Steve Webb
ST. PETERSBURG, FL — The Dodgers’ up-and-down road trip continues in Florida. After getting blown out on Friday night, and falling behind to the Rays on Saturday, the Dodgers rode their two superstars to a comeback, with both Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman delivering key hits to give their team a much-needed 6-5 victory.
Clayton Kershaw returned from bereavement leave, and pitched better, but not great. After going three scoreless innings to start the tame, he surrendered a two-run single in the 4th, and then a two-run homer from Harold Ramirez in the 5th that erased a 3-0 Dodger advantage and gave the Rays a 4-3 lead. Though his April was fantastic, Kershaw’s ERA in May has been north of 5.0 as the Dodger legend has struggled with command and getting deep into ballgames.
“Personally, it’s frustrating,” Kershaw said. “But today it felt great coming out. Got pretty inconsistent there. Walking guys on four pitches to start innings, falling behind — just not something I’m used to doing and don’t want to get used to doing. I need to figure it out. Whether it’s mental — I need to focus better — or mechanical, I’m not sure. But I need to go back to the drawing board to figure it out.”
I know he doesn’t want to talk about it, but it seems like his mom’s death is affecting him more than he would like to admit. It’s almost as if the day she passed, something changed in Kershaw’s season. Can’t say I blame the guy, but it’s probably going to be a bit before he can get back to focusing only on baseball.
Luckily for Clayton, the Dodgers had a comeback in them on Saturday. In the top of the 7th, the Dodgers were able to rally for two big runs to move back into the led. Miguel Rojas started things off with a one-out single. Taking second on a wild pitch, Miggy was able to scamper home with the tying run on a clutch single from Mookie Betts. Betts than came around to score on a Freddie Freeman double, and the Dodgers were back in the lead to stay.
Miguel Vargas hit a homer in the 8th to provide some much needed insurance, as Caleb Ferguson had to hold on for dear life in the 9th, giving up one run and stranding the tying run at third base before recording the final out.
It was a good win, and it gave the Dodgers the chance to win a series at Tropicana Field against this hot Rays ballclub. It was only the sixth time this year that Tampa Bay has lost a home game. The Dodgers try to make it a seventh with a win on Sunday morning at the ridiculous start time of 8:30 am West Coast time. Get your bagels and OJ ready for some breakfast baseball!
