If I were to tell you that the Dodgers were on pace for 120 wins this year, what would you say? Better yet what if the Dodgers didn’t lose again for the rest of the season? Would you ever get bored of the Dodgers winning? Would the Dodger’s domination start to make things uninteresting for you? Do you need challenge or strife to keep things from getting tedious? Not me I tell you. The Dodgers could win every single game for the rest of the season and I would be just fine and dandy with that. They just might do that actually.
The Dodgers won again on Saturday afternoon in walk-off fashion, defeating the Royals with a 5-4 score with four walks in the bottom of the tenth to win their 60th game of the season. This was their sixth walk-off win of the season and they’ve now won 25 of their last 29 games.
Royals 4 11 0
Dodgers 5 8 0
WP-Stripling-1-3
LP-Alexander-1-3
HR-Pederson-9-Perez-18-Bellinger-25
The Royals didn’t make it easy for the boys in blue, that’s for sure. Kansas City scored one run in the fifth, seventh and eighth innings to overcome a 3-1 deficit and take a 4-3 lead. But the Dodgers would battle back, as they have done all season long. Cody Bellinger’s blast in the bottom of the eighth tied the game and sent it to extra innings.
The Dodgers jumped out in front early with a 3-0 lead. They scored twice in the second and one more in the third against opposing starter Ian Kennedy. Kennedy would last six innings allowing three earned runs on seven hits and struck out seven. In the second frame, Cody Bellinger would walk and Joc Pederson slugged a two-run home run over the right field wall to put the Dodgers ahead by a 2-0 score. The Dodgers added one more in the third when Chase Utley and Corey Seager reached on consecutive singles and Justin Turner’s sacrifice fly scored Utley to put the Dodgers up 3-0.
The Royals would battle back against Dodger’s starter Brandon McCarthy. The lanky right hander pitched well enough to win, but lost his command during the middle innings. Sound familiar? In the top of the fourth, Jorge Bonifacio singled and Lorenzo Cain walked. Eric Hosmer singled to center which normally would have scored Bonifacio, but Joc came up gunning and throws out Bonifacio at the plate with a laser throw. Yasiel Puig would be proud. Unfortunately the Royals didn’t give up and Salvador Perez singles to center to plate a run and the deficit was cut to 3-1.
With two outs in the fifth frame, Whit Merrifield doubles and then advances to third on a wild pitch from McCarthy. With Bonifacio at the plate a passed ball scores Merrifield to make the score 3-2 and the Royals edged a little closer.
Move to the seventh inning and Brandon Morrow comes in to replace McCarthy. However the Dodger relievers are surely tired from having to pitch in nearly every game. Morrow gives up a single to Alcides Escobar and then strikes out Alex Gordon. Pinch-hitter Brandon Moss walks and Merrfield’s ground ball single into left field scored Escobar to tie the game at 3-3. After another base hit to put runners at second and third, the Dodgers bring in Pedro Baez to try and escape further damage. Unfortunately Yasmani Grandal injures his hand or thumb and has to be removed as well. Baez does his job by whiffing Cain and getting Hosmer to ground out.
The game wasn’t without its drama though. After the top of the seventh inning, Cain was ejected by home plate umpire Bill Miller for arguing balls and strikes. Of course I was heart-broken over this…..
My reaction to Lorenzo Cain's ejection……#No#Please#Dont#Comeback pic.twitter.com/0u2T33ZTMi
— Ladodgerreport (@Ladodgerreport) July 9, 2017
The Dodgers go down in order in the bottom of the seventh inning and Baez returns to the mound in the top of the eighth inning. Me thinks he might be a bit overused this season as evidenced by his game logs over the last several weeks….
Salvador Perez’s solo home run to lead off the top of the eighth puts the Royals up 4-3 and the Dodgers in danger of losing a game. one out later Escobar singles and Luis Avilan has to come in and strike out Gordon. Sergio Romo is called in to strike out pinch-hitter Jorge Soler.
In the bottom of the eighth inning Cody Bellinger bombs one off of Joakim Soria into the left field pavilions to tie the game at 4-4. Dodger Stadium goes nuts as Bellinger records his 25 home run of the season. Kenley Jansen pitches a perfect ninth inning and we move to the bottom of the ninth.
