A couple of things continued for the Dodgers in this game. Clayton Kershaw still has problems at Chase Field, and the Dodgers still cannot hit Drey Jameson. Going into Friday’s game, Kershaw had a 3.81 ERA over 125.1 IP, with 16 HRs allowed. This is the worst venue for Kershaw after Coors. He was never really sharp on the night, and in the 6th with a 3-2 lead, he allowed back to back jacks to Evan Longoria and Corbin Carroll.
Overall, Clayton pitched 6 innings and allowed 4 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks. This was the first non-quality start for the Dodgers.
The Dodgers had MadBum on the ropes all night , but just could not get the big inning. After a leadoff double by Mookie in the 1st, Mookie moved to 3rd on a PB, and scored on a JD Martinez sac fly. The leadoff batter got on base every inning against Bumgarner, and the Dodgers had a chance to open it up in the 5th. MadBum left the game after 4.2 IP with the bases loaded. Drey Jameson entered and got CT3, who homered his previous AB, to hit a soft grounder to short for a 6-3 putout.
The other two LAD runs both came on HRs. The first was from James Outman who hit the first pitch he saw from Bumgarner showing he can hit LHP, and Chris Taylor hit his 2nd HR of the season. The CT3 HR put LAD up 3-2. I never felt comfortable in this game, and the DBacks took the lead for good in the 6th.
The Dodgers bullpen continues to look shaky. Any game where the bullpen is necessary, the relievers have not been good. On this night, Yency Almonte had another rough outing. With Alex Vesia and Yency Almonte struggling, that will put more pressure on Evan Phillips, Shelby Miller, Phil Bickford, Brusdar Graterol, Caleb Ferguson, and Andre Jackson.
Graterol did pitch a good inning in Friday’s game, but the swing and miss by Lourdes Gurriel was Bazooka’s first of the season. All of the LAD relievers have been shaky to some extent, with the exception of the long man, Andre Jackson.
OTOH, the DBacks relievers were dominant, especially Drey Jameson. Jameson has now pitched against the Dodgers in three games, and in each game (1 start and 2 relief) he has gotten the win. Miguel Castro was outstanding as was Andrew Chafin. Chafin got both JDM and Max Muncy to chase ball 4 to end the game.
The Dodgers got 5 hits and 9 walks, but other than the first inning, could not get a runner home without a HR. That is three games that the Dodgers lost, and they are still 0-fer WRISP in those losses. In those losses, the Dodgers have scored 5 runs, and 4 have been solo HRs.
Trayce Thompson is now 0 for his last 10 ABs since his big 3 HR game. He has struck out 5 times in those 10 ABs.
Max Muncy is now 3-26 with 1 HR and 1 RBI. 1 RBI as the #4 hitter with Mookie, Freddie, and Will ahead of him is not acceptable. I am for continuing to give Max his ABs, but can Doc move him down in the order? He has 13 Ks against 5 BBs. His K rate is 44.4%. He is hitting .115/.281/.231/.512. He is 0-8 WRISP with 1 walk and 6 Ks.
JDM is batting .231/.310/.462/.772 with 1 HR and 5 RBIs. He is 2-7 WRISP and 4 RBIs and 5Ks. JDM is striking out at a 37.9% rate.
CT3 has a 31.6% K rate, while Trayce Thompson has a 38.5% K rate.
It was good to see Max Muncy make a couple of good plays at 3B. Miguel Vargas is looking better at 2B, and looks very comfortable and confident.
Noah Syndergaard vs Zach Davies in Saturday’s game.
MiLB Summary – 04-07-2023
OKC Dodgers 12 vs Las Vegas Aviators (Oakland) 6
Kevin Smith opened hte home half of the 1st inning by reaching base on and by 3B Jahmai Jones. A SB and ground out put Smith at 3rd with one out. He scored on a sac fly which should have been the 3rd out. But that just opened the flood gates against starting pitcher Robbie Erlin. Two singles, a 3-run HR, and a solo HR, all with 2 outs, gave Las Vegas a 5-0 lead after 1.
