Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — It was Independence Day at Dodger Stadium, complete with red, white, and blue hats, nifty socks, and fireworks after the game. But Dodger fans had to be patient for any fireworks during the game, as they were held hitless for the first four innings by the Rockies’ Kyle Freeland. Once they kicked it into gear, though, they had a nice outburst in the middle innings, led by a three-run home run from Trayce Thompson. Things got a little hinky in the 9th inning (again), but the Dodgers held on to win the ballgame over the Rockies by a score of 5-3.
Jose, can you see (the ball fly over the fence)?
Julio Urias was the Dodger starter in this game, and he didn’t have his best stuff. Visibly frustrated on the mound at times, he searched for the command that had come to him so easily in the previous start. Still, though it took him a lot of pitches, he battled in this one. The only damage that he allowed in his six innings of work was a fifth inning solo home run to Jose Iglesius, who seems to hit homers only against the Dodgers.
Urias threw the Rockies’ shortstop a pretty good curveball, inside and low, but Iglesius went down and golfed it to left field. For a hot second, it looked like the ball might stay in the yard, but right fielder Chris Taylor ran out of real estate. The ball sneaked over the fence as Taylor banged hard into the wall with nothing to show for it. It was 1-0 Rockies.
The bomb bursting in air (off the bat of Thompson)
It makes sense that a guy named “Free land” would pitch well on the Fourth of July, but on Monday, Kyle Freeland was really dealing for the first few innings. He retired the first thirteen Dodgers in order, and really they barely laid a glove on him in the early going. Only Will Smith even got the ball out of the infield, flying out to left in the bottom of the 2nd,
However, that all changed in the bottom of the 5th. After Urias had surrendered the homer in the top of the frame, the Dodgers mounted their counter-attach quickly. Justin Turner banged a one-out opposite field single into right to get it started. Then, Chris Taylor worked a walk to put runners at first and second. It looked like the Dodgers had a little rebellion of their own brewing.
Trayce Thompson was the next hitter. He got ahead in the count 3-1 on some pitches that weren’t that close to the zone. Then, he came up empty on a Freeland slider for a swinging strike. Freeland went back to the slider on the next pitch, but this time Thompson did not miss. He belted a high drive to the pull side, and it landed among the Dodger faithful in left field, 379 feet from home plate. In the blink of an eye, Thompson had turned the game on its head.
The broad stripes and bright stars (like Belli, Mookie and Trea)
The Dodgers weren’t satisfied with three runs in this game. The tacked on another in the fifth, on a Cody Bellinger double followed by a Mookie Betts RBI single. Then, in the seventh, Cody Bellinger led off with a walk, but seemed that he might be stranded at first when the next two hitters struck out. However, Trea Turner to the rescue. He came through with a big two-out double into the gap. Running on contact, Bellinger was able to scamper home from first without a throw. That made it 5-1 Dodgers and it looked like they were coasting to another comfortable win.
The perilous fight (in the 9th inning)
Since Craig Kimbrel was down for a few days after being hit by a liner on Sunday, it was up to Reyes Moronta to pitch the ninth inning. And, just so Dodger fans wouldn’t miss Kimbrel too much, he decided to make it another late night adventure. He gave up a lead-off solo homer to CJ Cron to make the score 5-2. Then, after two quick flyouts, the Dodgers were within one out of an escape. However, Moronta gave up a single to Jose Iglesius and a walk to Elias Diaz and suddenly the tying run was coming to the plate in the person of Dodger nemesis Charlie Blackmon, who has had more than his share of big hits against the Boys in Blue.
Dave Roberts had seen enough. He went to the mound and made a pitching change, bringing in Yency Almonte to face the pinch-hitting Blackmon. And Blackmon greeted his former teammate rather rudely. After watching a first-pitch strike go by, Blackmon slapped a ball to the opposite field, and it split the defenders on the left side of the diamond and found the outfield grass for a run-scoring single. Now, there were two on with two out, but Connor Joe was coming to the plate representing the go-ahead run. Yikes!
Luckily, Almonte would have none of this foolishness. He fell behind 3-1 on four straight sliders, but then made a perfectly placed slider in the bottom of the zone to get the count back to full. Then, he went to the well on the slider again, but this time it was just outside the zone. Joe offered at the pitch but came up empty. Strike Three. Game Over. Cue Randy Newman.
Home of the brave (for five more games)
The Dodgers are now midway through this eleven-game homestand, winning five of the first six. They have two more against the Rockies on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then a four-game set with the struggling Cubs after that. Back to the normal 7:10 on Tuesday night, and then on the weekend it’s off on the road to finish out the first half of the season against the Cards and Angels. Let’s do this!
Cans of Corn…
- Julio Urias continues to make a strong case to be an All Star. His season ERA drops to 2.57 after his six inning of work on Monday.
- Mookie played second base for a few inning in this one. Mixed results. He had a nice turn on a double play in the first but couldn’t get the same play out of his glove later in the game.
- Chris Taylor, back in the lineup after a day off, had to exit early on Sunday, citing a swollen left ankle. Unclear at this point how long he’ll be down. More playing time for Thompson in the short term anyway.
- Playing DH, Justin Turner continues to swing a hot bat. He went 3-for-4, and his season OPS is inching closer to .700. For comparison, in his seven seasons with the Dodgers his OPS has never been below .800. That is pretty much where he’s been the last month or so, but it’ll be tough to completely erase that slow start.
- Mitch White gets another start on Tuesday. Looks like he’ll be the guy until the rotation is back of full strength.
