It was a west coast style run scoring party at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night which led to the Dodger’s 13-5 pummeling of the Giants to even their three game series at one game each. The Dodgers were originally down 4-0 after the second inning after Alex Wood exploded. In the bottom half of the second inning the Dodger’s offense exploded for six runs, highlighted by a Cody Bellinger three-run triple.
The Dodgers also added four runs in the fourth inning and three more in the sixth to seal a very uplifting victory. The Dodgers scored 13 runs on 11 hits and were 5 for 11 with runners in scoring position. They drew 9 walks, and did it off a lefty! Well, most of it was off a lefty (Matt Moore), and the Dodgers are just one more win away from winning their third series of the season. Baby steps my friends, baby steps.
Giants 5 12 0
Dodgers 13 11 1
WP-Wood-2-0
LP-Moore-1-4
HR-Gutierrez-1
The game didn’t start well though. As a matter of fact, the second inning was a disaster for Alex Wood. The Giants scored four unanswered runs to frustrate all of Los Angeles. Christian Arroyo and Eduardo Nunez led off with consecutive infield singles to third base. One was a chopper that Justin Turner couldn’t handle. Wood struck out Joe Panik, but walked backup catcher Nick Hundley to load the bases. Of course the opposing pitcher Matt Moore bloops a single into shallow center field to score two runs. Kike Hernandez’s throw was errant and Moore and Hundley each took an extra base.
After Gorkys Hernandez lines out into Wood’s glove, Brandon Belt’s line drive double scored two more and that put the Giants up by a 4-0 score. Considering how dominating Moore was against the Dodgers in his last start up in San Francisco, it seemed like an insurmountable deficit to overcome for our Boys in Blue.
Thankfully the Dodgers had other ideas. The inning started when Franklin Gutierrez slugged a solo home run. He was activated from the disabled list before the game as the Dodgers optioned Scott Van Slyke to create roster room. Welcome back Gutierrez! Then Chris Taylor walked, Yasiel Puig reaches on a ground ball single to third and Austin Barnes draws a walk to load the bases as Moore’s control disappeared. After a coaching visit to the mound, rookie Cody Bellinger lines a base hit down the left field line that clears the bases. It’s a three-run triple for the young star, and the Dodgers have tied it up!
Then Wood makes up for his crappy second inning by helping his own cause with a single to left to drive in Bellinger. The Dodgers now lead 5-4. After Kike flies out, Corey Seager doubles Wood to third, and Turner’s sacrifice fly brings him in to give the Dodgers a 6-4 lead.
The Giants would claw their way back to within a run by plating a run in the top of the third on an RBI single from Panik that would score Buster Posey. But the Dodgers were relentless and scored four more runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Bellinger singled, Kike walked, Seager walked too, and Turner was hit by a pitch (in the butt). That forced in a run. There was a run-scoring force out, and then a two-run opposite field single from Puig scored two that put the Dodgers ahead 10-5. The Dodgers would add three more (two on another two-run single from Puig) in the sixth frame to go up 13-5. The deflated Giants would not threaten again. The Dodgers handily finished the game with a 13-5 drubbing. Puig would go 3 for 5 on the night with 4 runs batted in. Chris Taylor drew 4 walks, and the Dodgers had 4 extra-base hits. Great night for the Dodger bats.
The Dodgers now improve to 15-13 and are just one and a half games out of first place in the NL West. Tomorrow night is Vin Scully night as Julio Urias will take the mound for the Dodgers at 7:15 PM. Winless Jeff Samardzija will get the call for the Giants.
Alex Wood Pitching line: 5 IP 7 H 5 R 4 ER 1 BB 8 K- Not good
Alex Wood at the plate- 1 for 2 with an RBI single- Not bad.
Cody Bellinger watch: 2 for 4 with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored-Three-run triple in the second inning. Bellinger is now hitting .345
Chris Taylor walked 4 times today. That is big out of someone who you know is chomping at the bits to stay in the majors. He’s a player and another grinder. Puig with 4 RBIs on singles to the middle and right side. Nice to see. Bellinger with the nice bat control for the triple. Flaring hits against lefties and against the shift is totally the right idea! And AGone gets another day off tomorrow.
Now if we could get some more motion on the base paths!
We look great when it works. Developing some consistency night after night would be nice.
We thumped a left hander. Though Moore don’t look right, tough. I’ll take it. The giants have serious issues. They are probably better than they’ve shown, but I like it when they suck.
Bellinger is no .345 hitter but it is exciting to have his youthful exuberance in this lineup. ML pitchers will figure him out. I would start by not throwing anything over the middle of the plate. High and tight low and away. I love how a rookie is showing all of baseball how to beat the shift. Duh. It’s been there since they started that stupid thing. Take the single and keep the line moving.
