Duvall spoils Dodgers’ hopes for sweep

The Dodgers would have had a sweep of the Marlins this weekend, if only Adam Duvall had stayed at the hotel on Sunday. Instead, the Miami left fielder smacked a three-run homer and gunned down the tying run at the plate in a 3-2 Marlins win over your Los Angeles Dodgers this afternoon.

Bullpen Day

Trying to paper over the loss of Dustin May, manager Dave Roberts opted to go with a bullpen game for this final game of the three game series against the Marlins. And, but for one unfortunate pitch, it worked out okay. But in the top of the fifth with two men on, Edwin Uceta caught a little too much of the plate on fastball to Adam Duvall. Duvall pulverized the pitch, sending high and deep to left field. The only question was, would the ball stay fair. It did, and that was the difference in the ball game.

Bottom of the order delivers runs

The Dodgers got ahead early with some much welcomed production from the bottom of the order. Sheldon Neuse, a late addition to the lineup because of Chris Taylor‘s sore wrist, ripped a solid one-out double that one-hopped the wall in the bottom of the second. Catcher Austin Barnes followed it up with a double of his own and the Dodgers were on the board.

After pitcher Alex Vesia struck out, Mookie Betts delivered a line drive single that split the left side of the defense and scored Barnes from second. 2-0 Dodgers. Betts had a good day at the plate, going 2-for-5 with a double and one RBI. With Corey Seager now out of the lineup with a fractured right hand, Betts’s offense is now all the more important.

Don’t give anybody extra outs

The fateful inning of the day for the Dodgers was the top of the fifth. Still leading 2-0, the Dodgers were on their fourth pitcher of the day in this bullpen game, Edwin Uceta. Unfortunately for the young Dominican hurler, he was undone early in the inning by some bad bounces and suspect defense. Pitcher Pablo Lopez led off the inning with a comebacker that bounced high over Uceta’s glove. It bounced second baseman Sheldon Neuse’s way, but in his rush to make the throw, Neuse let the ball carom off the heel of his glove for an error.

With an extra out to work with, the Marlins capitalized. Jazz Chisholm found a hole in the defense for a single to put men on first and second with nobody out. For a hot minute, it looked like Uceta might squirm out of the jam, as he retired Garrett Cooper on strikes and Corey Dickerson on a soft grounder. That ground ball back to the pitcher could have been the final out of the inning. But because of the error, it was only out number two. Adam Duvall stepped to the plate, and on an 0-1 count, he walloped an Uceta fastball that juuuuust stayed fair down the left field line for a three-run homer.

Mookie out at the plate

Though LA pitchers pretty much shut down the Marlins the rest of the way, the Dodgers themselves had numerous scoring opportunities. Their best chance to tie the game came in the bottom of the fifth when Mookie Betts led off with a double. After a pair of pop-ups, Matt Beaty stroked a sharp liner to left that was quickly fielded by Adam Duvall. Third base coach Dino Ebell got a little aggressive with two-outs and sent Betts to home. Duvall made a good throw to the plate that was fielded cleanly by catcher Chad Wallach and it looked like Betts would be out by a mile. Rather than submit to his fate, Betts tried hurdling over the Marlins’ catcher, but Wallach was able to hold on to the ball and apply the tag before Betts could land on the plate. The inning was over, and the Dodgers would not score the rest of the way.

Late inning opportunities come up empty

The Dodgers had baserunners in both the eighth and ninth inning, but just couldn’t get a key hit to drive in the tying run. They had runners on the corners with two out in the eighth, but couldn’t push a run across. Then in the ninth, the game ended with Austin Barnes stranded on first base when Mookie Betts grounded to third for the final out. Though Betts is hitting better these last few games, he is still seeking a signature moment where he comes up big at the plate in the late innings.

One-run games still killing Blue Crew

So the Dodgers’ struggles in tight ball games continues, as they lose yet another one-run contest. They are now 4-11 in these one-run affairs, and will need to improve on that if they want to catch and pass the Giants and Padres.

Still, the bullpen acquitted itself well today. Except for the hiccup in the fifth, Jimmy Nelson, Alex Vesia, Dennis Santana, Edwin Uceta, Joe Kelly, and Mitch White pitched a solid eight innings of work, and the Dodgers did come away with a series win. And, don’t tell anybody I said this, but Gavin Lux might just be a defensive upgrade to Corey Seager at shortstop. He had a couple of nifty plays today that could give Dodger fans confidence moving forward.

Bring on the Diamondbacks

All in all a good week. The Dodgers have now won five of the last games and now have a record of 22-18 over the first forty games of the season. That works out to about 90 wins over a full season. Of course, 90 wins would be a gigantic disappointment with this team of sky-high expectations. But the Dodgers don’t figure to go through another rough patch like the one they just came out of, so I’m still confident they’ll end up somewhere in the 100-win range by the end of September.

Arizona comes into the Ravine on Monday for the final series of the homestand. Walker Buehler will pitch on regular rest on Monday night, facing longtime Dodger nemesis Madison Bumgarner for the Snakes. After a slow start, Bumgarner is starting to put it together and pitched a seven-inning “no-hitter” earlier this season. Should be a good night of baseball. Onward and upward!