Jim Cella
LOS ANGELES—The best offense in MLB put up another NFL number on Sunday. The Dodgers scored a TD, and added a 2-point conversion, while the defense held the Angels to a field goal. The Dodgers mashed four homers, including one in the first MLB at-bat for Keibert Ruiz, and rolled over the Angels 8-3 to sweep the 3-game series. The win extends the Dodgers’ season-best win streak to five games and ups their 2020 record to 16-7 – tied for the most wins in MLB and most in the NL. The Angels lose for the fourth straight game and stay in the AL West basement with a 7-15 mark.
GAME RECAP: The Angels had a ray of hope at the start of the series finale. The grabbed the early lead when catcher Max Stassi scored Shohei Ohtani from second on a bloop hit to left in the second inning. That game took an abrupt 180-degree turn in the next two Dodgers’ at-bats. LAD put up a TD with an extra point on three runs in the third and four in the fourth. The majority of the scoring spree came courtesy of the long ball. Ruiz started the home run derby on his very first MLB at-bat. He was able to turn on a 1-1 fastball and launch the ball 395 feet into the right field stands. When the 3-homer barrage was done, LA had driven in six of the seven runs via the long ball. Max Muncy gave the Dodgers the lead for good when he cranked out a 2-run shot with one out in the third. Muncy’s first home run in eight games plated Mookie Betts who singled and then stole second. The big shot of the fourth came from the bat of Corey Seager. Seager’s 404-foot, no-doubter to right scored Matt Beaty and Betts after Betts brought home Kiké Hernández with a boring single.
The teams would alternate solo HRs to bring the final score to 8-3. Anthony Rendon trimmed the Dodgers’ lead to 7-2 when he hit his 1-run blast in bottom of the fourth. Beaty returned the favor with his second homer of the year in the sixth. The Angles then closed the scoresheet when Brian Goodwin went deep against Scott Alexander.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
WELCOME TO THE CLUB KID: Ruiz became the seventh Dodger to hit a home run in their very first MLB at-bat. He became the first to do it since the infamous Garey Ingram on May 19, 1994.
THEY SAID IT: “Baseball is easy.”—The Dodgers’ bench to Keibert Ruz when he returned to the dugout after his first career HR. That was followed by a chorus of, “it’s all downhill from here.”
HE SAID IT: “Mi papa”—Keibert Ruiz when asked who he was going to give the home run ball to.
SWEEP STUFF: The three straight wins at Angel Stadium marks the second season sweep of the year for the Dodgers (they swept the Asterisks in a 2-game set on July 28-29). They had 14 series’ sweeps in 2019.
DO WE HAVE TO PLAY AT DODGER STADIUM?: The victory on Sunday also continued the Dodgers’ road success in 2020. LA has played 12 games away from Dodger Stadium and boasts an MLB best 10-2 record. LA will return home on Monday where they have a pedestrian 6-5 mark this year.
OBSCURE STAT OF THE DAY: The Dodgers are now 6-1 in the last game of a series this season.
RED FIRE: Dustin May showed his fiery side on Sunday. Unfortunately, his most heated moments came as he was walking off the mound between innings and showing displeasure with his command. May went 4.1 innings, allowed two earned runs and tied a season high for hits allowed with seven. Although he allowed seven base knocks, several were of the “bloop” or seeing-eye” category. The biggest problem for May in his fifth start of the year was the inability to throw an “out” pitch. He went deep into the count with several batters which ran his pitch count up and he finished with a season-high 83 pitches. May had 10 batters face at least five pitches in an at-bat and he tossed 17 pitches to, almost-Dodger, Luis Rengifo in two at-bats.
HE SAID IT 2: “Location wasn’t there.”—Dustin May on his outing on Sunday.
BIG “D” – DEFENSE: The Dodgers’ defense continues to be the unsung hero of the year. The Dodgers didn’t commit an error on Sunday and made only one miscue in the 3-game series at Angel Stadium. The Dodger D has only made one error in the last five games and has posted 16 error-free games in the first 23 of the year. They are 11-5 when they don’t make a miscue in a game. The Dodgers have only committed six errors on the year which is tied for the third fewest in MLB. They have a .991 fielding percentage which is tops in the NL.
SAID IT 3: HE “It doesn’t come up in the box score. The defense today came up big.”—Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts on the play of the defense on Sunday when they made several key plays to stop rallies.
BLUE DYNAMITE OFFENSE: The Dodgers’ offense is really good. And they are just starting to find their rhythm after an abbreviated summer training schedule. Los Angeles leads all of MLB in runs scored, run differential, home runs, RBI and total bases. The Boys in Blue have scored 128 runs, own a +60 run differential, gone deep 43 times, recorded 125 RBI and have amassed 365 total bases. All this with sub-par seasons from Cody Bellinger and Muncy.
HIT PARADE: The Dodgers had 10 hits on Sunday which marks the third time in the last four games that LA has put up a double-digit hit total. They have at least 10 hits in seven games this year and are 7-0 in those games.
A TOUGH TOP 2: Betts and Seager form a tough tandem at the top of the batting order. Both players had multiple-hit games on Sunday and were a combined 4-for-9 with 4 RBI and 3 RS. Betts was 2-for-5 from the leadoff spot and Seager went 2-for-4 at No.2. Betts is hitting .314 with a 1.035 OPS in 2020 while Seager is at .294 with a .916 OPS. The Dodgers are now 4-0 with the Betts/Seager combo at the No.1 and No.2 spots in the order.
MR. 992: Betts keeps getting closer to the 1,000-hit marker. His two base knocks on Sunday brought his career total to 992. He needs eight more to join teammate Justin Turner as recent members of the 1,000-hit club. Betts has played in MLB 816 games while Turner is at 1,094.
ON DECK: The Dodgers will stay in the AL West cellar when they square off against the Seattle Mariners for a home-and-home, 4-game series. The Mariners are 7-16 on the year and have lost five straight. LA will host Seattle in the opener on Monday at 6:40 p.m. Ross Stripling will put his 3-1 record on the line in Game 1. He is coming off his shortest outing of the year when he went 4.2 innings and got the loss against the Padres on Tuesday. Stripling has never faced the Mariners and owns a 13-9 record with a 3.07 ERA and a 1.153 WHIP in his 60 appearances at Dodger Stadium. LA will go up against righthander Justin Dunn in Game 1. Dunn, who was drafted by the Dodgers in 2013 but didn’t sign with the club, has only pitched 32.2 innings in the majors. He is 1-1 with a 4.85 ERA and a 1.615 WHIP in 2020. The Dodgers are scheduled to follow Stripling with Tony Gonsolin on Tuesday.
