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There is Nothing More Patriotic Than a Dodgers Win on Independence Day

Dodgers US Flag

There is nothing more patriotic than a Dodgers win on Independence Day. The Dodgers made all Americans proud on Monday night with a 7-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles to celebrate the fourth of July in grand fashion. The win gives the Dodgers ten consecutive victories at home. The Dodgers had to overcome a crappy outing from Julio Urias who lasted just 3.1 innings and allowed five earned runs on six hits. Opposing starter Yovani Gallardo certainly wasn’t dominating either. The Dodgers knocked him out of the box in the fourth frame. Neither pitcher was involved in the decision. The Dodger’s offense and relief pitching led the way in tonight’s match.

The Dodger’s offense came through with flying colors. The Dodgers had to come from behind multiple times throughout the interleague affair. Once from a 3-2 defeat, and another time from a 5-2 deficit, with them finally breaking through in the sixth inning. Corey Seager’s seventh inning triple and Justin Turner’s sacrifice fly brought home the go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh which broke a 5-5 tie. Chase Utley went 3 for 4 with two runs driven in, and Seager, and Yasiel Puig both had two hits with Puig scoring twice.

Orioles   5 8 0

Dodgers 7 9 0

WP-Blanton-4-2

LP-Despaigne-0-1

SV-Jansen-25

HR-Puig-7-Grandal-9

Puig and Grandal both smashed home runs as the Dodgers went 3 for 9 with runners in scoring position. Let’s not forget the Dodger bullpen because they tossed 5.2 innings of shutout ball. The Dodgers (48-37) are now a season high 11 games over .500 as they padded their National League wild card lead.

All of the fireworks didn’t start until the second inning as the Orioles scored three runs to jump out to a 3-0 lead. Mark Trumbo singled to left and Chris Davis walked. Catcher Matt Wieters lined out to Puig in right, but Puig threw into third. He had no chance of getting Trumbo and the throw allowed Davis to advance to second base. That was costly because J.J. Hardy doubled over Puig’s head to score both runners. After Joey Rickards flies out, Urias walked opposing starter Yovani Gallardo, and Adam Jones added an RBI single to put the birds up 3-0.

The Dodgers responded by hitting two solo home runs in the bottom of the second to cut the lead to 3-2. Yasiel Puig and Yasmani Grandal went back-to-back to provide some fireworks for the boys in blue. The action continued in the fourth frame.

Both clubs scored twice in this inning. The Orioles chased Urias from the game as Wieters singled, and Hardy doubled him to third. Rickards’ two-run single into left plated Wieters and Hardy to give the Orioles a 5-2 lead. Luis Coleman had to come in and retire the next two hitters to get the Dodgers out of the threat. The Dodgers would not go down gently into this good night though. In the bottom half of the frame Puig singles to left. After Grandal and Will Venable both whiff, pinch-hitter Scott Van Slyke works a walk to extend the inning. Utley then singles into right to bring home Puig and make the score 5-3. Seager’s single to left scored Van Slyke and the Dodgers were down by one again 5-4.

The Dodgers would tie the game in the bottom of the sixth off of Spanish right hander Odrisamer Despaigne. Grandal would walk. After Venable’s force out, a balk from Despaigne advances Venable to second. One out later Utley singles up the middle to drive home Venable and the Dodgers tie the score at 5-5! The Dodgers would take the lead in the bottom of the seventh as Despaigne remained in the game. Corey Seager would lead off with a triple into the right field corner and Justin Turner’s sacrifice fly would immediately score him to give the Dodgers a 6-5 lead! The Dodgers would add one more run on a Chris Taylor walk and an RBI double from Howie Kendrick.

The Orioles never really were heard from again after that fourth inning. The Dodgers bullpen has been fantastic. Coleman, Pedro Baez, Joe Blanton, Adam Liberatore, and Kenley Jansen held the Orioles to just two hits and no walks the rest of the game. Jansen recorded his 25th save of the season as the Dodgers held on for the 7-5 win.

