Category Archives: Games

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No-No In Mexico! 4 Pitchers Combine To No-Hit Padres

Walker Buehler threw six no-hit innings, followed by three no-hit innings from the Dodger bullpen, as the Dodgers no-hit the Padres in Mexico, winning the game by a final score of 4-0. It was the first combined no-hitter in Dodger history and the 23rd no-no for the franchise.

R H E
Dodgers 4 9 0
Padres 0  0 0

When the Dodgers recalled Buehler from Triple-A for the third time this season, they had no idea just how much he would contribute. The 23-year-old once again showed why he belongs in the Major Leagues. He pitched six innings, allowed no hits, three walks, and struck out eight Padres. He threw 93 pitches, 59 for strikes.

After the sixth inning, Dave Roberts decided to give the ball to the bullpen. It was a risky move, but it paid off. Tony Cingrani pitched the seventh, Yimi García pitched the eighth, and Adam Liberatore pitched the ninth. Liberatore finished the game in style, striking out Franchy Cordero in a 2-2 count.

The Dodgers gave Buehler and the bullpen the support they need early. Matt Kemp started the scoring in the first inning with a bloop single that landed about ten feet behind the infield. It wasn’t a pretty RBI single, but it counted. Chris Taylor scored and the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the first.

The Dodgers then scored two more runs on back-to-back home runs by Taylor and Kiké Hernández. Hernández was starting at first base against the left-handed pitching Joe Lucchesi, giving Cody Bellinger the night off. It paid off early.

Keys To The Game:

Buehler Belongs In The Bigs:

The Dodgers have been calling Walker Buehler up to the big leagues, having him pitch one game, then sending him back down to Triple-A. It’s annoying and not a wise move. Buehler belongs in the Major Leagues. He’s got the stuff for it, both mentally and physically. If you don’t believe me, watch this video.

Pitcher’s Best Friend:

Buehler got himself into some trouble in the third inning, walking back-to-back batters with one out. It looked like the Padres were on to something. Eric Hosmer was batting, but instead of getting a hit, he hit into this beautiful double play:

Up Next:

Kenta Maeda will take the mound for the Dodgers against Bryan Mitchell. Maeda has a 2-2 record with a 3.76 ERA in 6 games this year. Michell is 0-3 with a 6.07 ERA in six games. Cody Bellinger will most likely return to the lineup against the righty. The game will start at 4:10 pm PT in Monterrey, Mexico. It will be televised on SportsNet LA and FS1.

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Too Little, Too Late; Dodgers Can’t Repair Early Hole

Kenta Maeda allowed five runs (two earned) on five hits over just 2.2 innings and the Dodgers were unable to complete a comeback as the Diamondbacks beat the Dodgers by a final score of 8-7. Daniel Descalso hit a home run and drove in four runs and Nick Ahmed hit a solo home run.

R H E
 Diamondbacks 8 10 0
 Dodgers 7 11 1

The Diamondbacks took advantage of a leadoff walk in the first inning to take an early lead. After Maeda walked the leadoff man, David Peralta, Descalso then hit a fastball into left field for an RBI single. At this point, Dodgers’ radio play-by-play announcer, Charlie Steiner, informed us that the Dodgers were 0-6 when the opposition scored first. They’re now 0-7.

Chris Taylor gave Dodger fans some hope, however, in the bottom of the first. He hit a 2-1 fastball into the left-field pavilion for a home run. The homer tied the game at one. Sadly, the Dodgers were unable to score more in the first, despite a single by Cody Bellinger and Yasmani Grandal being hit by a pitch.

After throwing a 1-2-3 second inning, Maeda absolutely blew it in the third. He issued a leadoff walk to the traitor, Zack Greinke, then allowed a single to Peralta. The D-backs then gave the Dodgers a golden opportunity to get out of the inning. Maeda, however, totally messed it up. Ketel Marte hit a ball right back to Maeda. All he had to do was turn around and throw the ball to second base. Instead, he threw the ball way too far to the right of the base. Corey Seager couldn’t stay on the base and catch the ball, so the Dbacks loaded the bases.

If Maeda had succeeded in his attempt to start the double play, he would have got out of the inning after the next batter. However, he only had one out with the bases loaded when he was facing Descalso. Maeda then threw a wild pitch and Greinke scored. A few pitches later, Grandal was unable to catch another pitch, allowing Peralta to score. Descalso then hit a sacrifice fly, followed by an RBI double by Chris Owings. Jarrod Dyson then hit an RBI double. That was the end of Maeda’s leash.

Bellinger got the Dodgers within three runs with a solo homer in the bottom of the sixth with a solo homer. He ambushed a fastball from Greinke and drove it into the Dbacks’ bullpen.