Bob Brenley hates the Dodgers and I hate listening to him when the Dodgers play the dbacks but he is really a great color commentator. He is funny and knows baseball. He and Berthiaume put Orel and Davis to shame. Dodger fans deserve better.
Badger – i hope you are well. Guess you are watching the games so did you relent and get the MLB.com package?
Gotta be a no brainer for an avid fan like you?
I was hoping AGon gets another day off heading into an off day, but I guess not as I read Roberts starting him tomorrow against the shark. Sigh.
I agree YF. Now is the time to give him some time to heal. Toles in left and Bellinger at first makes sense to me. Maybe Roberts figures since everybody hits Samardzija AGon deserves the opportunity too. Actually, looking at the stats, Shark is averaging over 6 IP per start. 1.34 WHIP and an ERA over 6 but Bochy leaves him in there. Happy hunting AGon.
YF
I agree it only makes sense for Agone to take the time off now, to try to get better so he can help us later.
Badger is right, Bellinger will have his struggles still, and when that happens, Agone can come and help the team out, once he is better.
And we can find a place in the line up for both of them.
Because we can do without Agone now, so he needs to take this time out, to get better.
Because right now, he is only a shell of what he normally is.
I want to also add that this is not an easy thing for Agone to do, but it is the right decision.
And it isn’t easy for Roberts also, because he and Agone are close.
I know some of these players are subject to being sent down, but if I were manager, this is how I would play them:
Toles CF (he seems to hit well at leadoff)
Taylor 2B
Bellinger 1B (or Seaver)
Seaver SS (or Bellenger)
Turner 3B
Gutierrez LF
Puig RF
Barnes or Grandal C (at this stage it’s flip a coin)
Pitcher (better yet, Pederson or Agon as DH, maybe hit them after Gutierrez. We have to find a name for him)
Toles OBP leading off sucks. He should hit 8th. So should Pederson. How about Turner leading off? Turner, Seager, Bellinger, Turner again and everybody else hits 8th.
Is it just me or does anyone else think the club seems to hit better with Toles leading off, irregardless of his individual stats?
And with Bellinger in the line up.
Jonah
You and Badger are both right.
And I like that you have Puig hitting back in the line up too.
I think I would hit Toles in front of Puig.
Because although Puig got those four hits last night, he only had one hit that was hit in the clutch.
Because his other two hits, came after we had the lead by a lot.
It was good to see Puig hit the ball to the right side, but Puig is not good in pressure situations, so I would bat him back in the order.
Even though Puig has good speed, he had hit into triple of double plays, then any other player on the team.
And double plays kill rallies.
MJ< it does not matter when his hits came. The fact is he contributed and got hits when he was up there. Saying they did not come in the clutch is demeaning what he did. His first hit was when they were behind, his second helped them widen the lead…..His 3rd just piled on more runs. That's more than Grandal has done in 3 weeks. He has hit into 9 DP's this season. But a lot of those were hit really hard. You hit a ball that hard you have little chance of beating it out. Toles, who is faster has hit into 3, Turner 4, and Grandal 3. DP's happen, and they usually happen to guys who are slow. Adrian is a prime example, and so is Grandal. Just celebrate the fact they won the game, and quit finding reasons to dis a player after he has had a good game. Puig had 3 hits, drove in 4. His 2nd hit drove in 2 runs when they were only up 8-5
Toles is not your A typical leadoff guy. His OBP is not very good. He is hitting .269 in the leadoff roll, but his OBP is .306. He does not walk much, does not take a lot of pitches. You would have to check stats not available to me to see the teams record with him leading off. But most of that will be solved when Forsythe comes back. By comparison, Logan’s BA hitting first is .385 and his OBP is outstanding at . 452. He is obviously the better option.
Michael
You are right, players that have more experience, tend to be more patient, and have deeper at bats.
Ok, you got it, Logan leads off. So Taylor is Super-Sub, relieving at first, second, third, short, and all three outfield spots as needed. Taylor hits second, Toles falls in behind Gutierrez, between him and Puig. Any market at all for Agon? Would San Diego be interested? Sure would be nice to trade him for a good catcher…
Jonah
Remember when I said both you, and Badger, were right?
Badger was right that Toles doesn’t have a really good OBA.
But you were right too, because Toles has hit 368 , and hit 2 HR, in the lead off position, in his last five games!
Not sure when, but A=Gone is coming up on 10-5 I think. Not sure if there is a no trade clause. Why would the Padres want him back? Myers is their 1st baseman now. And they sure as hell do not have a catcher we would want. If A=Gone were traded the best move for him would be to an American League team to DH, BUT, and this is the rub, NOBODY is going to want him until he proves he can hit with power again, which at this point, is not happening. SVS would benefit from a change of scenery too. Utley will be here until they A. admit he has lost it all, or B. He decides it is time to retire.
