Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers have seemingly found it in the final two games against the Brewers, playing a much cleaner brand of baseball for the most part and capping the rubber match game of the series by cruising to an 8-1 victory.
The Dodgers have now won four series in a row and 10 of their last 12 games.
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Yesterday, the Dodger bats conquered one nemesis in Eric Lauer, and while Wade Miley doesn’t quite have that track record, he’s certainly been a thorn in the side of the Dodgers at times. Fortunately they seemed to use these last two games to exorcise demons as they got to Miley later in his start.
Things actually looked bleak early, as Miley retired the first 10 Dodgers he faced. However, in the 4th that streak ended violently when Will Smith (6th) and Freddie Freeman (6th) went back-to-back for a 2-0 lead.
Wade then quickly found himself in major trouble in the 5th.
Miguel Rojas singled, stole second and advanced to third on the throw, then Trayce Thompson and Austin Barnes walked to load the bases. With two down, Freddie came through with a sharp single to right to plate a pair of runs and make it 4-0.
After his worst start of the season last time out, Clayton Kershaw bounced back this afternoon. While he only had a pair of clean innings (3rd and 7th), he faced the minimum in two more (2nd and 6th) due to having singles erased by double plays. In the other three frames, he allowed a single (1st), a double (5th), and most importantly a William Contreras solo homer in the 4th for the only run he allowed on the day.
After an unexpected pen game where the Dodgers needed length, Clayton delivered that and probably could’ve gone another if the game was closer.
7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 8 K, 92 Pitches
Of course, the reason it became a blowout is because while Miley started the 6th, he didn’t record an out in the inning. He started by hitting Chris Taylor, then gave up a Miguel Vargas rocket to left on a 3-2 pitch for a two-run shot (4th), and after a James Outman single, Miley’s day was done.
No matter, the rally didn’t stop there. Rojas followed with another single, David Peralta pinch-hit and swung at the first pitch for a pinball single off two fielders to drive in a run, and Barnes walked again to load the bases. Mookie Betts managed a sacrifice fly to make it 8-1, but that’s all the Dodgers managed to get even though they did reload the bases later.
The lineup managed just a double in the 7th the rest of the way, but the damage was certainly already done.
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In relief of Kershaw, things were pleasantly simple, as Wander Suero entered in the 8th and looked impressive, compiling six outs in a row to close the game out (including three strikeouts).
Unfortunately for him, he’ll probably be sent down sooner than later, but he played a valuable role in allowing the pen to get a couple days off before starting the homestand.
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| NL WEST | RECORD |
|---|---|
| Dodgers | 23-15 |
| Diamondbacks | 20-16 (2 GB)* |
| Padres | 19-17 (3 GB)* |
*Either still playing or will play later.
The Dodgers have a day off tomorrow as they’ll be traveling back to Los Angeles. They’ll start the homestand off against the Padres at 4:10 PM HT/7:10 PM PT/10:10 PM ET on MLB Network, as Dustin May (2.68 ERA/3.47 FIP/3.42 xERA) will face Blake Snell (4.89/5.49/5.86).