The Dodgers look to stay red hot as their series with Baltimore continues on Tuesday night. Right hander Chris Tillman will battle Kenta Maeda at 7:10 PM. Oh and Hyun-jin Ryu is making his return on Thursday against the Padres. Things are certainly looking up.

Go red white and blue! Especially blue!

Scott Andes

Scott Andes: Longtime writer and Dodger fanatic

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Scott Andes
Scott Andes: Longtime writer and Dodger fanatic
https://ladodgerreport.com

56 thoughts on “There is Nothing More Patriotic Than a Dodgers Win on Independence Day

  1. There is certainly a very different dynamic at work right about now on this team. They are picking each other up. Not trying to do it all and just getting the job done. This is the team I thought we were getting. It just took a while to get there. They were already on the upswing when Kershaw went down, but that galvanized them. There will be bumps but this team is a force to be reckoned with.

    It’s too bad that some of the Negative Nellies have left the board. Embarrassed, I guess! It’s going to be a fun ride. We get Ryu back soon… can he come back as strong as McCarthy? That seems unlikly, but….

    Offensively, hey are being led by Corey Seager and Justin Turner with contributions for everyone.

    Julio Urias isn’t trusting his stuff right now. He will learn…

  2. The Dodgers are 1st in MLB in WHIP, 4th in ERA and The Bullpen is #1 in ERA in all of baseball!

    Now, the FAZ-Blasters have to make up some other crap!

    Hopefully, some of you knuckleheads are starting to get it. While this team ain’t perfect, FAZ built a pretty good bridge to the future. Yes, there is a lot of time left, but I felt good about this team in the Spring and I am more optimistic now. We still have a lot of injuries, but the team is responding.

    I’m in the air right now. I have a stop in PHX and then on to LA. I’ll be at the game tonight!

    1. You can’t help yourself can you. You are the most negative guy on any board I’ve ever seen you on. But, good to see you are taking your bipolar meds. Thank you for that b

      I thought Urias was getting squeezed, but he didn’t adjust. It was the bullpen that held that game together. I still question if that group can be asked to pitch 4 innings every game all summer. We’ll see.

      Questionable umpiring all night, bad defense by the O’s, we survive a disastrous start by our 19 year old. Time for him to go. Yeah I know, the Sherriff of Bastardham said he would stay and throw 150 innings, but this Nellie says the Sherriff is wrong again.

      The Rockies continued their no hit ways. As well as we’ve played, and we have played well, we have gained no ground in several weeks as the giants have held on despite their many injuries.

      Yeah, Puig took a bad route, but when he hits we sure look much better. And Gonzalez not making outs helps the middle of our order.

      We’re still flawed. But we are winning and that is what counts! I’ll take the Wild Card. Just get to the dance. Don’t matter how.

      1. Negative? Ha ha.

        If I’m bipolar you are tripolar

        Take your dumbass vaccine and call me on the morning.

        Wait! There is no dumbass vaccine. So sorry!

      2. Badger
        I was wondering about the route Puig took, because that play didn’t look quite right.

        Puig once again, threw the ball to third, instead of second, and that allowed a second run to score.

        He needs to be held accountable for that mental error, that he continues to do!

        I know the bench is short now, and that can’t happen, but there has to be accountability.

        And I hate to have to say that, because Puig has been hitting much better, and having much better at bats, since he came back.

        1. While the throw was to the wrong base, the runner that went to second on that throw would have scored anyway. All runs scored were earned runs.

      3. Badger
        The Dodgers picked up two or three games, last week.

        The umpire was bad, but Urias will learn to adjust.

        Orel showed that chart for strikes, in the post game show, and the umpie squeezed Urias for at least seven pitches that were strikes.

      4. Badger
        Agone has hit just under 500, since he came back, after he took those two days off.

        And he has hit in the most runs on the team, during this time.

        He couldn’t do much last night, because they were pitching around him, so he took his walks.

        I like that Turner didn’t fool around, when he got the right pitch, he just hit a flyball, to the outfield, to get the run in.

        Sometimes certain hitters, make these kind of at bats, harder then they really are.

