Just as the Padres and their fans were getting excited on Friday night the Dodgers rallied in the late innings to erase a 3-0 deficit to crush San Diego’s spirits and comeback for a 4-3 win. Such a shame….NOT! The Dodgers had a bad time in San Francisco dropping two out of three to a bad Giants club. What better way to erase those annoying losses then with a nice spirit crushing come from behind win in San Diego? That’s what the Dodgers did as they opened their weekend set against the Padres with a 4-3 win.
Everyone contributed but it was Austin Barnes, (yes Barnes) who was the hero with a game-tying solo home run in the top of the seventh, and a lead-off double in the top of the ninth. Barnes would come around to score on a Max Muncy RBI single that bounced off of Eric Hosmer’s glove to plate the eventual winning run.
The game started off poor for the Dodgers as Clayton Kershaw gave up a two-run home run to former Dodger Manny Machado in the top of the first inning. Like Yasiel Puig back at Dodger Stadium last month, Machado homers in his first at-bat against his former club like Puig did. The Dodgers were able to keep him at bay for the rest of the game as the slugger went 1 for 4, with the first inning homer his only hit of the night. Kershaw would also allow a solo home run to Ian Kinsler in the third frame which put the young show-Pads (as Jerry Hairston Jr. likes to call them) up by a 3-0 lead.
Dodgers 4 9 1
Padres 3 6 0
WP-Alexander-1-0
LP-Yates-0-1
SV-Jasnsen-11
HR-Machado-6-Kinsler-4-Taylor-2-Barnes-4
Kershaw would settle in. While he certainly wasn’t dominating, he wasn’t terrible either. Kershaw would toss six innings allowing three earned runs on six hits with six strikeouts and just one walk. On the other side of the mound, San Diego starter Eric Lauer kept the Dodgers hitless for the first four innings. But the Dodgers finally got to him in the fifth when Chris Taylor smacked a home run that sailed just over the wall in the left field corner just above the everbowl sign. The Dodgers threatened in the top of the sixth.
Enrique Hernandez singles and Cody Bellinger doubled him to third. After Justin Turner walked, Lauer comes out and Brad Wieck replaces him. Corey Seager’s sac fly scores Hernandez to get the Dodgers within one run with the score 3-2. The Dodgers could have gotten more but Taylor struck out and Alex Verdugo grounded out.
In the top of the seventh Austin Barnes’ lead-off home run off of reliever Ty Wingenter tied the game at 3-3. An official review confirmed that it was indeed a home run despite the ball barely landing over Wil Myer’s leaping outstretched glove. Barnes would play hero again in the top of the ninth. His lead-off double put the Dodgers in position to take the lead. They indeed did one-out later when Max Muncy’s line drive down the first base line deflected off of Hosmer’s glove and rolled into foul territory. Barnes would scamper home with the go-ahead run for the Dodgers who took a 4-3 lead. Kenley Jansen would come in and shut the door, pitching around a Seager error to secure the win. After the Seager error, Jansen would strike out the next three hitters (Ty France, Myers and Austin Hedges) all in succession.
This win is certainly satisfying like a tall glass of crisp refreshing soda. It goes down smooth, but there could be some heartburn. Clayton Kershaw was hit in the shoulder with a line drive in the fourth inning and Bellinger possibly injured his shoulder while diving for a ball at first base. Both men stayed in the game and appeared fine, with Bellinger doubling later in the game. However it’s something that we should probably keep an eye on in case there are lingering aftereffects. The Dodgers and Padres do battle again on Saturday night with Rich Hill countering Joey Lucchesi at 5:40 PM PST.
A real nail biter for sure. Kept you involved until they finally broke through. Good for Barnes. He needed a game like this. Bullpen shut the door. I do not think the win should have gone to Alexander. He faced 1 hitter. Floro got them through after Kersh left.
Barnes and CT3 are the heros…. who would ever put their money on that? While the rest of the lineup struggled (1-5 RISP, 7 LOB, 13 KO’s) the dynamic duo saved the day. DR went to a R-L-R-L lineup that seemed to disprove his theory that lefties cannot hit lefties, and righties cannot hit righties. It seemed just the opposite. Will DR revert back to his Listless Lefty Lineup today? SD is throwing all lefties at them this weekend.
