The Rockies are playing terrible baseball right now. The Dodgers can certainly sympathize with their plight. However the Dodgers are now moving in the opposite direction. They’ve turned things around and have now won 13 of their last 17 games, including seven consecutive games on the road. The Dodgers overcame an early 4-0 deficit in the Sunday afternoon series finale to defeat the Rockies 10-7, sweeping the three game series.
The Rockies are a mess. Their bullpen is far worse than the Dodgers and is actually one of the worst in baseball. Even though the Dodgers made two costly errors, the Rockie’s bullpen gave up four runs (three earned) in the latter part of the game. The Dodgers scored 33 runs in the three game series and had six of their 11 hits today for extra bases, three of which were home runs.
Max Muncy smashed two home runs; his second home run in the top of the third with the boys in blue down 4-1 was a momentum shifter. Yasmani Grandal also hit one out, his ninth of the season in the top of the ninth. That put the game in comfortable mode for the Dodgers.
Dodgers 10 11 2
Rockies 7 8 1
WP-Cingrani-2-1
LP-Davis-0-1
SV-Jansen-14
HR-Desmond-10-Muncy-8-9-Grandal-9
The Dodgers had to rally because starting pitcher Alex Wood was horrible. Wood gave up four runs in the top of the first inning and lasted only two frames. He allowed six earned runs on five hits and walked three. Needless to say it was not impressive.
The Rockies connected for a flurry of hits in that bottom of the first inning. Consecutive singles from DJ LeMahieu, Charlie Blackmon and Nolan Arenado plated the first run for Colorado. A Trevor Story sacrifice fly, and a two-run home run from Ian Desmond put the Dodgers in a huge hole just minutes after the national anthem.
But this is Coors Field, and Chad Bettis Colorado starter was not able to hold the lead. In the top of the second Muncy connected for his first of two home runs to cut the lead to 4-1. But Wood would allow two more runs to the Rockies in the bottom of the second. Three walks, a single, and a Story hit by pitch would force in two additional Colorado runs to make the score 6-1.
The third inning would prove pivotal for both clubs. With Chris Taylor and Matt Kemp aboard, Muncy worked an 11-pitch at-bat before crushing a Bettis meatball deep into the right field seats to get the Dodgers closer. The score was now 6-4 Colorado.
The game remained that way for a little while. The Dodgers got out of a jam in the bottom of the fifth. Trevor Story doubled off of Yimi Garcia to lead off the inning. The Dodgers however got a force out, a ground out to the box, and then Josh Fields picked off Desmond at second base to end the inning. Great play!
The sixth inning played out like a trail of tears for Colorado. There were hits, a costly error and a bunch of pitching changes. The Dodgers walked back to the field with the lead. They would score three runs with two outs. Yasiel Puig doubled off the wall in right. After another pitching change and an Enrique Hernandez walk, Logan Forsythe’s RBI single put the Dodgers within one run. After Logan stole second, pinch-hitter Breyvic Valera reached on a throwing error from Story. The play should have ended the inning. Story fielded the high chopper and threw low, but Desmond was unable to pick it with the ball bouncing past first base. It was a two-run error and the Dodgers suddenly had a 7-6 lead.
Forsythe would feature prominently in the next inning for the wrong reasons. Brock Stewart had entered the game in the sixth inning and was pitching well. But with one out in the bottom of the seventh Arenado would single. Then Stewart’s errant pick-off throw would advance Arenado to third. Stewart had struck out Blackmon and Story (on a called third strike), but Logan totally flubbed Desmond’s routine grounder for an error. That should have been the third out, but instead the game was tied.
The game stayed tied until the top of the ninth when the inevitable would happen. The Colorado bullpen is a tire fire right now and the Dodgers took advantage by scoring three more to put the game away. With Wade Davis on the mound Logan doubles to lead-off, atoning for his error the previous inning. After Cody Bellinger struck out (he’s really struggling), Taylor would work a walk. The next sequence of events were odd.
