The second game against the Phillies was a battle of the aces, sort of. Philadelphia starter Vincent Velasquez is their bona fide ace. Maeda has become the Dodgers’ default ace. Since Clayton Kershaw went down, Maeda has been the most consistent Dodgers’ starter. He has pitched the deepest into games, and been the most consistent at it. Adding to the games stakes, the Giants had already lost, so a Dodgers win would place them in a tie for first.
2nd inning
Phils
Following a walk, Maeda gave up a two run home run to put the Phillies in front 2-0.
Dodgers
Adrian Gonzalez , still swinging a hot bat, opened with a double down the right-field line.
Joc Pederson brought Gonzo home with a single. 1-2
Howie Kendrick followed that with a blast that bounced off the top of the centerfield wall for a two-run home run. 3-2
Kenta Maeda kept the hit parade going with a double of his own. It was the first of his Dodgers career.
Corey Seager brought Maeda home with a single to RF. 4-2
3rd inning Dodgers 4-2
Dodgers
A second double for Gonzo!
Yasmani Grandal followed with an absolute blast into the CF pavilion. 6-2
4th inning Dodgers 6-2
Maeda at a high pitch count, but kept the Phillies quiet.
Dodgers
Justin Turner smacked one out of the park for two more runs. 8-3
5th inning Dodgers 8-3
Maeda with another scoreless inning. He’ll end his night at 100 pitches.
Dodgers
With Joc Pederson on second, Howie Kendrick punched a double into CF. Score Pederson, 9-3.
6th inning Dodgers 9-3
Jesse Chavez in. 1,2,3 inning.
He stayed in for the seventh. He let a couple of baserunners on, but got out without giving up any runs.
8th inning Dodgers 9-3
Grant Dayton in. Three up, three down, with two strike outs.
9th inning Dodgers 9-3
J.P. Howell in. The second night in a row he got the ball in the ninth.
He gave up a base hit, but closed out the game.
Dodgers win! 9-3
Oh! What a (bobblehead) night: First Howie Kendrick got a bobblehead. Then his two young sons tossed out the first pitch and gave the “It’s time for Dodgers baseball” call to arms. Howie then went on to hit a two run homer and an RBI double.
Kudos for Gonzo: Tonight’s doubles made Gonzalez one of seven active players with 11 or more straight seasons with 20 doubles. He now has 405 career doubles.
Justin Turner joined Corey Seager in the 20 home run club.
Multiple homers again: It was the third straight night the Dodgers hit three or more home runs in one game.
The bullpen also deserves praise as they put up four scoreless innings in support of Maeda.
Almost forgot: Coupled with the Giants’ loss, this Dodgers win puts them in a first place tie. What a season!
Kenta Maeda (W 11-7) went 5 innings with 6 hits, 3 runs, 2 HRs, 2 walks, 4 K’s. ERA 3.31
Home runs: Turner, Grandal, Kendrick
Team with RISP: 3 for 9 Keep on keepin’ on!
Oscar Martinez
I was born in the shadow of Dodger Stadium and immediately drenched in Dodger Blue. Chavez Ravine is my baseball cathedral, Vin Scully was the golden voice of summer all my life, and Tommy Lasorda remains the greatest Dodgers manager ever. My favorite things are coffee, beer, and the Dodgers beating the Giants. I also blog about my baseball card hobby at All Trade Bait, All the Time.
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Bless those bats! Like I said the other day, the bats keep carrying a very shaky pitching staff. In the last 10 games, Maeda’s ERA has steadily gone up. He doesn’t look in control and he can’t pitch more than 90-95 pitches per game. You can see him start to break down. Make no mistake, it’s the bats right now that are leading the charge.
Reddick. In the midst of an all out blitzkrieg by Dodger bats, how can this guy keep showing us his backside? So far, he’s got nothing. While I understand the need to play him and accomodate his adjustment period, where’s the adjustment? Toles, are you warming up?
I agree. We need to give Toles some at bats here.
Toles at AAA will most likely be a September call up. My thinking is that they are giving Reddick the AB’s vs lefty’s so he has a chance to improve against them, but so far he is not hitting RHP either.
Well golly bob howdy how bout that! Wish I could of watched it. Still, cheers for call to arms. Keep it up boys!
In April, someone said that the Dodgers wouldn’t have anyone that hit even 20 HR. Don’t look now, but Seager and Turner both have 20+ and Pederson and Grandal are closing in. If A-Gone were to get hot the last 7 weeks he could make it too. The fact is: The Dodgers are likely to have at least 4 players with at least 20+ HR… maybe 5!
The Dodgers are on track to win 92 games right now as they notched their 64th win. If they just play .500 ball the rest of the way, they will win 88 games. I still like their chances at 92-95 like I predicted. They currently have the 5th best record in baseball.
Josh Reddick is a platoon player – If Trayce Thompson makes it back in September, that would be a perfect platoon in RF. Reddick should not play against LH pitching – pure and simple! A healthy Thompson would be huge in September.
