Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
After dropping the series opener, the Dodgers didn’t actually play that well today, not hitting much and having pen troubles again. However, Max Muncy basically led the offense by himself, Emmet Sheehan delivered shutout frames, and at least the back of the pen shut it down in a 3-2 win over the Reds.
The win prevents a losing streak and elevates the Dodgers to 8-6 after the All-Star break.
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Reds starter Luke Weaver has been absolutely terrible this year, and the Dodgers seemed like a bad matchup with or without Mookie Betts. However, he kept the Dodgers at bay for the most part.
Weaver did get behind early as David Peralta led the game off by reaching on an error, and after getting two outs, Max Muncy stepped to the plate and bombed his 26th homer of the year to right for a 2-0 lead and a pair of unearned runs to Weaver.
Zoned out and forgot to post Muncy's dinger for the early lead. pic.twitter.com/FWx9rBiXe8
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) July 30, 2023
Following that, Weaver … uh, he basically cruised. He allowed just two walks up until the 6th and not a runner got past first base.
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On the other side, rookie Sheehan was on the mound, and he has struggled of late by giving up 17 runs in his last three starts. However, as is the case with talented rookies, they can turn it around under the right circumstances, and Sheehan did that today.
Sheehan's three strikes to get Elly. pic.twitter.com/PRtNvj5URO
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) July 30, 2023
After notching two strikeouts in a clean 1st, he then worked around two-out trouble in the 2nd after a walk and single. In the 3rd, he gave up a lead-off double, but also managed to navigate that trouble without damage as well. Sheehan then really settled in from there with back-to-back clean frames in the 4th and 5th, as the Reds looked like they weren’t picking the ball up against him at all.
Might be his last start of the year with the team, but he made a good impression: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, 82 Pitches.
Emmet Sheehan's five strikeouts over his five shutout innings. pic.twitter.com/PxyZjpp3kS
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) July 30, 2023
Dave Roberts then turned to his bullpen, likely to get Sheehan out feeling good and to turn Elly De La Cruz around. Well, Caleb Ferguson was the one who got turned around when Elly smacked a double, and then a TJ Friedl infield single cornered the runners with nobody out.
After a strikeout, pinch-hitter Kevin Newman flew out to shallow right, but Jason Heyward‘s throw was late as Elly scored hilariously easy to make it 2-1.
That throw allowed the runner to take second and he then scored on a Spencer Steer bloop single to tie things up at 2-2. After a walk put a pair of runners on, that was the end for Caleb.
That led to Joe Kelly entering for his re-debut as a Dodger, and he did his usual crazy act. He uncorked a wild pitch to advance both runners, walked the bases loaded, and then got an emphatic strikeout to escape trouble.
After uncorking a wild pitch and loading the bases with a walk, Joe Kelly completes his usual act with a strikeout. pic.twitter.com/tMsHXvevk7
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) July 30, 2023
Electric shit.
Back to the Dodgers offense now, as Weaver started the sixth with a pair of outs and looked to be rolling. That ended in a hurry, as he got behind Muncy for a 3-0 count, and for whatever reason threw him a fastball up in the zone that he absolutely pummeled for his 27th homer and a 3-2 lead.
Max Muncy crushes his second homer of the night, accounting for all of the team's hits, and gives the Dodgers the lead back. pic.twitter.com/unwYGkJj1n
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) July 30, 2023
As mentioned, the Dodgers still struggled overall. After going down in order in both the 7th and 8th, Muncy had the team’s only hits.
They’ve been quiet of late.
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Tasked with protecting that one-run lead was Brusdar Graterol in the 7th, and he got through a nice and easy 11-pitch frame. He also started the 8th, giving up a lead-off single, but getting a groundout and strikeout to rebound.
Then it was Evan Phillips for a four-out save, and he got a groundout to end the 8th. He was back out there in the 9th, starting with a foul out on a nice play by Heyward in right, and strikeout to make it two. Phillips then gave up a single, but then got Elly on a slider to fly out to left.
Nice.
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| NL WEST | RECORD |
|---|---|
| Dodgers | 59-44 |
| Giants | 57-48 (3 GB) |
| Diamondbacks | 56-49 (4 GB) |
*Either still playing or will play later.
The rubber match will be played earlier tomorrow at 10:10 AM HT/1:10 PM PT/4:10 PM ET with Michael Grove making maybe his last start in a while against Graham Ashcraft.