Colorado backstop Chris Iannetta had to be removed from the game because of injury. He took a foul ball off the knee. Then Davis uncorked a wild pitch that moved Taylor to second. With the infield up and Logan running on contact, Justin Turner’s dribbler would score Forsythe and give the Dodgers an 8-7 lead. Then Grandal would bomb one over the center field wall to put the Dodgers ahead 10-7. Kenley Jansen would pitch a 123 bottom of the ninth to secure the win. Dodgers sweep!
The Dodgers have now inched to just a game below .500 at 29-30. They’re only 2.5 games out of first place, and have a winning record on the road. Go figure. Baseball is a trip. The Dodgers will take Monday off while they travel to Pittsburgh for a three game series. Ross Stripling will open the series on Tuesday evening. The Pirates will counter with Joe Musgrove.
Great game and come back. Three at bats really impressed. Muncy’s 11 pitch at bat, and in the 9th both Taylor and Turner really worked Wade Davis. The difference was just hanging in there. Davis was not bad, but our hitters were better today. Turner just making contact to the right side to score the ROTLeTTO to take the lead was huge. Grandal did that last night as well, and today he came up with the home run (you can tell Davis was pretty much defeated after having to throw 38 pitches that inning).
Muncy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Is there any doubt he can fill in for Bellinger while he re-calibrates? Seems to be a two-way player who has really helped us in a big way.
Looks like the ‘all-relievers all-the time’ era has begun. We don’t need Kershaw. Same as last year when he was out. Everyone goes to the pen!! Baseball Socialism is here.
Jeff
When Muncy hit that first one out, I thought of you, and of course, I thought of you, after he hit second one, out.
He is now tied for the team lead in HRs, with Kemp and Grandal, and he has done that, in just over 100 at bats.
Muncy’s OPS right now, is in the 900s.
And YF I thought of you, after Grandal hit that one out, because you say that Grandal is never clutch, and your right, because he is usually not as good in the clutch, but he was today.
The whole team played their hearts out, for this entire series.
They had the Rockies look like they were beat down, by the end of this last game!
That had to be the best series we have had in Colorado, for a very long time.
I do believe I read it had been a while.
Can you imagine how the Rockies and their owners feel after that series, and all of the money they spent on relief help, in the off season.
I believe after this weekend, they deserve this next day off, because they played hard all weekend, and it was a complete team effort, on both sides of the field.
I thought Grandal was clutch yesterday MJ when he hit that grounder after being down 2 strikes. Same with Taylor and Tuner today. That’s Dodger baseball. Kemp of all people pointed out yesterday that the key was Grandal beating out that grounder which scored the go ahead run.
The HR today was great and that’s probably karma for showing unexpected clutch yesterday!
Finally let’s not read too much into their relievers. They have to play half their games at Coors. They will get it together just like we have. It’s a wide open NL this year.
YF
You know I am up there with you, about putting the ball in play, but I missed that at bat by Grandal, or I would have surely included that at bat.
He did that at Dodger Stadium in the next to last game, against the Phillies too.
I was only thinking how the front office and the owners were thinking right after that series, and about their bullpen lately.
I wasn’t looking at the bigger picture there.
Of late both Puig and Taylor have been coming on.
It’s nice and adds real length to the lineup.
Maeda and Hill should be back relatively soon as well.
The bullpen still gives me pause.
Who know if Koehler can be the missing component. I feel that more than one piece is missing, but maybe not…
I read today Urias is anticipated for End of July, or at least that’s what Roberts says.
Goeddels has been pitching well and he’s been a real nice pick up, and outside of 1-2 shaking moments, Yimi Garcia has been good too. And whatever treatment Cingrani is receiving for his dead arm seems to have worked.
The thing is, with the Dodgers and most of the teams in the NL, they are wearing out their bullpens and I don’t think we have any idea which team’s bullpen will be viable after September 1. If the NL this year is an all-our war, the bloodbath in the trenches is in the bullpens.
