Dodgers click on all cylinders in series finale win

LOS ANGELES — Probably, at the beginning of the season, when we thought about what the Los Angeles Dodgers would be in 2021, we were imagining a game something like this. A great start, timely hitting up and down the lineup, a plenty of power that ends up in dominating the opponent. The Dodgers could do a lot worse than looking at Sunday’s 8-2 victory over the Angels as a blueprint for how to proceed in the rest of the season.

Trea flies, Dodgers score

Already in only his second start, Trea Turner is proving just what an asset he can be to this club. He proved it once again in the bottom of the first inning. He led off the inning with a double to the left field corner, and then scored easily on Max Muncy‘s follow-up single. Muncy later scored on a fielder’s choice and the Dodgers had two runs before the Angels had recorded an out. Unfortunately the inning kind of sputtered after that with three straight strike outs, but the Dodgers were on their way to more.

More Trea in the second

In the second inning, there was way too much Trea for the Angels to handle. He walked, but that was only the start of the fun. After Max Muncy flied out, he ran on a 2-2 pitch to AJ Pollock, and Pollo hit what seemed to be an inoffensive ground ball up the middle, by it caromed off second baseman David Fletcher‘s glove and dribbled into shallow left field. Turner, already in motion, put on the afterburners and blazed around the bases. By the time left fielder Joe Adell had collected the ball, Turner was safely crossing home plate to put the Dodgers up 3-0.

The Machine unloads

The next hitter was Albert Pujols, hoping for a “moment” against his former team. And did he ever deliver. He got to a 3-0 count and then blasted a goose-pimple inducing home run deep into the left field bleachers. It was his ninth home run of the year, and the best part about the two-run blast? The Angels paid him for it.

Buehler cruises

Walker Buehler has set the bar so high for himself that even fantastic performances like today now seem to be commonplace, practically expected. But staked to a 5-0, Buehler just cruised to an easy victory today. He gave up only four hits over six innings of work. The lone earned run on his record on Sunday came in the third inning, when he gave up a two-out run-scoring double to Phil Gosselin. The rest of the day, he was terrific, though probably would have liked to be more efficient than his 95 pitches through six innings. Still, Butane’s one earned run pushed his ERA even lower, to a league leading 2.13.

Another Belli bomb

More good news from the Dodgers is that this was the second straight day that Cody Bellinger absolutely buried a pitch into the right-field seats. I think we’re going to have to stop thinking in terms of “if” Bellinger will break out of his hitting slump. He has. The question now is how close he can get back to his MVP form before the end of the season. Luckily, the Dodgers still have six weeks left on this little reclamation project.

Two new pitchers

The final few innings saw a couple of new faces on the mound for the Dodgers. First Kevin Quackenbush, a Grizzly-Adams-looking guy, made his Dodger debut getting a strikeout, but then giving up three hits and a run. After Quackenbush was lifted, Petaluma’s Justin Briule came on and pitched the Dodgers the rest of the way home in a very effective 1.2 innings of relief in his major league debut.

On to Philly

Now, we get another day off, and then it’s on to Philadelphia to take on Bryce Harper and the suddenly hot Phillies. The Fightin’ Phils have won eight in a row, including a sweep of their division rival Mets. It should be some good baseball. Max Scherzer will try to repeat his awesome first start on the road on Tuesday night. It’s on the East Coast, so that means there will be a 4:05 pm start.