Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — Never did the broom feel so good. After managing to lose at least one game in every three-game series since the middle of May, the Dodgers were finally able to sweep somebody. Yes, it was the hapless Oakland A’s, but a sweep is a sweep, right? And this one was about as dominant as you could hope for. After putting up double-digit runs in the first two game, the Dodgers managed only a “paltry” eight runs in this one, but a whole lot of good things happened on the way to this 8-2 win.
The first very good thing was the re-emergence of the “good” Julio. In the midst of an up and down season, when lefty Julio Urias takes the mound, Dodger fans are never quite sure what to expect. However, El Culichi looked solid for five strong innings on Thursday, allowing no runs on just three hits. After a month of July in which he posted an unacceptable 6.23 ERA, Urías was eager to get things off right in August. And the Dodgers couldn’t have asked for a better start from him. After a bit of shaky first inning, his command was solid throughout his outing, and he even seemed to be getting better as the evening progressed. In his final inning of work, he struck out the side on only a handful of pitches. He looked great.
“There’s been a lot of inconsistency throughout the year, but I feel like I’m myself on the mound, feel like I’m stronger on the mound,” Urías said through team interpreter Juan Dorado. “… I feel really good about where I’m at right now.”
“I thought he was throwing the baseball with conviction tonight,” said manager Dave Roberts. “And there’s no easing your way into the game. And so to be able to check that box in the big leagues, I thought it was good for him, good for me to see it.”
Offensively, it was a bit of a delayed reaction, but eventually the Dodgers found their groove in the second half of the game. They scratched across a couple of runs early, but the big difference in the game came in the four-run sixth, when the Dodgers extended their lead to 6-1 and gave reliever Emmet Sheehan (first time out of the pen for him) a nice cushion to work with in the final four innings of the ballgame.
Freddie Freeman led the charge on Thursday, and he continues to amaze. With his three-hit night, including two doubles and a home run, Freeman has raised his batting average to .341. And for you MVP fans, he now leads Ronald Acuna Jr. in batting average, RBI, slugging percentage and OPS. Acuna’s a little bit ahead in homers and WAR, but anybody who looks at these two guys honestly is going to have a tough time voting against either one of them.
So, with the sweep, the Dodgers finish their homestand at 5-4. But that sweep gives the team a nice head of steam heading into a crucial road trip against divisional opponents. They go down south for a critical four-game set with the Padres and then out to the desert for three games against the fading Diamondbacks. This will be a great opportunity to put some space in the standings between the Dodgers and these two rivals. It gets underway on Friday night with a matchup between the youth of the flamethrowing Bobby Miller and the experience of the crafty Yu Darvish. First pitch is 6:40. Sounds like must-see TV.