That said, given all the bullpen over-use league-wide, I would hesitate on picking up any reliever at the trade deadline too unless it is for someone who’s has not been overused (or a star who’s spent the whole year recuperating, like Britton).
Watching Wade Davis today, it is no wonder why relievers break down. He had a 38 pitch inning today and may be pitching again in 2 days.
Agree, I may have been a bit pessimistic.
The pen looks laughably better than it did two or three weeks ago. With 36 Ks to five BBs, Cingrani has one of the better strikeout/walk ratios. Alexander is getting back to why the team got him with 26 groundballs out of 43 hitters since his May 9 return from Triple A. And you are dead on about Goeddel, he’s held opponents scoreless over 7 2/3 innings in two weeks.
In his 126 PA’s Muncy is doing it for us – .900 OPS. Let’s hope he doesn’t slip back to what he did in his two years in Oakland – 245 PA’s, .600 OPS.
Arizona looks almost whole again. 6-4, 3 in a row. We are 2.5 back with 103 games to go. You guys still believe all is lost? It is June now, which means it’s no longer May, which means…. I don’t know what it means. You tell me.
I’d start Bellinger in Pittsburgh. They are 20th in SO so, that might help him some how. Put it in play Cody.
Something else I noticed, Bellinger’s SO% this year is 24.8. Muncy’s is 25.4. That must mean something, not sure what.
Warriors sure look better than Cleave-land. Cavs could win 1 in Ohio though. It would be ok with me if they didn’t.
A lot of what I’ve read is not that Bellinger is striking out more:
Bellinger is among the best in the league in effectively covering and making hard contact throughout the strike zone. This suggests that there are fewer holes in his swing than some would suggest. Statistically, his new approach with two strikes has led to swinging and missing at fewer breaking balls, which, of course, could be the drop in strikeout rate.
But this new approach has led to pitchers attacking him with fastballs in two-strike counts. Up and down the zone and weak contact.
But I know little, only read a bit.
I had noticed Cody was trying to have better at bats lately, although I knew he is still striking out more then he should.
I just don’t get the fact he can’t hit high fastballs above his belt, including not top velocity fastballs,
because he was able to do that last year pretty easily.
Maybe he is over thinking like Taylor was, at the beginning of the year, and add his lack of confidence to over thinking, that wouldn’t make at bats that easy.
Like I have said to many times, I saw him hit a higher velocity fastball last year, at his ear.
He has changed his swing and hand position, changing either of those will change your “hot” and “cold” spots of plate coverage.
Bluto
I know he stopped having the bat on his shoulder, when he was up to bat, but why didn’t he have this same issue in April, before he changed anything?
I am just wondering.
Badger
You know most here know not to put to much into just a hundred at bats, in one season, although I thought Toles one hundred at bats meant a lot at the major league level in the first year, because he started in A ball.
I am just giving credit when credit is due here, because although Muncy has the high OPS right now, his average is below 250 right now, so I look at that too.
Who would have predicted these guys would be carrying the Dodgers at this point in the season: Muncinger, Kemp, Grandmal and even to some extent lately, Joc ? Who’d of thunk it?
Whoever worked with Bellinger during the off-season should be shot.
I think Kemp is the outlier in that group, the rest the front office has shown varying degrees of support for.
Bluto
I think your giving Kemp a complement there, but because of all those other players you mentioned, I think it is pretty harsh to judge Cody after a month, because this is only his second year, but I understand everyone’s concern about Cody because I am also watching his at bats too.
And the season isn’t over for the rest of those players either, but with Kemp, he has enough history to show he is the real thing, as a hitter.
As is happening more and more, I have no idea what you are talking about MJ.
Where was Bellinger mentioned? In positive or negative light?
And it wasn’t a comment about Kemp, it was a comment about people’s perception and anticipation about Kemp.