Kershaw did not help matters, giving up a couple of early dingers, including a two run shot to “The Smirk”. Seems the Dodgers struggle when they are trying to come from behind… maybe their minds go into HR mode, and they forget about shortening up their swings and just getting productive hits. Gone are the days of Kershaw dominance. Opposing batters are teeing off on him, big time.
Floro continues to dominate out of the pen and definitely deserved the win. Jansen showing a bit more concentration on the mound, keeping the free baserunner at bay, while striking out the side.
I’m still a bit worried about Seager’s health. Something does not seem right. I think he is playing hurt…. his ninth inning error was a scare, but Jansen managed to take care of business anyway.
Hello Bluefan4Life. this, as I said I found interesting to note:
believe it or not, even with what appears to be a shortage now of RHB,, the last 5 Dodger HR’s have come off the bats of the RH hitters….go figure.
Lots of interesting team-related nuggets out there:
From a Jonah Keri chat:
Question:
What’s Julio Urias’s upside? Bonafide ace in his prime? Top 10sp? Thanks!
Jonah Keri
It’s hard to know, because the Dodgers are so judicious in how they used their pitchers, we rarely get, say, 15 straight starts where we get a good look at a guy, before they skip a start or toss a guy on the IL for a minor injury or maintenance work, or even send a great arm to the bullpen (like Urias, and Stripling). Put it this way: If Urias played for a more conventional team, we’d have more information by now as to his upside than we do while he’s a Dodger.
Question:
With injuries to Pollock and Freese the Dodger’s right handed position force is limited. That was evidenced last night. Are there any potential moves to bolster right handed hitting, on the horizon?
Jonah Keri
It’s not hard to find players who just need to be capable lesser sides of a platoon, so if the injuries linger, pickups will be easy. I’ll say this, though: Verdugo has long been viewed as a potential impact prospect. I know the Dodgers love to platoon everyone to death, but Pollock’s injury creates a natural opportunity to really put one of your best young players to the test by playing him everyday, or close to see it. Let’s see what the kid’s got.
From a Logenhagen chat:
Ethan: How would you compare the offensive upsides of Miguel Amaya and Diego Cartaya?
Eric A Longenhagen: Amaya >
Jose: How likely is it for Zach Willeman to improve pitch consistency and be talked about in the same way that Buehler was pre-debut?
Eric A Longenhagen: not very, Walker’s stuff was so, so good immediately.
From Dodgers Insider:
Kershaw has gone at least six innings with at least six strikeouts in each of his four starts this year.
From Baseball America:
The players that jumped up 20 or more spots in today’s updated Top ?
Nico Hoerner, @Cubs
Nate Lowe, @RaysBaseball
Chris Paddack, @Padres
Nolan Gorman, @Cardinals
Griffin Canning, @Angels
Dustin May, @Dodgers
The #Reds have released OF Matt Kemp.
Wow! But wasn’t Kemp on the IL? IDK. However he is a FA after this year and might make it difficult for a team to take a chance with him, WSS
WSS?
Dodgers just lost two right handed batters and Kemp is available, do the math,
BTW losing Pollock didn’t hurt us, it actually helped us, it forces Roberts to have to actually use some guys that have been getting benched whenever the L word was invoked by the other team. Joc should be playing for sure, both against RH pitching and against the L word. Muncy should be playing when the L word is up against us. This wholesale change of a lineup is total bullshit and it would have pissed off Dave Roberts too when he was a player. Time for Roberts to be a man and give some pushback to the FO, put in a lineup that he would have understood as a player. Remove titty from your mug, Bert!
You are correct True Blue! BTW believe it or not, even with what appears to be a shortage now of RHB,, the last 5 Dodger HR’s have come off the bats of the RH hitters….go figure.