    2. We all know that ERA for a RP is a useless stat. It does not give the RP responsibility for the inherited baserunners that score when the RP is on the mound. A more appropiate stat would be IR/IRS.
      Name IR IRS % BAA
      Fien 4 0 100 .206
      Jansen 10 1 10 .153
      Hatcher 15 3 20 .240
      Liberatore 24 5 20.8 .161
      Coleman 19 5 26.3 ,214
      Blanton 14 4 28.6 .151
      Howell 8 3 37.5 .242
      Baez 13 7 53.9 .180

      I only listed the RP currently on the 25 man roster so Yimi. Tsao and Avilan whopitched earlier in the year are not listed.

      1. Sorry for the way it looks(all jumbled up) but I left more than enough space between categories. I have no idea why it looks so close. My apologies.

        1. I’m trying to decipher that as I think you’re right, inherited runners scored is a critical stat.

          If I said Baez IRS % was 53.9, Jansen 10%, would I have it right?

          I like the BAA stat. I’ve said all year I think we have good arms down there. What we didn’t have was good pitchers. Are they improving? Apparently so. I sure hope they hold up for 4 more months.

          1. In other words, in Baez’s case, he allowed 7 of his 13 inherited runners to score. That’s why I have always said a RP ERA is stupid.
            The rule should be changed to give the SP & RP equal responsibility(50-50) and that should be reflected in their ERA’s. SP50% for allowing the batter to get on and 50% for the RP for allowing the runner to score when the SP had no control over the situation after he was removed from the game.
            Does it make sense? It does to me and that’s why it won’t change.

      2. I agree that IRS is an important stat. The pen was poor at that early in the year but have gotten much better. Still, ERA is a more useful stat because when the ERA is good the rest of the pitching stats trend that same direction. Give me a pen with a great ERA and WHIP and you generally have a good thing.

        1. My formula is more to the point but just my opinion. There are other rules I’d love to see changed. For instance: If a hitter makes an out and drives in a run with a fly ball to the OF and a run scores because of that the hitter is not charged with an at bat and gets the RBI. However, if he hits it on the ground(no DP) and the run comes in he is charged with an AB. WHY?? It ddoesn’t make any sense to me. Again, just my opinion.

          1. There are a few rules that make no sense – the one that bugs me the most is a starting pitcher can battle his ass off for 100 pitches and get nothing then some BP yahoo can get a win with one pitch. That’s dumb. I agree that IRS% is a most useful stat when it comes to evaluating the pen. And I’ve valued WHIP since I first read about it years ago. It’s like OBP only for pitchers. Hitters – just get on base. Pitchers – don’t put anyone on base. The teams that lead the league in those two stats will be competitive. Currently – that’s Boston and LA respectively.

  3. I agree with you Mark. They are playing together as a team. I thought Urias was really aqueezed by the home plate umpire. After Urias left he called a pretty good game. You can certainly can tell Roberts does not have much faith in Howell and Hatcher. Baez still worries me, but he was good yesterday. Although the Rockies lost, they looked pretty good against the Giants .

  4. Just to throw my 2 cents in, I thought the Pitch Rickards was a damn good pitch and is an out pitch
    most of the time… I’m just happy the bleeding has stopped and wish the Giants would oblige…
    As Mark said the reinforcements are slowly showing up and it will be a great second half with us winning the NLW.
    P.S. What became of the Honeycutt haters???

  5. Just read about Chase De Jong and his new cutter. Lots of good young arms waiting in the wings. We certainly have the pieces to make a major trade for the post season.

    1. That can’t be right. I said he would, you said he wouldn’t.

      Dumbass vaccine?

      And another thing – you had to bring up Destiny’s Dodgers again didn’t you. That’s been the kiss of death for over 15 years now.

      $70 million for Kenley? At least you backed off your $100 million call. He’s going to be 29 later this year, leaving his prime years. They are going to whip his flanks all year and wear him out before they send him packing. Somebody might offer him 5 years, but my bet is it won’t be FAZ.

