The Dodgers gave me the best gift I could ask for on my birthday, they won. The boys in blue beat the Rockies in the opening game of their three game series in Denver 5-4 in ten innings. Julio Urias and Colorado starter Antonio Senzatela were not involved in the decision. The two clubs battled long into the night as the Rockies tried to play spoiler. Albert Pujols delivered the winning run with a pinch-hit RBI single in the top of the tenth. Brusdar Graterol and Alex Vesia combined to pitch a scoreless bottom of the tenth to record the victory. With the win the Dodgers move to within a half game of the Giants in the NL West. Those Giants are currently losing in San Diego and a San Francisco loss would move the Dodgers into a virtual tie atop the NL West with less than two weeks left in the regular season.
Everyone contributed. Gavin Lux who has been proving me wrong collected two more hits to raise his season average to .243. I’ll have to write another article about him later, but he’s been playing very well since being called up to play the outfield. I’m more than happy to eat some crow and admit I’m wrong if he can help the Dodgers win another World Series. The bullpen was fantastic again as Joe Kelly, Brusdar Graterol, Blake Treinen, Kenley Jansen and Alex Vesia combined to toss four scoreless innings while striking out six. Trea Turner had two hits, Max Muncy notched an RBI double and even Luke Raley got a hit.
This day has always been special for me. It’s my birthday, the final day of summer, and the Earth, wind and fire birthday. If you remember the 21st night of September then you should check out the video below. It’s not Dodgers related but if your birthday is today, or you like Earth, wind and Fire then you’ll love watching this fun video. Donate to some of the charities if you can.
The Los Angeles Dodgers family were saddened to learn of the passing of Jo Lasorda, widow of Dodgers’ Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda. Jo, 91, passed away Monday evening at 8:59 p.m. at her Fullerton home. We send our deepest condolences to the Lasorda family at this time.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 21, 2021
While it was a good day for me, it was a rough day for the Dodger family, despite the extra-inning win. Tommy Lasorda‘s wife; Jo Lasorda passed away at 91. Tommy’s birthday is tomorrow and we can only hope that wherever Mrs. Lasorda is, she’s with Tommy and they are both looking down smiling while protecting the Dodgers.
Nice win
Indeed it was Bear!
Happy belated birthday, Scott. Too bad it did not take long for the Dodgers to return to form, and blow another game to the bottom feeders.
Wasted scoring opportunities, brain farts in fielding and base running. Inability of the stagnant offense to provide run support, forces early exit of starters and taxing the bullpen. Same old story, same smell. Buehler and Urias are being forced to try and do it themself. Lack of run support, giving opponents extra outs, forcing pitchers to expend extra bullets, and bee too perfect. Our two aces have probably been “aced out” of the Cy Young race, due to inability of Dodgers’ lackadasical play.
Just remember all those games that the Dodgers forfeited with bullpen games, resting key players, calling up the AAA lineup, playing down to the level of their opponents…. All those games shrugged off as meaningless, as long as they win the series. Well, Guess What? I bet we all wish they had just a few of those loses right now.
Without any sense of urgency, the Dodgers may have to face one of the hottest teams in baseball right now in a one game Wild Card playoff. Seems the Cards are playing with that sense of urgency that the Dodgers lack.
This could be ugly, come October.