Steve Webb
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Here we go again. Dodger fans are all too familiar with the seemingly semi-annual Clayton Kershaw injury drama, so it shouldn’t be a shock to us anymore. But here we are nevertheless. In the wake of a nice 5-3 win over the Giants and a series sweep, the Dodgers won’t be having the expected fun plane trip back to LA. Instead, the team will no doubt be concerned about the health of their ace, and hoping that he’ll be able to return in time to impact the team’s chances in the postseason. We’ll see… Anyway, there was a game that we need to tell you about.
Lux drives in Dodgers’ first run
As they’ve done so often on this road trip, the Dodgers broke through first on Thursday. This time it was in the top of the second that they got to Giants starter Jake Junis. Max Muncy started off the mini-rally with a one-out double to the opposite field that almost cleared the fence for a home run. Mancy is really starting to look better at the plate, and his resurrection would be most welcome.
Then, after a Joey Gallo strikeout (start getting used to that), Gavin Lux dug in with an RBI chance. He fell into a 0-2 hole, but then he did what Gavin has done all year. He came up clutch. He took a slider low in the zone and put a nice swing on the ball, sending a line drive into centerfield to score Muncy with the game’s first run of the afternoon.
Error turns turns solo shot into Giant lead
The Dodgers’ first lead was very short lived. Clayton Kershaw came for the bottom of the third, and got what looked like a routine ground ball from Yermin Mercedes. However, Max Muncy couldn’t find the handle on the ball, and Mercedes was on base. The E5 came at a most inopportune time because the next hitter, JD Davis hit a rare Kershaw changeup to right that barely cleared the high wall for a two-run home run. Ouch. So it ended up being one earned, one unearned run for Kershaw in the inning.
Mookie mashes for the lead
The fourth inning was the big one in this game. It started off with the rarest of animals, an opposite field single for new Dodger Joey Gallo. For those of you unfamiliar with Gallo, the dude does basically three things. He strikes out, he walks, and he hits the ball twelve miles. So, the first Dodger hit for Gallo was something of a unicorn.
Gavin Lux was next up for the visitors, and the Dodgers second baseman laid into one. He ripped a low–and-in Junis slider into the right field corner for an easy double. Unfortunately, third base coach Dino Ebell has not yet calibrated the land speed of Joey Gallo, and he sent him home. It was a perfect relay from right, and Gallo was out pretty easily at the plate. It was the little-league sin of making the first out at home. I’m sure Ebell has now updated his mental clock accordingly. Gallo runs well, but he is a verrrrry big boy.
However, the bummer of the play at home was quickly erased. After Cody Bellinger struck out, James Outman got a pretty easy walk to turn over the lineup for Mookie Betts. Gabe Kapler decided he needed to make a move, so the Giants skipper called on John Brebbia to get the team back into the dugout. Instead, Betts pulverized a 1-1 fastball and sent it deep to the gap in left center. It easily cleared the fence and just like that it was 4-2 Dodgers.
Kersh with the early exit
Cool as the Mookie homer was, the biggest news in this game came in the bottom of the 5th inning. Kershaw seemed to be on the way to his eighth win, but after a couple of warm-up tosses before the inning began, Kershaw immediately signaled to the Dodger bench. And he didn’t even wait for the training staff to come to the mound. He knew there was no fighting through this one. He removed himself from the game, and headed into training room. The only question is whether or not there will be a long IL stint or a short one. Hopefully, there is good news waiting for Kershaw when the team gets back to LA. Not ideal, but the team is built to deal with these setbacks, and deal with it they will.
Trea tacks on… pen solid in relief
The rest of the game was a bit of an afterthought, but suffice to say that the Dodgers were not in any mood to lose the game in addition to losing their ace. Trea Turner added a run in the 7th with a solo homer to make the score 5-2.
With no Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers had to piece together a bit of a bullpen game from the fifth inning on. Phil Bickford, Chris Martin, Caleb Ferguson and Alex Vesia all turned in scoreless frames, and Craig Kimbrel was… well, Craig Kimbrel. He gave up one run on a double, a fly ball to move the runner, and a wild pitch. Same old Kimbrel. Anyway, it’s still a win. And, the Dodgers finish off the sweep.
Dodgers return home to a shifted landscape
It was a very successful 7-1 road trip, but as the Dodgers fly back to LA, they will be returning to a world that is decidedly different from the one they left a week ago. Make no mistake. The Dodgers are still in first place, and there they are likely to stay for the rest of the season. But with a retooled Padres team coming into town with a head full of steam, this sets up as one of the more consequential series of the year. It will be Gonsolin, Heaney, and Anderson matching up against Manaea, Clevinger, and Darvish. Let’s get it on.
Cans of Corn…
- Kershaw. Ugh.
- Dodger pen gave up only two earned runs in the four-game series.
- Last seven games, Max Muncy is hitting .280 with an OPS over .800. That’ll work.
- Chris Taylor hit two dingers in his rehab start in OKC.
- Joey Gallo hit an opposite field single for his first Dodger hit. I almost choked on my hot dog.
- Giant reliever Jarlin Garcia aimed a bit of douche-baggery in Mookie Betts’ direction after striking out James Outman. Mookie was not amused. Gabe Kabler got tossed in the aftermath.
- Hope Dustin May comes up here breathing fire. We need it.
- Mitch White would be handy to have around right about now.
