Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — How high can they go? With nine games remaining on the schedule, the Dodgers have matched the team record for wins, set way back in 2019, and then matched in 2021. They did it relying on some young pitchers and some experienced hitters. Rookie Michael Grove, who has increasingly become the go-to spot starter down the stretch, went five solid innings and notched his first major league victory. The offense got four runs early on some opportunistic, if not spectacular, hitting, and coasted to a 4-1 win, good for a win in the series. Quite a difference from the Friday night blowout.
Joey Gallo saves a run, Freddie drives one in
In the top of the first, Joey Gallo showed why he’s a valuable asset for a playoff team. And he didn’t take long to flash the leather. The very first hitter of the game, Brendan Donovan hit a long drive toward the left field corner. It looked headed for the seats of the low wall left of the the bullpen, but Gallo took a perfect route on the ball and robbed Donovan of a leadoff homer. That excitement out of the way, Michael Grove settled down and ended up with a 1-2-3 first inning.
Then, in the bottom of the frame, Freddie Freeman made his welcome return to the lineup. Hitting third, he golfed a double into the right centerfield gap that scored Trea Turner all the way from first, and once again the Dodgers got on the board early.
After the Freeman double, the Dodgers took advantage of some uncharacteristic wildness from Cards starter Adam Wainwright. After a little doink single from Will Smith moved Freeman to third, Waino plunked Justin Turner with a pitch to load the bases and then with two outs walked Joey Gallo to score the Dodgers second run of the inning.
Will Smith, the king of the doink
In the top of the second, the Cardinals pushed a run across on Grove with a walk, a base hit, and then a two-out RBI knock from Yadier Molina, in what very likely will be his last game in Dodger Stadium. However, Grove was able to limit the damage in the inning with well-timed strikeout of Tommy Edman, sending the Dodgers to the bat rack with a 2-1 lead.
In the bottom of the inning, the Dodgers manufactured yet another run without a whole lot of solid contact off the crafty veteran Wainwright. Trea Turner led off with a seeing-eye grounder up the middle for a single, and then took second on a walk to Justin Turner. And then Will Smith hit what looked like a carbon copy of his little Texas Leaguer to center, but this one scored a run. Trea Turner got a good read on the ball and bolted from second, scoring easily on the play to extend the Dodgers lead to 3-1.
More good stuff from Belli
In the third inning, the Dodgers scored once again, effectively ending Wainwright’s afternoon of work. This time it was the bottom of the order that did the damage. Joey Gallo started the rally with a one-out single that was pulled just beyond the shifted second baseman in right field. He took second on a Gavin Lux groundball to the right side, which brought up Cody Bellinger with a two-out RBI chance. And, as we’ve been seeing a bit more of lately, Belli came through, stroking a 1-2 curveball down the right field line for a double into the corner. Gallo scored easily from second on the play and it was 4-1 Dodgers. There the score would stay for the rest of the afternoon, which seemed perfectly okay for the Dodgers, now in line to match their win total from last season with their 106th victory.
Win #1 for Michael Grove
As for the pitching side of things, Michael Grove bounced back nicely from a rather rough outing against the Diamondback earlier this week. He went five full innings on just 69 pitches, and only gave up three hits along the way while walking one. It wasn’t an overpowering performance, but how many guys can say they struck out the league MVP in their first big league win? By fanning Paul Goldschmidt in the 3rd, Grove can do just that.
After Grove, Brusdar Graterol pitched a scoreless 6th. He gave up two hits, but with the aid of a double play ball, got out of it with a 0 on the scoreboard. Then, Grove’s fellow OKC teammate Andre Jackson came in for three innings of scoreless baseball. And bookending the afternoon, Joey Gallo made a great play on the final out of the game, diving to catch a dying liner off the bat of Dylan Carlson.
One last road trip down the 5 Freeway
With their win today, the Dodgers have won all seven series that they have played in September. They try to make it a perfect 8-0 this month with a three-game series against the San Diego Padres down south. It’ll be interesting to see how the Dodgers play this one. If they put the pedal to the metal and sweep, it’s conceivable that they knock the Padres out of the playoff completely (depending on how Milwaukee and Philadelphia fare.
Or, if the Dodgers play possum a bit, the Padres could work themselves into the second Wild Card and an appointment with the Braves. But I’m not even sure the Padres want that, especially since they just took two out of three from the Cardinals, who they would play if they got the third Wild Card. Muy interesante as they say en Español. Regardless, the series gets underway on Tuesday with Tyler Anderson facing off against the Dodger killer Blake Snell. Let’s do this!
Cans of corn…
- With the win, the Dodgers finish the home stand with a record of 5-3. Could have been worse, but good teams find a way to win when not playing their best ball.
- This victory secures home field advantage throughout the NLCS. Only one more magic number to go, to get home field in a potential World Series with the Astros. Magic number for that is six.
- Albert Pujols got one final AB in the series, pinch hitting in the 9th inning. He got a great ovation from the crowd, both before and after Andre Jackson struck him out.
- Another day, another infield error, this one a boned-headed throw from Gavin Lux.
- Mookie continues to scuffle a bit at the plate. No hits on Sunday, making him just 10-for-56 over the last fifteen games. No wonder the Dodgers are playing these tight ball games.
- Freddie was back in the lineup after missing a couple of game feeling under the weather. He’ll benefit from the day of rest on Monday.
- Dave Roberts wouldn’t specify where May’s injury is. May was in a hurry and turned down reporters when approached by his locker.
- Blake Treinen is also likely done for at least the regular season given that he hasn’t picked up a baseball since suffering a setback earlier this week.
- Dodgers need five more wins to set not only the team record for wins, but that for winning percentage as well.
