OOTP 21: July 11, 2020 – Dodgers 9, Angels 6 – Dodgers wrap up the first half with another win

The Dodgers wrapped up the Freeway Series and the first half with a 9-6 win in Anaheim.

The Dodgers jumped all over Andrew Heaney early on. Robot Dave Roberts apparently doesn’t abide by lefty-righty matchups as all six runs scored in the first three innings came from left-handed hitters.

Cody Bellinger laced a first-inning triple to drive in Justin Turner and later scored on a Corey Seager base hit. Joc Pederson led off the third inning with his 21st homer of the year, and Seager chased Heaney from the game with a three-run dong to put the Dodgers ahead 6-0. The Dodgers added runs in the fourth, fifth and eighth inning to take a commanding and surely safe 9-0 lead.

Justin Upton had other ideas, as he belted two three-run homers in final two innings to bring the Angels within three runs. Kenley Jansen shook off the Upton homer to record the final out and send the Dodgers to the All-Star break on a high note.

“You can’t get too high when things go well, or too low when things go bad. Right now, I’m just happy we got the win,” Seager told the Los Angeles Chronicle. This is maybe the most on-brand generated quote in OOTP history.

The Dodgers head into the All-Star break with a 57-39 record and 3.5-game lead in the division and in the race for best record in the National League.

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The All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium (RIP) will look fairly similar to a normal Dodger game, as seven Dodgers were selected to the NL All-Star team.

Starters

• Will Smith .287/.362/.513, 15 HR, 136 wRC+, 3.0 WAR
• Gavin Lux .309/.389/.519, 18 HR, 11 SB, 148 wRC+, 3.8 WAR
• Corey Seager .308/.383/.553, 19 HR, 150 wRC+, 4.3 WAR
• Cody Bellinger .295/.424/.546, 19 HR. 10 SB, 159 wRC+, 4.6 WAR

Reserves

• Mookie Betts .308/.385/.520, 17 HR, 7 SB, 148 wRC+, 3.9 WAR

Pitchers

• Walker Buehler 9-5, 3.23 ERA, 128 1/3 IP, 1.05 WHIP, 10.9 K/9, 4.1 WAR
• Clayton Kershaw 14-0, 3.01 ERA, 128 2/3 IP, 1.09 WHIP, 9.0 K/9, 3.1 WAR

That’ll do it for the first half of the OOTP 21 simulation. We’ll see how the second half goes for the Dodgers.