Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — Corbin Burnes won the Cy Young last year. Sandy Alcántara will probably win it this year. Yet, within the space of three days the Dodgers beat both of these aces like rented mules. After chasing Miami’s Alcántara from the game after hitting him up for six runs on Sunday, the Dodgers decided to put a beat down on Burnes, hanging a 7-spot on him en route to a 10-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. Tony Gonsolin had another solid start and Trayce Thompson drove in four as the Dodgers won the middle game of this, their final home series before hitting the road on Thursday.
Dodgers get to Burnes in the first
The Dodgers didn’t waste any time in establishing their dominance on Tuesday night. After Tony Gonsolin had a 1-2-3 top of the first, Mookie Betts greeted Corbin Burnes with a solid double to left on the second pitch he saw. Trea Turner moved him to third with a ground ball, and Freddie Freeman sent him home with a solid single. It was 1-0 Dodgers and the home team was off to the races.
Trayce with the three-ball!
The run in the first was nice, but it was the second inning that proved to be the difference in this one. Burnes was having command troubles in the frame, and alternated walks and strikeouts until there was a two on, two out situation for Trayce Thompson. Thompson, whose starts against righties are becoming more and more regular, got a 2-2 cutter from Burnes that was oh, so tasty. Trayce cut loose on the pitch and just annihilated the ball. He hit a moonshot, majestic home run that made it half-way up the pavilion. It was 423 feet worth of power. It was real. And it was spectacular.
Dodgers chase Burnes in the 4th
In the 4th inning, the Dodgers closed the book on Burnes with a slam. Whereas the 2nd inning depended on the long ball, it was a steady attack in this go-round. A one-out single from Chris Taylor got things started. After he stole second, Taylor moved to third on a Cody Bellinger ground ball. But then came the flood. A Trayce Thompson single to score Taylor. Mookie Betts struck out but reached on a wild pitch to keep the inning going. Then, back-to-back singles from Trea Turner and Freddie Freeman to plate a couple more runs. When Milwaukee skipper Craig Counsel finally took the ball from Burnes, it was 7-0. Cy Young? More like Sa-yonora, amirite?
Gonsolin sharp, but exits after five
Meanwhile, Tony Gonsolin put up four straight zeroes on the scoreboard before faltering a bit in the fifth. The bottom of the Brewers lineup went single, walk, single to score a run off the Catman. But, that was all he would allow, as Gonsolin would get out of the inning three pitches later when he induced a double-play ball from Christian Yelich to end the threat. With a big lead and with an eye on October, manager Dave Roberts decided to end Gonsolin’s night after five innings and 77 pitches. His final line for the night: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. With that performance, Gonsolin notches his 16th win, tied for first in baseball with Justin Verlander of the Astros*.
Dodgers tack on and coast to victory
With a 7-0 lead, the Dodgers were in the proverbial catbird’s seat for the rest of the night. They tacked on a few runs off a position player in garbage time, and were able to focus on things other than winning the game at hand for the last few innings. Doc got Evan Phillips a little work, and David Price pitched a couple of scoreless innings in the 7th and 8th. Finally, Joey Gallo‘s best buddy Hanser Alberto pitched a clean 9th inning to put the Dodgers into the clubhouse with the win.
Dodgers wrap up the series on Wednesday
The season series between these two contenders is now tied 3-3. The Dodgers will end this little mini seven-game set with the Brew Crew on Wednesday night before embarking on their final East Coast road trip of the year. Adrian Houser will be going for the Brewers. For the Boys in Blue, it’ll be Andrew Heaney, trying to get back on the beam after giving up a couple of long balls and three earned runs in Milwaukee. Game will start a little earlier in this one, 6:10 first pitch. And then off to South Beach and the Marlins once again.
Cans of Corn…
- Trayce Thompson continues to impress the hell out of me.
- Trea and Freddie both had three-hit nights.
- Gonsolin is now leading the NL in ERA.
- Walker Buehler news will make it a very interesting offseason.
- Tony Wolters has re-signed with OKC after getting a DFA this week.
- Down south, Arte Moreno looks to be “exploring” selling the Angels. Will be fascinating what happens to the high-end talents in this state of flux.
- Lux was in the lineup, then was a late scratch because of a stiff neck. Looking at a couple of days riding the pines. No IL expected.
- Looks like the Dodgers will see Jacob deGrom when they hit NYC next week. He’s slated to pitch Thursday in Colorado. If the Mets stick with the 5-man rotation, we’ll probably miss Scherzer.