Michael’s 100% right IMO. It’s probable that nobody would trade for Gonzalez if he were healthy (and starting to wane due solely to health) there’s even less of a non-existent market now.
Let him get healthy, then deal with the problem then.
Right now he’s a massive liability.
Taylor won’t be playing when Forsythe is in there unless he is giving Turner a day off. Seager will be in the 2 hole pretty much no matter what. Couple of problems, with A-Gone as useless as he is they have no true # 4 hitter either, Grandal and Puig have not been very successful in that role.
Badger
Turner leading off, would be a big waste.
He hits in to many important runs, for the team.
Turner has that clutch gene.
Scoring runs wins games. He would be knocked in in the first inning by Seager and then in the third he would knock in all those guys hitting 8th. I’ve done the math. Want to see it?
Even though he hits from the wrong side of the plate, I guess Bellinger has put to rest the Braun rumors. Credit to Gutierrez for that, too.
Jonah
Thank God, we would be upset, at the end of Braun’s contract.
Braun’s ‘tightness in his lower back’ has put to rest the trade rumors. If I’m Braun I keep that in the fore front until I’m a 10/5 guy. Then will have a lot more say in where he goes.
Love this story about the A’s pitcher (no, not Cotton) Graveman who is trying to be a starting pitcher with ONE pitch. A two-seam fastball. He threw seven changeups in a recent start. The rest? Two-seamers.
https://sports.yahoo.com/news/kendall-graveman-baseballs-greatest-one-pitch-wonder-since-mariano-rivera-060559042.html
BTW, Passan is a good writer:
This version of Graveman, with a 2.25 ERA sandwiched around a short disabled-list scare because of a shoulder strain, is more All-Star caliber. Once the A’s began to understand what they had around the midway point of last season, they suggested Graveman shy away from his changeup and curveball and move almost exclusively to the fastball. During spring training this year, A’s pitching coach Curt Young told Graveman that if he throws 3,000 pitches this year, he hopes 2,900 of them are sinkers.
He was joking. Sort of.
If you know anything about a two seamer you know it’s several pitches in one depending on grip. It hops, it sinks both directions and you can change speeds with it just by moving it back and forth in your hand. I would say Orel threw all versions of it 90% of the time. I would say that because I heard him say it. You’ve heard me also say I don’t know why every pitcher doesn’t use it regularly. It’s difficult to barrel up good ones. Pitch to contact and get a lot of ground balls with a two seam sinker.
I know NOTHING about the 2-seamer. Nor, for that matter, whether the cutter is a different pitch than the 4 or 2 seamer.
So, thank you for that.
Bluto
What was Toles WAR last year, at the major league level?
You’re welcome.
This morning Yasiel is humming Toby Keith’s hit, How Do You Like Me Now………..Nice game Yasiel, nice game Cody, and Taylor, 4 walks? Giants pitchers can’t find the strike zone without a road map!
The way I view Puig now is: It took him up till this year to learn that he still had a lot to learn. I think now he is doing his damnedest to catch up in learning those things. I think he is seeking out and taking advice. His BPIP average reflects a lot of bad luck at the moment. Kudos to the management for recognizing this (I think) and letting him play through it. I don’t know that I have ever felt better about the Dodgers and their future.
Hp Wolfe
Are you talking about Babip?
Yes,
HpWolfe
So the lower a player is under the major league average for Babip, means they have hit, in bad luck.
AGon needs to sit. Just take a few weeks off Wally… I mean Adrian. Let the Pipp sqeak bask in some glory for a while.
Good one.
How bad or good of a player, was Wally Pip?
In answer to your question above, Orel seems to think so.
He was very good MJ. He played 15 years. Check his stats some time. He’d make $25 mil a year if he was playing today.
15 years in the majors, lifetime BA of .281. Only hit 90 HR’s but he started in the dead ball era, 3 RBI’s short of 1000 in his career. 1941 hits, OBP of .341. Played 1 year in Det, 11 in NY, and 3 with the Reds.
I wondered about Pip because didn’t they say that no one would remember Pip, once Gehrig took over?
But his name is still very alive today.
Yes it is, but he is famous because he said he had a headache and Gehrig started in his place…Pipp never played for the Yankees at 1st base again. And it is Pipp with two p’s…..Starting lineup tonight, Toles, Seager, Turner, Grandal, Bellinger, Gonzalez, Puig, Utley and Urias. Granny the blind squirrel Grandal hitting 4th??? That’s not good. Luckily there is someone hitting behind him who can actually hit the damn ball…
Michael
I already knew that.
Did you see that Agone has a herniated disc, that started giving him trouble a couple of weeks ago.
This is Vinny’s big night too.
Boy, this thing between the Orioles and Red Sox is escalating into war……O’s pitcher hit Boegarts in the 2nd inning and got ejected. After Sale hit Machado in the 1st inning last night. Guess the umps figure it may escalate even more.