Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The second game of the series was a back-and-forth affair early, and the Dodgers jumped out to the first multi-run lead, but the Red Sox came back immediately to get one of their own. It was the decisive one as well, partly thanks to the umpire, in an 8-5 loss.
That ends the little three-game winning streak the Dodgers had going, and they need to win the rubber match tomorrow to up their series win streak to eight.
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The Dodgers were up against another lefty this afternoon in James Paxton, though fortunately they now seem to have a plan for them.
Things started quickly today, as Mookie Betts doubled off the Green Monster, Freddie Freeman walked, and after a couple outs both found themselves in scoring position. That was important because Amed Rosario rolled a ball to third for an infield single and game’s first run.
Amed Rosario starts the scoring with a roller to third. pic.twitter.com/mFlF0B3unq
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 26, 2023
Unfortunately, despite Julio Urias riding a hot streak recently, Alex Verdugo didn’t really care and led the game off for the Red Sox with a homer for the second game in a row.
Both pitchers bounced back well from the early scoring, as Paxton had just a walk in the 2nd and got a clean 3rd, while Urias bounced back by retiring the next nine batters and put a quartet of strikeouts in there.
Julio Urías, 2Ks in the 2nd. pic.twitter.com/wRnCMM8Rzp
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 26, 2023
The first to relent on those streaks was Paxton in the 4th, as Rosario led off with a walk and then stole second. A groundout put him at third, James Outman walked to corner the runners, and the inning looked to be over on Chris Taylor‘s tailor-made double-play ball, but a bad throw led to Rosario scoring.
After a Miguel Rojas single, the runners were cornered, and Mookie looked to extend the lead on a hard grounder, but a great play by Rafael Devers snuffed that chance out and kept things at 2-1.
Yet again, though, the Red Sox came right back behind another old friend. This time it was Justin Turner homering to tie the game up at 2-2, and Urias had to work around the double that followed as well.
If it wasn’t before, it definitely became a back-and-forth affair in the 5th when Will Smith walked and Max Muncy followed with his 30th homer of the year to make it 4-2 in a flash and knock Paxton out.
Busting out Perfectly Rectangular Man again. pic.twitter.com/uo9l8Esnzp
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 26, 2023
Max Muncy's 30th homer of the year gives the Dodgers a 4-2 lead. He is the sixth Dodger all time with at least four 30-home runs seasons. The others:
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) August 26, 2023
Gil Hodges (6)
Duke Snider (6)
Eric Karros (5)
Roy Campanella (4)
Mike Piazza (4)
In the 6th, the Dodgers wasted a chance after a walk and single in the inning, and the missed chances would come back to bite them.
That’s because Julio struck out the side in the 5th despite allowing a single, but then saw the 6th start with a double, single, and an Adam Duvall three-run homer on an 0-2 count. A walk, steal, and Reese McGuire single led to another run to make it 6-4 all of a sudden.
While he got a double play to get through six, the damage was just too much: 6 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 9 K, 91 Pitches.
Julio Urias' changeup almost causing injury. pic.twitter.com/NtEMq1xZHq
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 26, 2023
Taking over for Urias was Gus Varland in the 7th, who promptly walked a batter and threw wild into center on a pickoff/steal attempt to put the runner on third. That run eventually scored on a Turner single to make it 7-4.
That proved relevant, as after a scoreless 7th with just a single, the 8th saw the Dodgers rally.
A one-out Chris Taylor single was followed by a David Peralta double, and Mookie hit the first pitch back up the middle for a single to cut the deficit to 7-5.
Mookie's third hit of the game cuts into the deficit a bit late. pic.twitter.com/lGlOruLXVX
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 26, 2023
Freddie followed him by walking to load the bases, and after a pop out, it was Muncy again at the plate. While he was busy battling back from an 0-2 count, he got screwed out of the at-bat by a bad strike call, and both him and Dave Roberts got run.
Two maybe borderline called strikes in the inning and two blatant balls as well.
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 26, 2023
Things got worse when Bryan Hudson started the 8th by hitting a batter and allowing a double, then getting an out but walking a batter to load the bases. Mookie then booted a potential double play ball to make the score 8-5, and Hudson actually did nice work to get through the rest of it without the game getting out of hand.
The 9th was given to John Schreiber, who sandwiched two strikeouts between a Jason Heyward single, hitting Outman, and walking Peralta. That set the table for Mookie to come up as the go-ahead run, but while he squared it up, he flew out just short of the warning track in center.
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Peralta with a sign that’s photoshoppable even though I don’t get it.
I don't get it? pic.twitter.com/RVt5EXUGeQ
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 26, 2023
Come back.
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 26, 2023
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| NL WEST | RECORD |
|---|---|
| Dodgers | 79-49 |
| Diamondbacks | 68-61 (11.5 GB) |
| Giants | 66-62 (13 GB) |
*Either still playing or will play later.
The series will conclude tomorrow at 7:35 AM HT/10:35 AM PT/1:35 PM ET, which I will probably not be awake for on a fucking Sunday. Anyway, it seems like it’ll be Gavin Stone making his return for the Dodgers against Tanner Houck.
