Roger Arrieta
LOS ANGELES—A new month welcomed a new first-inning look from Julio Urías but, in the end, it was the same old Dodgers’ result. Urías finally shook off his first-inning woes and Chris Taylor racked up his highest RBI total of the year as the Dodgers ran away from Arizona 6-3. Urías went 6.0 innings and only allowed one run while Taylor went 2-for-4 and collected four RBI in helping Los Angeles win for the 16th time in the last 19 games. LA is now 27-10 on the year. The Diamondbacks, who held a garage sale on Monday at the trade deadline, lost for the 11th time in the last 12 games and fall to 14-22.
GAME RECAP: Urías entered Tuesday’s series opener having struggled in the first inning of his previous six starts. During those first-inning woes he had an ERA of 10.50, a WHIP of 2.333 and had allowed at least one run in the first inning of his last three starts. That changed dramatically on Monday when he retired the side in order in the first inning and needed only 12 pitches to get off the field. Urías’ quick first frame of work helped the Dodgers capture the early momentum and take a quick 1-0 lead. Corey Seager earned a 1-out walk in the bottom of the first which was followed by singles from AJ Pollock and Max Muncy before Taylor recorded his first RBI of the night with a 4-pitch walk.
Arizona tied the game in the third when Carson Kelly, the No.9 hitter in the Diamondbacks order, lofted a 2-1 fastball high in the air that surprisingly carried over the fence in left field. Los Angeles retook the 1-run lead in the bottom of the third on another Taylor RBI. Pollock led off with a double into the left field corner and Taylor brought him home when he was late on 1-0 cutter and fileted the ball onto the right field line for a double. Taylor’s second RBI of the game would start a streak of five consecutive runs for the Dodgers.
Los Angeles plated a pair in each of the fifth and sixth innings to push the lead to 6-1. The two runs in the fifth came via the sacrifice fly. Kiké Hernández connected on a ball that was caught at the fence and scored Muncy after Muncy started the inning with a single to right. Edwin Ríos, playing for the first time since Aug. 16, followed with another fly ball to center that scored Taylor from third.
The two runs in the sixth came off the bat of Taylor who doubled to right for the second time of the night. His 2-bagger scored Mookie Betts and Seager who started the inning with a pair of walks.
Arizona would make the final score look closer than the game actually was by posting two runs in the ninth. Nick Ahmed was able to hit a 2-run, 2-out homer off of Scott Alexander which brought the D-Backs to within three runs. Alexander would walk the next batter which forced Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts to bring Kenley Jansen out of the bullpen for the 1-batter save.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
SERIES STUFF: The victory in the series opener is the fourth in five games vs. Arizona this year. LA took three of four from the D-Backs on July 30-Aug. 2 in Arizona. LA is now 217-179 all-time vs. Arizona and owns a 114-80 mark at Dodger Stadium.
OBSCURE TEAM STAT OF THE NIGHT: The Dodgers are now 4-1 after an off day.
OBSCURE INDIVIDUAL STAT OF THE NIGHT: Los Angles is now 5-1 when Taylor bats in the No.5 spot in the lineup.
RAZEING ARIZONA or FIRST ON THE FIRST: Urías pitched 6.0 innings on Tuesday which matches his longest outing of the year. His other 6.0-inning start also came against Arizona. The other similarity between the two wins against Arizona is that they both came on the first of the month. Urías beat the Diamondbacks on Aug. 1 when he allowed two earned runs on five hits and fanned five. He duplicated his inning and strikeout total on Tuesday but held Arizona to one less run and one less base knock. Urías lowered his season ERA to 3.27 and his WHIP to 1.270. Time to set the rotation so he gets the start in the playoffs on Oct. 1. Unfortunately, there is no chance it will come against the D-Backs who are sinking faster than the Titanic.
HE SAID IT: “Tonight he sort of put it all together. I think Mark and Connor Mc worked really hard on the side working on him dialing in on his slider. I think that was the difference. Getting that over and working it off the fastball. I think with Julio if he has the feel of his pitches and his mind set is synched up than it is going to be a good outing.”—Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts on Urías’ successful start.
A WOODEN RETURN: Alex Wood returned to the diamond for the first time since being placed on the injured list on July 28. He came on in the eighth inning and struck out the first two batters he faced before plunking former Dodger Tim Locastro on the eighth pitch of the at-bat. He got out of the inning by retiring Ketel Marte on a fly ball to center field.
BULLPEN PROPS: Taylor praised the bullpen for its role in helping the Dodgers build the best record in baseball. “It’s a comfortable feeling knowing that once you get a lead that they will shut the door,” Taylor said. “I think that’s a big part of why our record is the way it is.”
The Dodgers’ Blue Pen has a season-long WHIP of 0.99 which leads the majors. They are also first in opponent’s average (.191) and second in ERA 2.11.
HELLO HENKE: Jansen’s save was his MLB-leading 10th of the year and the 311th of his career. Jansen is now tied with former Blue Jays closer Tom Henke for the No.24 spot on the all-time MLB career saves list. His next target is former Giants and Marlin closer Rob Nenn who accumulated 314 saves in his 10-year career. Jansen has now posted double-digit save totals in 10 straight seasons. His 10 saves ties him with Brad Hand of Cleveland and Liam Hendriks of Oakland for the MLB lead.
WALK THIS WAY: The Dodgers continued their recent trend of making opposing pitchers throw strikes – and being content to take free passes. LA coaxed eight walks on Tuesday which ties their season high but is the first time since July they have been given eight free passes. The Dodgers have walked at least five times in six of the last nine games and have 21 bases on balls in the last three games. They have 142 walks on the year which is second in the NL and their on-base percentage has risen to .336 for the season.
TASTY TOP 5: The Dodgers outhit Arizona 8-5 in the game and all eight hits came from the Top 5 in a severely shuffled batting order. Betts and Seager remain locked in the No.1 and No.2 spots and each had a single hit. Pollock and Muncy were hitting in the No.3 and No.4 spots in the lineup for the first time all season and both put up 2-hit games. Pollock was 2-for-5 while Muncy went 2-for-4. Taylor was pushed into the No.5 slot for the sixth time all year and came through with his 2-hit, 4-RBI performance.
BLEACHER CREATURES ARE SAFE: The Dodgers failed to hit a home run for only the eighth time in 2020. The trend with those eight homerless games is that six have come at Chavez Ravine. LA is now 3-3 when they fail to hit a long ball at home.
ON DECK: The Dodgers will look to make it 13 straight series wins when they host Arizona in the middle game of the 3-game set on Wednesday at 6: 40 p.m. Walker Buehler will get the nod for LA after having his sixth start of the year pushed back due to a blister. Buehler is coming off his best outing of the year where he went 6.0 innings and struck out 11 in a win over Colorado on Aug. 21. Buehler is 1-0 on the year with a 4.32 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. He hasn’t faced the Diamondbacks in 2020 but is 1-0 with a 2.97 ERA and a 0.963 WHIP in his six lifetime starts vs. Arizona. Buehler will match up with righty Zac Gallen. Gallen will be making his eighth start this year and is 1-0 with a 2.90 ERA and a 1.023 WHIP. The Milkman pitched against the Dodgers on July 31 and went 6.0 innings. He allowed two earned runs on five hits and struck out nine in Arizona’s only win over LA this year.
