Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Following a four-game losing streak, the Dodgers have now run off an equally long winning streak after a 3-2 victory over the rival Giants tonight to start their short two-game series.
While the Dodgers were outhit by a lot, things were basically a solo homer contest in terms of results, and the Dodgers were the ones that came out ahead on that front in the end.
——
Giants starter Anthony DeSclafani has essentially only had issues against the Dodgers this year, as he continues to have his breakout and/or fluke year. Coming into the game he had given up 16 runs against all other teams and 12 runs to the Dodgers.
That trend of the Boys In Blue getting to him continued immediately tonight as well as Mookie Betts and Max Muncy started the game off with back-to-back jacks for an early 2-0 lead, their 10th and 16th dongs of the year, respectively.
The Dodgers countered on the mound with Trevor Bauer, who has struggled of late, for what reason is up to you to decide. He first ran into trouble in the 2nd with a single and a walk, but wasn’t hurt. The same couldn’t be said in the 3rd when he served a homer to LaMonte Wade Jr. on an elevated change to cut the lead in half.
He also gave up a double later in the inning but wasn’t hurt. Bauer then surrendered two singles in the 4th but managed to wriggle his way out of that as well.
Oh yeah, and Cody Bellinger is good at defense.
Meanwhile, the bats got two walks in the 3rd to threaten, but ended up with no runs. To start the 4th, Will Smith decided to solve the problems with stranding runners by smashing his 10th dong of the year to make it three solo shots for the Dodgers and a 3-1 game. After a scoreless 5th, DeSclafani was pinch hit for as the Dodgers had also managed to make him throw 86 pitches.
The Giants weren’t going quietly, however. Brandon Crawford continued his totally normal mid-30s power resurgence, smashing a limp 91 mph up fastball to center for a 3-2 game. A double followed and I was on the verge of a meltdown, but Bauer thankfully worked out of trouble again.
Despite continuing to give up homers and getting hit more than he had been this year, Bauer continues to limit the damage and managed to exit with the lead: 6 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 8 K, 98 Pitches.
Unfortunately, aside from the power, the bats didn’t do anything (which is why power is important). Jarlin Garcia got four outs, James Sherfy got two outs, and Dominic Leone closed the book on the Dodgers in the 9th with the final three.
Things were not as smooth on the Dodgers side of things. Victor Gonzalez took over for Bauer and continued to look shaky, hitting the first batter he faced and also giving up a single, but managed to get through the 7th unscathed. Blake Treinen surprisingly ran into an immediate mess in the 8th as well, giving up a single against the shift and then a walk. After a ground out moved both runners up, it seemed like major trouble. However, he rebounded by getting a clutch strikeout and then induced a pop to end the frame.
That left Kenley Jansen for the 9th, which was surprisingly eventful for an inning in which he faced the minimum. Mike Tauchman led off by dumping a single into left-center, which took a weird bounce on Cody Bellinger. Tauchman went for second, and after being ruled out on the field, the review showed he beat the tag. However, the review also showed he came off the bag, resulting in an out.
Jansen took over from there, getting a strikeout on three pitches and then a grounder to end it.
Game.
——
Dodger Stadium is nice.
Mookie Betts showing off.
——
The Dodgers are now 48-31 and 2.5 games back of the Giants in the NL West.
The short series concludes tomorrow, hopefully with a mini-sweep, at 4:00 PM HST/7:00 PM PST/10:00 PM EST with the marquee matchup of Walker Buehler against Kevin Gausman.
