea’s hit streak needing two baserunners to get a shot. Warren complied by walking two batters and Freddie got his fourth hit of the day to drive in a run and make it 8-1.
Trea then stepped up and drilled a ball right at the shortstop for an out and the end of his streak.
Hanser Alberto then blooped a single into center for his first hit and RBI as a Dodger that made it 9-1 and knocked Warren out of the game. Ryan Hendrix then closed the book on the Boys In Blue.
With the big lead Dave Roberts sent Bruihl back out there in the 9th, and he hit the first batter he faced. However, he got the next three without issue to secure the sweep.
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Joe Davis on his game.
Clayton Kershaw and Hanser, team mascots.
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As mentioned earlier, the Dodgers have now won six in a row and have swept back-to-back series to get to 7-2.
The next series won’t be easy, as they welcome the Braves to Los Angeles at 4:10 PM HT/7:10 PM PT/10:10 PM ET with Kershaw looking to follow up his near perfecto against Huascar Ynoa.
