Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
While I’m thrilled with the gutsy 7-3 win the Dodgers just grinded out over the Twins on a getaway day, obviously the primary concern in a macro sense is the elbow health of Dustin May.
Can only hope for the best.
Still, it’s nice to come away with a sixth straight series win on a game it was hard to expect to win.
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Today is a day for mourning, as Dustin May got through a scoreless 1st inning but then exited the game with an elbow injury. Obviously concerning whenever a pitcher exits with an arm injury, but especially when it’s his first full year back after Tommy John surgery.
Preparing for the worst but hoping for the best.
On the other side was MLB ERA leader Sonny Gray, who was made to work for his outs by the Dodgers. A walk, error, and walk in the 1st led to a bases loaded chance with just one down, but Jason Heyward and Miguel Vargas weren’t able to capitalize on it.
After a clean 2nd, the 3rd was led off by Mookie Betts with a triple, and he came around to score on a Freddie Freeman sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead. A single and a walk followed for another scoring chance with one down, but nothing came of that either.
In relief of May, was Dylan Covey in the 2nd, pitching in his first MLB game in three years. He started out doing an admirable job in eating innings, allowing just a single in the 2nd and then getting a 1-2-3 frame in the 3rd.
He actually continued to be effective after that as well, but gave up a homer in the 4th to Byron Buxton to tie the game at 1-1.
The Dodgers then came back in the bottom half against Gray, as James Outman reached on an infield single, stole second base, and then came home on a Mookie single for a 2-1 lead. Another single followed, but yet another chance was wasted to end the 4th.
Mookie takes the lead back by driving in Outman, who singled and stole second. pic.twitter.com/EXMFLfAl2l
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) May 17, 2023
As mentioned, Covey actually pitched well overall and got a clean 5th. But he started to clearly lose it in the 6th, as Joey Gallo started it with a solo shot to dead center to re-tie the game at 2-2.
Two singles and a walk followed to load the bases with nobody out, and Covey’s valiant effort came to an end: 4 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 63 Pitches.
It’s notable that he only allowed two runs, and that was because Victor Gonzalez entered and continued his dominance to begin the year, getting a pop out, strikeout, and fly out to end the frame with no runs crossing the plate.
The 7th was then given to Caleb Ferguson, who got off to a rocky start with an infield single and then a jam-shot single that put the first two on. He looked like he’d get out of things after a strikeout and then picking off a runner going for third, but Caleb threw it past Muncy to allow one run to score and the other runner to advance to third. He struck the next batter out, which helped limit the mess, but it was 3-2 when he exited.
Dave Roberts then called on Brusdar Graterol to finish the 7th, and he did his job by getting out of it without further damage.
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Meanwhile, the Twins pen seemed to be rolling after entering early in the 5th, as all the traffic led to Gray having 84 pitches in four frames.
After facing the minimum in the 5th and 6th (erasing a single with a caught stealing), the 7th started with two strikeouts on six pitches, but then a Will Smith single was followed by a Max Muncy single, and a Heyward walk loaded the bases. That brought up Vargas, who drew a walk of his own to tie the game and set the table for Outman, who promptly drilled the first pitch he saw to dead center for a dramatic grand slam, his 9th dinger of the year.
7-3.
Things make more sense now.
While the offense didn’t add on from there in the 8th, it didn’t matter as Graterol continued on for a clean and scoreless 8th, and Evan Phillips shut things down in the 9th (runner reached on error) for the win.
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Both were trying to hop and it didn’t happen.
Trayce Thompson is now 0-for-34 after this.
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| NL WEST | RECORD |
|---|---|
| Dodgers | 28-16 |
| Diamondbacks | 24-19 (3.5 GB)* |
| Padres | 20-23 (7.5 GB)* |
*Either still playing or will play later.
Today was getaway day as the Dodgers will be traveling to St. Louis to face the suddenly hot Cardinals for four games starting at 1:45 PM HT/4:45 PM PT/7:45 PM ET. Julio Urias (3.61 ERA/3.70 xERA/4.59 DRA) will take the ball against Adam Wainwright (7.20/5.49/5.24), who is making just his third start of the season.
