An ESPN game. Buehler vs Charlie Morton: With both Arizona and the Padres winning their games, this became a really important game for the Dodgers. And this game became a pitcher’s duel. Charle Morton carved through the Dodger lineup for the first 4 innings allowing just a double by Edman, and a walk to Freddie Freeman.
Buehler managed to get through 2 scoreless innings. In the third, Walker ran into some trouble. He struck out Merrifield, then Harris walked. With Soler at bat, Austin Barnes was charged with catcher’s interference. Ozuna and Olson walked driving in the first run. d’Arnaud hit a chopper over the mound that Lux did not charge, and it was an infield single driving in the second run. Arcia grounded back to Buehler, who threw home for the second out. Kelenic then hit a deep fly to right that Betts caught at the wall.
The Dodgers got on the board in the top of the 5th. Muncy singled, and Lux walked. Smith PH for Barnes and flied out to right with Muncy moving to third. Kiermaier struck out. With 2 down, Ohtani doubled down the right field line scoring Muncy. Betts then flied out to Kelenic.
Buehler settled down and, in the 4th, 5th, and 6th innings he threw just 9 pitches in each inning. Morton left after the 6th and LHP Dylan Lee took over for the Braves. Muncy flew out and Kike, pinch hitting for Lux, struck out. Smith walked and Pages PH for Kiermaier. Pages singled to center with Smith going to second. Ohtani then doubled down the right field line scoring Smith. Atlanta brought in Jimenez. Betts flied out again to end the inning.
Blake Treinen took over in the bottom of the 7th. Hernandez took over at 2nd and Pages took over in center. Treinen got three grounders for a quick 1-2-3 inning. Freeman flew out to deep right. He is now 1 for his last 20. Hernandez walked and Edman flew out to Harris. Muncy then struck out to end the 8th inning.
With the middle of the Brave order coming up in the bottom of the 8th, Kopech came in to pitch. Kopech walked Ozuna to start the inning. White came in to run for Ozuna. Olson doubled to right, White to third. d’Arnaud hit a shallow fly to Teo for the first out. Arcia then struck out. Kelenic struck out to end the inning.
Iglesias came in to pitch the 9th for the Braves. He would be facing Hernandez, Smith and Pages. He got Kike on three pitches. Will Smith tripled off of the top of the RF wall. Pages grounded out to the pitcher, and they walked Ohtani intentionally. Betts singled driving in Smith. Freeman hit a ground ball to left scoring Ohtani, and Betts scored on the error by Kelenic. Freeman went to second on the error. Teo then homered to left center, a 2-run homer to put LA up 7-2. Brebbia replaced Iglesias. Iglesias, who had not given up an earned run in quite a while, saw his ERA jump 50 points.
Tommy Edman then hit his 5th homer to right field on the first pitch from Brebbia. Muncy then homered to left for three in a row. Kike struck out to end the inning. Dodgers up 9-2. For the game, LA is 5-13 with RISP. They struck out 10 times, but also had 11 hits. All 9 of the Dodgers runs were scored with 2 outs.
Bazooka came in to pitch the 9th inning. He would be facing 8-9-1 in the batting order. Urshela struck out. Merrifield grounded out to Muncy. Harris lined out to Edman to end the game, and the Dodgers got a much-needed win. The win allowed the Dodgers to gain a game on Milwaukee for the second-best record in the NL. They have 88 wins and the Brewers 86. Their lead over the Padres remains at 3.5 and 5 over Arizona. They are 2 games behind Philadelphia for the best record in the NL.
Recap and Summary:
Walker Buehler did exactly what the Dodgers needed him to do, give them at least 6 innings by a starting pitcher. His first three innings were not pretty, but his last three were vintage Buehler. 9 pitches in each of those last innings. Treinen did a great job with three groundouts in the 7th, and Ohtani’s two doubles got the game even. Of course, everyone’s blood pressure went up when Kopech walked the first batter in the 8th, and then gave up a double, putting runners on second and third with no outs. But he got d’Arnaud to hit a short fly to left, and then he struck out the next two hitters keeping the Braves off of the board.
The 9th inning showed how dangerous the Dodger lineup can be even against a shutdown closer. The key moment was the Braves decision to walk Ohtani intentionally putting runners on first and third. Betts came through with his single. Freeman, 1 for his last 21, then singled to drive in 2.
It was the kind of win that can inject a lot of energy into your team. They face Freid tomorrow with Yamamoto pitching. Should be a really good game.
Minor League Scores
Tulsa played their final game of the season. They lost to Wichita 4-2 and finished with a 63-74 record, good for 4th in the Nothern Division. Ortiz-Mayr took the loss, finishing with a 7-8 record and a 4.71 ERA. Brendon Davis was 2-3 with his 9th homer. Lockwood-Powell also had 2 hits.
OKC beat Tacoma 6-4 behind a 3-4, 2 homer, 5 RBI game from James Outman who was batting leadoff this game. The homers brought his total to 15 with OKC this year, and 19 on the year counting his homers with the Dodgers. Hoese also had 2 hits. Cartaya was 1-3 with 2 runs scored.
Gonsolin started and went 2.2 innings allowing 5 hits, 1 walk, 2 runs and he struck out 3. Kelly went a clean inning and struck out 2. He also got the win. Henriquez struck out the only batter he faced. Casparius went 3 innings. He allowed 4 hits, walked 3, gave up 2 runs and struck out 4. Dreyer went 1 inning allowing only a walk. Connor Brogdon pitched a clean 9th for the save. He struck out one.
