Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Solo homers in the 1st made it seem like Wednesday’s game may end up as some kind of offensive battle. Instead, just one more run crossed the plate for the next 7 innings. Fortunately, that run came in the 4th inning as AJ Pollock doubled in Cody Bellinger with two outs in the inning. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, I wrote the next 7 innings instead of 8.
Entering the 9th with a 2-1 lead, the Dodgers’ seemingly imminent tie atop of the NL West came to an abrupt halt as a pinch-hitting Buster Posey singled to start the 9th against Kenley Jansen, and Wilmer Flores launched a cutter into the left-field bleachers.
It didn’t stop there, with Jansen allowing a double and two walks before Dave Roberts finally had to come get him with just one away in the 9th. Victor Gonzalez entered to strike out LaMonte Wade Jr., but walked Curt Casali on an incredibly close pitch at the bottom of the zone that served as the impetus for Roberts to be tossed heading into the bottom of the inning.
Mercifully, Jason Vosler grounded out (on a 2-0 count) to end the 9th for the Giants before the Dodgers went down 1-2-3 to end the game in a 4-2 victory for San Francisco.
The Dodgers fell to 59-38 while the Giants moved back to a two-game lead in the NL West at 60-35.
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After Julio Urias allowed a two-out solo homer to Mike Yastrzemski in the 1st inning, Chris Taylor evened it back up with a solo shot of his own against Logan Webb to open the bottom of the inning.
Both Urias and Webb settled down for a few innings, each producing a pair of 1-2-3 innings in the 2nd and 3rd. Urias got a little help from Bellinger in the 3rd, as he ended the inning with this catch to rob Austin Slater of a hit.
Cody Bellinger can play defense pic.twitter.com/0XTh2HKghK
— Davante🏆🏆 (@oldmanturner) July 22, 2021
The Dodgers took their 2-1 lead in the 4th after Matt Beaty drew a leadoff walk and was replaced at first by Will Smith following a fielder’s choice. Bellinger then did the exact same thing, with a fielder’s choice of his own giving Webb two outs in the inning.
Pollock then sent an 0-1 sinker the opposite way down the line in right to score Bellinger, just the third hit of the game between the two teams.
Taylor singled with two away in the 5th and stole second base, conveniently going as Webb missed well off the plate with a slider. Curt Casali‘s throw down did lead to a review, but Taylor was still ruled to be safe. Predictably, Max Muncy walked after forcing the count full, but a ground out to first but Beaty left both runners stranded.
That wrapped up Webb’s day after 5 innings, allowing 3 hits and walking 3 to 5 strikeouts, and the Dodgers offense completely stalled out from that point on.
Jay Jackson entered in the 6th and struck out Smith, Bellinger and Pollock on 15 pitches with 12 going for strikes. Zack Littell then retired the Dodgers in order in the 7th and Jose Alvarez did the same in the 8th. Justin Turner did pinch hit against Alvarez, lining out to center following a 9-pitch at-bat, so there’s a positive I suppose.
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On the other side of things, Urias struck out Slater to open the game despite throwing a trio of ball to begin the at-bat. Thairo Estrada and Wade Jr. went down on strikes in the 2nd inning, with Urias looking just fine despite the 1st-inning homer.
He struck out Webb in the 3rd for his fourth of the game before simply inducing weak contact throughout the 4th and 5th innings. Just one of the seven balls in play was hit harder than 90 mph, a groundout by Wilmer Flores, and the Giants couldn’t get their second hit until the 5th, with Estrada reaching on an infield single.
Urias leaned heavily on his curve through the first 5 innings, throwing 36 of them to 28 fastballs and 14 changeups. He produced 11 called strikes with the curve,
After two more infield outs in the 6th, Urias sat down Yastrzemski after he swung through an 0-2 changeup. Needing just nine pitches, Urias worked through the 7th with another three ground balls. While Taylor’s throw on Donovan Solano‘s grounder went wide, the Dodgers turned a double play just one pitch later with Taylor making the turn to first.
That wrapped up Urias day at 96 pitches, striking out 5 while allowing just 2 hits and 1 walk. Bellinger’s catch wound up being the last ball to leave the infield against Urias, with nine balls hit on the ground and three pop ups in the infield. Urias finished the day at 43% curves to 35% fastballs, basically a switch from his season averages coming into the night.
Blake Treinen needed just nine pitches to go 1-2-3 in the 8th, and you already know the rest.
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Walker Buehler faces Anthony DeSclafani tomorrow night with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 p.m.
Buehler is on his fourth start against the Giants this season, allowing 2 ER (4 total) across 19 2/3 innings this year. Striking out 15 to 5 walks, Buehler earned the win in two of the starts while the bullpen gave up 6 runs on May 28 to spoil a potential third win.
Meanwhile, DeSclafani will also make his fourth start against the Dodgers this season. Of his 19 starts this season, DeSclafani has pitched past 5 innings in 12 of them and finished up at exactly 5 in four others. Two of the other three starts came against the Dodgers, with DeSclafani going 2 2/3 IP on May 23 and 4 2/3 IP on May 28 when he faced Buehler. He was better in his last appearance against the Dodgers, pitching 5 innings on June 28, but still took the loss after allowing 3 runs.