Chase Utley is wearing down and and while Howie is playing a credible LF, I think we will see him more at 2B… especially if Segedin can hit!
Rich Hill is a guy the Dodgers need to be the pitcher he was before THE BLISTER – if he can do that, it will take a lot of heat off the rotation. Brett Anderson will likely start this weekend – he pitched 5 strong innings Monday with no walks and was clocked at 93.
I think the Dodgers are trying not to use De Leon until September. Come September, the bullpen will have several more live arms. If Kershaw can come back, this team could surprise….
The Dodgers have moved up to 15th in runs scored – 2 behind SF for 14th. They are 4th in team ERA.
Roberts said that it was always the plan for Kershaw to come back in September.
And I wouldn’t be suprised if Kershaw does come back in September.
Mark you are proof positive that the exercises that Kershaw is doing, can make a big difference.
If I was Kershaw, I would have got one of those muscle stimulators, for the oblique.
That would be so much easier, on Kershaw.
Chase had two hits last night, and a HR the day before.
I think he is hearing all of you say, he needs to sit done.
… and the Dodgers pen is alternating with the Nats and Cubs for the best in baseball – they are all below 3.10 ERA!
Well this is me eating a little crow, but I am one to admit when I am wrong. Yasmani Grandal has been playing his ass off lately, and I honestly did not think he had it in him. So kudos to him for stepping up and helping the offense become what it is. That being said, the pitching staff is still a disaster waiting to happen, and though it has not happened yet, somewhere along the line the bullpen will keel over from exhaustion. Gonzo seems to have gotten his second wind and has been stellar. The scrubs are performing well, and the guys who play most of the time are producing. Pederson has raised his average about 14 points. Mark, I do not know if you read the report on Thompson, but he has fractures in his back. I doubt he will be back by September if at all. And of course, the Puig saga goes on and unless he does a complete 180, I believe they will make a concerted effort to dump him this winter. Dayton is a find. The guy has been nails and should not be sent down again. Chavez had his second good outing in a row and got out of a jam pretty well. That being said we have gotten nothing so far out of our ” BIG” trade with the A’s. Reddick continues to underwhelm, and we have not seen Hill. Smoke and Mirrors is getting the job done. It is a little amazing to see.
Michael
It is nice to hear you say that about Grandal.
You are a man of your word, you said you have no problem, admitting that you might be wrong.
We will all see what happens.
Yes, I am that. And boy did it hurt! LOL. Look, I am glad he is helping the team win, and that he seems to have found his stroke at the plate. I still think he is a lousy pitch blocker, and his defense is not all that great. He still strikes out too much, 24% of the time, and he is not all that great throwing out runners. But other than that he has a high OBP, plenty of power, and the personality of a dead clam. My biggest bitch will always be that he used PEDS. I think any player who juices should be out of the game period. That is my own opinion. Tough drug laws are one thing, and punishment is another. He did his time. To me if a player does it once he will do it again.
It is hard to believe a team traded Dayton away.
He has to have some kind of deception in his delivery, because the hitters, are not seeing him well at all.
He also pitches with a lot of confidence, and that goes a long way too.
Pederson finally left that big swing behind, and has made his transition look easy.
That oppo he hit off a change up, with a runner on third, was one of his best RBIs, for the year.
That is because he didn’t try to do to much.
He just tapped the ball, over the infield, to get the run in.
Reddick looks over matched at the plate.
I hope it is just that he is trying to hard.
I just hope it isn’t all the new pitchers he is facing in the National league, that is causing his lack of success.
But I thought he would do better against the Red Sox, but he didn’t do much.
Puig just doesn’t get it.
The managment, are not liking the effect that Puig is already having on the team in AAA.
The funny part, I didn’t see Toles in any of those snap shots, that Puig posted, and that is a good thing.
I did see Barnes in a couple of those posts.
Where can we see these posts? Please post a link.
http://www.insidesocal.com/dodgers/
Go there to the bottom of the page and back one page too.
Mark Thanks!
The guy, I hate to say is a total knucklehead. If I had his talent I would not be biting the hand that feeds me. That being said, I think they will move him this winter for 2 bags of balls and a used bus. Toles has been down that road already. He was in a bunch of trouble when he first signed and his boss back then? You guessed it, Friedman. So he at this point in his short career is not going to do anything stupid. Barnes being in those pic’s is a testament to the manager down there not keeping his boys under wraps. Hasselman is supposed to be a pretty good skipper, but he missed the bus on this one. Can you imagine anyone trying that crap with Walter Alston?
Michael
Yes that is why it was good to see, that Toles wasn’t around that.
And it almost always seems, that the athlete born with the most talent, is the one athlete, that doesn’t appreciate there own God given talent.
And that is very frustrating for everyone else.
The Dodgers can’t continue to let Puig’s potential, hand cuff them.
Puig made Roberts job even harder, and Roberts has had enough on his hands already, with all of these injuries.