Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Well, with the vibes at an all-time low after the Angels swept them, the Dodgers have now taken the first two games of the Padres series, securing the season tiebreaker and taking sole control of the NL West. Blake Snell looked dominant yet again with some help from Will Smith‘s throwing, and the Dodgers staked him to an early lead behind … Michael Conforto‘s (!!!) big hit and some good fortune in a 6-0 shutout victory.
======
As mentioned, Blake Snell continued to look like the guy they paid for. He faced some trouble in the 1st, giving up a single, double, and infield single, but he didn’t give up any runs because the first single was erased by Will Smith and the latter single was also taken care of by him on the back-end of a double steal to end the inning.
Don't run on Will! pic.twitter.com/eqBtByalnW
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 17, 2025
He then faced the minimum in the 2nd after a lead-off single was gunned down by Smith again, and they didn’t test him after that.
LIKE WE SAID, DON'T RUN ON WILL. pic.twitter.com/cLBxl2Btcn
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 17, 2025
Snell cruised through the next three innings, allowing just a walk during that span. In the 6th, he gave up a one-out double and issued a two-out walk, but the fatiguing pitcher bore down and got the final out to complete his scoreless outing.
Not the normal amount of whiffs, but there wasn’t a whole lot of threats either: 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, 96 Pitches.
——
Offensively … thank god for Dylan Cease having a bad day. He started the game by walking Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Smith in a row to load things up, and after getting one flyout that wasn’t deep enough from Freddie Freeman, another from Teoscar Hernandez scored the game’s first run. Andy Pages then followed by walking which reloaded the bases, and Conforto came through with a single to make it 3-0.
A three-spot to start the game! pic.twitter.com/VMiGozAceN
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 17, 2025
The rally stopped there, but they came back again in the 2nd. A one-out Ohtani walk and a two-out Smith walk was followed by Freddie hitting a deep flyball to center, which Jackson Merrill seemed to get confused on who had it, resulting in it clanging off his glove for a two-base, two-run error, and it was 5-0.
The Dodgers have five runs. Just one hit, a bunch of walks, and this: pic.twitter.com/x5VyyJubAz
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) August 17, 2025
After a quiet run, Teoscar added some insurance in the 5th with his 20th homer to push the lead to 6-0.
Back-to-back nights of homers for Teoscar! pic.twitter.com/bijoZlGR5z
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 17, 2025
That was all for the bats, but they didn’t need to do anything more, really.
——
The Dodgers pen started with Edgardo Henriquez in the 7th, and while he gave up an infield single, he also closed with back-to-back strikeouts.
Smoke. https://t.co/o1a9MdmVRQ pic.twitter.com/1NcUGObleM
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 17, 2025
That is the hardest-thrown pitch by a Dodger in the Statcast era.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) August 17, 2025
That was Henriquez's ninth career MLB inning. He already has six of the 10 hardest-thrown pitches by a Dodger since 2015. https://t.co/rR8OmQvuHw https://t.co/chkOvuhuU7
He also started the 8th, getting an out on the sinker the Dodgers have been working with him to develop.
And by what the team wants, I think it's basically this: https://t.co/tVulTx049Y pic.twitter.com/baipSZ3TvK
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 17, 2025
But after he lost an eight-pitch battle for a walk, it was Anthony Banda entering. Speaking of smoke, he looked as froggy as ever, getting a pop out and strikeout.
Anthony Banda's 97.9 MPH pitch against Luis Arraez was his fourth fastest pitch of the year.
— Blake (@ByBlakeWilliams) August 17, 2025
His 3 faster pitches (98.5, 98.3 and 98) were all against the Padres as well. He also hit 97.6 mph against Machado.
Jack Dreyer thankfully made it nice and easy in the 9th with a 1-2-3 frame.
======
| NL West | Record | GB |
|---|---|---|
| Dodgers | 70-53 | – |
| Padres | 69-54 | 1.0 |
The Dodgers will go for the sweep in a day game tomorrow on MLB Network at 10:10 AM HT/1:10 PM PT/4:10 PM ET. It’ll be Tyler Glasnow against Yu Darvish.
