Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
As it was Mookie Betts‘ first time back to Boston since the trade, most everything understandably centered around that to start things off.
"Now batting, number 50, Mookie Betts."
— MLB (@MLB) August 25, 2023
For the first time since September 30, 2019, @MookieBetts returns to Fenway Park. pic.twitter.com/1QuDE0n3Lc
While the Dodgers got behind early, they rallied back with crooked numbers in the 6th and 7th (partially thanks to Betts himself) to take the Betts return game by a 7-4 score over the Red Sox.
They’ve now won three in a row to start another streak, and are a win away from pushing their series win streak to eight.
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With Lance Lynn on the mound and facing an AL team, apparently he thought he was back on the White Sox or something early on.
Hilariously, Alex Verdugo hit the first pitch Lynn threw out for a solo shot and an early 1-0 lead.
In the 2nd, an infield single was followed by Trevor Story hitting a pitch a foot off the plate inside for a two-run shot to make it 3-0.
Lynn settled in somewhat after that, though. He didn’t have a clean inning — as he surrendered an infield single in the 3rd, a double in the 4th, and a single in the 5th — but he also didn’t give up a run over the next three frames.
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Honestly, the bigger problem was Kutter Crawford on the mound for the Red Sox. He limited the Dodgers to a single in the 1st, a walk in the 2nd, a single and steal in the 3rd, and then got back-to-back clean frames in the 4th and 5th.
Crawford seemed to be cruising, but the third time through proved problematic. In the 6th, Mookie led off with a double and Freddie Freeman followed with a single to corner the runners and knock Crawford out of the game. Will Smith followed with a double of his own to plate Betts, put two into scoring position, and cut the deficit to 3-1.
Max Muncy followed with a groundout that at least plated a run in Fredward, but David Peralta followed by grounding into a drawn-in second baseman that couldn’t plate the other. Fortunately, Enrique Hernandez followed and continued to be productive, singling home Smith to tie the game at 3-3.
With the score now even, Lynn was back out there in the 6th for the Dodgers, and got a scoreless 10-pitch inning, allowing just a single.
The Dodgers then took the chance to take the lead in the 7th. Walks from Michael Busch and Mookie put a pair on with one out and a Freddie double made it 4-3 and put a pair in scoring position.
Will wasn’t able to cash that in as he grounded out without moving the runners, but Max came through with a double to score a pair and make it 6-3.
Lynn ended up pitching into the 7th, though it became clear quickly that was a mistake. A single and walk started the frame and spelled the end of his night. The contact and lack of strikeouts is less than ideal, but overall a solid outing: 6 IP, 10 H, 4 R (3 ER), 1 BB, 1 K, 94 Pitches.
Brusdar Graterol entered and did his job, though a run did score on an errant Muncy throw on a double play attempt to make it 6-4. Other than that, basically a great job of Graterol navigating through potential disaster.
Graterol continued on in the 8th, giving up a clean single, striking the next batter out, giving up an infield single that Muncy again couldn’t make a play on, and notching another strikeout before leaving.
That left things to the iffy lefties in the pen, as Alex Vesia was given his chance. He responded by giving up a sharp single to Verdugo, only to have pinch-runner Connor Wong TOOTBLAN himself into going for third with it occupied and bailing the Dodgers out.
The bats weren’t able to push a run across in the 8th, getting only a walk. However, in the 9th they provided insurance. With one out, a Freeman single, Smith walk, and Muncy single loaded things up, and Peralta hit a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 7-4.
That brought in Evan Phillips for a save, though he started by giving up a single to make it 14 hits for the Red Sox. Thankfully, he rebounded with a pair of strikeouts and a lineout to make things rather tidy in the end.
We chillin’.
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| NL WEST | RECORD |
|---|---|
| Dodgers | 79-48 |
| Diamondbacks | 67-61 (12.5 GB) |
| Giants | 66-61 (13 GB) |
*Either still playing or will play later.
Welcome back to the table, Arizona. What a streaky team.
Tomorrow’s game will be a few hours earlier at 10:10 AM HT/1:10 PM PT/4:10 PM ET with Julio Urias facing James Paxton.
