Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers looked to continue their winning streak, and they did just that thanks to another great Trevor Bauer outing. Bauer’s seven shutout innings and 10 strikeouts helped the Dodgers to a 7-0 victory over the Marlins.
It was a win in the books, but the Dodgers felt a big loss when Corey Seager exited the game in the 5th after being hit with a pitch in the right hand.
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To start things off, Bauer struck out the side in the first inning, making Jesus Aguilar look silly with his slider.
Trevor Bauer, Front Porch 95mph Fastball. 🤖
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 16, 2021
Caught the chalk. pic.twitter.com/AR5Y8EXtyI
Rookie right-hander Jordan Holloway started the bullpen game for the Marlins. After he retired leadoff hitter Mookie Betts, Holloway couldn’t find the strike zone and issued consecutive walks to Corey Seager and Justin Turner. He got Max Muncy to strike out on a big knuckle curve, and Will Smith grounded out. The Dodgers failed to cash in the two walks, but Holloway did make 25 pitches.
Bauer continued to mow down the Marlins on the other side. He struck out Garrett Cooper and Isan Diaz with his four-seamer in the 2nd. He did have some help from the home plate umpire Chad Fairchild and Smith’s framing.
Trevor Bauer, Sick 81mph Slider. 🤒 pic.twitter.com/ga17Ocv1Ky
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 16, 2021
The Marlins’ bench was not happy about the strike zone.
The first base hit of the game didn’t come until the 3rd with two outs. Holloway helped his own cause with a line drive single to left field, his first big league hit. A wild pitch on a strikeout allowed Miguel Rojas to reach first, but there was no damage done after Bauer got Aguilar to ground out.
Despite the inconsistent strike zone, Bauer racked up 10 strikeouts in the first four innings. He now leads the NL in strikeouts.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers were in business after Turner and Muncy hit back-to-back singles off Holloway to open things in the top of the 4th. Smith walked to load the bases with nobody out for Chris Taylor. Don Mattingly tried to push it one more batter, but Holloway hit a wall. He walked CT3 to score the first run of the game.
Mattingly finally saw enough to go to the bullpen and brought in his left-hander Ross Detwiler to face Matt Beaty with the bases juiced and nobody out. The #umpshow ramped up when Beaty got ejected from the game after he questioned the terrible strike three call.
The Dodgers scratched across another run on a Gavin Lux groundout, increasing their lead to 2-0.
In the bottom of the 5th, Seager was hit in the right hand with a 90-mph Detwiler sinker and had to come out of the game. So much for avoiding more injuries.
The Dodgers scored two more runs in the inning thanks to a Muncy RBI single and a scoring groundout by CT3, extending their lead to 4-0.
Bauer ended up making 113 pitches (71 strikes) through seven shutout frames.
Garrett Cleavinger and Blake Treinen combined to retire the Marlins in the 8th. Tomorrow’s a bullpen game, but Dave Roberts continued to blow through all his relievers. I’m surprised when there’s a game where he hasn’t used up all his position players and pitchers by the 8th inning.
The Dodgers added two more runs in the 8th off Braxton Garrett on a big two-run single by DJ Peters with one out. He got excited and thought about going for two, but he was tagged out when he slid off the bag trying to get back to first base. Lux scored the third run of the inning for the Dodgers on a Mookie sac fly.
Joe Kelly was out there for the top of the 9th. It was a positive outing for Kelly, who pitched a clean 1-2-3 inning. It gave the Dodgers their seventh shutout of the season and their 5th win of their last 6 games.
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The Dodgers are now 22-17 overall on the season and 12-5 at home. They’ve won four straight and two straight series.
The series wraps up Sunday with first pitch at 1:10 PM PST. The Marlins send right-hander Pablo Lopez (0-3, 3.07 ERA, 3.49 FIP ) to the mound while the Dodgers go with a bullpen game.