Former Dodger Peter Moylan enters to retire the Dodgers in order and we move into extra innings. Corey Seager’s two-base error in the top of the tenth almost ruined everything. Fortunately Ross Stripling retires the side in order to preserve the tie.
In the bottom of the tenth, Scott Alexander comes in and does his finest Fernando Rodney impression. Utley draws the first walk and steals second base. Then Seager walks. Justin Turner walks as well to load the bases with nobody out. The Kansas City infield comes up and the Dodgers are poised for more magic. The Royals bring in Kelvin Herrera in a last ditch effort to keep the game going. Herrera immediately walks Bellinger to force in a run and the Dodgers win it again!
Unbelievable. The Dodgers are now 60-29 and become the first MLB team to reach 60 wins. The boys in blue are also 38-11 at home. The Dodgers wrap up the first half of the 2017 season on Sunday afternoon as they look for a sweep. Clayton Kershaw will take the mound as Kansas City will counter with Danny Duffy. What a team!
Unbelievable is correct.
25-4 vs 42-8, still a ways to go.
But still UNBELIEVABLE….so far!
The resilience is amazing.
The break could not have come at a better time for our tired bullpen. The MVP for the first half has to go to our entire bullpen as a committee.
Went fishing and I got home during the 7th inning. So it was 3-3 and the bases loaded. Baez got out of that and then gave up the bomb to Perez. But Cody tied it and then the amazing never give up we got this Dodgers showed up and never swung a bat to win in the 10th. I remember the 73 and 74 Dodgers who also had 60 wins at the break. But those two teams were really different than this bunch. I have also come to the sad realization that all this has been possible because Adrian Gonzalez balky back finally made it impossible for him to play and allowed Cody Bellinger to become a regular. What this kid has done has not only sparked the offense, it has lighted a fire under a usually mundane fan base. You can see it in the faces of the people in the stands. They are truly excited to come to the ball park. And the lefty pitcher thing, well that has gone by the wayside. I also think that the new 10 day DL has done more to keep this team in contention than anything else. I can’t believe I am saying this, but Kudo’s to FAZ for their brilliant manipulation of the new rule. We have not had to suffer this year the waiver wire pick ups and borderline mediocre parade of pitchers to the mound in LA. This may well finally be the break through year. One can only hope. But if nothing else, it is one of the more exciting years this team has treated it’s fans too in a long time. Now if they can find a way to get rid of Romo and Hatcher permanently, that will make the season even better…..oh, Avilan needs to be replaced too. and I caught 2 really nice rainbow trout.
No pictures of the trout? I guess you’d have to say you had a heck of a good day. May they continue forever.
I actually forgot my camera. I usually take it along. But with the dog and everything it is hard to take a pic of yourself and my phone does not do that….it just makes phone calls…imagine that….used for what it is designed for.
If you didn’t take a pic with your smartphone and post it on both Instagram and Facebook (Snapchat too), then it didn’t happen. Didn’t you know? Life experiences are only meaningful depending on the number of “likes” you get.
Sorry Patch, to me that stuff means nothing. I do not own a smartphone. I have a digital camera but I did not take it with me. As far as liking it, well, that matters little to us non tekkies. But here is photographic proof I sang the national anthem at Dodger Stadium in 1981. Picture of me and Jay Johnstone.
Jonah
With no pictures, Michael could tell us he caught the biggest trout he has ever saw, or ten trouts, who needs pictures!
The biggest trout I ever saw was a 20 plus pound German brown pulled out of Irvine lake. I mean actually saw. It was an unbelievable fish. Biggest fish I ever personally caught was a 8′ Pacific blue shark off San Clemente Island when I worked for Westinghouse testing a closure for Trident missiles. That little ‘ means feet. It was a big sucker.
Ride my bike by Irvine Lake on Santiago Canyon all the time. Never fished there.
Caught a blue shark off Corona Del Mar when I was kid fishing with my older brother. Took it home and tossed it in the pool. Dad wasn’t pleased.
