Corey Seager scorched a clutch two out double down the left field line with two outs in the bottom of the 9th to score the winning run in a 5-4 victory. The hit came with runners on and was just out of reach of the diving Scooter Gennett of the Reds. The hit also saved the bullpen from a blown 4-1 lead. It was also Corey Seager’s first ever walk off hit.
Alex Wood made his return to the Dodgers on the mound and was looking to keep his scoreless streak alive. Brandon Morrow was optioned to Triple AAA to make room for Wood. Asher Wojciechowski was on the mound for the Reds. The Dodgers greeted him quickly in the first inning. Chase Utley started with a single after Alex Wood breezed through the first.
Seager then doubled to deep left to score in Utley. Seager advanced to third on a Chris Taylor fly-out. Adrian Gonzalez hit a sacrifice fly to score in Seager. Cody Bellinger then hit a solo shot for his 13th homer to make the score 3-0 after one. Bellinger leads the team in home runs. Finally in the top of the third Jose Peraza singled in a run for the Reds to stop the scoreless streak at 27 1/3. The Dodgers still led 3-1.
Yasiel Puig doubled in the bottom of the fifth. Chase Utley then doubled him in to make the score 4-1. In the top of the sixth, Alex Wood got into some trouble and was replaced by Josh Fields. Fields then proceeded to give up a three run shot to Devin Mesoraco to tie the score at 4. Gennett then followed with a deep shot to center field that Chris Taylor flagged down against the wall. Earlier in the inning Taylor also caught a ball against the wall on a deep drive by Joey Votto.
In the top of the ninth Kenley Jansen came in to the game and extended his own little streak of 42 strikeouts and no walks in 25⅓ innings. He also picked up the win and is 4-0 on the season. In the bottom of the ninth Yasiel Puig and Justin Turner both hit singles to set up the Seager game winning hit. Great game for Seager and Puig who have been struggling with the bats.
The Dodgers will go for the sweep tomorrow with Hyun-Jin Ryu on the mound against Tim Adleman.
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.
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It was nice to see Seager get some recognition, because everyone assumes he will do well.
It had to be hard for him to hit at the top of the order, when Turner was out, because he didn’t have much protection.
Sometimes I wonder if we are getting the most out of Corey hitting second, but I understand that he will get more at bats, then anyone but the lead off hitter, and that is why he is hitting second.
I still think we should be hitting better, against the Red’s starting pitching.
That was the third HR that Fields has given up in the last two weeks, so he needs to do better.
But Wood looked good last night, but he did look tired in the inning he was pulled.
Seager would be more productive in the 2 hole if we had a .380 OBP leadoff guy. That has been something that we haven’t really had for a long time. That said, whoever is hitting third in our lineup will likely be the player the computer says is the best fit for today’s pitcher, and should be good enough to protect Seager. The man is hitting third for crying out loud. That’s supposed to be your best hitter. Or has that changed?
I heard Orel talking about the number of different lineups the Dodgers have used this year and it was somewhere near 90%. After this much time, I don’t believe Roberts is using a hunch when puts his lineup together. He’s using the numbers crunched by HAL.
Badger
But Turner was out and he is our best hitter now, that Agone is hurting.
But I believe sabers think you should bat your best hitter second.
And is why Trout bats second, and most of the best hitters in baseball, bat second.
And there reasoning is that the second hitter will get the most at bats, except for the lead off hitter.
And it also may be second, because like you said, you have a lead off hitter, that is getting on more then not, so that also gives them RBI chances too.
But I still think it should be your best hitter hitting third, and Turner does hit better third, then fourth, for some reason.
And actually Taylor has had a pretty good OBA.
But as much as they do things about numbers, there platoon team is not doing that well lately.
And some of our regular players play with that platoon team.
Our platoon team did well early last year too, but the rest of the season, they didn’t do much.
Like with Kike, if he doesn’t get many fastballs, he looks bad.
And the pitchers have adjusted on him, so he has not been hitting that well..
And I bet it was a fastball he hit out, the other day.
Because early in that game he didn’t get even one fastball.
Saber dudes might indeed like your best hitter second. It isn’t because of more at bats. Certainly not in this team with all the platoons. Unless the #2 guy makes the last out of the game he gets the same number of at bats as #3.
Historically you set your lineup to score in the first. 1. High obp guy with speed. 2. Left handed line drive contact hitter 3. Best average guy to knock somebody in or get on for 4. Clean up hitter. But that’s old school. I don’t know what the ’17 algorithms say.
Badger
I am talking about saber metrics in general, and it is about the player getting more at bats.
Nice comeback win. Badger, I think they commented that Roberts has used 57 different line ups this year. 57! That’s unreal. Fields left that fastball right in the whack me zone. Then almost gave up a go ahead homer to the next hitter. But he pitched a clean 7th inning, so a little redemption. I could not help but think, Morrow would have looked good coming in about then. Joc and Calhoun homered again last night. Joc 1-2 with 2 ribbies as the DH. Roberts said he would be down there at least a week if not 2. Kenley is becoming Phil Regan, he just swoops in and gets wins. Vulture II.
Joc in the lineup, been there 2 games, but may stay there 2 weeks? I find that interesting. Pederson, Sheffield and ? (Calhoun?) for Archer/Cole.
Badger
The ball fly out of Round Rock.
They are not playing in Round Rock, they are playing in OKC. Calhoun has HR’s on back to back days too.
That is what Roberts said. It is for 2 reasons, 1. They want to make sure he is over the concussion symptoms, and 2. They want him to work on making contact and make sure his swing is where it needs to be. He went 1-4 in todays game with an RBI. So he is 3-9 overall with 2 HR’s and 4 RBI’s.
Yeah, I think about Morrow as soon as the game went to the bullpen. But it’s good we pulled it out at the end.
I hope Seager and Turner get hot soon. Forsythe really needs to heat up soon. I dropped Bellinger from my fantasy team today. He needs to make an adjustment or two to get ahead of his they’re pitching to him now. He can hit the mistakes, but I think he’s naturally better hitter than Joc and Puig.
YF
I was thinking about you when Bellinger hit that second one out.
Out of here for today. Errands to run, game to watch, people to see….going to be a busy one. Be well all….
Dodgers just decided it was better to leave Enrique Hernandez’s bat in the game than Adrian Gonzalez’s bat. Gonzalez’s slugging pct: .304.
What’s your timetable, Badger?
Summer Bluto. June 21st.
You are a patient person.
Let’s hope he gets it together by then.
Bluto
Agone went out because he hurt his back!
Kike’s at bat, made that game end up like it did!
Kike’s at bat, helped Utley to have a good at bat, and it also helped Corey to hit that ball out!
Because Kike’s at bat, allowed both Utley and Corey to see all of the pitches that pitcher had..
Summer starts Wednesday for me, my birthday has always been my start of summer!
Wow, what an inning. What an at bat by Kike!!
That was fun.
If AGon has a bad back, DL him and put Bellinger at first base and figure your platoon options in left field. Maybe Gutierrez and Verdugo could share it. Whatever. Watching AGon has become AGonizing.
I rarely post, but I have to give kudos for AGONIZING.