Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Coming off a dramatic comeback win, the Dodgers came into tonight looking for a two-game mini-sweep of the Mariners, and to perhaps finally get something going after their three-week slide. Unlike every previous time they’ve tried to do this for almost a month now, the Dodgers seemed to show signs of getting back on track, having a complete team win in terms of execution in a 7-1 victory over the Mariners.
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Mariners youngster Justin Dunn has been off to a solid start to begin the year and he looked solid against the Dodgers early, getting scoreless frames in his first three innings and only facing a threat in the 3rd after a double.
Thankfully the 4th was a different story, as things started immediately with back-to-back walks of Justin Turner and Max Muncy. Will Smith then dunked a single to right to load the bases, and then with one down Matt Beaty saved the team from humiliation with a double to plate two and knock Dunn out. Though because it’s the Dodgers that’s all they got out of it, as Will Vest shut things down at 2-0.
Speaking of cruising, Julio Urias was on the other side and set down the first 13 Mariners he faced before giving up a Ty France single and then getting a ground out that advanced the runner. On the first half-chance the Mariners got with two down in the 4th, they immediately capitalized with a soft single by Dylan Moore to make it 2-1.
Instead of stopping after their first runs as the Dodgers lineup had done so often during this stretch, they continued their assault in the 5th with a massive two-out rally. JT singled on a soft liner that seemed harmless until Muncy stepped up and immediately parked one to center to make it 4-1.
Smith followed with a double and Chris Taylor walked, then Beaty almost destroyed France’s ability to reproduce with a single to make it 5-1.
That knocked Vest out for old friend JT Chargois, who allowed yesterday’s hero Gavin Lux to single on an 0-2 pitch to make it 6-1 before the inning ended. Chargois did continue in the 6th and get a clean frame, though.
Urias continued to cruise in the meantime, getting two more scoreless frames and ending his night with an understated yet dominant and efficient showing, facing just a single batter with a RISP: 7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K, 87 Pitches.
In the 7th, Aaron Fletcher took over for the Mariners and allowed a Muncy single that was advanced to third on a ground out and a fly out, which set things up for AJ Pollock to pinch-hit and single to make it 7-1. After an infield single followed, the Dodgers had another chance to add, but didn’t do anything with it. Wyatt Mills then closed the book on the lineup with a scoreless 8th.
Jimmy Nelson was tasked with getting the final two innings without requiring one of the Big 3 of the pen to enter, and he thankfully did just that by getting six Mariners in a row, including two strikeouts. Don’t look now, but Nelson is starting to put it together.
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Clayton Kershaw tells Joe Davis that the strike zone is never big enough.
Orel Hershiser also had an invention he wanted to pitch.
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The Dodgers improve to 20-17 on the year and have won two games in a row. Oh my god, a potential winning streak.
After a mini-sweep the Dodgers of course get hit with a day off, but they’ll welcome the Marlins in for three starting on Friday at 4:10 PM HST/7:10 PM PST/10:10 PM EST. Clayton Kershaw will face off against a Sandy Alcantara having a nice year so far.