  6. I don’t care much for ERA regarding a RP. WHIP is the most important stat for me. Over 1.00 and they don’t get the call to go to LAD from AAA. 1.50 and they are gone from LAD. Now an ERA above 5.00 during the last 30 Days and they are on notice that LAD might DFA them real soon.

    Richie – Great Stat!

    2 starting position players in the top half of their MLB BA rankings. That still sucks.

    2 SPs with a mid season WAR above .50. Still sucks.

    Hatcher with a WAR of -.04. Neddy Jr. swallow your pride and DFA the guy. Coleman is next if he does not turn it around. With the SPs coming off the DL the RPs should be watching their backs as other pitchers say I can be an RP too!

    Still only 5 position players with an OPS+ above 100 or replacement value. Still sucks.

    Still only 5 position players with a mid season WAR of at least 1.0. Still sucks. You need a team of 8 position players to end the season with a WAR between 2.0 and 3.0. You do not need 2 players with a WAR of 5.0 and the rest at 1.0 or below. Real depth begins with breadth of above average quality in the starting 8.

    The problem with Honeybuttgrabber is that he is good after the game watching film and figuring out things but terrible during the game at figuring out when a pitcher has changed their delivery. He needs to become a Very Special Assistant and the LAD need to hire a younger guy who can see the changes in a pitcher’s delivery during the game. Otherwise he is ok,

    Badger just understand that some people act like they run the HOA. You can’t win, you can’t sue, you have to go to arbitration, and they control the arbitrator. There is no winning with an HOA. 🙂

    1. Solid post BOB.

      One must speak truth to power. That’s my opinion anyway. It got me banned 2-3 times on the Sherriff’s personal US Waterboard, but, it’s the price one must pay. Anyone who bans free speech sets him or herself up for public ridicule. I doubt Scott bans anyone. Not his style. And the Sherriff of Bastardham has no power here. None of us KNOW anything for sure. It’s all just minion opinion, but I do like to engage.

    2. BOB
      I heard that after this season, that Honeycutt would be given more of an administration job with the Dodgers.

      I think the catcher, or Honeycutt, needs to get out to the pitcher sooner, to give the pitcher a rest.

      And to help the pitcher slow the game down, when a pitcher is in trouble.

      They get out to the pitcher, way to late, most of the time.

      The Cardinals and there catcher, always uses this type of strategy, when a pitcher, is in trouble.

  7. Utley really had a good game last night.

    He has hit in some important runs, in the last couple of innings of games, to help the Dodgers win games.

    And he has done this off of lefties, and righties.

    He is playing really well, and really contributing to the team, especially for a player, of his age.

    He also made a good defensive play last night to help Puig, when Puig lost that fly ball, in the lights.

    Chase has been ten times the player, that Rollins was, when he was with the Dodgers.

    And Chase is a much better team player, then Rollins ever was.

    1. I had Chase with maybe 350 at bats and perhaps .260. I also currently have him near the top of my DL pool. His production to date has been a surprise to me. Can he keep it up? Hell we all could at 37!

      (too much?)

      1. Badger
        What do you think about Puig constantly throwing to the wrong base, and allowing runners, to get in scoring position?

        He has caused two runs to score like this, in the last week.

        I know Roberts can’t do anything now, but I think Puig needs to be held accountable.

        1. Puig did not enable a run to score last night. The ball was hit hard and often after that event. All runs were earned runs. How do you know Puig is not held accountable?

          1. Puig had a runner running, to third, and a runner running to first. And Puig threw to third base, and let the runner on first, advance to second. He should have made the throw to second base. The runner on second, scored, after Puig allowed that runner, to advance to second. Why would Puig continually throw to the wrong base, if he was being held accountable?

        2. MJ, I’m kind of at a loss to explain Puig’s lack of discipline, in nealy all phases of the game. He makes mistakes that would drive a high school coach crazy. Maybe that’s just who he is. We’ve had two coaching staffs not able to facilitate change. If I was a teammate, it would piss me off. You’re a pro dammit. Knock it off.

          1. If I was a pitcher, and he continually allowed runners to get in scoring position, because he wants to show his big arm.

