Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers and Angels started off a four-game home and away Freeway Series tonight, and it ended with a 7-6 win for the team not actually from Los Angeles. The loss takes the Dodgers down to 20-19 on the season and 9-12 at home.
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Kenta Maeda was amazing in the first, second, and fourth innings of tonight’s start, allowing just one walk and striking out five in those innings. Unfortunately, the third inning did happen and that’s when the Angels put up a crooked number.
Maeda’s BABIP entering today’s game was an unrealistically low .237, but I didn’t think it all had to come back to haunt him in one frame. The Angels led-off with a clean double, and then Kenta got an out on a grounder back to him. However, he then gave up back-to-back ground ball singles, walked a batter, and then gave up another ground ball single to Mike Trout before Albert Pujols lined another single into center for a four-run frame.
Maeda was removed after just 73 pitches for unknown reasons after being pinch hit for, and I hope it ends up just seeing a plate appearance being more valuable than potentially only one more inning. In any case, Chris Hatcher proceeded to throw two scoreless innings, which I hope to god is a sign of things to come but probably not.
Surprisingly, the Dodgers did their job today on offense, scoring six runs on nine hits and five walks. Yeah, there were still terrible plate appearances and missed key scoring opportunities, but what they did should be enough to pull a win.
In the second inning, the Dodgers started a rally with two down. Joc Pederson and Trayce Thompson drew back-to-back walks, and by some miracle they were followed by back-to-back singles from Carl Crawford and Maeda to score two runs. In the fourth the offense got a quick-strike boost from Thompson, as he bombed a pitch into left-center field.
In the seventh, the Dodgers got another run on a Howie Kendrick sacrifice fly after a Charlie Culberson walk and Corey Seager single. The significant blow to get them back in it came from Thompson again, though, who hit another bomb to left in the eighth, this time of the two-run variety.
That would be enough, normally, but unfortunately Pedro Baez had one of his bad days and god was it depressing to watch. Giving up three runs on four hits and a walk in a single inning is one thing, but to take so long to do it was excruciating.
I tweeted this 33 minutes ago. That's how long the half-inning took. https://t.co/SWG4iQXqDO
— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) May 17, 2016
Louis Coleman and Joe Blanton followed with scoreless innings, but that was too little too late at that point.
Anyway, just a painful experience overall.
That was a four-hour 9-inning game. On the nose.
— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) May 17, 2016
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The Dodgers play the Angels again tomorrow at 7:10 PM PST/10:10 PM EST. The pitching matchup is Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw against professional changeup thrower Jered Weaver, so I swear to god the Dodgers better hit.
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Notes
-The Dodgers are struggling at hitting fastballs.
https://twitter.com/ChadMoriyama/status/732401668382298113
–Yasiel Puig and Adrian Gonzalez doing the MaeKen Dance (or trying).
–Dave Roberts needs to stop with the intentional walks.
https://twitter.com/ChadMoriyama/status/732420176537227271
-Oh yeah, Adrian Gonzalez is dead now.
Adrian Gonzalez left with tightness in his lower back.
— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) May 17, 2016
Dave Roberts says Adrian Gonzalez, who left the game because of back stiffness, is day-to-day.
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) May 17, 2016
