Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers got their road trip off to a promising start with an 8-2 victory over the Reds, bouncing back from recent offensive struggles with a 17-hit attack and behind solid collective work from the pitching staff.
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Tyler Mahle hasn’t been great in 2022 but came into today riding a hot streak. However, the Dodgers didn’t seem to care much about that and got on the board in the 1st behind Will Smith‘s ninth homer of the year, a solo dong.
But that lead didn’t last long, as Jonathan India started the game for the Reds against Tony Gonsolin with a solo shot of his own to tie the game at 1-1. Actually, the first three batters reached as Tony then gave up a single and a walk as well, but bounced back with a fly out and a double-play ball.
Surprisingly, Gonsolin then gave up another homer in the 2nd, this time to Albert Almora to put the Dodgers behind 2-1. Today was the first time he had given up multiple homers in a game this year. Still, after a walk to start the 3rd, Gonsolin set down nine in a row to close his outing.
After stopping three-game losing streaks in three consecutive starts, Gonsolin actually had arguably his worst start of the year (definitely by FIP), but he still got his fourth straight win. His terrible outing? 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 87 Pitches.
Of course, Gonsolin got the win because he didn’t leave down 2-1 but up 4-2. After Mahle had a quiet 2nd, the Dodgers came back in the 3rd with Gavin Lux and Trea Turner back-to-back singles, and then a Freddie Freeman double drove them both in for a 3-2 lead.
To add on, the Dodgers manufactured a run in the 4th, using a Justin Turner double to sacrifice with Eddy Alvarez, and JT scored on a Lux sacrifice fly to push things to 4-2.
Still, the Dodgers had missed chances with RISP against Mahle. They stranded a single and a double in the 3rd, two singles in the 4th, a double in the 5th, and a single and a walk in the 6th.
Yet after the Reds pen had a clean 7th, the Dodgers finally blew things open a bit in the 8th. Singles from JT, Lux, and Trea set the table for Freddie, who unloaded the bases with a triple off the wall in left-center for three runs. A Smith sacrifice fly then plated Freeman for the 8-2 score.
As for the Dodgers pen, they were dominant. Evan Phillips entered in the 6th and gave up a two-out double but never felt in serious trouble in a 12-pitch inning. Phil Bickford looked more like his 2021 self in a dominant nine-pitch, two-strikeout inning in the 7th. Brusdar Graterol continued the example set by his previous two pen members, cruising through a 1-2-3 frame in the 8th on 14 pitches.
To mop things up in the 9th, David Price entered and gave up a single but got a scoreless frame to close out the win.
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420
Dunno what is happening here.
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The Dodgers improve to 41-25 on the year and hold a half-game lead on the Padres in the NL West with them yet to play.
Another game against the same team at the same time tomorrow, 12:40 PM HT/3:40 PM PT/6:40 PM ET, with Tyler Anderson fresh off his no-hitter attempt against Reds ace Luis Castillo. Should be a good one.
