Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
It seemed like if the Dodgers were to win tonight, the Dodgers would have to lean on Bobby Miller. While he did keep the team in the game, it was surprisingly two crooked numbers they put on NL Cy Young Award favorite Zac Gallen that led the team to a 7-4 victory over the Diamondbacks..
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Gallen had given up four runs over his last four starts, but the Dodgers got off to a quick start against him in the 1st.
A Freddie Freeman solo shot was his 24th of the year and started the scoring, and that was followed by a Will Smith single and Max Muncy staying hot with his 31st homer of the year to spring a 3-0 game on Gallen early.
Freddie and Max work quick. pic.twitter.com/rwjOoQhHI3
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 29, 2023
On the other side was Miller, who started with a clean frame in the 1st, but then gave up back-to-back singles to start the 2nd. He seemed to be on the verge of escaping after a double play, but then allowed a two-out double to Gabriel Moreno to cut the lead to 3-1.
Miller bounced back with a scoreless 3rd, giving up just a walk, but ran into a brutal sequence in the 4th. With one out, a walk was followed by a double to score a run, and a Moreno homer gave the D-backs a 4-3 lead all of a sudden. A pair of singles followed that to make it five batters in a row who reached, though Miller did nicely to stop the bleeding after that.
To his credit, Miller settled, getting a clean 5th and 6th to end his night.
Again, it was one inning that snowballed that hurt him, but other than that he continued to give a look at his upside: 6 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 86 Pitches.
Rookies.
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As all that was going on, Gallen was generally staying out of trouble. He retired eight in a row after Muncy’s homer, because of course he did. The 4th saw the Dodgers get a single and two walks, but with a double play between them, there was only a half chance there. Another one of those kinds of chances came in the 5th, as a walk was followed by a two fly outs, and while a two-out single cornered the runners, nothing else came of it.
After that traffic amounting to nothing, the Dodgers did it the easy way again in the 6th. The outfield of David Peralta (single), Jason Heyward (12th homer), and James Outman (17th homer) accounted for three runs and turned the game around to give the Dodgers a 6-4 lead.
The outfield goes single, homer, and homer for a two-run lead. pic.twitter.com/27HJZAcuqN
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 29, 2023
A Michael Busch single with two outs in the 6th turned the lineup over, and that was the end for the D-backs ace.
The next score came in the 7th against the pen, started by a Muncy walk, then a Heyward single cornered the runners, which was cashed in by an Outman single that pushed the lead to 7-4.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers pen continued to be impressive. Alex Vesia gave up a two-out double but got a scoreless 7th, Ryan Brasier followed in the 8th with a clean frame, and Caleb Ferguson did the same to close things out in the 9th.
Surprisingly smooth conclusion to things.
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Hype man.
Mookie is really tugging away. pic.twitter.com/I7XieSoRBT
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 29, 2023
lol
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 29, 2023
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| NL WEST | RECORD |
|---|---|
| Dodgers | 81-49 |
| Diamondbacks | 69-63 (13 GB) |
| Giants | 68-63 (13.5 GB) |
*Either still playing or will play later.
Same team, same time tomorrow with a 4:10 PM HT/7:10 PM PT/10:10 PM ET start time. It’ll be Clayton Kershaw on the hill against Merrill Kelly.