The Dbacks then retaliated with two runs, courtesy of the new Dodger-killer, Daniel Descalso. Former Dodger-killer, Paul Goldschmidt, hit a two-out single against Tony Cingrani. Descalso then hit a home run halfway up the right-field pavilion, extending the Dbacks’ lead to 7-2.

The Dodgers then battled back in the bottom of the seventh inning, with back-to-back-to-back RBI singles by Taylor, Seager, and Matt Kemp. This brought the Dodgers within two runs of the Dbacks.

As you may have already figured out, Friday the 13th was a very unlucky day for the Dodgers. In the eighth inning, Nick Ahmed hit a solo home run to extend the Dbacks’ lead to 8-5. The ball went right over the glove of Kemp, who crashed into the wall in his attempt to save the Dodgers.

The Dodgers showed they had a little fight left in them in the eighth inning. They loaded the bases with one out, then Chase Utley hit one of the luckiest singles I’ve ever seen. The ball appeared to be a double-play ball, but it hit second base and bounced into left field. Two runs scored and the Dodgers were within a run. Taylor then grounded into a double play to kill the Dodgers’ hopes.

Keys To The Game:

Leadoff Walks Kill:

Kenta Maeda issued two leadoff walks and they both scored. When a pitcher walks the leadoff man of an inning, he is giving the opponent a free runner on first base to begin the inning. Teams usually are able to take advantage of this.

A Costly Error:

Kenta Maeda had an opportunity to avoid a disastrous third inning, but he failed. With no outs, Ketel Marte hit a comebacker to him. Maeda could have thrown to third to get the lead runner out. Instead, he threw to second. There is nothing wrong with throwing to second. In fact, he should have had a double play. But his throw was only in the general area around second base and the only way Seager to catch the ball was to come off the base. This loaded the bases with no outs.

Don’t Backhand the Ball:

My coach is always telling my team’s catcher, don’t backhand balls in the dirt. Catchers need to get their bodies in front of balls in the dirt to keep them from getting away. In the third inning, Yasmani Grandal tried to backhand a ball in the dirt. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the ball got away from him. This gave the Dbacks a run.

Up Next:

Rich Hill will try to ty the series at one game apiece tonight at Dodger Stadium. He will be opposed by Taijuan Walker. In order for the Dodgers to have a chance at winning, Hill needs to pitch a scoreless first inning. The game will begin at 6:10 pm and it will be televised on SportsNet LA.

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Farmer Breaks Dodgers’ Losing Streak In Tenth Inning

Kyle Farmer hit a go-ahead RBI double in the tenth inning, leading the Dodgers to a 2-1 victory over the Giants in San Francisco. The Dodgers snapped their four-game losing streak as Clayton Kershaw pitched seven innings of one-run ball, allowing six hits and striking out six batters.

R H E
 Dodgers 2 10 0
 Giants 1  8 0

Kyle Farmer’s pinch-hit go-ahead RBI double was exactly what the Dodgers needed to beat the Giants before flying back to Los Angeles. With runners on first and second and two outs in the top of the tenth inning, Pierce Johnson threw Farmer a fastball on the outer edge of the plate. Instead of trying to pull the ball over the left field fence, Farmer used an inside-out approach to hit the ball to the base of the wall in right field. Cody Bellinger crossed home plate and the Dodgers took a 2-1 lead.

It was Farmer’s second time to hit an extra-inning RBI double against the Giants. His first one came in his Major League debut. This one came at a time when the Dodgers desperately needed a win.

“In his short time here, he’s come up with big hits for us,” Dave Roberts said of Farmer. “I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, but the kid likes to be in that spot, doesn’t scare off. Big for his confidence and our whole ballclub.”

After the Dodgers used every member of their bullpen on Saturday night, they desperately needed a long start from their ace, Clayton Kershaw. The southpaw did not disappoint, pitched seven-plus innings and surrendering only one run on six hits with six strikeouts. Kershaw was aided by his defense, who made five spectacular plays to assist their ace.

The Dodgers, who scored two runs in the game, provided only one run of support while Kershaw was pitching. In the fourth inning, Matt Kemp hit an RBI single into right-center field to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. The pitch was on the outer half of the plate and Kemp drove it the other way for the hit. It was Kemp’s second single in a game where he went 2-3 with an RBI.

After struggling in his first two appearances this year, Kenley Jansen was able to lack down the save by striking out Brandon Belt in the bottom of the tenth inning. Jansen struck out three of the four batters he faced, surrendering a two-out single to Hunter Pence before locking down the save.

