Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
After getting carried by Teoscar Hernandez yesterday, the Dodgers chipped in as a group to back Landon Knack today, getting an early lead and never relinquishing it in a 5-2 victory.
That’s now five wins in a row to start the second half.
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Opposing starter Jordan Hicks started about as well as possible, striking out the first two batters of the game. But he then hit Freddie Freeman, uncorked a wild pitch, walked Teoscar, and uncorked another wild pitch to move them both into scoring position. That brought up the suddenly hot Gavin Lux, who doubled down the line in right to plate both runs and make a 2-0 lead despite being thrown out at third.
NL Player of the Week back at it again. pic.twitter.com/VsptYA0HUH
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 24, 2024
As mentioned, Knack pitched well, but not well enough to prevent Tyler Fitzgerald for homering in his fifth game in a row in the 2nd. Thankfully, it was just a solo shot that made it 2-1.
Tyler Fitzgerald has homered in FIVE straight games: pic.twitter.com/JYwQRujjtH
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) July 24, 2024
He only faced trouble in one inning, the 3rd, and even that was due to a Cavan Biggio error. Knack managed to work around that and was effective despite running up his pitch count to do it: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 K, 96 Pitches.
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The offense took until the 4th to get on the board again, and they again did it with two outs. A Jason Heyward walk and Biggio single cornered the runners with one out, but a strikeout made it two, which set the stage for Shohei Ohtani‘s double to right to drive both runners in and make it 4-1.
That's Shohei's 60th extra-base hit of the season! pic.twitter.com/QhYqF0fMX2
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 24, 2024
Brent Honeywell and his screwball took over for Knack in the 6th, getting a 1-2-3 frame on 12 pitches. He faced the minimum in the 7th and made just 10 pitches, as a single was erased by a double play. Blake Treinen got a scoreless 8th as well, giving up a walk and a single but no damage.
The bats were relatively quiet for a bit, threatening a bit in the 5th and 6th, but not getting any runs out of it. They finally added on in the 8th, as Andy Pages got hit by a pitch and Heyward singled, then after a pair of strikeouts, Ohtani came through with yet another two-out hit to make it 5-1. They loaded the bases after that, but couldn’t get any more.
Going after that cold zone is a good plan until you miss. pic.twitter.com/yg6miDcuNt
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) July 24, 2024
Closing out a now four-run lead in the 9th was Alex Vesia, who started with a pair of walks and a single to drive in a run and make it 5-2. However, he rebounded nicely with a pop-up and strikeout.
At 26 pitches and with a righty coming up, it was Evan Phillips for the final out. However, he issued a walk to load the bases and bring the go-ahead run to the plate, but got a groundout to end it.
Well … that was exciting.
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Teoscar destroys ballboy.
Teoscar Hernandez MALICIOUSLY destroys ballboy's career. pic.twitter.com/20OUFbaBKu
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) July 24, 2024
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| NL WEST | RECORD |
|---|---|
| Dodgers | 61-41 |
| Padres | 53-50 (8.5 GB) |
Same teams, same place, and same time of 4:10 PM HT/7:10 PM PT/10:10 PM ET, as the Dodgers go for a series win over the Giants behind Tyler Glasnow coming off the IL against Robbie Ray making his Giants debut.
