Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks again last night, giving them a sixth consecutive victory over Arizona after dropping two of three in their first series of the season. Craig Kimbrel wasn’t exactly dominant, but got the outs he needed and held on to a 6-4 win to give the Dodgers their 31st win of the season. Tonight, they look for a third straight and look to win the four-game series in Arizona.
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| 4:15 PM | Phoenix | ||
| RF | Betts | DH | Varsho (L) |
| 1B | Freeman (L) | 3B | Rojas (L) |
| SS | T. Turner | 2B | Marte (S) |
| C | Smith | 1B | Walker |
| DH | Ríos (L) | LF | Peralta (L) |
| 3B | J. Turner | RF | McCarthy (L) |
| CF | Bellinger (L) | CF | Thomas (L) |
| LF | Taylor | SS | Perdomo (S) |
| 2B | Lux (L) | C | Herrera (S) |
| P | Gonsolin (R) | P | Kelly (R) |
Tony Gonsolin gets his ninth start of the season and already his third against Arizona in 2022. His previous two starts against Arizona are his only outings in which he allowed more than one run, as he allowed two runs in four innings in Arizona and two runs in six innings when he faced them in LA. Gonsolin has been excellent this season, with a 1.62 ERA (3.55 FIP) in 39 innings. He currently owns a .974 WHIP and has seemingly turned a corner on the inefficiency that plagued him earlier in his career. He’s completed six innings in each of his last two starts and only needed 92 and 90 pitches to do so.
Merrill Kelly starts for the Diamondbacks. I wrote about him literally 11 days ago when he started against the Dodgers in LA. He entered that game with a 1.71 ERA and 2.50 FIP in 42 innings. He left that game with a 3.27 ERA and 3.00 FIP, as the Dodgers scored as many runs in two innings (eight) as he had allowed all season up to that point. The Dodgers seemed to bail Kelly out of a nightmare first inning. After a leadoff walk and a double, Trea Turner singled to drive in two runs but was thrown out going for second. Kelly responded by striking out the next two batters, but things unraveled even more in the second. He walked the first two batters and got a popout before Gavin Lux doubled in both runners. After a groundout, Arizona opted to intentionally walk Freddie Freeman. Turner singled in Lux after the walk, and Edwin Rios dropped a dong to make it a six-run inning on only three hits. Kelly followed that start up with a bare-minimum quality start in Chicago, as he allowed three runs in five innings.
The Dodgers run back the same lineup they had on Thursday, with Edwin Rios serving as the DH again.
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Roster moves!
Ryan Pepiot goes down after making his second start of the season last night. Max Muncy was finally placed on the IL after bumping his elbow in Washington. Michael Grove is back up with the major league team and Kevin Pillar was called up. Pillar had a .315/.412/.622 slash line with nine homers and more walks (20) than strikeouts (17) in 36 games at OKC. Tommy Kahnle was transferred to the 60-day IL to make room on the 40-man.
Blake Treinen and his mystery recovery seems to be progressing a tiny bit, as he could begin to play catch in a couple weeks.
Pillar should start the next two games. The West Hills native should play in his first game at Dodger Stadium as a Dodger on Monday as the Dodgers return home to open a series against Pittsburgh.
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Tommy Pham, thank you.
I’ve often complained that baseball needs to be more like basketball in terms of off the field drama. Pham is here for the cause.
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The greatest pitcher in Dodger history retired today.
Russell Martin and his 0.00 ERA in four innings officially announced his retirement today. Martin played six of his 14 MLB seasons with the Dodgers and posted a .753 OPS in 750 career games as a Dodger.
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First pitch is scheduled for 4:15 PM PT and will be shown on Fox.
