The freeway series part 2 on the Dodger’s turf took place tonight. The Dodgers took three of four from the Padres and moved into first place in the NL West. Chase Utley announced his retirement at the end of the season. Tonight Walker Buehler returned for the first time since June 8th. Justin Tuner pulled something in his leg and was’t in the lineup today. In the Top of the first the Monster Mash Max Muncy hit a solo shot to make the score 1-0 Dodgers.
#Dodgers win 3-2. That’s 35th one-run game in history of Freeway Series, 3rd in 1st 4 games this year.
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) July 14, 2018
In the top of the Third, Cole Calhoun hit his first solo shot to tie the score. The Dodgers Bats have been a little quiet lately. Cole Calhoun hit anther solo shot to make the score 2-1 Angels. The Angels pitching always seems to do a great job against the Dodgers hitting attack. The Dodgers are still in the mix for Manny Machado, Walker Buehler didn’t have his great stuff but it was to be expected with it being his first game back.
#Dodgers win 3-2. That’s 35th one-run game in history of Freeway Series, 3rd in 1st 4 games this year.
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) July 14, 2018
Caleb Ferguson came in and pitched two strong innings to keep the Angels bats at bay during the middle of the game. In the bottom of the 7th, Logan Forsythe hit a single. Joc Pederson then came up and hit a double. The Dodgers were in business. Max Muncy then hit a single to tie the score and an errant throw by the Angels outfield caused Joc to score and the Dodgers took the lead.
Erik Goeddel came in to pitch an inning. In the top of the 9th, Shoehi Ohtani hit a double off Scott Alexander. Jose Briceno then hit an infield single. David Fletcher then hit a shot to third. Muncy caught the ball off the ground and and threw to 2nd base Logan. Forsythe then threw the ball to first taking Cody Bellinger off the base. He was still able to tag out Fletcher for a game ending Double play and the Dodgers got the win.
James Moya
Hi I’m James Moya. I am an avid Dodgers fan. I graduated Cal State Fullerton with a Bachelors in Communications. I used to freelance at the San Bernardino Sun. I’m excited about this opportunity to write for LA Dodger Report to gain experience. I’m a straight shooter on my opinions and I hope to get some good conversations going. My dream has always been to report on the Dodgers because Baseball is the National Past-time. I hope you enjoy the ride with me.
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Saw the 8th and 9th innings. Went to see the Rock’s new flick, Skyscraper. Pretty good movie. A little unbelievable, but aren’t they all. Alexander wiggled out of that one. Great tag by Cody for out #3.
That was out 27 (there’s my douchbag Brutus response)
did you watch in 3d? or regular? It’s on my list to watch as well.
Yeah, nice play by Bellinger.
Alexander in the 9th seems like a strange call. I suppose Roberts was staying away from the HR there, but still. Anyways we lucked out and gutted out another victory. Nice to see us winning these types of games lately. Earlier in the season we were blowing these winnable games aplenty.
Alexander in the 9th allowed Kenley some rest. He looked somewhat shaky his last 2 saves. Goeddel did a nice job, too. Buehler wasn’t bad, he just made a couple of mistakes giving up those HR’s. He’ll figure it out.
Muncy continues to roll, and Bellinger is solid at 1B where he belongs. Seeing Cody’s long stretches gives me assurance that the best possible effort is being made. He’s going to be a long time fixture as a Dodger.
And, did you see that stop that Forsythe had behind Cody for an out at 1B? Excellent defense all around. This is something we need to see more of.
And, we will be seeing De Grom and Machado as Dodgers by the end of the month. 🙂
Jeff
I am glad to hear that, because Cody is a really good athlete, and that is why I didn’t want to have him sent down, after he only had that one bad month, in May.
And that is why Badger betted on Cody earlier in the season, that he would start hitting better.
I still don’t understand why Cody was benched in that one game, because I have seen more then one player not run out of the box and hustle right away, since Cody was benched.
And Cody always looks to me, like he is giving his all.
I do think we should be scoring more runs off these Angel pitchers, especially after just seeing them, five days ago.
I like Taylor, but when he is not leading off, I think I would move him down in the line up, because he
strikes out to often, when runners are in scoring position.
He really has to stop striking out so much, because he has way to many strike outs, for the power he puts out.
But I do appreciate his overall game, and I think he has been pretty solid at short, this year.
He seems to make all the everyday plays at short, and he has also saved more runs at short, then his defensive metrics seem to say.
Stating the obvious:
Team is much better and deeper (in terms of performance) than the beginning of season.
There’s an inkling, for the first time, of a solid, varied bullpen. But just an inkling.
I’m still not sure exactly how Machado fits medium term,. Could he only be a rental? Would drive cost down.
I think Machado might be more interested in staying on the East Coast. I have no real information or evidence that is true, just a gut feeling. The rumors of him to the Yankees makes sense to me.
