Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
A day after the elation of locking in Mookie Betts as a Dodger for the rest of his career, baseball brought us back to reality a bit after Clayton Kershaw was sent to the IL with more back issues. As a result Dustin May was thrust into the Opening Day start, and he provided a glimpse of the future in an 8-1 victory for the Dodgers over the Giants.
Given that he was a last-minute Opening Day starter, May turned in a solid performance, scattering seven singles in 4.1 innings, giving up no walks and striking out four.
After working around a Corey Seager error in the 1st, May loaded the bases with nobody out in the 3rd after three consecutive singles. However, he rebounded nicely, allowing just a Pablo Sandoval sac fly before inducing a strikeout and a ground out. He left the game with two runners on in the 5th frame with Caleb Ferguson taking over.
Caleb immediately did his job, thanks to some odd Giants baserunning.
The bats didn’t do a whole lot until the second half of the game. They tied things up in the 4th with a two-out rally behind a Seager double and an Enrique Hernandez bloop single.
The game then changed in a hurry in the 7th, as the Dodgers put up a crooked number. A one-out single from Betts, a double from Cody Bellinger, and then a heads-up baserunning play by Betts gave the Dodgers a 2-1 lead.
With two down, Enrique singled to drive in two more and the rout was on. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases, then Austin Barnes got an RBI on an infield single and Max Muncy drew a walk to force in another to make it 6-1.
After a Justin Turner double, Enrique added to his tremendous day with a two-run shot in the 8th to give us the final score of 8-1.
Pedro Baez then relieved Ferguson in the 6th, and he ended up going four perfect outs, including two strikeouts. Adam Kolarek was up next and he acquitted himself nicely despite the new rules, going five perfect outs, also with two strikeouts. Brusdar Graterol then finished things off in the 9th, giving up a hit, but getting a scoreless frame and providing a glimpse of his elite stufff.
Baseball!
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Speaking of, here’s Joc Pederson showing the benefits of an empty stadium for television viewers.
AJ Pollock having fun.
Kolarek’s pitching was perfect, but his hat game was decidedly off.
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MLB and the Dodgers continued their commitment to social justice issues before the game as well.
During the anthem, Betts took a knee with support from Bellinger and Muncy.
Well, that’ll piss off the worst kind of people, at least.
