Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Coming off three straight wins to end the series against the Reds, the Dodgers made it four straight tonight to start their series against the Diamondbacks. After a slow start, the offense exploded in the 3rd, as the first six batters of the inning all scored before a single out was recorded, and the big blow was delivered by Freddie Freeman‘s grand slam. That was enough for Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the DFA boys from the pen, as they won 6-4.
======
After seeing his run of excellence ruined against the Giants last time out, Yamamoto looked to bounce back against another NL West team. Things started out about ideally as possible, as he stranded a single in the 1st thanks to three strikeouts, and got a clean 2nd frame.
The 3rd was when the battle started, as he gave up a one-out double, labored through a two-out walk, and then lost an eight-pitch battle to Joc Pederson, who singled to center for an early 1-0 D-backs lead. The attempt at the runner at home left two in scoring position, but he escaped further mess.
Right back where it came from. ?? pic.twitter.com/Vk3DlIl54a
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) May 21, 2024
Thankfully, it didn’t take long for the offense to get that run back. The D-backs were running a pen game, which started alright as they just allowed a single in each of the first two innings. Things got loud in the 3rd, however, as Enrique Hernandez kicked off festivities with third homer of the year to tie things up.
Kiké ties it up! pic.twitter.com/RHoCS7ygaT
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 21, 2024
Miguel Rojas and Mookie Betts followed with back-to-back singles, Shohei Ohtani drew a walk, and Freddie took a 2-1 fastball and smoked it over the center field wall for a grand slam with his fifth dinger. But things weren’t done there, as Will Smith then followed with his fifth homer of the year to push things to 6-1 in a flash.
Make that he first six Dodgers in the 3rd as Will Smith goes back-to-back. pic.twitter.com/YFVzXepFqA
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) May 21, 2024
Needless to say, the offense was quiet after that outburst, as 16 in a row went down into the 8th inning, when Freeman singled with one down. Amusingly that led to mini-streak after Will walked and Chris Taylor singled to load the bases, but Andy Pages ended that quickly with a double play that left the Dodgers at six runs.
——
Fortunately, not much more offense was needed, as Yamamoto came back from his shaky inning to allow just a single each in the 4th and 5th innings, then got an eight-pitch 6th. He did allow a lead-off double in the 7th, which was then scored on a one-out single to center to cut the lead to 6-2 and eventually knocked him out.
Still, another good outing for him: 6.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 8 K, 100 Pitches.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto's eight strikeouts over 6.1 innings. pic.twitter.com/FB49KAcCSQ
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) May 21, 2024
Anthony Banda had to do some work to keep Yamamoto’s line at two runs. He entered and gave up a single, which turned into runners on second and third after Taylor made an error in left. However, he managed to escape thanks to a lineout and dribbler back to him.
In the 8th it was Elieser Hernandez, who gave up no-doubters to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Jake McCarthy to cut the lead to just 6-4. In my head, he was just doing Daniel Hudson solid to get him a save chance, which he completed in order with a couple of strikeouts.
——
MIggy, good at defense.
Casual Miguel Rojas gem. pic.twitter.com/N3D4vJkPsD
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) May 21, 2024
======
33-17, a 107-win pace and the next closest team in the NL West is the Padres, who finally got to .500.
Same two teams, same place, and same time tomorrow at 4:10 PM HT/7:10 PM PT/10:10 PM ET. It’ll be Gavin Stone looking to continue his breakout season against Brandon Pfaadt.