Keys To The Game:

Defense:

Chris Taylor has been struggling at the plate so far this year, but his glove is hot. In the third inning, Kelby Tomlinson hit a line drive to right-center field, that, if it had got past Taylor, would have been a double or possibly a triple. Taylor, however, dove and made a terrific catch that Statcast awarded four stars.

Yasiel Puig, along with terrible baserunning by Gorkys Hernández, helped to get Kershaw out of a little bit of trouble in the sixth inning. The Giants had runners on first and second with one out when Joe Panik hit a line drive to right field. After hesitating a little, Puig made the catch then alertly fired the ball back to the infield where the Dodgers stepped on second base to double up Hernández.

Joc Pederson made a very tough play in left field in the seventh inning to rob Andrew McCutchen of a base hit. McCutchen hit a solid line drive to left, but Pederson ran forward and dove for the ball. He managed to make the catch and hold onto the ball when he hit the ground. Once again, Kershaw appreciated the help from his team.

Up Next:

The Dodgers have a scheduled off-day on Monday before opening a two-game series against the Oakland A’s. Hyun-Jin Ryu is expected to get the start for the Dodgers, pushing back Alex Wood‘s start because of food poisoning. Cody Bellinger will be back in the lineup after sitting out most of Sunday’s game due to food poisoning. The game will start at 7:10 pm PT and can be watched on TV on SportsNet LA. The game will also be broadcasted on AM 570 LA Sports.

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Puig Lights Spark; Bats Explode; Dodgers Win 9-0

Yasiel Puig provided the spark the Dodgers offense needed on Sunday night, going 3-4 at the plate with one RBI and two runs scored, leading the Dodgers to a 9-0 victory over the Giants. Cody Bellinger collected his first hit of the 2018 season when he hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning. Rich Hill pitched six shutout innings and allowed five hits and three walks with five strikeouts in the win.

R H E
 Giants 0 6 0
 Dodgers 9  13 0

Ever since the Dodgers lost Justin Turner, it has seemed like the Dodgers have been missing both a right-handed bat and a leader. But on Sunday night, Puig stepped up as both. The box score only shows half of what he did. In fact, his leadership got the Dodgers their first run.

Corey Seager was on second base and Puig was on first with one out and Bellinger at the plate in the fourth inning. Bellinger hit a fly ball fairly deep into left field, where Hunter Pence made the catch. Seager advanced to third and the Giants put Puig in a rundown. While in the rundown, Puig directed Seager to score, then he dove into first safely. Seager scored and the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead. Click here to watch the video.

The Dodgers added to their lead with a four-run sixth inning. Puig started it again with an RBI double into right-center field. Yasmani Grandal then added to the lead with a hard-hit RBI single down the left field line. Puig scored and the Dodgers took a 3-0 lead. Bellinger then came to the plate with one out and he hit a ball high in the air to left field. The ball bounced off the top of the wall and into the bleachers for a two-run home run. This homer was the first hit for Bellinger this year and the first home run for the Dodgers.

Rich Hill continued the trend of solid Dodger pitching with six scoreless innings. Both his curveball and fastball seemed to be working to keep the Giants off balance. I’m not going to say it was an easy start. Hill had to escape bases-loaded jams in the third and fourth innings.

Keys To The Game:

Puig’s Glove:

Yasiel Puig saved Rich Hill’s bacon with a sliding catch in the sixth inning. The Giants had a runner on third base when Brandon Belt hit a line drive into right field. Puig got a good jump on it, then slid and caught it to end the inning and save Hill’s scoreless outing. Keep in mind that Puig did this in a 1-0 game.

Up Next:

The Dodgers will travel to Arizona to take on the Diamondbacks for the first time this year. Hyun-Jin Ryu will take the mound against Taijuan Walker. Ryu has a 3-3 record with a 3.77 ERA in 10 starts against the D-backs. It will be interesting to see how the new humidifier at Chase Field will affect the ball. Walker went 1-1 with a 4.32 ERA in five starts this spring. The last time the Dodgers faced Walker was game one of the NLDS, where he did last very long. The game will start at 6:40 pm PT and will be televised on SportsNet LA. You can also listen to the game on AM 570 LA Sports.

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Another Panik Attack; Dodgers Unable To Win Behind Wood

This has to be the worst possible way to start a season. The Dodgers lost opening day 1-0, then they lost their next game by the same score. Joe Panik hit a solo home run for the second game in a row, this time off Kenley Jansen in the ninth inning. Alex Wood pitched eight innings of one-hit ball, but the Dodgers were unable to score as they lost 1-0 for the second game in a row.