I see a guy like Utley, who I believe is a Hall of Fame lock, and I can’t help but think he should have played his career here. Born and raised in Long Beach, went to school at UCLA and going into the Hall as a Phillie. We should make an effort to get those Hall of Fame type guys who WANT to play here! My picks? Stanton, Arenado, and Harper. If Machado says YES, then sure, bring him in. Frankly I don’t think he’ll commit.
His agent is Boras, I’m not so sure location will impact his destination.
Although it did for Strausberg, but he may be an outlier (in addition to misspelled.)
His agent? You mean Machado?
Yeah, I do get that most of them will go where the money is. But if it were me I’d surely investigate it and let them know we LOVE local talent and will roll out the red carpet. Machado? Have Leo and Al (Benicio maybe?) give him a call and an invite. It seems important to me but it may not be. And for all I know FAZ already does all that.
Yes, I mean Machado’s agent is Boras. Not sure how, but I apologize if that was confusing.
Badger
I heard that Machado already said he wanted to go to the Yankees, once he becomes a free agent too.
Phillies are said to be “serious” in their Manny pursuit and are thought to be running ahead of the yankees and maybe most others at this point. also in: brewers, dodgers, dbacks, indians.
Athletic has a nice bit on Utley.
https://theathletic.com/431474/2018/07/14/teammates-and-opponents-share-what-theyll-miss-about-chase-utley/
The following passage about Kike is a little bittersweet. The cynic would say Kike shouldn’t need the external influence from Utley to better himself, but our better angels aren’t always complete.
Over the past three years, Hernández has reconfigured his approach to baseball to fit Utley’s image. He has stopped eating dairy products, intensified his workouts and increased his video study.
“He’s changed everything, man,” Hernández said. “He’s changed the way I see the game. He’s changed the way I eat. He’s changed the way I prepare. If I end up having a pretty successful career, whether he likes it or not, he’s gonna have a lot to do with it.”
Utley has value for that and many other reasons. If we had an everyday second baseman his spot on the 25 wouldn’t look so much like one we need to upgrade.
No need to apologize Bluto, but thanks for offering one. I googled it right after I posted and saw it was Machado you were referring to. If I’d googled it before I posted …… anyway I know MJ and I aren’t the only ones who believe he would choose the Yankees. If he does, maybe the Yankees would give us Stanton.
Badger
I have seen that purposed.
And also because Bryce Harper might look more valuable to the Yankees, because he is a leftie, and they have a short rightfield, as you know.
But if we could get Stanton at a cheaper deal, that would be even better, and the Yankees is probably going to have to do that, if they want to move Stanton.
I do like Machado but he is not a big league shortstop, if his defensive metrics are right.
And I know you are not fond of big shortstops, but actually Corey has pretty good defensive metrics, especially last year.
And he is a pretty good hitter too.
Corey is more like Mike Trout, because Corey does not show a lot of emotion much like Trout, and unlike Harper.
And I think that even keel you see in both Trout and Corey, helps them to not get to high or two low, and they both are pretty consistent players.
And I think that makes then exceed throughout the season better, then players, that are to emotional.
Size is less important in a SS than agility, athleticism and arm strength. Seager is fine there but the position is too hard on his arm. I’d look to move him, but I won’t be surprised if the Dodgers don’t.
I like Stanton because he’s got star quality. He’s like The Rock in a baseball uniform. He does strike out a lot, and he likely is a DH in the making, but I figure he will average 4-5 WAR until he’s 32 – and that’s 5 years. I just like to project him in the lineup between Seager and Bellinger for that 5 years. Yeah, the last 5 years of his contract could be iffy, but maybe by 2026 the NL will have the DH and $30 million will be a bargain.
I was looking at Stanton’s and Judge’s numbers as compared to Taylor, because Taylor is striking out a lot.
Stanton has hit 23 HRs, and struck out 126 times, and he only has twenty more at bats, then Taylor.
And Judge has hit 25 HRs, and struck out 126 times like Stanton, but Judge has about the same amount of at bats, as Taylor.
And Taylor has hit 10 HRs, and struck out 105 times, so that is a lot, especially when you compare Taylor’s numbers, to these two slugger’s.
MJ,
The old saying of don’t compare apples to oranges stands in a Taylor/Stanton comparison. They are very different players. I am personally happy with Taylor and his abilities. He is not a problem for our team and is productive in many ways.
For me, Harper is not a desirable player to target for us. We have plenty of HR hitters who are not batting below .220. There is no way I would even consider Harper. Stanton, definitely, but the odds of that happening are quite small at this point. We all know we need a replacement at 2B. Let’s focus on this, which is doable, and will improve our club overall. Sometimes it’s the obvious that needs fixing.
Hello………
Great game to watch. Tough game to lose. Hope some of you saw it.
I think we need to know we can win games like that. A walkoff would have fun. Missed opportunities.
I hope tomorrow’s game has moments like this one did.