Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
After their win streak ended yesterday against the Padres, the Dodgers will hopefully be starting another one after a low-scoring, low-chance affair tonight. In the end, Chris Taylor‘s homer and Dustin May‘s scoreless outing was enough for them to hold onto a 2-1 victory.
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Despite not getting a ton of help from his defense or offense, May certainly brought his best for his start tonight.
After a clean 1st, he allowed a bloop single in the 2nd, and faced a longer inning than he deserved after Freddie Freeman whiffed on catching the turn on a double play ball. May also allowed a single in the 3rd on a ball Miguel Vargas let get by him to his backhand, but bounced back with a clean 4th. He then pitched around a walk in the 5th, which ended with this nasty slider to strikeout Brett Sullivan on a pitch that ended up hitting him.
A single started the 6th ominously, but May wasn’t fazed and interim manager Danny Lehmann trusted him against the heart of the Padres order. He responded with a strikeout, inducing a double play ball that Miguel Rojas probably should’ve played better, and getting a grounder to end his night.
Thank god he was on his shit: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, 99 Pitches.
Jokes about Blake Snell aside, he has definitely been a thorn in the side of the Dodgers throughout his career, and boy did it look bleak at the outset today. He cruised through three innings on just 33 pitches and was still perfect with two outs in the 4th when Will Smith worked a walk and Taylor broke up both the no-hitter and the shutout with his 6th homer of the year, a two-run shot to left for a 2-0 lead.
That was all Snell gave up in the game, as the Dodgers only had a minor threat one other time in the 6th after a two-out walk and steal.
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From there it was a pen battle, and while Tim Hill got a clean 7th it was a mess after that. Brent Honeywell loaded the bases in the 8th with a pair of singles and a walk, but got Taylor to fly out. Steven Wilson followed in 9th by hitting a batter and issuing a walk, but got Jason Heyward and Rojas to shut down any chance of insurance.
For the Dodgers, Caleb Ferguson started strong by pitching around a walk in a scoreless 7th. However, Brusdar Graterol continued to allow a disturbing amount of contact in the 8th. After a single left a runner on second due to Trayce Thompson‘s lazy defense in left for an error, Fernando Tatis Jr. doubled down the line to left to cut the lead in half at 2-1. Fortunately, the contact went the Dodgers way the rest of the inning, as three groundouts led to Tatis only getting as far as third and got Graterol out of the inning.
That left Evan Phillips in the 9th with a one-run lead, and while he seemed to struggle with his command early and did issue a walk, he also ended up striking out the side to close the game out.
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| NL West | Record |
|---|---|
| Dodgers | 20-14 |
| Diamondbacks | 19-14 (0.5 GB) |
| Padres | 18-16 (2 GB) |
*Either still playing or will play later.
The series finale will once again be an hour earlier at 1:00 PM HT/4:00 PM PT/7:00 PM ET on ESPN, and it’ll feature Julio Urias (3.86 ERA/4.39 FIP/3.39 xERA) against Joe Musgrove (10.80/8.16/3.83).