That’s pretty cool. I can imagine your dad was none too happy.
Michael
If you have the game on video you should take a look at it.
Joc made two good defensive plays in the outfielder, and one was a throw to home.
Just for drill, how much did the team we had on the field last night cost us? I.E., what is the combined salary of the 25 players that suited up last night? Impressive in cost, impressive in performance.
I think Agon is at peace with himself if his career is over, if he has to have an operation and retire. I think the Dodgers should propose that to him and to arrange to pay his final year’s salary at, say, $2MM per year for the next 10 years. Better for him tax wise, he can go on with his life, and the Dodgers are out of the Salary Penalty Box just that easy.
A-Gone’s back is not responding to treatment and the shot did not help. Since I am one who has had back pain for years, I doubt he ever gets over it. It is sad to see players like Ethier and A-Gone go out with a whimper like this. Alert………Scott Kazmir sighted in the dugout……does that mean he is close to pitching????? we can only hope NO!
What it good to see with Agone is that he is a team player!
He is not one of those veterans all about himself!
Bellinger’s on the headlines but I still maintain that the bullpen is our true MVP. I think we win just as many games with AGon in the lineup. If not more. AGon without power is still not an easy out, and I personally am not a fan of the 3 true outcomes.
I’m not taking anything away from Bellinger – he’s proven to be able to bunt for a hit and take a walk when needed – I am just pointing out that on the bats side, Grandal, Puig, Barnes, Turner and of course Taylor have exceeded expectations, and Seager just plugs along as the new all-steadying presence.
It’s the bullpen and, yes, the manipulation of the 10 day DL, that’s really kept us winning.
True, very true…..but you do not win if you do not score. And all you have to do is look back at the posts here in April and early May. This team was not scoring, had little punch and was winning because the BP was solid. Now, it is a whole different animal. There is a different guy every night. Yesterday it was Cody, Friday it was Taylor, and remember, Taylor and Bellinger were not even on the opening day roster which still is a swinging door. Joc has 7 homers since he got off the DL, Grandal had 2 different hot streaks. Turner’s bat has been consistent, but now his power is back. Puig has been solid and has more HR’s than any year save his rookie season. He projects to hit close to 25. The BP has been rotating parts too. Jansen, and Baez are really the only 2 guys who have not visited the DL. Everyone else has been there. Avilan, Hatcher, Fields was sent to AAA, Romo, Liberatore, Dayton, Ravin, Stripling, Morrow, all up and down. So I cannot give the MVP to a BP if only 2 have been out there everyday doing the job. Utley really boosted the team when he got hot. Forsythe is finally looking like the guy they traded for. The rest of the bench, Kike, Gutierrez, Barnes, Thompson have helped some in spite of the fact that only Barnes has a decent batting average. Kike is down to .213. Thompson sub .200, Gutierrez on the DL again. But they have mixed and matched and gotten some production. I still think they will try to boost the BP at the deadline and maybe get a solid bat for the bench. If they could get a guy cheap enough, I think they would also go after a starter. RH preferably. There is much talk that they are targeting LH bullpen help.
Michael
Joc had a equally good day as Cody had, yesterday!
Joc hit a two run HR with two strikes, with a runner in scoring position, and good thing it went out, or that would have left a lot of people frustrated, with Joc swinging away, with two strikes like he did.
He did do that later in the game but it wasn’t the same result, he had, in his first at bat.
And Joc had another hit.
But what really made Joc stand out yesterday, was that he made three good defensive plays, besides his two run HR.
And one of those plays, he threw out someone at the plate, to stop a run.
I will go back later today after the game and watch yesterdays game. I have MLB.tv so I can do that.
YF
I don’t think there is anyone besides Cody who really stands out by themselves, on this team.
I think this is more truly a team effort, from the starting pitchers, to the bullpen, to our everyday players, and are part time players, and Roberts and his coaches, and Bellinger started the flame.
As you know, I am not a fan of a three outcome player, and that may be our weakness against good pitching.
And as you said, Bellinger isn’t a three outcome player, like Joc mostly is.
