Jim Cella
LOS ANGELES—On Monday, the Dodgers showed off their league-leading offense in an 11-9 shootout win over the Seattle Mariners. On Tuesday, Los Angeles got to highlight the major’s best pitching staff as they edged Seattle 2-1. Red-hot Austin Barnes scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth when he walked, stole second and came home on a Corey Seager 2-out single. Barnes scored both of the Dodgers’ run to lead the team to its seventh straight victory. Los Angeles is now a MLB best 18-7 on the year and enjoys a 4-game lead in the NL West. The Mariners continue to trend in the opposite direction. They lose for the seventh straight game and fall deeper into the AL West basement.
GAME RECAP: The 20-run game on Monday was a showcase for the offensive talent on both teams but Tuesday turned into a pitcher’s duel between starters Tony Gonsolin and Marco Gonzales. The two combined to throw 12.0 scoreless innings and only allowed four hits through the first five innings of play. Neither pitcher allowed a base hit until the bottom of the third when Barnes broke up the combined no-hitter with a 2-out single to center field.
The Dodgers broke on top first when they scored a single run in the sixth. Barnes hit a “swinging bunt” down the third base line that forced Gonzales to reach far to his right. He picked up the squib hit and had to hurry his throw but it sailed high and Barnes was awarded the infield single. He advanced to second on a ground out from Seager and scored on another 2-out clutch hit from Justin Turner.
Seattle would return the 1-run favor when they tied the game in the top of the seventh. Jake McGee replaced Gonslin after 6.0 scoreless innings and got into immediate trouble by issuing a leadoff walk to rookie sensation Kyle Lewis. Kyle Seager then doubled off the top of the wall in right field to put runners on second and third with no one out. McGee got a crucial strikeout and was taken out in favor of Scott Alexander. Seattle tied the game on a weak ground ball out to third base which allowed Lewis to score. Alexander kept the game deadlocked at 1-1 when he fanned Shed Long Jr. to end the inning.
The game appeared to be heading for extra innings as each pitching staff refused to give up any ground. The Dodgers poached the win with two outs in the eighth. Barnes walked with one out and then stole second on a 2-2 pitch with two outs. His uncontested steal set up the game-winning run two pitches later. Seager pulled an off-speed pitch that went to the right of the shift on the right side of the infield. Barnes, who was running on the crack of the bat, easily beat the throw home from right fielder Dylan Moore.
Blake Treinen finished off the 3-hitter for the Dodgers’ staff. He went the final 1.2 innings and retired all five batters he faced to record his second win of the season.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
SUCCESSFUL SEVEN: The Dodger’s 7-game win streak is their longest of the year and tied for second longest streak of any team in MLB in 2020 (Oakland – 9). The 7-game victory string also matches the longest win streak of the 2019 season when they won the final seven games of the regular season.
OBSCURE STATS OF THE DAY: Los Angeles is now 3-4 in 1-run games in 2020. They were 27-22 in games decided by a single score in 2019. The Dodgers are 8-4 when they score first.
NO LONG BALL NEEDED: Tuesday’s game snapped a streak of five games with a home run for the Dodgers. It was only the fifth time all year that they haven’t gone yard. LA is now 2-3 in games without an HR. They continue to lead MLB with 46 dingers.
CAT-MAN-DO: Gonsolin’s gem extended his scoreless streak for the season. He has now pitched 14.1 innings without conceding a run. He has the most innings pitched of any pitcher in MLB with a 0.00 ERA. Gonsolin’s 6.0 innings and 84 pitches are the most of any of his three starts this year. He only allowed a pair of hits on Tuesday and didn’t walk a batter. Gonsolin has a paltry 0.55 WHIP this year and opposing batters are hitting only .125 against the cat lover. Not bad for a pitcher who didn’t start the year on the active roster.
HE SAID IT: “That change-up’s special. His fastball – he humped up in those last couple of innings to throw 98 (mph). He’s got four quality pitches and he knows how to compete.”—Austin Barnes when talking to Alanna Rizzo on what has made Tony Gonsolin successful in 2020.
SAME STORY, DIFFERENT YEAR: The 1-run outing dropped Los Angeles’ season ERA to 2.64. That leads the majors this year. Last season the Dodgers’ staff finished with a MLB best 3.37 ERA and they were tops in the NL in 2018 and 2017 with identical 3.38 marks.
2-OUT TEAM TERRIFIC: The Dodgers scored both runs on Tuesday with two outs in an inning. Los Angeles is hitting .326 with two outs and runners in scoring position which is tops in the majors. They are also hitting .275 overall with two outs in an inning. That is the best mark in the NL and fourth best in MLB.
BARNES IS BALLIN’: Can you name the three Dodger players who are hitting above .300 this year? Blue fans could easily rattle off Mookie Betts and Corey Seager but the third name on the list might surprise some Dodger faithful. You can now add the name of Austin Barnes to the list of .300 hitters. Barnes went 2-for-2 with a walk and scored both of the LA runs. He has now hit safely in seven straight games and has four 2-hit games during that span. The 7-game streak matches a career long which came in the 2017 season. Barnes has a .500/.520/.667 slash line (BA/OBP/SLG) in the last seven games which has pushed his season line to .304/.347/.738.
HE SAID IT 2: “He’s helped me tremendously. Just watching him work you can draw a lot from just that. He’s been a great teammate, talking to me about hitting and it’s really helped… He’s one of the best in the game. He’s contagious. What he does around the clubhouse and the way he works. Just the way he plays the game is good for the club.”—Barnes when talking to Alanna Rizzo on the role Mookie Betts has played in his recent hitting success and what he does for the team.
YOUNGER SEAGER TAKES GAME 2: A day after Corey Seager declared the Game 1 match-up with his older brother Kyle a push – the younger brother walked away the Brother Batting Belt in Game 2. Corey went 2-for-4 and drove in the winning run while Kyle could only muster a 1-for-4 performance and lost for the second straight game. Corey now leads the Dodgers in hitting with a .316 average and has 2-hit games in each of the last three LA contests. Seager has at least one hit in 15 of the 19 games he has played this year and has eight multiple-hit games.
RED TURN 12: Turner keeps hitting and hitting and hitting and… He went 1-for-3 on Tuesday and drove in the game’s first run. His 0-1 single to left in the sixth also extended his hitting streak to a team-best 12 games. That ties for the fifth longest in MLB this year. During his last 12 games, Turner is hitting .349 (15-for-43) and has upped his season slash line to .289/.375/.444. He leads the team in OBP.
ON DECK: The teams will head to Seattle to complete their 4-game, home-and-home series on Wednesday and Thursday. The Kid from Culiacán will climb the hill for the Dodgers on Wednesday at 6:40 p.m. Julio Uriás will be making his fifth start of the year and is 2-0 with a 2.53 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP in 2020. Uriás is coming off his best outing of the year when he went 6.1 innings, allowed two runs and five hits in an 11-2 win at home against San Diego. Uriás has never faced the Mariners and is 0-0 with a 3.95 ERA in his 13.2 innings pitched in interleague play. The Dodgers will look to get back to their offensive mindset when they square off against a familiar righty – Taijuan Walker. Walker is 1-2 with a 4.05 ERA and a 1.200 WHIP this season. Tai-Weezy pitched for Arizona for the past three seasons and is 2-1 with a 4.88 ERA and a 1.627 WHIP in the 27.2 innings pitched against LA.