R H E
 Giants 1 2 0
 Dodgers 0 1 4

Joe Panik defeated the Dodgers once again, homering off of the best reliever in all of baseball, Kenley Jansen. Panik was leading off the ninth inning in a 0-0 tie when Jansen threw a cutter down in the inner half of the plate. Panik did not hesitate to drive the ball into the first row of bleachers in the right field pavilion.

The Dodgers forced Jansen to pitch in a scoreless game instead of a save situation by not scoring any runs. In fact, the only Dodgers hit was a bloop single by Chris Taylor in the seventh inning. Immediately after Taylor’s single, Corey Seager grounded into a double play. Because of this, the Giants ended up facing the minimum amount of Dodger batters.

Cueto and Wood battled throughout their starts, both of them pitching really well. Wood won the battle, going eight innings, one more than Cueto. However, you need runs to win the game. And that is something that neither starting pitcher received.

Wood had to pitch from the stretch in multiple innings, due to errors made by his defense. Logan Forsythe made three errors at third base. One was a throwing error, and two were fielding errors. Seager also made a fielding error. Wood did manage to avoid giving up any runs in the innings where he received no help from his defense, but the damage was done anyways.

Keys To The Game:

Errors:

Even though no one who reached on an error scored yesterday, the errors still affected the game. Every time a batter reaches base on an error, he reaches when he should be out. This allows more men to come to the plate in that inning. If the Dodgers hadn’t made any errors in yesterday’s game, Joe Panik would never have come up to bat in the ninth inning. If he hadn’t come up to bat, he wouldn’t have hit the home run.

Missing His Spot:

It is extremely important for a pitcher to hit the target the catcher gives him. In the ninth inning, Kenley Jansen was pitching against Joe Panik when he missed the target Yasmani Grandal gave him. The target was on the inner half of the plate in the middle of the zone. Jansen, however, threw the ball on the inner half at the very bottom of the zone. Take a look at what happened:

Tomorrow’s Game:

Kenta Maeda and Derek Holland will face off in game three of the four-game series between the Dodgers and Giants. Maeda is hoping to earn his spot in the starting rotation for good this year after being sent to the bullpen during the postseason. Holland finished 2017 with a 7-14 record and a 6.20 ERA in 29 games with the White Sox. Holland had a 4.05 ERA this spring. The game will start at 6:10 pm PT and will be televised on SportsNet LA. The game will also be broadcasted on AM 570 LA Sports.

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Bats Go Silent As Dodgers Drop Opener Behind Kershaw

Clayton Kershaw pitched well in his eighth straight opening day start, allowing one run on eight hits in the Dodgers’ tough 1-0 loss to the Giants on opening day. Joe Panik‘s solo home run off Kershaw proved to be the only run of the game. The Dodgers bats made almost no noise against Giants pitching on Thursday.

Clayton Kershaw did not even pitch badly in his first start of the season. The Giants got a lot of lucky — or maybe I should say unlucky — hits against the Dodgers’ ace. The Giants only had two solid hits the whole game: Panik’s home run and a double by Hunter Pence.

So if Kershaw’s pitching wasn’t the problem, what was? The Dodgers’ (lack of) hitting. Kershaw had a better day at the plate than most of the Dodgers’ batters. Kershaw recorded two of the Dodgers’ six hits. The other hits went to Yasmani Grandal (2), Matt Kemp (1), and Chase Utley (1). The Dodgers went 0-5 with runners in scoring position, clearly giving the Giants the win.

Since the Dodgers lost the season opener, does this mean the season is hopeless? Absolutely not. A baseball season lasts 162 games spread over nearly 180 days. Although the season did not start well, I still expect the Dodgers to do well. One bad day out of seven months will not ruin the season. The Dodgers should be able to bounce back tomorrow.

Keys To The Game:

Beating Themselves

The Giants’ pitching is really not as dominant as the Dodgers made them look. The Dodgers struck out ten times in yesterday’s game, including in clutch situations. They also hit into two doubles plays. They also left a lot of runners on base.

Kershaw’s Strong Game:

Clayton Kershaw was the most successful Dodger at the plate during yesterday’s game. He went 2-2, hitting two singles. This put runners on base twice for Chris Taylor, who was unable to cash in. Even though Kershaw was given the loss, he pitched a quality start (at least six innings with three runs or fewer allowed).

Tomorrow’s Game:

Alex Wood and Johnny Cueto will square off in the second game of the 2018 season. Wood went 2-1 with a 3.63 ERA in 17.1 spring training innings. Cueto went 2-1 with a 4.20 ERA this spring. Wood is coming off a very impressive 2017 season. He went 16-3 with a 2.72 ERA in 27 games. The game will start at 7:10 pm PT and will be televised on SportsNet LA and KTLA. The game will also be broadcasted on AM 570 LA Sports.

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