Grandal has been much better this year, because he has kept his average respectable.
What concerns me, is that this team doesn’t have a lot of players hitting for a high average.
The Astros have five regulars that are hitting in the 300s, and another player, is hitting 295.
They only have one everyday player hitting under 250.
We rank 16 in team batting average in baseball, and that is conceiving and not that good, with Turner hitting 380.
And we are not good with getting hits when runners are in scoring position, and that is where sabers are wrong for not taking in consideration that a batting average, is valuable.
And sabers make some of these three outcome players, look more valuable then they really are, because they value walks the same as hits.
If I went by ops last year, that stat rates Joc the second best offensive producer on the team last year, and we all know that isn’t true!
Joc doesn’t get penalized for his low batting average by sabers, and he is valued more, because of his walks.
I don’t put much into a player’s ops, when a player is so dependent on walks.
And against good pitching, it is hard to hit HRs, so key hits are important against good pitching, and a team mostly faces good pitching, in the post season.
And that is probably my biggest concern in that post season.
If the Dodgers do trade at the deadline for a bench bat, hopefully it is someone better than can’t hit crap Reddick.
Michael
I believe the only reason Reddick is doing so well this year, is because he is more familiar with the pitchers in the American League West.
But the Astros will regret giving him, that multi year contract.
MJ, CatBox mentioned you on Timmon’s blog. Friend of yours?
Jonah
I just saw that, and gave Boxout my answer.
She was not one of my friends, but I have no problem, with someone having fun, and enjoying themselves.
I saw that at Dodger Digest, but I didn’t go on that particular article, so I will probably go see what it was really all about.
Tell CatBox you’re going to change his litter…
Jonah
He might like that!
If we do trade for a right handed OF bat (JD Martinez, Andrew McCutcheon), that means CT3 or Forsythe has to sit
This will be interesting
Not necessarily. You can forget McCutcheon. Getting a bat for the bench would preclude either of those guys and the bench is where the need is. None of the bench players supply any power. Barnes is the only one hitting for average. Thompson, Kike, Utley, all have some value, but none of them is really that good in the PH role. Dodgers use the double switch a lot and they rotate their players at so many different positions. Neither of the OF’s you mentioned can play anywhere else except the OF. If they trade for someone for the bench, my guess is who ever it is must fit FAZ”s multipositional player profile. Do yourself a favor and look at the roster at OKC. Almost every position player save Verdugo & Eibner plays somewhere else. Calhoun has been playing OF and inf, Muncy, Maggi, Culberson, and even Kyle Farmer have all been playing multiple positions. Farmer played SS the other day.
Bobby
If they traded for one of those players, one of the outfielders would probably have to sit.
Because Taylor and those two players you mentioned, have much better stats then Puig and Joc have, unless Taylor plays second.
I don’t think they will go for a bat, but I could be wrong, but I think we definitely need a better leftie in our pen.
We might be sorry if we don’t get a bat, if Joc and Puig don’t deliver in the second half, or the post season, and I am not confident they will, in the post season, against good pitching.
Well MJ, the problem with either of those guys replacing Joc or Puig is that neither of those guys is anywhere close to the defensive equal of Puig or Joc and both are significantly older than Joc or Puig. McCutcheon has had a offensive resurgence, but he is not the defender he once was. Martinez is nowhere near the RF Puig is. The Dodgers are pretty happy with their outfielders and they have plenty of OF’s in the minors who are pretty capable. What they really need is a good bat off the bench and neither Puig nor Joc are going to be put in that position.
While that is very true, remember Ned. He had a tendency to make a trade just to make a trade, it didn’t have to be logical. Execs sometimes do that, sometimes as a favor to the other club, sometimes just to get their name mentioned in the news, sometimes just to show their boss they’re not sleeping all day. Don’t try to figure out what’s going to happen, logic and sensibility don’t play very well with baseball execs….
Anyone have a theory about why they recalled SVS? I would think being in OKC and playing every day would be the best thing for him, far better than sitting on the bench and maybe pinch-hitting twice a week. With the other outfielders we have available, he has almost no chance to be used and almost no probability of producing if he is used.