Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Following a two-game sweep of the Padres and three victories in a row, the Dodgers managed to make it four straight in an easy 6-0 victory over the Reds thanks to Rich Hill and four dongs.
A breezy game time of less than two-and-a-half hours made it all the better.
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After struggling a bit to begin the season, coming into today with a 4.20 ERA and a 6.58 FIP, Hill looked dominant tonight.
He ended up throwing 85 pitches, going six shutout frames and striking out 10, only allowing two singles to Reds hitters.
It was an impressive showing, as his fastball had a ton of life and the curve was unhittable throughout.
Rich always goes through an early phase of having to find his stuff before getting rolling, so hopefully he’s past that now.
It didn’t hurt his cause that he was supported early and often by the offense. In the 2nd, Corey Seager smashed a two-run homer to right, seemingly continuing his recent resurgence with his 4th dong of the year.
Then in the 3rd, Joc Pederson and Max Muncy went back-to-back with their 14th and 9th dongs, respectively.
The offense got lazy in the 6th, resorting to manufacturing a run after Cody Bellinger reached first following a wild pitch after striking out, eventually advancing to second on a grounder, and then being plated by an Enrique Hernandez two-out single to make it 5-0.
They put things back to normal for the game in the 8th, with Bellinger smashing his 16th homer of the year for a 6-0 lead. His OPS is still over 1.250. It’s mid-May.
The pen made things drama-free for once, as Dylan Floro took over for Hill in the 7th and put together a 1-2-3 frame. Ross Stripling was next and allowed a single, but nothing else as the shutout was preserved.
But the real test came in the 9th when Joe Kelly toed the rubber, and he met expectations by immediately issuing a walk. However, he rebounded by inducing a double-play ball and a strikeout to face the minimum and seal with the victory.
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Basically the only negative news tonight is that Justin Turner had to exit the game.
Fortunately, it seems like he avoided disaster.
Been a rough week for his body between this and the constant hit-by-pitch mess.
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The Dodgers improve to 30-16 on the year, a 106-win pace, and at least temporarily have a 5-game cushion in the NL West over the Diamondbacks.
They’ll go for a series victory tomorrow at 10:10 AM HST/1:10 PM PST/4:10 PM EST, with Walker Buehler (RHP/4.15 ERA/3.27 FIP/3.80 DRA) facing Tyler Mahle (RHP/3.97 ERA/3.55 FIP/4.22 DRA).
