Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The AAA lineup and Shohei Ohtani got the Dodgers a big lead and then the pen blew it in a 7-6 loss to the Astros.
Team sucks.
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Gifted facing the backup plan for the Dodgers, Astros starter Ronel Blanco struggled anyway. The scoring got started in the 2nd behind a two-out walk from Enrique Hernandez and a shocking Cavan Biggio double that was floated down the right-field line for a 1-0 lead.
Cavan doubles in Kiké! pic.twitter.com/CFLeWatpfq
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 27, 2024
The 3rd resulted in another run, this time behind Ohtani’s 32nd homer of the year, only a couple innings after he hit a fly ball to the warning track in left-center to lead the game off. It was a hilariously massive one and I had never seen a ball hit there before.
SHOHEI SENT THAT BASEBALL INTO ORBIT. pic.twitter.com/zGIt7021LG
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 27, 2024
The next score was also the Dodgers, as Nick Ahmed started the 5th with a single and Ohtani drew a walk. After a strikeout, Blanco gave way to a lefty reliever for Gavin Lux, but shockingly it didn’t matter, as he singled to right to drive in a run. Teoscar Hernandez got completed jammed but fisted a single into right to plate yet another run and push the lead to 4-0 in a flash.
On the other side was rookie Justin Wrobleski, who has been a surprisingly important part of the rotation. He had probably his best start, facing the minimum in the 1st after a walk was erased by Will Smith on a steal attempt, giving up just a single in the 2nd, and getting a clean 3rd. Wrobleski surrendered another single in the 4th, but then rebounded with another clean inning in the 5th.
With his pitch count low, Dave Roberts let him go, but a pair of singles put him in trouble with the heart of the order up. Wrobleski responded by getting a pair of outs, and Dave turned to Evan Phillips and ended Justin’s day (5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 82 Pitches).
Unfortunately, as you see in his line, Phillips couldn’t strand those runs for him. He gave up four consecutive singles to score four runs and cut the lead to 5-4, with two of those charged to Wrobleski. The last three singles were weakly hit, but they all count the same.
???… pic.twitter.com/IGvLvAghRw
— Houston Astros (@astros) July 28, 2024
That was enough for him, as Anthony Banda had to be called on, and he mercifully put the inning to rest with an out. He then continued in the 7th and got an important 1-2-3 frame.
Offensively, their slumber came to an end in the 8th as Biggio hit his fourth dinger of the year to put the lead up to 6-4.
After a homer, of course. pic.twitter.com/v7V6Rj5Si9
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) July 28, 2024
But the 8th belonged to Daniel Hudson, who also struggled as he didn’t have his best pitch: the slider. After an out, a triple and a single followed to cut the lead to 6-5. He did get a second out, but then gave up a single to tie the game at 6-6. He then hit a batter to load the bases, and that was the end of the road for him.
To salvage a tie, Blake Treinen entered and struck out Jose Altuve in three pitches, but then gave up a walk-off homer to Alex Bregman while continuing in the 9th.
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This was funny at least.
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) July 28, 2024
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| NL WEST | RECORD |
|---|---|
| Dodgers | 62-44 |
| Padres | 57-50 (5.5 GB) |
They play tomorrow again, whatever.