Another wild & crazy lineup conceived by DR for Game 2 of series, to face another L/H’d pitcher. DR forced to use Lefties Muncy and Verdugo due to Pollocks injury actually paid off. Offense off with a slow start. He sits the hot Barnes who is finally showing positives at the plate. Russell does nothing. Right handers Hernandez, Freeze, and Martin post “0”fers. Only R/H’r, CT3, has another great game, 2-5. Left Handed Muncy smacks a clutch three run dinger against a L/H’d pitcher. Other lefties, JT 2-4, Verdugo 3-4. Overall, Dodger bats 4-9 RISP, 10 LOB, 10 KO’s. These ever mounting blown scoring opportunities will hurt them big time if it continues…. so will the dreaded Lefty Lineup.
Hill put Dodgers behind early, giving up two early dingers to “The Smirk”. Thanks to Muncy’s heroics, the Dodgers had a 6-3 lead in the 6th, however, all it was all wasted by the dynamic duo, Kelly-Flop and Yimi. Kelly’s ERA now over 10….. what a disappointment. Yimi’s game seems to suffer, while mopping up following Kelly.
CT3 a hero again last tonight, offensively and defensively. Verdugo playing like a ROY winner…. another lefty hitting well against lefties. Seager continues his slump offensively and defensively…. he worries me. I still think he is hiding an injury.
None the less, the Dodgers escape with a gift win on a bases loaded walk, Jansen looking better, gets another save.
What Lineup concoction will DR dream up tonight, to face another Lefty today? Will he sit Verdugo?… CT3?… Muncy? … All 3?
Hmm, so our two lefty hitters, Muncy (I told you) and Verdugo actually can make it happen against the L word. I’m not surprised in the least (although our brass is in total shock).
Nice to see the middle relief core has a new corporate sponsor, Planned Parenthood. The middle relievers are on a constant hunt to abort any good efforts by our starting pitchers. What a bIoody, bloody mess. I thought our FO was a bunch of genius wonk assholes, surely they can find a few broken down projects to come in and try and give us a few good outs.
For now we are winning, I’m looking down the road at the playoffs, this shit in the bullpen is not going to get the job done when it really counts.
I believe it is time for Joe Kelly to suffer the mysterious injury and spend some time on the IL rediscovering how to get hitters out. I think Seager’s struggles are more related to rust than injury. He is swinging at pitches he usually does not. The fielding suffers from the same thing. Also, do not forget that Seager only played in a handful of games in spring. Too much talent to stay down for long.
Agree. Kelly needs some IL time while Seager just needs time.
That said, Floro and Garcia are becoming quite consistent. Alexander not far behind, I hope. The ‘pen will only continue to solidify.
Muncy continues to surprise me.
Was it Vince Lombardi, Morris Buttermaker or Gertrude Stein who said,
A win, is a win is a win.
Michael,
I hope you are right about Seager. 35 games and over 100 at-bats, he should be tuned in by now. We will see.
As far as Kelly, the Dodgers willingly threw away $25M to Homer Bailey, why don’t they just eat Kelly’s contract too. Do they have a condition called, “Lost the key to the clubhouse broom closet”? I’m sure he is on the cusp of deserving a closet party. I get a “Kellyache” every time he comes in. His acquisition has to be going down as one of the worse free agent signings ever, in Dodger History….. Pollock’s not far behind. The Dodgers sat on their hands during the offseason, and out of desperation, figured they had to sign something, or face criticism. They rolled the dice on Kelly and Pollock and crapped out big time. At least with Pollock down, Verdugo will get his playing time.
They might have to bring up Stetson “Wild Thing” Allie. I hope they are working on his control in OKC. I think he is the current closer in OKC. Saw him in spring, and he was a joke.
Well, Dummy has decided to keep Cody out of the lineup again after saying yesterday that he would play today. I hate Dummy. Not only is he a dummy but he is also a liar. Don’t see how that would play well to the other players.
