Jim Cella
LOS ANGELES—The Seattle Mariners tried to play “run-and-gun” baseball with the best offensive team in the majors. They might want to rethink that strategy for Game 2 on Tuesday. The Dodgers used a pair of 5-run innings and exploded past the Mariners 11-9. Los Angeles trailed 8-6 heading into the seventh but put their second 5-spot on the board and held off Seattle to record their sixth straight victory. The Dodgers are now 17-7 – the best record in all of MLB – and move three full games in front in the NL West. Seattle is on the opposite end of the win-loss spectrum as they lose for the sixth straight time. They are now 7-17 on the season which is the third worst record in the majors.
GAME RECAP: It looked like the Dodgers would turn the series opener into a rout after the second inning. LA gave up a pair of runs in the first but countered with a Mookie Betts home run to leadoff the bottom of the inning and then posted their first 5-spot in the second frame. Corey Seager did the majority of the work in the second as he pummeled a 1-1 off-speed pitch that landed 425 feet away from home plate and halfway up the pavilion in right field. His sixth homer of the year scored Betts and Beaty and staked the Dodgers to a 6-2 lead.
The Mariners unexpectedly regained the lead in third when they dropped their own Lincoln. Seattle knocked out three homers against LA starter Ross Stripling in the inning as Stripling struggled to keep the ball out of the middle part of the strike zone. Kyle Seager, Corey’s older and balder brother, matched his sibling when he deposited a 91-mph fastball into the center field seats.
The game stood at 8-6 for three more innings with each team’s bullpen doing what their starters couldn’t – put zeroes on the board. The Dodgers quieted the Mariner’s upset bid when they punched out four hits, had the bases loaded on three different occasions and scored five times to take an 11-8 lead in the seventh. Seager led off with a single to right which was followed by a Justin Turner single and a Cody Bellinger walk. AJ Pollock hit a seeing-eye single that threaded its way between Kyle Seager at third and J.P. Crawford at shortstop. Seager was the only Dodger to score as third base coach Dino Ebel elected to hold Turner at third. Ebel’s patience was rewarded when Max Muncy coaxed a 7-pitch walk which tied the game at 8-8. Joc Pederson gave LA a 9-8 lead when he grounded into a 6-4-3-shift double play and then Kiké Hernández added the insurance with a 2-run HR to left field.
The Dodgers would need the extra insurance because No.7 hitter Evan White hit a solo shot, his second of the game, to bring the final Monday Night Offensive Madness tally to 11-9. Kenley Jansen pitched a scoreless ninth inning for LA but it wasn’t without tension. His seventh saves of the year was made more dramatic when Seattle led off the inning with a bloop single and a walk. Jansen proceeded to step up his velocity, go to his slider and retired the next three batters he faced. He got Kyle Seager to whiff on three pitches, induced a foul out down the third base line and a towering fly ball to right field to end the game.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
THAT’S ALL YOU GOT?: The Dodgers remained unbeaten against the American League in 2020. LA is now 6-0 against AL squads. The Dodgers were 5-0 after sweeping the Asterisks and Angels on the road and added their first home interleague win on Monday. Los Angeles was 10-10 in interleague play last season. They are now 111-83 at Dodger Stadium against American League teams and 202-198 all-time against the AL.
OBSCURE STAT OF THE NIGHT: The win in the series opener was the first time the Dodgers have been victorious on a Monday this year. LA is now 1-2 in Monday games in 2020.
OFFENSE WINS GAMES, BUT…, BUT WE LIKE OFFENSE: The Dodgers’ offense continues to put up football-like numbers. The 11 runs on Monday marked the ninth time this season, and fourth in the last five games, they have scored at least a TD with a successful extra point. The Boys In Blue have recorded another four games where they have scored the TD but had their kicker shank the point after. That makes 15 of their 24 games with at least six runs. They continue to lead MLB in runs scored (139), home runs (46) and run differential (+62). The only defense that looks like it could hold the Dodgers to a field goal or less played in 1985 in Chicago and had Buddy Ryan as their DC.
