CT3 hits two, Will Smith homers for the win in 3-2 victory

LOS ANGELES — How about that Chris Taylor! With Mookie Betts nursing the bum hip, Taylor is now hitting in the leadoff spot, and is he ever! He went 3-for-4 on Sunday, with two solo home runs. But in the end, it was a Will Smith solo shot in the bottom of the eighth that provided the margin of victory against the Colorado Rockies. Final score, 3-2 Dodgers, bringing their record to 61-40.

Josiah Gray makes first big league start

After getting knocked around a bit in relief in his big league debut, Dodgers prospect Josiah Gray moved into a much more familiar position on Sunday, as manager Dave Roberts tapped him to start the series finale against the Rockies. The rookie had a much improved outing as a result, giving up only a couple of earned runs in a four-inning outing. Trevor Story doinked a run-scoring single in the top of the first to get on the board, and Elias Diaz went long fly in the top of the second for the second Colorado run of the day.

However, Jo-Jo’s best moment of the day was in the fourth inning, when he managed to worm his way out of a bases-loaded jam. True, the jam was of his own making in that he walked three Rockies in the inning, but still he made a nice comeback for a young player. He dug deep and got a pair of strikeouts to end the threat and keep the game in check. It was a gritty moment for the youngster, and hopefully will give him some confidence to build on going forward.

Taylor on fire in the leadoff spot

While the Rockies were able to nick Gray for a couple of runs, the Dodgers offense on Sunday afternoon was all Chris Taylor. Moving into the leadoff spot has been a revelation for CT3, as he has been on fire since taking over for Mookie Betts in Colorado last weekend. In the last seven games Taylor is hitting over .400 out of the one hole with five home runs.

Two of those homers came on Sunday. He led off the Dodgers’ half of the first with a solo shot to left center. Then, with the good guys trailing 2-1, Taylor went long ball again to tie up the game. This puts the Taylor OPS at .983 since the All-Star game. The Dodgers need to sign this guy to a long-term deal ASAP.

Nelson, Graterol, & Bickford solid in relief

With the rookie Gray leaving the game after the fourth inning, the bullpen was called on to step up again in a big game. First out of the pen was Jimmy Nelson, fresh off the IL. Nelson was very sharp, giving up only a scratch single to Raimel Tapia, and striking out two. Brusdar Graterol came in for the sixth and seventh and was a perfect six up, six down in two innings of work. It was a welcome sight for the Bazooka, who wasn’t missing many bats in his last outing on Friday. Finally, Phil Bickford came in for the eighth and was able to work around a leadoff hit to pitch a scoreless frame.

Smith for the lead!

For all the troubles of this homestand, Will Smith hasn’t been one of them. He came through again in a clutch spot in the ninth inning with a go-ahead solo home run. Batting second in the inning, he jumped all over the first pitch he saw from reliever Carlos Estevez. He hit the ball deep to center, but it looked like defender Sam Hilliard might have a play on the ball. Hilliard leapt, but the ball just cleared his glove to land over the fence for a home run. Touch ’em all, Will Smith! 3-2 Dodgers. Three outs to go.

The Joe Kelly experience in the ninth

Having used both Blake Treinen and Kenley Jansen in the previous game, Dave Roberts called on Mr. Joseph Kelly to shut the door on the Rox. Kelly’s outing are nothing if not entertaining, and lately, they’ve actually been quite good. In the last fifteen appearances, Kelly has a very nasty 1.20 ERA. On Sunday, though, it seemed like Kelly might get sunk by a bunch of dribbler. CJ Cron led off the inning with a ball to the third base side of the mound that went maybe thirty feet. Kelly tried to make a very tough play on the ball and lost his footing in the infield grass. He had to eat the ball, and the leadoff man was on the bases with nobody out.

The training staff came out to check on Kelly, but he declared he was okay, so was left in to try and finish it off. Elias Diaz hit a grounder to Chris Taylor that moved Cron over to second with one out. Then, he might have gotten a bit of a generous call on a strikeout to Sam Hilliard, but after that Darren Ruf check swing fiasco, we got a few of these coming.

Finally, Kelly got a ground ball to the right side from Josh (Not Nolan) Fuentes to end the game. Kelly seemed to be in pain after the final out, so that will need to be monitored going forward. Key point is, it was the second straight one-run victory for los Doyers. Which we definitely need to see more of in the last two months of the year.

On to San Francisco!

The Dodgers have a day off on Monday, and then head up the 5 freeway to face the Giants in a critical three-game series that might do a lot to determine the pecking order in the NL West this year. First game of the series will pit Julio Urias against Logan Webb on Tuesday. 6:45 first pitch. Plus, we got the trade deadline on Friday, so as Joe Davis might say, fasten those seatbelts!