Justin Turner returned to help the Dodgers struggling offense against a Reds team that had won four straight. Rich Hill was on the mound for the Dodgers trying to work his kinks. The Reds had left handed pitcher Amir Garrett on the mound to try and give the Dodgers trouble.
In the bottom of the First, Turner made his presence immediately by hitting a two run moon shot which traveled 371 feet which gave the Blue a 2-0 lead. In the top of 2nd inning former Dodger Jose Peraza singled in a run to cut the lead in half. Rich Hill the got Tucker Barnhart ground into a double play to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 2nd Austin Barnes hit a line drive that hit Reds pitcher Garrett and forced him to leave the game. The Dodgers then scored in the bottom of the third when Barnes hit an infield single with the bases loaded that scored run and then a throwing error by the Reds allowed the Dodgers to score another run to take a 4-1 lead. In the bottom of the fourth Franklin Gutierrez singled in two runs to pretty much put the game away.
Rich Hill looked a lot better tonight and pitched five solid innings to preserve his blister issues. Prior to the game the Dodgers optioned Brett Eibner to the minors to make room for Turner. The Dodgers also put Sergio Romo on the Dl and activated Luis Avilan. The big surprise of the game was when Kenta Maeda came in out of the bullpen in the top of the sixth inning. This will be Maeda’s new role for now. The Dodgers did the same thing with Ryu recently to get him on track.
Maeda pitched four innings and gave up three hits and one run in the ninth inning with a solo shot by Joey Votto. Maeda looked really good out their, hopefully this can get him turned around. Alex Wood will come off the DL for tomorrows game. Joc Pederson in his rehab stint hit a homerun. Also the Diamondbacks lost so the Dodgers with the win move into 2nd place.
Kike Hernandez hit a solo shot in the bottom of the eigth to finish the scoring for the Dodgers. The Dodgers prevailed 7-2. Rich Hill went to 3-2 and has an era of 3.77. Tomorrow we will see if Alex Wood can extend his inning scoreless streak.
James Moya
Hi I’m James Moya. I am an avid Dodgers fan. I graduated Cal State Fullerton with a Bachelors in Communications. I used to freelance at the San Bernardino Sun. I’m excited about this opportunity to write for LA Dodger Report to gain experience. I’m a straight shooter on my opinions and I hope to get some good conversations going. My dream has always been to report on the Dodgers because Baseball is the National Past-time. I hope you enjoy the ride with me.
Follow Me:
I like this role for Maeda. I also like it for Ryu. Toss of the coin. However, in this game, when the 9th inning came around, I said to myself “pull Maeda and use Jansen”. This is the smart move as we all know that Maeda often breaks down within 4-5 innings. Why push him? He pitched well.
If Kershaw, Hill, McCarthy, Wood, & ??, an unnamed pitcher, who used to be called Urias, but might be a different pitcher altogether, is inserted into the rotation, then Ryu and Maeda can both fire out of the bullpen. To my mind, this makes our long relievers top tier and allows rest from game to game. Whadda you people think?
Good to see Turner back.
I agree Jeff. In fact, I think all our starters except Kershaw are long relievers. Mix it up. Let them throw 50-60 pitches every 3-4 days. Today? Wood, Stripling, Jansen. Tomorrow? McCarthy, Ryu, Baez. (Throw Fields, Morrow and the other guys in there for a few selected outs now and then too.) Off Monday, tee it up again with Kershaw going as long as he demands to go and start the wheel turning again mid week. Don’t push these marshmallows past 5 innings or 80 pitches. Hell, it took Hill 98 pitches to go 5. That’s ridiculous. Since W’s mean nothing to saberdudes, don’t do that to the old guy. We have depth, right? Use it.
Badger
I agree with saberdudes, about pitcher’s wins.
Because a pitcher’s run support, or lack of run support, determines if a pitcher gets a win.
Like Jeff said, Maeda was the bright spot about that game last night, as well as Gutierrez, who had two hits, and hit in two runs, with one of his two hits.
And of course, Turner being back and hitting that HR, was one of the highlights of the game last night, too.
I must admit that that game was kind of boring to me, because I expect more from our offense, against the Reds pitching.
And Hill has not been close to the pitcher he was last year, so he has been a big disappointment, to me.
Because he doesn’t have control, let alone command, when he has pitched this year.
He should at least, have better command of his fastball by now, but he continues to rush his throws up there, and it seems like his fastball is almost always, a little to high, and just out of the strike zone, every time he throws it.
Maybe Hill should slow down when he is pitching, and not rush every pitch he throws, when he doesn’t have control of his pitches.
Because even when he gets two strikes early in his counts, he doesn’t finish hitters off, early in his counts.
His counts seem to always go to full, and that along with hitters easily fouling off his pitches, is why his pitch count always goes up to high, early in games.
Hill is 37 years old. He has shown only flashes of brilliance. It was 10 years ago he threw like a bonafide starter – 195 innings. Since then he’s been a lot less than end of rotation. In fact, with the exception of the 110 last year, (never trust a contract year) his IP looks more like that of a LOOGY.
Badger
I know a contract year might motivate some players to work harder, and to do better.
But it isn’t that I think Hill isn’t trying to be better, and not putting out the same effort as he was last year, it is that he just doesn’t have the same feel with the ball, that he had last year.
He looks like a #5 to me. If he can continue giving 5 innings until October, he earns his $ this year. I think he sees another couple trips to the revolving DL, just for the rest. He’s working really hard out there.
Dodgers offense:
9th in runs
18th in BA
10th in OBP
20th in Slg. %
We need more better platoons.
He looks like #2 to me, and I do not mean in the rotation. This guys signing was a blunder from the get go. Of course the FAZMANIACS love it.
Better hitters would be nice. Of course the stat geeks will sit there and spin the numbers in a positive light and point out that the Dodgers are 11 games over 500. So they must be doing something right. I do not think a team full of guys hitting around .250 is ever going to scare anyone. Unless of course their pitchers are mowing down the opposition. Maybe it is just me. I am used to seeing guys out there everyday who play 90 % of the games and can actually hit the ball.
It is painful to watch Rich Hill pitch. He breezed through the first inning and after that, it was a chore. He looked like he was in pain almost every pitch. He was talking to himself and cursing. What ever magic he had last year in Oakland and a couple of starts for the Dodgers is definitely gone. He had rhythm and a smooth delivery in the 1st, and after that he was all over the place. It was good to see Justin back in there, and nice to see him power one out. Barnes literally and figuratively knocked the Reds starter out of the game with that blistering shot back through the box. Pederson, SVS, and Calhoun went back to back to back last night at OKC. Nice relief job by Maeda……
Another roster move to be made today so Wood can come off the DL. It gets a little tougher each time they do it. Romo already on DL, so who goes? They already have a short bench, so it has to be a pitcher. They will lose Morrow if they send him down because his contract stipulated being in the majors by June 1st. Hatcher does not have options, Avilan just came off the DL. So the list really gets narrowed down. Fields, or Dayton?
And the Rocks keep rolling, up 2-0 after one in Chi-town. Since the Warriors had their butts handed to them last night, guess all that greatest team in NBA history crap will stop.