Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
After a rather depressing opener to the series in which the Dodgers‘ offense continued to look lethargic, things looked better tonight, mostly thanks to the middle and bottom of the order. They provided enough run support for a strong overall pitching staff performance in a 4-1 victory over the Rockies.
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Things didn’t begin ideally for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, as he found himself in trouble from the start, giving up a double and walk in the 1st. Despite not surrendering a run then, the 2nd was a different story as a lead-off double was eventually scored on a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0 Rockies.
Yamamoto continued to face traffic in the 3rd, this time on a pair of unlucky infield singles, but worked around that as well. He faced the minimum over the next two frames thanks to a single being erased by yet another Will Smith caught stealing, then again navigated around a single and a double in the 6th to complete his outing.
Wasn’t at his best, but he battled and got results: 6 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K, 101 Pitches.
On the other side, the offense got jumpstarted in the 2nd by the Rockies defense. After Teoscar Hernandez singled, Gavin Lux shattered his bat and grounded out to first. However, the throw to second trying to turn the double play was wild, then the throw to third trying to get Teoscar advancing was also wild to tie the game at 1-1.
After the dust settled, Andy Pages singled and Jason Heyward ripped a double into the gap to score him and put the Dodgers up 2-1.
Teo and Jason for the lead! pic.twitter.com/qdXt1v0Uv8
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 2, 2024
After a single, walk, stolen base, and wild pitch weren’t taken advantage of in the 3rd thanks to a pickoff of Shohei Ohtani, a rally in the 4th started with two outs. Again it was Pages with a single, Heyward then walked, and Enrique Hernandez followed with a single to push the lead to 3-1.
Enrique Hernandez singles, as the bottom of the order continues to supply the offense. pic.twitter.com/2Pn3vPEakO
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) June 2, 2024
They added more in the 5th behind a Freddie Freeman triple (thanks to a diving Sean Bouchard), and Will scored him by keeping a ball on his knuckles fair for a double. 4-1.
No idea how Will Smith keeps this fair, but a double to drive in Freddie Freeman's triple (!). pic.twitter.com/k5B0F9YK5T
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) June 2, 2024
The bats weren’t able to push anything more across the plate, wasting a bases loaded chance in the 7th, but not mounting much else.
Thankfully, things went according to plan on the other side.
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First out of the pen for the Dodgers was Daniel Hudson, who cruised through a 1-2-3 frame in the 7th. Blake Treinen gave up a pair of singles in the 8th, but also had a nasty strikeout in his scoreless inning.
Nasty slider gets a bail. pic.twitter.com/HcaME9loLY
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) June 2, 2024
Finally, back from the IL was Evan Phillips for the save in the 9th, and he cruised through an 11-pitch frame that included a strikeout.
Welcome back, Evan! pic.twitter.com/a8V8Dv0oX1
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 2, 2024
That’s basically what the Dodgers want going forward.
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| NL WEST | RECORD |
|---|---|
| Dodgers | 37-23 |
| Padres | 32-29 (5.5 GB) |
| Giants | 29-30 (7.5 GB) |
*Either still playing or will play later.
The series will conclude tomorrow in an early game for getaway day at 10:10 AM HT/1:10 PM PT/4:10 PM ET. It’ll be Gavin Stone looking to build on his breakout year against Nolan Arenado return piece Austin Gomber.