Hold on there horse fly..he DISLOCATED his shoulder on that dive. Being cautious is not dumb. It is prudent and the medical staff probably had some input there. Seager had 2 doubles today..he will be fines. Jansen though was not good at all. 2 hits to load the bases, 2 outs then gives up a game winning grand slam on a 0-1 pitch that was right at the letters. Who ever the moron was who said pitching up in the zone was smart, is an idiot
You are right Package,
DR tends to sugarcoat everything, but when he seems to stray from the course, the FO starts pulling those puppet strings, and he has to renege on his promises.
FO handles these players with kidskin gloves. I’m sure if DR had it his way, he would let these guys play through a little pain. DR was a player, and I am sure he wanted to be out there every game. He could play through pain, he did not like to be platooned.
Sometimes you can see it in his eyes, that he is only following the script at these post game interviews. Occasionally he would slip, and really say what he wants to do, but you can tell he is only following FO direction.
LMAO,
Dodgers ink former Met d’Arnaud, send Beaty down. Another roll of the dice…. Mets don’t want him.
Dodger FO still Dumpster Diving, while holding back their prospects. What are they saving them for…. a rainy day? Forgot…. hardly rains in LA.
I guess we will see more “platooning” behind the dish, and cutting into Barnes’ playing time. Barnesy is just starting to come around now, too.
Wow. They signed him over Kemp?
That was meant to read as sarcastic.
I can’t tell what I find funnier, the Dodgers block their prospects insanity or the mental gymnastics people perform to think the Front Office has Roberts managing against his instincts.
Both are quite fun to read
In reality, Matt would probably tell Andrew to stick it in his U know where. Trades him twice? Not sure a spoonful of sugar fixes that.
Yes, makes no sense from either POV.
Sounds like Kemp’s negative aura is the clubhouse was his demise. He can still have a nice vacation and Dodgers are footing the bill. They pick up a washed up Met catcher… hope they were wearing their hazmat suits when they scrapped D’Arnaud off the bottom of the Walmart Dumpster.
Poor starting pitching killed the Dodgers. Three walks allowed by Maeda, all cashed in. Dodger offense once again fighting for their lives with early deficit.
Right handed Kiké and JT no match for Padres’ left handed starter. Left handed Muncy, who smacks a dinger against another left handed pitcher, and Taylor still on fire, tried to bail Maeda out, but Jansen gives up a walk off grand slam. Jansen and the Dodgers have to start playing a little defense with Jansen in the game. They can no longer stand flat footed and pick their noses while on defense, expecting Jansen to bowl the opposition over. DR got a lesson in a little bit of small ball, which set the table for the grand salami.
At least they were able to get 2 out of 3, and win the series.
This loss had zero to do with starting pitching.
It’s on Jansen and the bunt defense or lack thereof.
Jansen is on the wrong side of the age curve, but is still quite good
Dodgers are not paying for Kemp. It was a salary dump remember? They are however paying Homer Bailey to pitch for the Royals. Jansen did not walk anyone. Hosmer singled to left, Margot laid down a perfect bunt down the 3rd baseline that Turner was letting roll foul but stayed fair, then Myers laid down another bunt that went between Turner and Seager for a hit. Bases loaded, no outs. Garcia struck out, Mejia popped out and Renfroe came up to hit. Jansen got strike one and then tried to sneak a high cutter past him that was right down Broadway….end of game.
Michael,
I think the Dodgers still are responsible for $7M for 2019. He was traded for absolutely nothing. More of a player dump, rather than a salary dump.
No, the Reds assumed all of those contracts and the Dodgers ate Bailey’s otherwise it would have been too lopsided. They owe Bailey 5 mil next year too.
Michael,
Check:
https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/los-angeles-dodgers/payroll/
You are right, Reds responsible for $14.5M. My bad.
It does show the Dodgers “retained” $7M of Kemp’s contract obligations…. could be signing bonuses, MLB min ave, or deferred payments. Anyway, that’s a pretty good vacation check.
Michael,
You are right. Reds owns the contract, and $14.5 owed to Kemp. My bad.
Dodgers did retain $7M owed to Kemp. Don’t know what that is, if it is MLB min ave salary for free agents, signing bonus, or deferred payments (two years @ $3.5M). But still, $7M is a pretty good vacation check, courtesy of the Los Angeles Dodgers.