Steve Webb
SAN DIEGO, CA — It was a ball that couldn’t get arrested for speeding on the 405. A little lob shot into centerfield off the bat of Freddie Freeman. But that hit was the one and only bit of clutch hitting on the night. And it was enough to put the 2022 Dodgers into the record books. After scoring a run in the top of the 10th to break a scoreless tie, the Dodgers got a great lockdown save from Tommy Kahnle to finish the ballgame. It wasn’t necessarily the high-flying Dodgers we’re used to seeing, but on this night, it was just enough to win over the Padres, 1-0 and to secure the club’s 107th victory of the year, a new franchise record.
Starters labor, but put up zeros
It was Urias vs. Musgrove in this one, and while neither pitcher had his best stuff on Wednesday night, both showed why they’re among the league’s best arms. Regardless of how many baserunners the Dodgers or the Padres got on with these two aces on the mound, they each were able to pitch around the traffic again and again.
Julio Urías battled all night, and won. He would be the first to tell you that his command wasn’t what he wanted it to be in this one, but he kept making big pitches when he needed to. The Friars had five baserunners in the first three innings, but never quite could push a run across.
Then, in Urías’s last inning of work, they got a Manny Machado walk and steal to give them their best scoring opportunity of the game. But when Brandon Drury singled to right, the Padres were unwilling to test Mookie Betts‘s throwing arm and held the runner at third with just one out. But Urías once again came up with the pitches. Two pop-ups later, the inning was over and the scoreless game went into the 7th.
Urias left the mound having added six gritty innings of shutout ball to his resume, reducing his league-leading ERA to 2.17. His line for the night: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K.
Dodgers can’t buy a hit with RISP
Just as they had done in the previous game, the Dodgers left a lot of runners on base throughout this game, but especially in the early innings against Musgrove. But the entire game, nobody stepped up with a big hit. In all, they were 0-for-8 with RISP through the first nine innings, which included a pair of Joey Gallo strikeouts with the bases loaded.
Yeah. It wasn’t great.
Dodgers bullpen sends game into extras
As long as nobody named Kimbrel or Bickford are throwing, this bullpen is pretty damn good. On Wednesday, it was a couple of familiar faces and on very welcome return that pitched the final three innings of regulation time. Evan Phillips dominated the bottom third of the Padre lineup in the 7th. Yency Almonte made a very impressive return to the Dodgers’ roster with a 1-2-3 8th inning, which included a big strikeout of Manny Machado.
And then, Alex Vesia pitched a scoreless 9th inning, giving up only a weakly hit single to Wil Myers. Unfortunately, the Dodger hitters did no better at solving the Padres relievers, so the game went into extra frames with both teams still looking for their first run.
Freeman comes through in the 10th
Mookie Betts was the placed runner at second to begin extra innings, and after Trea Turner struck out against Padre reliever Steven Wilson, it looked like the Dodgers might be headed for more late-night heartache. However, during Freddie Freeman’s at-bat, Wilson clanked a pitch off catcher Austin Nola‘s mitt, and Mookie got a free 90 feet of real estate.
That extra base came in handy on the very next pitch. Freeman got a slider on the inside part of the plate that he was able to fight off and send lofting over the infield into center. Moving at a blistering 61.7 miles an hour, the ball found plenty of open space in front of the outfielders and landed softly on the lawn for a single. Betts read the play perfectly and was almost touching home plate by the time the ball hit the grass. It was 1-0 Dodgers. And, it would turn out to be the game-winning hit.
Tommy Kahnle, where have you been all my life?
Still, when you only score one on the road in extras, it’s a dicey proposition at best. Your reliever has to be almost perfect to get out of the prefabricated jam they put him in to get a win. And guess what, Mr. Tommy Kahnle was up to the task.
Throwing the Padres a steady diet of his trademark changeup, Kahnle got three quick outs. He got a groundout to Trea Turner for the first out, but the gifted runner Jurickson Profar moved to third on the play. Still clinging to the one-run lead, the Dodgers brought the infield in for Trent Grisham, the talented young outfielder who has struggled mightily at the bat this year.
Kahnle took Grisham behind the woodshed in this AB. Three perfect pitches. Three strikes. Grisham had no chance. And everybody in the stadium knew it, including him.
Now with two outs, the defense could return to normal depth for Ha-Seong Kim. Kahnle got ahead of the Padres’ leadoff hitter 0-2 before he induced a weak groundball in front of the mound. With Profar barreling for home, Kahnle coolly pounced on the ball and threw a strike to Freddie Freeman at first to end the game.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how your Los Angeles Dodgers became the winningest team in franchise history.
Final road game on Thursday
The Dodgers play road game #81 on Thursday evening, wrapping up their away schedule for the year. Looks like Brusdar Graterol will be the opener for this one, with Andrew Heaney going “bulk” after the Bazooka. On Friday, the Dodgers are back at the Ravine for six ridiculous games with the Rockies. However this series is not quite meaningless yet. The Dodgers still haven’t locked up home field advantage in the World Series, so there WILL be something to play for on the home stand. As for the Padres, the series wraps up with another 6:40 start on Thursday. Let’s see if we can, I don’t know, maybe score before 10 pm this time, eh boys?
Cans of Corn…
- Great to see Yency Almonte back. Under-the-radar great year for the former starter.
- Dave Roberts said it will be Julio and then Clayton in the last two days of the year. Which suggests Julio is your Game 1 NLDS starter, though Roberts reserved the right to switch it around.
- No JT for a couple of days. Says he aggravated a shin injury.
- Phil Bickford to the IL with “shoulder fatigue.” Looks like he’s thrown his last regular season pitch for this year.
- For me, the real record is 111 wins, which would give the Dodgers the best regular season winning percentage of all time. They’ll need to finish 4-3 to do it.