Steven Duggar and Ryan Ward hit two solo shots in the 2nd to cut the lead to 5-2. Erlin retired 9 of the next 10 batters.
In the 5th, Hunter Feduccia singled but was forced out by Bradley Zimmer. Jahmai Jones singled, and both runners scored on a Drew Avans double. After Michael Busch struck out, Luke Williams hit a 2-run HR (2) and gave OKC a 6-5 lead.
Erlin surrendered a one out HR in the 5th, and his night was through. Mark Washington got the final two outs in the 5th. The score was tied up 6-6 after 5.
OKC broke it open in the 7th. Bradley Zimmer singled to open the 7th. With 1 out, Drew Avans singled and Zimmer moved to 3rd. Busch singled home Avans to give OKC the lead. Luke Williams singled to score Avans. Steven Duggar hit a 3-run HR, his 2nd of the night, and a 5 run lead.
Nick Robertson entered in the 7th and retired the side, striking out the final two batters. He struck out the only batter he faced in the 8th. Justin Bruihl then relieved Robertson and struck out the two batters he faced in the 8th.
In the 9th, Drew Avans doubled and scored on Steven Duggar’s single for a 12-6 lead that would hold up.
Bruihl retired the side in the 9th in order, striking out the final two.
- Drew Avans 3 hits (2 doubles), 2 RBIs
- Luke Williams 3 hits (1 double, 1 HR), 3 RBIs
- Steven Duggar 3 hits (2 HRs), 5 RBIs
4 OKC pitchers struck out 14 and did not walk a batter.
- Robbie Erlin – 6
- Mark Washington – 3
- Nick Robertson – 3
- Justin Bruihl – 4
OKC now has a 6 game win streak.
San Antonio Missions (San Diego) 2 vs Tulsa Drillers 0
Four Missions pitchers combined for a 1-hit shutout. Only two Driller batters reached base, and both reached on walks. In the 8th, Jorbit Vivas led off with a single. The next six batters were retired and the Drillers were shutout.
Nick Frasso started for the Drillers and went 4.0 innings. In the 4th, with two out, Daniel Johnson had a bunt single. Johnson moved to third on a single into RF. The Drillers pulled off a double steal with Johnson stealing home. That was the only run Nick allowed on 4 hits. He did not issue a walk and registered 6 Ks.
Tanner Dodson pitched a scoreless 5th with 1 BB and 2 K. Alec Gamboa started the 6th, and allowed a 1 out single. After a force out, Gamboa issued 3 consecutive walks to force in the second run of the game.
Jack Little relieved Gamboa to get out of the 6th and pitched a perfect 7th. He ended his 1.1 IP with 3 Ks. Ben Harris pitched a scoreless 8th with 2 Ks. Trevor Bettencourt pitched perfect 9th.
Driller pitchers pitched well, but the Mission pitchers were just better on this night.
Lansing Lugnuts (Oakland) 4 vs Great Lakes Loons 3
Lansing scored a pair of unearned runs in the top of the 10th, but the Loons could only get one back in the bottom of the 10th.
Ronan Kopp started for Great Lakes and pitched 3.0 innings. He allowed a run in the first on a single and a Max Muncy double. He issued a walk, but registered 6 Ks. Kopp was relieved by Robbie Peto. Peto had 4.0 innings pitched. He allowed a run in the sixth after a HBP and another Max Muncy double.
The Loons tied the score in the 7th. Alex Freeland led off with a single, and Damon Keith followed with a single. Dalton Rushing hit a fly ball to center that moved up both runners. Yeiner Fernandez got the 1st RBI of the year for Great Lakes with a sac fly and Keith moved up to third. Yunior Garcia got an infield single to plate Keith to tie the score.
Cristian Suarez pitched a scoreless 8th. He allowed 1 hit but struck out three. Michael Hobbs pitched a scoreless 9th. But allowed two unearned runs in the 10th. Great Lakes got one in the bottom of the 10th. With Fernandez starting at second, he moved to third on a ground out, and scored on a fielding error.
