Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — There’s a reason I always try to be in my seat by the first pitch at Dodger Stadium. With its high-powered trio at the beginning of the lineup, there is no telling when this team will pile it on. And conditions were ripe for a big explosion on Wednesday afternoon. And that’s exactly what happened. Taking advantage of struggling Nats starter Patrick Corbin, the Dodgers offense put the hurt on Washington from the get-go, scoring six runs in the bottom of the first and coasting to an easy 7-1 victory to salvage the final game of the three-game set.
Return of Andrew Heaney
Before we got the fireworks, though, there was a pressing bit of business. This game marked the comeback of starter Andrew Heaney, who’s been on the shelf for over a month. The lefty walked Juan Soto in the first (never a horrible idea), but got three relatively stress-free outs, and headed to the dugout with a solid inning under his belt.
Dodgers bat around and score six
It’s hard to believe that Patrick Corbin was a vital part of a World Series Championship team, but believe me kids, it’s true. Corbin signed a lucrative deal with the Nats after being in Arizona for the first years of his career, and for a while, Scherzer, Strasburg, and Corbin were as powerful a big three as there was in baseball. Now, Scherzer a Met, Strasburg can’t stay off the IL, and Corbin is just terrible. On Wednesday, he was really terrible, not even lasting the first inning.
Mookie Betts led off by banging a double off the centerfield fence, but then Corbin retired Trea Turner and Freddie Freeman, so it looked like he might pitch around the leadoff hit. But then things went south on him in a hurry. Will Smith walked. Then Justin Turner smacked a single to left to get the Dodgers on the board.
Trayce Thompson followed up Turner and singled home Smith. Hanser Alberto kept the line moving by smacking a double off the fence to plate two more runs. Austin Barnes hit an RBI single. Finally, Gavin Lux hit a “double” on a ball that fell between Victor Robles and Juan Soto in the outfield due to some pretty awful communication. Barnes scampered home on the play and before Dodger fans’ nachos had a chance to cool, it was 6-0 Dodgers. In all the Dodgers got six straight two-out hits and sent 11 men to the plate. It was, needless to say, a very nice start to the afternoon.
Heaney goes four, checks all the boxes
Andrew Heaney was hoping to go about 75 pitches and five innings in this first start back, and he almost made that goal. He used a few too many bullets in the early innings and walked three, but other than the command issues, he looked good on the mound for four innings. And once again, he put up nothing but zeroes on the board. If the Dodgers can get good work out of Heaney the rest of the way, they will be in very good shape indeed. Heandog’s line for the afternoon: 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K.
Phil Bickford, Alex Vesia, Jake Reed, and David Price finished things up. Other than Reed (a former Dodger who was just added to the roster before the game), the pen looked very good in this one, and really didn’t give up much of anything.
On to Denver
That ends a 5-2 homestand. Other than the little hiccup on Monday and Tuesday, the Dodgers continue to roll. They now possess the best record in the NL by some 4.5 games and are 11.5 games up on second place San Diego in the NL West. More division play on the next road trip, as they head out to Colorado and San Francisco. Former Rockie Tyler Anderson will be on the mound for the Dodgers to start the trip, no doubt eager to show off his new stuff to his former employer. Righty Jose Urena will be throwing for the Rox. After that, it’ll be Urias, Kershaw, and Gonsolin to round out the 4-game set in Denver. Game time on Thursday will be 5:40 pm PDT, so hit that commute quickly because you never know what this crew has in store in the first inning.
Cans of Corn…
- Lots of hitting stars in this one. Chief among them: Mookie Betts (2-for-3) and Gavin Lux (3-for-4, 3 RBI)
- For a big cheese, Juan Soto was very quiet in this series. 2-for-11, with his biggest hit being the weird hop triple on Monday.
- Lux’s average is up over .300 again. This late in the year, it’s not just a hot streak anymore. It’s who he has become.
- As mentioned earlier, Jake Reed has rejoined the team. He and Andrew Heaney were both added to the roster on Wednesday. To make room, Garrett Cleavinger and Mitch White were both sent down to OKC. Look for White to return as soon as his turn to start comes around again.
- Andrew Benintendi is off the board. Traded to the Yankees.
