Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
An eventful homestand continued for the Dodgers, as following the home debut of Tarik Skubal, we got the return of Blake Snell. There were certainly no complaints with him, as he looked in prime form, being unlucky to give up contact much less the run. He was also unlucky to not be in line for the win as the lineup struggled early, but the bats rallied late for a lead. Unfortunately, the same story played out again, as the pen blew the lead and Andy Pages made a horrific boneheaded error to give thte Royals the lead all of a sudden. Fortunately, the Dodgers did fight back to tie things up, and eventually walked it off in extras to take a series with a 5-4 win over the Royals.
======
Unfortunately for the Dodgers, Michael Wacha came out tonight and showed why he’s been one of the more underrated pitchers in baseball at the moment.
After working around a two-out single in the 1st, he gave up a lined shot to left for a homer from Mookie Betts. His 14th of the year gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.
Mookie opens the scoring by lining a homer to left. pic.twitter.com/WYljj0BCos
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 12, 2026
A single followed that, but nothing more came of the 2nd, and he then got a clean 3rd. Wacha also stranded a one-out single in the 4th, and then got the side in order in both the 5th and 6th.
It was tied at that point.
——
Based on his start tonight, you’d never know Blake Snell missed any time at all. Hell, you’d probably think he was the best pitcher in baseball.
Snell started his night with 10 in a row retired, including striking out the side in order in the 1st for surprisingly first time as a Dodger.
Blake Snell returns with three strikeouts, one each on a change, fastball, and curve. pic.twitter.com/aU5oPpKN9P
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 12, 2026
Nasty curve and then paint for another. Nine up and nine down. pic.twitter.com/GVr2pqbCSP
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 12, 2026
That came to an unlucky end in the 4th, as a bloop single was followed by a groundball single that found a hole to corner the runners with one down.
As you could tell, Salvador Perez then poked a flyball to left that was plenty deep for a sac fly to tie the game at 1-1.
A sacrifice fly from Salvador Perez pulls the Royals even. pic.twitter.com/gtrJ4v3bFs
— Royals.TV (@kcroyalstv) August 12, 2026
Their rally wasn’t done, as a stolen base, walk, and wild pitch followed with two down to put a pair in scoring position, but Snell came up with another strikeout to minimize the damage.
Snell gets another K to get out of trouble in the 4th. pic.twitter.com/rl1HprQn3A
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 12, 2026
He ran into more baseball being baseball stuff to start the 5th, as a bloop hit at 68 MPH fell in for a double, and then a steal of third followed. Yet Snell continued to show how sharp he was, rebounding with a pair of strikeouts and a groundout to escape without damage.
After a bloop double hit at 68 MPH started the inning and a steal of third followed, Snell gets a pair of strikeouts and a groundout for a scoreless inning to likely end his first start back. Electric return. pic.twitter.com/2Ggxjcnb3U
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 12, 2026
That was supposed to be the end of his night, but Dave Roberts decided to let him come out for the 6th, and he responded with a 1-2-3 frame.
What a start, just in general, much less for his return from injury: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 10 K, 84 Pitches.
Blake Snell looked every bit of the ace that was promised, striking out 10 in 6 innings, giving up one hard-hit ball and being unlucky to give up contact, much less a run. pic.twitter.com/sEehmZy3Kn
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 12, 2026
The pen started with Alex Vesia in the 7th, getting a pair of outs to start before issuing a walk, but getting the final out for a scoreless frame.
——
Meanwhile, Wacha’s pitch count was still low, so he rolled along and started the 7th. With one down, Mookie got him again, lining a double into the left-center gap. After a flyout made it two down and only moved Mookie to third, the Dodgers finally completed a rally. Alex Call stepped up and worked the count full before hitting the eighth pitch for a double down the line in right for the lead. Teoscar Hernandez then pinch-hit and doubled himself for another run to make it 3-1 Dodgers and knocking Wacha out of the game.
Alex Call wins an eight-pitch battle, slapping a double down the line in right for the go-ahead run. Mookie Betts scores after doubling. pic.twitter.com/wgwPO9Smr8
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 12, 2026
Teoscar Hernandez pinch hits and drills another double for insurance. Huge. pic.twitter.com/Ff31yWjdLd
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 12, 2026
Their closer of late, Steven Cruz, entered and got Shohei Ohtani to groundout, but they got the damage they wanted. Though they’d quickly regret not getting more.
——
Looking to protect the lead for once, Evan Phillips got the 8th and found trouble after a questionable one-out walk that should’ve been a strikeout.
That was a problem because a single followed to corner the runners, and then two ore came via Jac Caglianone and Perez to score the “walk” and the first single to tie things up at 3-3.
Rallying back in the 8th! pic.twitter.com/80gMSxbqZn
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) August 12, 2026
That was finally it for Phillips, as Jack Dreyer entered and got a lineout to center, but for whatever reason Andy Pages tried to rush the throw back in and threw it backwards to the wall. That allowed Caglianone to score from second after tagging, giving the Royals a 4-3 lead before Dreyer got a strikeout to end the 8th.
Causing chaos! pic.twitter.com/9yt8eFt9HN
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) August 12, 2026
Just speechless.
Inventing ways to lose.
——
To their credit, the Dodgers fought back in their half of the 8th, as Cruz continued on. A one-out walk to Andy Pages was followed by Max Muncy getting hit with two down to make it a scoring chance. Mookie Betts then came up and stepped up again with his third hit on a single to right to tie things at 4-4. There would be nothing further, but they got the game back at least.
Mookie comes up with his third hit of the game, tying things up in the 8th! pic.twitter.com/ucZoU8bRj3
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 12, 2026
Now back to the Dodgers, Edgardo Henriquez was then tasked with giving them a walk-off shot in the 9th, and he did that in 1-2-3 fashion, providing a rare easy inning for the pen in leverage.
For the Royals it was Nate Pearson, and he cruised through his part, which sent the game into extras.
——
BONUS BASEBALL
In a hell of a time for his Dodgers debut, it was Seth Halvorsen in the 10th, who started by getting a lineout to right that moved the Manfred Runner to third. He then got a flyout that kept the runner at third thanks to a nice throw from Kyle Tucker, and then after an intentional walk, got a groundout to keep the tie intact.
In Halvorsen's debut, he sat triple digits, getting a lineout, a flyout that had a nice throw from Tucker to keep the Manfred Runner at bay, and then a groundout. pic.twitter.com/hTErc1HOSq
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 12, 2026
For the Royals, it was Lucas Erceg, who started by intentionally walking Freddie Freeman. He then made a stellar play to get Andy Pages out on a swinging bunt, which advanced both runners. Kyle Tucker then got an intentional walk to load things up, and Muncy came up big again by singling and walking it off for the win.
Max Muncy walks it off in the 10th! That's two in a row and a series win, whatever that is. pic.twitter.com/mZIcgvRmeo
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 12, 2026
Royal Flush. pic.twitter.com/KhD2EXSjkH
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 12, 2026
======
| NL Seeding | Record | GB |
| Brewers | 74-46 | – |
| Braves | 72-48 | 2.0 |
| Dodgers | 72-48 | 2.0 |
The series concludes tomorrow at the same time yet again of 4:10 PM HT/7:10 PM PT/10:10 PM ET. It’ll be Eric Lauer looking to bounce back after showing he’s human after all, up against Daniel Lynch IV.