Bluto
I was just using sarcasm, like you do, sometimes.
Really?
True
I still question the extra muscle put on, although Badger is calling me unlearned, for questioning that.
I think it is a bigger difference for a player that has always been the skinny kid, because even on the best circumstances like Badger schooled me in, everybody’s body reacts differently to various different things.
Remember True, he had no problem hitting high fastballs last year?
His issue in the World Series was slow curves on his hands, not belt high or higher, fastballs.
Hopefully he can get going, because Muncy and others, won’t hit like this all year, it will happen in cycles like every player.
I still think it’s best for Bellinger to sit. In every sport, you feed the hot hand. Bellinger needs reflection time. Nobody is pulling their confidence in him, especially the FO. If they didn’t pull their confidence in Joc, they are certainly not going to pull their confidence in Bellinger. He just needs some help to get over his struggles. We have a competent replacement for him in the meantime. Sentiments have nothing to do with this. Put Bellinger through some training. Isn’t that what athletes do? Train?
Jeff
We don’t have to make that move, but from recent history, the Dodgers usually don’t make a move like this, as quickly, as us fan’s, want.
I never said you were unlearned MJ. I can honestly say I don’t believe I’ve ever used that word. What I said was, every trainer that ever took a university level class in phys of ex and/or kinesiology knows that the science of remaining flexible while developing strength is clear. If you train with full ROM, range of motion, you can actually INCREASE your flexibility while getting stronger. I only suggest people who disagree with that read up on the subject.
As for what to do with Bellinger, sitting him won’t help. If that’s the plan then I say ef that, send him to AAA and bat him lead off for 10-12 days. Muncy is hot. Leave him in there and give Bellinger 40-50 at bats in the minors.
Badger
I am just only joking.
I am wondering if Alex Wood is injured in some way. His fastball topped out at 90. Last year he was hitting 93-94. The bullpen had a nice weekend. Off to Pittsburgh. Lets hope they keep it up.
He’s definitely ailing. I think that’s in the public sphere, yes. Left leg soreness and cramping.
Ok I had not read that.
It is a cramp but it’s not in his leg, it’s actual the outer strual band that surrounds the prostate Bluto. It’s a pain only men feel, that’s why they call it a men’s strual cramp.
Max Muncy: .243/.349/.551, 9 HR in 107 AB
Cody Bellinger: .225/.298/.413, 8 HR in 213 AB
Adrian Gonzalez: .253/.316/.396, 6 HR in 154 AB
Bluto
You have to include Kemp’s numbers in that post since we would not have his bat if not for the trading away of A Gone.
I think you are looking for a narrative in a post of numbers I found amusing.
I was not trying to make any point.
So you ADMIT to being pointless!
I’m going to go out on a limb and say those numbers will change by the All Star break.
2 in a row! You are on a roll my friend.
Pointless and knowledge-less.
And often wrong.
Don’t be so hard on yourself Bluto. What you post here always stirs things up. It’s good for us to be challenged by your unique point of view.
Wood will never throw 93 or 94 again.
When he was throwing at that velocity last year, at the beginning of the season, he had issues in his rib cage, and he had to go out on the DL twice, because of that.
His velocity was much lower in the second half of the season last year too.
And he was never touching 93 or 94 this year.
He will at the tops, hit 91 or 92, but the average of his fastball this year, is under that, and because of that, he will have to be precise with his command, when he is pitching.
Kemp earns player of the week honors, take that FAZ. Yesterday OKC lost in 12 innings 8-4 Toles off of DL but did not play
Toles isn’t going to be activated until Tuesday, at Sacramento.
I stand corrected…
I didn’t mean it as a correction to you.
It was more to say that Toles wasn’t able to play in that game, because he hadn’t been activated yet, so some wouldn’t wonder if he is truly healthy now, because he didn’t play in that game.
