Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Coming off an exciting sweep, the Dodgers and Giants resumed their rivalry tonight with a four-game series. River Ryan made his MLB debut and Blake Snell rounding into form kept things close, but it was really the Teoscar Hernandez show tonight, as he came up with three clutch hits to drive in all the runs in a 3-2 victory.
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Of course, the story was the debut of Ryan, who was acquired from the Padres for Matt Beaty. He faced some early traffic, issuing a 3-2 walk and then giving up a single that seemed to be compounded by a Miguel Vargas bobble in left. However, Vargas came up with a strong throw to get the lead runner at third, and not only did Ryan get out of his first inning without damage, but he took just 25 pitches to get the next eight outs.
The 4th looked like it had disaster potential, as a walk and one-out single put a pair on, then the second out moved both runners up a bag. Trying to then frame a 3-2 pitch against Matt Chapman, Will Smith allowed a passed ball to give the Giants a 1-0 lead.
A steal put a pair in scoring position yet again, but Ryan showed composure and avoided the big blow with a strikeout to escape. He then rebounded with a seven-pitch 5th, which allowed him to go into the 6th, making it the deepest he ever went in a game as a pro.
After allowing a single to start the 6th, he got bailed out by a 3-0 groundout, and then allowed another single to corner the runners to end his day. Still, a stellar debut all things considered: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R (0 ER), 3 BB, 2 K, 73 Pitches.
That zero continued thanks to stellar work once again from Alex Vesia, who got back-to-back strikeouts to escape with a zero in the frame.
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On the opposing side was 2023 NL Cy Young Award winner Snell, who has seemingly found his stride of late. After he faced the minimum in the 1st thanks to a walk being erased by a caught stealing, he navigated around a pair of two-out singles in the 2nd, and got a clean 3rd.
Snell seemed to be settled, but seemingly out of nowhere in the 4th, Teoscar popped his 21st dinger of the year to tie the game up at 1-1.
Teoscar, the Home Run Derby was a week ago. ? pic.twitter.com/HQARAFi2xr
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 23, 2024
Snell got right back to work and retired the next seven batters, but with two outs in the 6th, he walked Freddie Freeman, uncorked a wild pitch, and Teoscar again came up big with a single to give the Dodgers the 2-1 lead.
Teoscar knows clutch. pic.twitter.com/xa1vzDspqq
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 23, 2024
That lead unfortunately didn’t last long, as Ryan Yarbrough gave up a game-tying solo homer to Tyler Fitzgerald in his inning. 2-2.
Ty Game pic.twitter.com/dcdH7Uzoda
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) July 23, 2024
In the 8th, Blake Treinen surrendered a two-out walk and stolen base, but also got a pair of strikeouts for a scoreless frame.
After the Giants pen got a quiet 7th, Enrique Hernandez got a gift to start the 8th with a “double” that fell between Luis Matos and Heliot Ramos in left-center.
Unfortunately, Shohei Ohtani struck out, and after a Smith walk, Freddie barely beat out a double play to leave the runners cornered with a pair of outs. Thankfully, it was Teoscar up next, and he came up with another clutch hit, driving a single up the middle to make it 3-2.
The hit. pic.twitter.com/IU39OnDQIo
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) July 23, 2024
The 9th then belonged to Daniel Hudson, who got a pair of strikeouts before issuing a walk and getting a harmless fly out to end it.
Four in a row.
😤😤😤 pic.twitter.com/5hDsXKDQsY
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 23, 2024
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The Dodgers also honored the late great Willie Mays before the game.
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| NL WEST | RECORD |
|---|---|
| Dodgers | 60-41 |
| Diamondbacks | 52-50 (8.5 GB) |
Same two teams, same place, and same time of 4:10 PM HT/7:10 PM PT/10:10 PM ET tomorrow with Landon Knack facing off against Jordan Hicks.