Around the League
Three former Dodger relievers were cut loose by their teams today. Victor Gonzalez was released by the Yankees. Dylan Floro was DFAd by Arizona, and Nick Robertson was DFAd by the Angels. Paul Sewald was placed on the 15-day IL by the D-Backs.
Born June 14th, 1948, in Los Angeles California. AKA The Bear
Austin Barnes left the game with a contusion to his big toe.
How serious is Barnes injury? And does that dictate if Feduccia comes up, or Dalton Rushing?
Nice recap Bear.
Very good game until the 9th and then we fatten the averages.
Go figure in a very important series, each team wins a game with a blow out.
Hats off to Walker. He’s getting better and adjusting to how he can be successful. His last few outings have been a major improvement. Think where he started his comeback. He was out-running his arm and high and wild. His alignment and balance were totally off. He was falling off glove side and his fastball was everywhere.
Then there was improvement.
His next starts were better with balance and alignment toward the target, but he still struggled with thigh high pitches, especially the fastball, that go hit.
Last night, he made far fewer mistakes thigh high fastballs and pitched backwards successfully. He got ahead and his breaking ball locations, were great. Both slider and curve were great.
He didn’t just throw, He pitched. Great to see.
I loved what I’m seeing and hats off to the guy for pushing through his troubles and building some confidence.
Now we need Miller to show similar improvement. Find some pitch he can land consistently so hitters can’t sit on that change-up.. It would sure be nice to see both Walker and Bobby competitive again. It could make our postseason.
It’s really our only hope.
Something smells of fish with Kershaw’s mystery toe. Is there a Kirk Gibson type appearance planned for the playoffs? The guy is buffed, running around, throwing flat ground and cheerling on his mates. But his toe hurts.
According to Doc there is no treatment for his condition; just time. So maybe in three weeks he wakes up and his toe doesn’t hurt? So his condition is listed as “Toeday or maybe toemorrow?”
The entire broadcast team turned their broadcast into an “Ohtani Love Fest”the love fest. The Ohtani Show on Sunday Night Baseball..
Kopeck……that was great TV.
Tommy Edman is quickly becoming a favorite. He’s “a baseball player”.
So how come Will Smiths fly to right hits the top of a brick wall and bounces BACK into the park? There’s a par 5 on my course with a pond and brick wall in front of the green, Every single time I hit a big drive and went for the green in 2, my shot hit the same type brick wall in front of the green and bounced BACK into the lake. Doesn’t my shot and Will’s shot defy physics?
I enjoyed destroying their closer immensely.
I can see Lux being traded in the off season and Betts moving to second. I can also see Edmand at short and Rojas moving around the infield playing as needed.
This opens outfield spots for Rushing, Pages, Outman, and Teo Hernandez.
Glasnow has left the team. Dave Roberts said he does not know where he went. Apparently, he is very frustrated with the way his injury has been handled. This was on Yahoo Sports this morning. Some think he might have gone to get a second opinion.
Cole Irvin claimed by the Twins.
Would like to see them up by at least 5 games when they face the Padres next week. Padres are playing the Astros the next three days. They are pitching Darvish, King and Cease. Should be a good series and I hope Houston pummels them. Heyward had 3 hits yesterday including his 8th homer of the year, and he drove in 2 runs.
Joe Kelly has rejoined the Dodgers in Atlanta. Per David Vassagh.
Barnes said he had imaging, and it showed a break in a different place than last time. Pretty sure he is IL bound.
SI now has the story about Glasnow, he cleaned out his locker and flew out, but no one knows where he went. Strange. If he was heading somewhere for medical treatment, you would think the manager and front office would have been notified. He was obviously tired of fielding questions about his injury from reporters.
Per Bruce Kuntz @DodgersDigest:
LHRP prospect Garrett McDaniels since moving to a relief role in late June:
28.1 IP
2.22 ERA
1.57 FIP
33.9 K%
5.1 BB%
0 home runs
.193 AVG against
McDaniels, who was a 30th round draftee by Miami in 2018, is suddenly a very intriguing prospect.
Winning the last two of this series, with the Glasnow disappointment is a nice turn.
Meanwhile Chris Taylor’s OPS+?
56.
I can’t believe he’s going to be on the playoff roster.
Fantastic recovery to this series by the Dodgers. Sure looked like the Dodgers were going to be swept. Battled to win game 3 n looks like a winner for game 4 against good pitching. Also on the road where they have struggled. This bullpen has been abused but have looked good the last 2 .
just a side note Imanaga of the Cubs has gone to the post with no injury all year. Struck out 11 today in mid September. Cease of the pads has done the same. Sale all year. King of the pads all year after being a reliever. I could go on peralta of Milwaukee. There are ace pitchers and other pitchers who have gone to the post all year. No Dodgers. Make of that what u will.
Anyway proud of the Dodgers finish in Atlanta. Hope we can keep it up.
Until 2021, no team in MLB history had ever had an R H E line of 9 4 1.
Since then, it has been done twice. Both by the Dodgers. Both in Atlanta.
Among Dodgers regulars, Rojas is now tied with Mookie for top BA at .297.
Well, unless we count newest regular Tommy Edman, who is now at .298.
Shohei has slipped to .288 and Freddie is at .280. Love to see Freddie flex that HR, though.
Best play today: The Edman-to-Kike-to-Smith relay to cut down Michael Harris at the plate. A real momentum killer for the Braves.
Max Fried pitched pretty well. He could be on the Dodgers’ FA shopping list this winter, and he might want to come home to LA.