            I would be pissed too! And anybody on the team, would get sick of this stuff.

        3. Maybe the players should wear a light bulb on their uniforms. The eye in the sky presses a button to turn on the appropriate light. Puig sees it and throws to that player.

          1. Artie boy
            Puig knows he is suppose to make the throw to second. The reason he doesn’t throw to second, is because he wants to show off his arm. And when Puig throws to the wrong base, when the Dodgers are behind in a game, his selfishness, compounds the problem.

          2. Defensive tactics 101 – there is always two guys on the ball in the outfield, no matter where it goes. The guy with the ball in his hands is listening to the other guy who is screaming at him what to do, which is 99% of the time going to be get it quickly to the cut off man. The only time that is not the case is when the winning run is heading home. You can air mail that one but everything else needs to to get to your cut off man who is usually, not always, the shortstop. You’ve all done the drills, hit your cut off head high, he’ll know exactly what to do with it. Puig continues to throw over the heads of any and all relay men. It’s maddening for fans, I can only imagine how defensive coaches, whose jobs depend on proper execution, feel about it. It’s gone on for three and half years now. It’s a freshman mistake being made by a 4 year letterman. It needs to stop. Will it?

  8. I have heard it said by Vince and others that baserunners are hesitant to try to take the extra base on Puig. I have seen many times when that was obvious. They do like to bluff taking an extra base to draw a throw, hoping for an occasional errant one.
    We have seen times when Puig has thrown out runners at third which could not have been accomplished by utilizing a cut off man. Nobody minds when the batter himself takes the extra base because of the out at third.
    So, it is a matter of whether (1) the now non-attempts to take third and (2) the runners actually thrown out at third outweigh the extra base that the batter takes on those times when Puig thinks he can throw out the runner at third and does not. As far as I am concerned is a matter between him and his manager. (I would be uneasy attributing motivation, “He wants to show off his arm.” He may have thought he could throw him out.)
    In a clear case of a recent bonehead play (being caught off base on an infield popup) he was clearly held accountable by Agone–we saw it on tv. We don’t know what else goes on in respect to his accountability. If not sooner, he will be held accountable at contract time.
    I have seen a lot of changes in Puig. I believe he is trying and I believe it is hard for him. Maybe somebody better will come along.

    1. Hp Wolfe
      I don’t dislike Puig, so you don’t have to defend him to me.

      I want the best for Puig and the team.

      The Dodgers were already down in this game.

      That is why you need to make the right play, so no more runs, are scored from the other team.

      I am not the only one that suggests that Puig wants to throw any chance he gets.

      Vin also says this about Puig all the time.

      And like you said, Puig already has the rep that he has a good arm, so he doesn’t even have to make the throw.

      Because runners, are not going to run on Puig anyways.

      But he also has the rep, that he does careless things too.

      And that is why he was thrown out, the other day!

  9. Things I hate to admit: 1) Manager Happy is having a positive effect on this team rallying from inning 7 on. It has happened too often to be an accident. These guys are no longer automatic chokers, like before. 2) 66 has hit ok since his minor league excursion, and that has helped the team in this streak. I can see him moving up in the batting order. 3) Maybe we have finally found an 8th inning guy in Liberatore. I think the suits brought him over from Tampa Bay. I don’t like the taste of crow. It would be nice if Seager is named an All Star by a manager. He deserves it with his steady play. He might be the best player on the team who is not a pitcher. Pretty special. I say Utley is the Comeback Player of the Year so far. He and Seager are a good 1-2, maybe as good as there is. I consider Urias performance this year to be a disappointment. With the hype around him, he should have been better. I know he is young, but it is a young man’s game right now, and there are a lot of young players, including pitchers, who are better than he. I don’t think he will have success until he gets slowed down and stops overthrowing. I see 22-24 year old players from around baseball, some rookies, who have a better grasp of the major league game than Urias. Now that we don’t need him, he should stay at AAA until September, and then give him a chance to show what he has learned in all of this.

