Dodgers inch closer to Giants with come-from-behind win

LOS ANGELES — Remember 2020? Remember how cool it was cuz Mookie Betts and Corey Seager would do something awesome almost every night, and the Dodgers were practically unstoppable? Yeah, this game was a lot like that. Betts got the scoring started with a solo home run, and then scampered around the bases with the go-ahead run on a Seager double in the bottom of the eighth. The Dodgers beat the Braves 3-2 in come-from-behind fashion. Seems like old times.

Buehler sharp, but gives up two early

Walker Buehler got the ball on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, and he looked pretty much like Walker Buehler. Mixing in a devastating breaking ball with the elite gas, he mowed down most of the Braves he saw in the early going. There were a couple of exceptions. Somehow, our old buddy Joc Pederson tomahawked a letter-high fastball into the right field seats for a solo shot in the top of the third. Then in the fourth, Buehler gave up back-to-back hits– a single to Austin Riley and a double from Travis d’Arnaud— to give the Braves a 2-0 lead.

Betts answers in the fourth

However, in the bottom of the fourth inning, Mookie Betts got one of those runs right back. Coming to the plate with one out, Betts ripped the first pitch he saw from Braves starter Charlie Morton over the left centerfield fence, and the Dodgers were on the board. Couple that with a nice running catch to rob Travis d’Arnaud of a home run in the second, and you have the start of a very nice night for Betts, probably his best since coming off the IL earlier this month.

Buehler pulled with Dodgers trailing

The score stayed at 2-1 for a good long time, as neither pitcher seemed particularly interested in giving up any further runs. Morton went six, surrendering only three hits, the Betts homer among them. On the other hand, Walker Buehler went seven strong innings, but once the Dodgers got runners on base in the bottom of the seventh, his night was done before he hit 100 pitches. His evening was a good one: 7.0 IP, 4 H 2 ER, 5 K. His case for Cy Young continues to progress quite nicely.

However, once again Buehler left the game in a position to get a hard-luck loss hung around his neck. Trailing 1-2, the Dodgers needed runs in the seventh, and skipper Dave Roberts had no choice but to pull Walker Buehler for a pinch hitter. Before Buehler’s spot in the order came up that inning, the Dodgers had put a couple men on board. First, AJ Pollock drew a one-out walk from reliever Luke Jackson, who came into the game pitching very, very well. Following Pollock to the plate was Cody Bellinger, who would have loved nothing more than to smoke a ball into the seats for a game-winner. However, he didn’t get the chance. He did, nevertheless, get a pitch he could handle and ripped a Jackson slider past the shift defense into right field and pushed Pollock to third.

CT3 ties it with a sac fly

It was Buhler’s spot in the order, but there was no way Roberts was going to send him to the plate to hit. Instead, he lifted his young ace and put in his stead, Chris Taylor, who came to the plate, ready to do damage. He lofted a ball into medium deep centerfield that Joc Pederson caught, but bobbled a bit on his exchange to the throwing hand, which allowed Pollock to tag up and score on the sacrifice fly. It was 2-2. Whole new ballgame.

Stars come up clutch in late innings

The rest of the game was like a Dodger fan’s fever dream of only good things. Blake Treinen was dealing nasty filth out of the pen in a 1-2-3 eighth and quickly the game went into the bottom of the eighth with the score still tied. Mookie Betts drew walk to lead off the inning and put the all-important go-ahead run on base. Then, after a Justin Turner flyout, Corey Seager dug in at the plate. He battled new reliever Tyler Matzek, but in the end he got a pitch out over the plate that he could handle. And handle it he did, he hit a classic Corey Seager-esque double to the gap. Betts, showing no lingering effects of his hip injury, motored all the way around the bags from first, and slid home with the Dodgers’ third run.

Kenley shuts it down in the ninth

That was all that they would need. After the Dodgers were retired in the eighth, Kenley Jansen came on to face the Braves in the top of the ninth, and once again he turned in a dominant performance. On only 14 pitches, he retired the side, striking out the last two hitters he faced, and shutting the door on the Braves chances on Tuesday once and for all.

So now, this last two weeks has gone better than any Dodger fans could have hoped. The Dodgers finish the month of August with an otherworldly 21-6 mark. The team is down just a half-game in the standings to the Giants, and has Max Scherzer on the mound for the series finale. Could we dare to dream that the Dodgers overtake the Giants before we even get up there this weekend? Stranger things have happened. A lot stranger.