Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers are absolutely scorching hot right now, having won their last 10 games in a row after cruising to a 7-1 victory over the Brewers tonight.
Backed by their first three hitters in the lineup all having three hits in very different ways, along with Clayton Kershaw continuing his march back to health, the Dodgers have won 14 of their last 15 games and five straight series.
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Like many soft-tossing lefties before him, Wade Miley has been a thorn in the side of the Dodgers over the years. Fortunately the Dodgers seemed to get some divine intervention from the baseball gods tonight.
Mookie Betts led the game off with a walk and then tagged for second on a fly ball hit down the line in left on a heady play. Will Smith then hit a chopper to the shortstop, and the ball took a weird bounce which helped him corner things up for an infield single. After J.D. Martinez reached on a catcher’s interference to load the bases, Amed Rosario hit a soft grounder that he was able to beat out for an RBI and a 1-0 game, though that was it for the rally.
That evaporated almost immediately, as after a 13-pitch clean inning for Kershaw in the 1st, Mark Canha led off the 2nd by hammering a ball down the line to tie things up at 1-1.
The Dodgers got that lead right back behind an unlikely source with a Miguel Rojas homer for his third of the year and a 2-1 lead.
Miguel Rojas, with that homer, has two homers and seven RBI in his last three games. He had one homer and seven RBI in the previous 29 games.
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) August 17, 2023
Impressively, they weren’t even done with two outs either. A Mookie single was followed by a Freddie Freeman double, and Will dribbled a ball about 10 feet in front of the plate for another infield single to load things up and necessitate a medical check for Miley when his plant leg slipped.
He was fortunately okay, and J.D. then appeared to ground out to end the inning, but he got another catcher’s interference to reach and drive in another run to make it 3-1 before the rally ended.
After a relatively quiet 3rd, the 4th started with back-to-back singles from Mookie and Freddie to corner the runners. Will took advantage of this with a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 4-1, but a GIDP ended that threat.
Meanwhile, Kershaw was in some trouble but getting out of it. A double in the 3rd was stranded, and then a double and walk were left out there as well after a lined double play to Freddie at first.
Managing a pitcher coming back from injury, Dave Roberts stayed cautious and removed him after five, which was the prudent thing to do, really.
5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 K, 71 Pitches
After a clean 5th for Miley, his night was done, and Abner Uribe started out impressively. Touching 101 with his fastball with a wipeout slider, he notched a strikeout and then a groundout to start. But that brought up the top of the order, and Mookie rifled a 101 mph fastball back through the box for a single, and Freddie turned around 102 mph to the track in center where Joey Wiemer had a nightmare, gifting Freddie a double and the Dodgers a 5-1 lead. Will joined the hit parade with a single off 100 mph to drive in another run and make it 6-1.
Dills follows by lining 100 mph for a single and another run. pic.twitter.com/Oq0EAXP7OH
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 17, 2023
The lineup did it again with two outs in the 7th, as Chris Taylor hit his 13th homer of the year to make it 7-1 all of a sudden.
CT3 4 Insurance pic.twitter.com/Q810qf2yul
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 17, 2023
It was a quiet 8th for the offense, but all of that insurance was more than enough.
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For the Dodgers pen, it was Brusdar Graterol who was out first in the 6th, and he faced the minimum. Despite hitting a batter, he immediately got a double play and a ground out, taking just seven pitches. The 7th belonged to Ryan Brasier, who was impressive in his own right with a pair of strikeouts and a weak grounder. If he can miss bats, then he certainly can pitch more like his ERA with the team, which would be an important addition on the backend.
Gus Varland then made his Dodgers debut in the 8th after debuting earlier this year with the Brewers, and he issued a four-pitch walk to the first batter he faced. However, he then bounced back nicely with a double play and then notched a strikeout. He was then left in for the 9th against the heart of the Brewers order and dominated them with two strikeouts and a groundout to end it.
Gus Varland's dominant 9-pitch 9th against the heart of the Brewers order. pic.twitter.com/IWag5hI0fi
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 17, 2023
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Team photo day!
https://t.co/DqlMBPeOLc pic.twitter.com/fOT3pjfcQf
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 17, 2023
What is happening. pic.twitter.com/18P3a2IvHz
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 17, 2023
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| NL WEST | RECORD |
|---|---|
| Dodgers | 73-46 |
| Giants | 64-57 (10 GB) |
*Either still playing or will play later.
The Dodgers go for the sweep at the same time tomorrow night at 4:10 PM HT/7:10 PM PT/10:10 PM ET with Lance Lynn out there on the mound against their ace Corbin Burnes.
