Shohei Ohtani crushed a homer, his 18th, on the second pitch of the game. Betts got aboard on an error by the Mets 3rd baseman, Viento’s. Freeman doubled to the left-center field gap. Smith hit a fly ball that was caught in shallow right-center by Taylor, Betts tagged up but was thrown out trying to score. Teo struck out to end the inning. Knack struck out the first two Mets hitters. Soto then hit a shot to third that Muncy could not handle resulting in an error. Pete Alonso then hit his 10th homer into the left field seats.
The Dodgers went quietly in the 2nd and the Mets did the same. Dodgers went down 1-2-3 in the top of the 3rd. In the bottom of the inning, Lindor singled. Vientos then hit a grounder to Betts. Mookie got to the ball and tried to flip it to second, but the ball was high, and Edman could not make the catch. Lindor advanced to third and Vientos was safe at first. It was ruled a hit and an error on Betts. Soto grounded into a force play with Lindor scoring the third run.
A double play took the Dodgers out of a promising start with Freeman’s second hit. After Smith grounded into the DP, Teo doubled and then stole 3rd. Muncy walked and then Pages flew out to end the 4th. The Dodgers loaded the bases in the top of the 5th on a walk to Conforto, a single by Betts and a walk to Freeman. Smith then grounded out to third to end the inning.
In the top of the 6th, Pages grounded into the second DP of the night, and LA could not score. The Dodgers did not mount any kind of offensive threat after the 6th inning. Although they did not give up any more runs, they committed 4 errors, 2 on Will Smith. Only Muncy’s and Betts led to runs. Muncy singled in the 9th, was erased on a force play on a grounder by Pages, who stole second, but was left stranded when Conforto struck out to end the game. Knack pitched one of his better games going 6 innings, only 1 of the 3 runs was earned. He struck out 5 allowing just 4 hits and no walks. Banda and Trevino each allowed 1 hit. Knack lost his second game. Freeman was 2-3 with a walk, the only Dodger with multiple hits.
Minor League Recap
OKC 9 Sacramento 6: Going into the bottom of the 5th, OKC was trailing the River Cats 6-2, In the bottom of the 5th, Okey singled, Dean singled and Ruiz singled to load the bases. Ward then doubled 2 runs in and made it a 6-4 game. Outman then singled driving in 2 more. 6-6 game. Hoese walked, then after a pitching change, Gauthier walked loading the bases again. Berroa hit into a force play with Outman being thrown out at the plate. Senzel then doubled, driving in all three runners. 9-6. It the 3 RBI’s gave Senzel 4 for the game, the first came on his 3rd homer in the second. The Comets pen shut the Cats down after the 4th. Michael Kopech got the win after tossing a scoreless 5th allowing only a walk and striking out 1. Outman 2-5, Senzel, 2-4 and Okey, 3-4 had 7 of the Comets 13 hits.
Tulsa 2 Springfield 5: The Drillers took a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Miller singled, then Pagan singled. Rhodes flew out to left. Newell struck out, but on a passed ball, the runners moved up 90 feet. McLain then singled driving in the Drillers only runs of the night. Jared Karros went 4 innings, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits, all 3 runs came on home runs. He allowed 2 in the 4th and 1 in the 5th. Neek allowed 2 runs on a homer in the 8th ending the scoring. The game was called in the top of the 9th inning due to inclement weather.
Great Lakes 2 White Caps 6: The Loons outhit the Caps, 7-4, but after scoring the go-ahead run in the top of the 9th, lost on a walk-off grand slam homer by Izaac Pacheco off of Carson Hobbs, the Loons closer. Top prospect, Mike Sirota, went 2-4, both doubles with an RBI and is now hitting .438. Hope and Quiroz were the other Loons with 2 hits.
Rancho 3 Stockton 10: After jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st inning, Ranchos pitchers gave up 3 in the 3rd and 6 in the 4th to fall behind 9-1. Patick gave up 4 and Herder 4. The Ports hit 2 homers. Diaz’s homer was the only extra base hit by the Quakes.
The Dodgers head to Cleveland for a 3-game series starting tomorrow at 3:10 PST. Starters for the series have not been announced. Stratton officially on the roster wearing jersey # 41.
Game was close despite the 4 errors. 2 led to runs. The offense was not good in the clutch and two double plays helped end potential rallies.
You are not going to win many games with 4 errors and Conforto over Kim.
Conforto is what he is, a 17-million-dollar mistake at this point, but Kim doesn’t play left, and IMHO, is not experienced enough to play center on a regular basis. LA could fix this by trading for a full time CF, like Mullins from the Orioles. Release Conforto and admit you screwed up.
Amen brother. They don’t even have to make a trade to improve. Just cut Conforto and play Kim at 2B and Edman in CF. And give Kike more starts at 3B.
I would agree with that. Edman is not a natural center fielder, but he is a better option out there with Conforto off of the bench, and Kike at this point has shown more power than Muncy.
Replacing Conforto with just about anyone would improve the lineup at this point. Even Taylor. Should have kept Taylor and cut Conforto. Same money.
Best thing to take from the game: Knack going very good 6 innings and giving the pen a rest.
Other than that a forgetable game.
On to CLE.
When will Sirota get promoted to AA ? He keeps destroying high A pitching.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Knack surprised me. Box score says 1 earned, but without Muncy’s error that home run doesn’t happen. Once again, the defense costs.
That said, the offense sucked too. After Ohtani’s home run it was 9 innings of nothing. And what was everyone thinking in the 9th with two out and Conforto up representing the tying run?
Yeah, Knack was fine today, but…
Gonsolin, Knack, and Kersh are nothing more than regular-season innings-eaters. And asking too many of them to go 5 or 6 innings in playoff games will ensure a quick post-season exit (unless the Dodgers by the playoffs can assemble a LARGE cast of un-hittable arms in the BP.)