Mr. Norris
It is certainly a testament to Matt Kemp that he won player of the week honors. Even though DUMMY kept him from playing some games and took him out several times early he still won. Dummy should be ashamed of himself for sinking that low. It does make sense however, as he also takes out pitchers who are on track to pitch no hitters. Not only is he an idiot and a dummy, he is also a low life. What a jerk!! I know, I know, it is all part of the plan according to some but I am not buying it. Once a jerk , always a jerk.
FanGraphs on Muncy and kinda on the Dodgers’ depth:
https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-dodgers-latest-discovery/
The improbable team leader in WAR is Matt Kemp, a guy the Dodgers didn’t even want. The player in second is Ross Stripling, a starter who began in relief. And there’s another player who’s closing in on the lead. He homered twice on Sunday. Not long ago he was a 27-year-old spring training non-roster invitee. Max Muncy is slugging .551.
The article is GREAT. A wonderful look at how Muncy has changed in swing and approach.
Good read.
I predict Bellinger’s numbers will be better than Muncy’s by season’s end.
Pack…….. regarding Roberts ….. “Genius inspires resentment”.
(From the Badgerdamus Book of Stolen Quotes)
Badger
Now that is a prediction some wouldn’t make, but I think you are going to be right!
Badger
I like you but I have a hard time understanding some things. Are you under a Doctor’s care? If so, I hope you get well soon. You know Badger, if there was any way I could relay my thoughts to Mr. Dummy, I would.
Yes, I am pack. I’ve been clinically diagnosed, professionally treated, and am no longer a danger to anyone, including myself.
Dummy don’t care what you think of him. He’s won 60% of the games he’s managed, which puts him in the Hall of Fame, better than Earl Weaver, not as good as Joe McCarthy.
Badger
I hate to be the one to break this to you but Dummy isn’t going to the Hall of Fame. I will bet you all the pushups you want and then double it.
I’ll bet you 5 more push-ups that if Roberts finishes a 20 year managerial record winning 60% he will be elected into the HOF. Won’t much matter to either one of us in 20 years. Do managers have to wait 5 years before being eligible? If so I’ll be in my mid 90’s. Hey, I like you too pack, but in my 90’s when reminded by your great grand kids I made this bet I’m pretty sure my response will be “pack who?”
This may be Roberts best managing yet. This team is missing its best position player, it’s best pitcher, the ROY, most of the starting staff and is now bringing up a starting pitcher that was pitching at Rancho Cucamonga a few weeks ago. He’s winning with this group. This is fun for me.
Only if they send him down, Badger. He needs to work on some things and not at the expense of real games.
I wish every Dodger would battle like Muncy does, up at the plate.
Caleb Ferguson.
That’s digging into your depth.
Ferguson, buehler, stripling, Santana
The team isn’t shy this year
Depends on your definitions:
shy:
deficient
inadequate
insufficient
scant
scanty
scarce
short
wanting
I’d add desperate….
Hope it works. But none of these guys were really in the plans for pitching in June.
“Necessity is the mother of all invention.” Plato.
“Decimation promotes ascension.” Badgocrates.
Yeah, I’m a little more optimistic.
Badger
You should check the odds on these games against the Pirates in this next series.
I only recognized one name in the Pirates rotation that we have seen before, so it is going to be interesting with all these young pitchers.
We’re favored today. Don’t know about tomorrow but I’ll give 6-5 we will be favored again.
Hopefully the FBZ will realize playing the AAAA players is not as good as giving the kids some MLB exposure. This is not 2014 anymore. Let the kids play.
I see the Dodgers picked a High School Pitcher in the draft.
I agree with the strategy, only so many pitches in an arm.
Might as well use them for the Dodgers rather than waste them for a College Team
Great arm, delivery needs work
Who gets cut from the 40 man when they call up Ferguson? Any guesses?
Conlon?
They just got him, and he is a lefty. But it does make some sense and it is the type of move FAZ makes all the time. Venditte is still on the 40 man also. There are not many moveable names there.