Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Despite their seven-game winning streak ending, the Dodgers entered still having won nine of their last 10 and looking to extend another winning streak to three games.
They managed to do exactly that in as boring of a game possible for something that was so back-and-forth. Yet it managed to make up for it in the end in a hilarious walk-off for Cody Bellinger.
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Facing Kyle Freeland for what seems like the billionth time, the Dodgers got on the board in the 1st after a Mookie Betts walk and a Corey Seager single. Betts went first to third on the play, and Seager was thrown out going for second, but Betts scored during the rundown to make it 1-0.
In the 2nd, the Dodgers got a run the simpler way, with Chris Taylor going oppo for a solo shot and a 2-0 lead.
Unfortunately, the offense mostly stalled for a while after that, and the Rockies got a run right back off Dustin May in the 3rd when Sam Hilliard hit a solo shot of his own.
Other than that blemish, May continued his run of quality starts, going five innings of one-run ball, giving up just two hits and two walks. However, he did just strikeout one batter and he threw 81 pitches to get through five, both of which are the main concerns as of now.
In the 6th, Brusdar Graterol took over for him and was put in an early hole after Trevor Story hit a soft grounder to Corey Seager. It would’ve been an infield single anyway, but Seager tried to do his best Omar Vizquel barehand play and threw it into the dugout to put the tying run in scoring position. The Rockies then manufactured the tying run with a ground out and a sac fly to make it 2-2. Graterol got out of the inning without issue otherwise, being stuck with an unearned run.
Things continued to get worse for the Dodgers in the 7th. Scott Alexander entered and issued a lead-off walk, which was then sacrificed to second and advanced to third on a ground out. Blake Treinen then entered and threw a wild pitch on a walk to score the go-ahead run at 3-2 before getting a strikeout to end the frame.
As Freeland began to tire, the Dodgers mounted a rally in their half of the 7th. Justin Turner got hit in the hip by a pitch, and AJ Pollock followed by roping a ball down the line in left for a double. After Cody Bellinger walked to load the bases with nobody out, Freeland’s night was done. CT3 then got to a 3-0 count, and lined a ball back up the middle on 3-1, but right at the second baseman for a 4-6-3 double play to tie the game at 3-3 but get two huge outs. After two more walks to load the bases again, Austin Barnes watched strike three to end the rally.
Treinen continued in the 8th trying to keep the game deadlocked, but gave up a lead-off double and then a ground out to move him over. He then got another grounder against a drawn-in infield and got a bit lucky.
Caleb Ferguson then entered to escape the inning and did so by getting a ground out into the shift to end it. As the bats continued to flail away, Ferguson continued in the 9th, allow a runner on his own inability to catch a feed, but he then got a bunt popped foul for an out and a strikeout before giving way. That brought in Kenley Jansen in a tie game and he managed to get a strikeout.
That set the stage for Bellinger, who walked up and lined a pitch over the right-field wall for a walk-off. Though that was dramatic in itself, it was only made better by the fact that he was so damn confused.
Love the socially distanced celebration as well.
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Hey, the Dodgers are good, IMO.
