Steve Webb
CLEVELAND, OH — Having already had a good day before most of us Angelenos even had our lunch, the Dodgers kept right on rolling in the regularly scheduled getaway day game on Thursday afternoon. Though they fell into an 0-2 hole early, the Dodgers roared back with eight straight runs, and put away the Guardians 9-3 to win the series.
Mookie Betts continued his tear that he started in the previous game, building on the 5-for-5 in that game with two more hits and a walk in this one. However, Betts didn’t play a huge part in the scoring. He did drive in the first run of the game with a clutch single in the top of the third to get the Dodgers on the board, but after that it was other names that filled up the scorecard. David Peralta drove Betts home in that same inning to tie it up, and in the next frame, it was rookie Michael Busch who took center stage.
Getting the start at DH because of J.D. Martinez‘s trip to the the IL, Busch made the most of his opportunity. In his second at-bat in the top of the fourth inning, Busch absolutely drilled a ball to the deepest part of Progressive Field. 401 feet later, it cleared the centerfield fence and Busch had himself his first big-league home run and the Dodgers had themselves a 3-2 lead.
“That first at-bat [a strikeout] didn’t go the way I wanted, but I made a little adjustment, got a good pitch to hit and threw the barrel on it,” Busch said after the game.
They never looked back. In all it was a 14-hit attack on the day, with almost everyone getting in on the act. Kike Hernandez was 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI. And of course, Mookie had the two knocks. In addition Freddie Freeman and Austin Barnes both had two-hit days. In fact, the only Dodger who didn’t get a hit was pinch-hitter Chris Taylor, who went 0-for-1 in his lone at-bat. So, yeah, it was kind of a good day at the plate.
On the mound, it was another bullpen/piggyback situation happening. Caleb Ferguson opened up. Ryan Yarbrough went three and gave up those two early runs. Then, Ryan Pepiot came in throwing some smoke in innings 5-8. He surrendered just one run and got the win. Finally, Evan Phillips got some quick work in the bottom of the ninth, and ended the game on a 1-2-3 high note.
After a shaky start, the Dodgers came roaring back to get another series victory. They are now an incredible 19-3 in August. Look out Beantown, your boy Mookie is coming back to town!
“I don’t think I’m ready [for Boston] yet, but I think I’ll be ready when I get there,” Betts said. “I’m looking forward to it. The main thing is that I want to see the people who made Boston so enjoyable. Once I see them, hopefully everything will go smoothly, and I’ll be able to turn the page a little bit on an awesome chapter of my life.”
There are plenty of more chapters to be written, and luckily, they will all be written in ink that is Dodger blue!