LATE IS GREAT: Not only does the Los Angeles offense put up big numbers in games, they also do it when the game is on the line. The Dodgers won the series opener by outscoring the Mariners 5-1 in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. LA has now outscored its opponents by a combined total of 45-12 after the sixth inning of play.
HE SAID IT: “We’re relentless. You can’t give them (outs) away when its late. It’s a thing we’ve taken pride on.”—Corey Seager on the team’s mentality late in games.
STRIPLING STRUGGLE BUS: Stripling’s recent-game struggles continued in the series opener. He started the year with a crisp 7.0-inning, 1-run win against the Giants. Since then he hasn’t lasted more than 5.2 innings and has allowed at least four runs and six hits in his last three outings. Monday was his shortest stint of the season. He only lasted 3.0 innings and allowed six earned runs on eight hits and three long balls. Stripling has an 8.10 ERA and a 1.800 WHIP in his last three starts.
HE SAID IT 2: “My curve ball wasn’t great. Some tough fastballs that were too much middle of the zone. Not enough up or down.”—Ross Stripling on his struggles in the series opener.
BRO-SKI, BRO-TATO CHIP, BRO-TEIN SHAKE: The Seager brothers didn’t disappoint in the series opener. Playing against each other for the first time at the MLB level, the two combined to go 5-for-8 with 2 HR, 5 RBI and 4 RS. Older brother Kyle had more hits (3-2) but younger bro Corey had more RBI (3-2) and was part of the winning team.
HE SAID IT 2: “I’m gonna go with a push.”—Corey Seager on who he thought won the brother bet for the first game on Monday.
ALL BETTS ARE ON!: The 365-million dollar man continues to impress. Betts had another multiple-hit game, added to his long ball total and helped lead the major’s best offense to another victory. Betts went 2-for-5 on the night with a pair of RBI and two runs scored. He has hit safely in eight of the past nine games and has four multiple-hit games in his last five. During his last five games he is hitting .435 and has five HRs, 11 RBI and 9 RS – and the Dodgers are 5-0. He leads the team in hitting for the season with a .319 average (17 points higher than his career mark) and is hitting .500 with runners in scoring position. Does he come through in the clutch? How about a .385 average with 10 RBI and three HR with two outs in an inning or a .500/.500/1.083 slash line with runners in scoring position and two outs in an inning.
MR. 994: Betts’ two hits in the opener brought his career total to 994. He needs six more to join the 1,000-hit club.
10 MAKES IT 11: Turner extended his team-best hit streak with a single to center in the seventh. He has now hit safely in 11 straight games. His longest career hit streak is 16 games which came in 2017. Turner finished Monday 2-for-5 and upped his season average to .287.
YOUR BARNES DOOR IS OPEN: Don’t look now but Austin Barnes is in the ballpark of the .300-mark for the season. Barnes went 2-for-4 on Monday and has now strung together a nice 6-game hit streak. He also has four multiple-hit games in that stretch and is hitting .454 (10-for-22). The past six games have raised his average from a “get him out of the lineup” .091 to a “we can’t live without him” .273.
ON DECK: The Dodgers will look to continue their winning ways against the American League when they host the Mariners on Tuesday. The time of the game is 4:10 p.m. to allow the teams time to travel to Seattle for the final two games of the home-and-home series. Tuesday turns into “Caturday” for Los Angeles as Tony Gonsolin will make his third start of the year. He has pitched 8.2 innings in his first two starts, hasn’t allowed a run and conceded only four hits. Gonsolin, who is still looking for his first decision of the year, has a 0.966 WHIP and opposing hitters are batting .138 against the cat lover. Seattle will look to even the series behind the left arm of Marco Gonzales. Gonzales is 2-2 with a 3.97 ERA and a 0.926 WHIP in 2020. Gonzales, who is in his sixth year in MLB, has never faced the Dodgers.