    1. Bobbie 17
      I agree about Roberts making a difference.

      This team had no life, when Mattingly was the manager.

      And I agree about Chase and Cory too.

      Chase has made contributions both offensively and defensively. And I bet he has helped Cory a lot, with his game too.

  10. It’s my opinion the low rocket one bounce strike is as quick to the bag as the arcing air ball. Maury Wills told me that in a private conversation over a pizza we shared in Palm Springs. Others have said it too. But, I have no empirical evidence. Wills isn’t in the Hall of Fame so what does he know.

    Just read B17’s post. Well put Bobbie.

    1. I always heard that about the bounce throw when I was in High School, and I have never thought to doubt it. A physicist should be able to tell us.

      1. Ask Mark. He’s a piss assist.

        The best reason of course is to keep the second runner out of scoring position. Every single is a double out of the box. You don’t stop running until you are forced to. A ball 12′ in the air to third is a ticket to scoring position. That’s the way I was taught, that’s the way I coached. Hit the ball and run to second.

  11. Charlie Culberson is getting screwed by the team. He should be on the big league bench, not some other guy or guys who the team just traded for. I bet he is not happy about it and can’t wait to be traded to some other team and be given a chance to play every day. SVS is a shadow of his former self, which is not saying much. I think his days are numbered.

    1. I agree with you totally about Culberson. He’a got a great glove and I always thought that he gets a lot of key hits with some extra base power. I think that he is batting around .300 now in AAA.

  12. Logan Bawcom has been with the Dodgers for a few years, traded and brought back. He is now a starter and has some nice stats. I like his name. A Texan. Maybe he has a chance to be good. Probably will be a trade chip again.

  13. The S&S Boys at RC are really pitching lights out. Sborz and Sopko. Both college guys drafted last year.

  14. Bawcom. Had to look him up.

    http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?player_id=594747#/career/R/pitching/2016/ALL

    Interesting stats. He must have good stuff, but his BB/IP is a bit troubling. Strike zone is smaller in the bigs. Ask Julio.

    Trade Kiké and create some Culberson space. Hernandez is wasting his time here.

    Single A pitchers are trade bait. When they do it at AA, I’ll pay attention. That’s just my POG take. (prickly old grouch. I think I earned the handle)

  15. I hear you both Booby and Badger about WHIP. One thing though, if you really think about is that it is a little skewed. By that I mean it seems to give a Flyball pitcher over a ground ball pitcher the advantage of the stat.

    The GB pitcher could be more effective than a FB pitcher because if a hitter gets on by a walk or hit the GB pitcher has a better chance of getting the next hitter to ground into a DP than the FB pitcher, and yet they could have the same WHIP.
    Am I making any sense? It seems easy to think about but hard to put into words. Hope I didn’t confuse anyone.

    1. I never considered that, but it kinda makes sense, I guess. In a long season it might add up. It’s about keeping runs off the board, and you do that by taking the outs they give you and stealing those when you can. Every pitcher loves the double play.

    2. I understand what you’re saying and you are correct as far as goes. Your surmise concerns possibilities which may or may not happen while the stats deal with real after the fact results. What could have been matters not at all.

  16. “What could have been matters not at all”

    Damn. That’s good.

    And it’s that philosophy I’m trying to apply to last year’s deadline moves, and this past off season’s acquisitions. As you can probably tell by my passive aggressive wise ass responses – I’m a work in progress.

  17. I said the following a month or so ago — and I say it again —

    I disagree with most of you. It has been said by most of you that that URIAS has nothing more to learn in AAA. I disagree. And last night was an example. He could not take charge of the game. One inning last night was a nightmare out there.

    There is one thing to support him and his effort and dream — and another thing to have him able to compete on the major league level. But at almost a 5.00 ERA is not that.

    Yes, he was squessssed by the umpire, but that is part of the game. Maybe a bit more command AND control of pitches will help. Maybe experience with the catchers will help. Maybe other things.

    With the injured guys now coming back on the roster — and Urias going down and getting some work in — and fine-tuning his pitches — he could come back in Sept and be a might force.

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