Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers had their 6-game winning streak snapped on Friday night in Pittsburgh 8-6, despite four hits from the National League Rookie of the Year front-runner.
Nick Tepesch got the start for the Dodgers. His outing wasn’t surprising in the least:
- 4 IP, 7 H, 5 R/ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 HR, 66 pitches, 48 strikes, 4/2 GO/AO
Even with the Pirates struggling this season, they were still able to jump all over Tepesch in the second inning. Sean Rodriguez and John Jaso had back-to-back run-producing singles to put Pittsburgh up 3-0. Starling Marte followed with a double to cap the scoring for the Pirates in the second.
The Dodgers responded with a run in the top of the third inning on a Justin Turner double. He would score on a balk by Pirates’ starter Jameson Taillon.
The Bucs responded with another run in the bottom half of the third on a Jung Ho Kang home run. That guy is good.
In the fifth, the Dodgers had a rally of sorts. Scott Van Slyke pinch-hit for Tepesch (which was somewhat questionable at the time, seeing as he was only at 66 pitches). He walked and Chase Utley followed with a double. Corey Seager then did Corey Seager things by driving in Van Slyke with a single. He ended up going 4-for-5 with a double. Turner was hit by a pitch and Adrian Gonzalez followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-4 Pirates. With two runners on, Howie Kendrick struck out and Joc Pederson laced a liner to center field at 110 MPH, but Andrew McCutchen tracked it down.
In the bottom of the fifth, Matt Joyce flared a pop up out of Turner’s reach to make it 6-4 Pirates. It was definitely a cheapy, but Louis Coleman didn’t look especially good in relief. Rodriguez drove in another run to make it 7-4.
We’re this far into the recap and Yasiel Puig hasn’t been mentioned. Until now:
That was an absolute bomb: 108 MPH, 25 degree launch angle, 439 feet. Beautiful. More of that, please. It was 7-5 after that bomb. Turner added a sac fly to, again, pull the Dodgers within a run at 7-6.
Chris Hatcher allowed a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to the aforementioned Joyce to make it 8-6 Pirates.
Mark Melancon came in to close the game out. He allowed a leadoff single to Seager, but then got Turner to ground into a double play and struck out Gonzalez (who needs to be dropped in the order).
One would think six runs would be plenty to win a game, but not when a Four-A player is starting, I suppose.
The Dodgers fell to 41-34 on the season. They’re presently 6 1/2 games behind the Giants as they host the Phillies for a weekend set. Kenta Maeda (6-4, 2.64 ERA) looks to get the Dodgers back on track. He will be opposed by Jeff Locke (6-5, 5.44). First pitch is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. Pacific time.