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 5 vs Inland Empire 66ers (LAA) 3
After 4.5 innings with no score, Rancho scored the first run on a Jesus Galiz double and a Dayton Dooten single.
OKC scored three in the 6th. Jose Izarra led off with BB, Chris Newell singled, and Thayron BB to load the bases. A WP scored Izarra, and the runners moved up. Kyle Nevin walked to load the bases. Jesus Galiz hit a sac fly to score a second run. Nick Biddison and Dayton Dooten walked to score to score the third run.
Peter Heubeck and Joel Ibarra followed a shutout the night before with 6 more scoreless innings. Heubeck pitched 3 innings, allowing 1 hit, 3 walks, and 1 strikeout. Ibarra pitched 3.0 innings allowed 1 hit, and registered 4 Ks.
Jeisson Cabrera relieved Ibarra in the 7th, and the 66ers scored their first run of the season on a double and single. Madison Jeffrey relieved in the 8th. A single, BB, WP and single scored two more. Jeffrey was relieved by Kelvin Bautista who got the final out, and retired the side in the 9th for the save.
In the 7th, the Quakes scored their final run. Thayron Liranzo walked and scored on a Kyle Nevin triple.
5 for 30, 10Ks, 9BB, 16 LOB, 0 for 4 WRISP. Against a .500 club. Well, .500 clubs are going to win roughly half the time, right?
How did we not KO Bumgarner? He couldn’t break glass with his stuff. His ERA is over 7. He walked 6 in 4.2.
This team has a lot to figure out.
AZ might wind up being a .545 team. That’s about 88 wins as opposed to 81 for a .500 team. They have speed.
Remember when Curt Schilling wouldn’t pitch with the roof open? It was open as were the side panels. Maybe Kershaw needs to try to close up the stadium when he pitches.
RF Betts
1B Freeman
C Smith
CF Outman
2B Vargas
use a dart board to fill out the rest of the lineup
All eyes on Ryan tonight.
Ryan who? Jeri Ryan? 7 of 9. She was hot.
Not knowing if you know who Ryan is or not, but the Ryan is River Ryan, AA pitcher looking to break into top 100
Yeah I know. I was trying to be funny. So much for that ey?
All eyes on Ryan? Not mine. But I’ll read about it
I thought you might have been, but I was not sure. And there might have been others who may not have known who Ryan was. My joke radar is obviously not very good.🤗
Read the room, homie.
Good points Jeff.
It seemed that Kershaw was not sharp and I was hoping Roberts would take him out after 5 innings. But the bullpen has shown weakness also and tough to expect them to go 4 innings.
Muncy will get time to perform, but I liked the idea of bringing in Longoria as insurance at 3B in the off season. He is a solid defender, good RH bat, and local guy from Long Beach State and Rio Hondo college. He is 37 now, but has career 808 OPS with 58 career WAR! He signed a 1 yr deal for only $4 million and has already beat the Dodgers in 2 games this year! Looks like a missed opportunity for Dodgers.
Longoria was profoundly not a missed opportunity.
I mentioned at the beginning of the season about how light in starting pitching AAA was. I think the plans were for Ryan Pepiot, Michael Grove, and Andre Jackson to start for OKC. Instead Tony Gonsolin got u and Ryan Pepiot was needed with LAD. Then Pepiot got hurt, and Grove needed to step in. Jimmy Nelson could not answer the bell at the outset of the season, and Andre Jackson was needed to fill the long man role.
So they went out and signed William Cuevas to a MiLB contract, and he is expected to start tonight’s game for OKC.
He has been decent in MiLB and foreign leagues. Not so much MLB. But he is AAA depth, nothing more.
I like that they’re giving Jackson a chance with the big club.
Pepiot is injured and they have Grove covering Gonsolin.
Stone is probably next in line, so signing a AAAA isn’t a bad move.
Is it better to have Outman as centerfielder with Heyward in left?
Evidently Heyward doesn’t play LF, which is strange.