That’s why Jeff is right. To make a championship run, they really need a healthy & effective Glasnow, Snell, and Yamamoto to be their SP’s that go deep into playoff games.
I don’t relish the thought of those three being the starters in the playoffs either Wayne. But I don’t believe they will. Glasnow, Snell, Ohtani and Sasaki are getting plenty of rest in the first half. Yamamoto will get his too at some point this summer. There are others scheduled to be back as well. The Dodger pitching should be fine in October. Hope so anyway.
I think you’re right on what the Dodgers are doing with their pitchers. Yamamoto will get an “injury-rest” this summer.
Disagree. Look at Gonsolin. Now look at who the Mets and Yankees threw at us to start postseason games. Aside from Cole–who is lost for the year–who is exceptional? The game has changed and preconceptions are useless.
nobody, on average, goes deep into playoff games anymore.
Tough loss. Losing sucks but it happens. Losing because of unearned runs is unacceptable.
You give good opponents 4 outs in an inning and you’re going to suffer especially if you score one.
Geez, The SNB crew turned it into the Juan Soto Love Fest Show. He had a nice game with a stolen base and a nice catch but was 0 for 4. But isn’t that the least you’d expect a $750 million dollar players to do?
I really like Cone a lot, Ravich is okay and I can’t stand Eddie Perez, who provides information to the lowest common denominator.
Knack held his own with just one earned run. Sadly another homer but a very solid outing.
Once again, Muncy’s inability to make an absolutely routine play cost us big time.
And I would pick hit the bat boy for Conforto for the last out.
With this stretch in the schedule will be brutal and we’d better be careful not to have a big losing record before we get home.
The nights we pitch we don’t hit and bias-versa.
Play better.
9 and 11 in our last twenty. 24 and 21 since starting 8-0.
Play better indeed.
Conforto with 182 plate appearances. How many more does he get?
Soto 3 for 20 with 1 extra base hit. He has walked a lot this year so his OPS+ is a respectable 123. Yeah, he will eventually hit, and when he does the Mets will be better. Right now they are only as good as we are, 32-21.
Looks like the defense is killing us again. Dont understand why Kim is sitting and Conforto is still in lineup. Right now the hitting isnt good enough to carry him.
Kim is not a left fielder, and he is unexperienced in center. Not really an MLB player out there. He is better at second base.
Kim at 2nd, Edman in CF and Pages in LF.
“He is better at second base.”
Then put him there and leave him there.
Today’s line up: Ohtani DH, Betts SS, Freeman 1B, Hernandez RF, Smith C, Muncy 3b, Pages CF, Conforto LF, Kim 2B, Yamamoto P.
Tonight’s starting center fielder for the Angels: Chris Taylor
Nothing officially announced yet but he’ll be signing a major league contract with them.
Really happy for him. Hope he does well.
Maybe they should grab Barnes too, assuming he doesn’t need TJ.
Angels To Sign Chris Taylor, Option Kyren Paris
Happy for Taylor.
That’s good news!
Taylor wearing #33 for the Angels.
0 for 3. 2 Ks. Picking up where he left off.
Rushing is no longer helping.
Freeland has slowed down.
Betts is playing well at short.
??? Way too quick to judge Rushing. As the backup catcher, he helps every time he plays.
The guy who hasn’t helped all season is Conforto. Perhaps Rushing could get some starts in LF.
Betts has not played well at short lately, and his OPS is about 150 pts lower than his norms
Rushing is no longer helping because he’s only playing about twice a week. That’s a really lousy thing to do to a young player.
If you can’t find a way to let him start at least 4 or 5 times a week at one position or another, do him a favor, send him back to OKC where he can hit every day, and call up Feduccia.
Freeland is not ready for MLB. After all, he jumped 3 leagues last year if I’m not mistaken. Andrew needs to find himself a third baseman this winter.
Conforto looking a lot like Outman. Make the pain go away AF!
Rushing has had all of 16 at bats, he is playing twice a week to give Smith a blow. He is still hitting better than Barnes did.
6 Ks last 7 AB
So, what? He is a rookie facing MLB pitching for the first time.3 of those came against Burnes, and 2 came against Peterson, who is a tough left-handed pitcher. What the hell do you expect from the kid? No one else lit up Peterson either, they only beat Burnes because of Teo’s 3-run bomb. Get real Fred. He only started against Peterson because Smith played all 13 innings the night before.
Rushing is what now?
Hey Bear, how about a post about pitchers that were Dodger Killers as a follow up to you Dodger Killer post?
Can Do
Thanks. Looking forward to it.
Not a problem. Jeff should be back by mid-week. I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow, but I will start working on it after that.
No rush.
As much as LA fans are irked by Conforto and Muncy, the Astros fans are irked by the production of their 60-million-dollar man, Christian Walked. .212/6/23
Conforto can only dream of reaching .212! Max should now be platooned with Kike at third.
Yes. And often.
can Christian Walker play 3b?
Nope. He can’t play first base all that well.
Orlando Arcia close to signing with the Rockies.
So we’ve reached the 1/3 mark of the season. The first trimester toward an October delivery.
So the math is easy.
A convincing win over the Guardians improved the Dodgers’ record to 33-21. So the team is on a 99-win pace. Some notable stats:
–With another leadoff HR, Shohei is on pace for 57 homers, which is nice. More impressively, Shohei scored 3 more runs, which puts him on a pace for 171, which is ridiculous. (Ruth once had 177, the 20th-century record. History credits Billy Hamilton with scoring 195 back in 1895, but there’s no evidence on YouTube.)
–Teo, despite missing several games, is on pace for 30 HRs and 126 RBIs. Perhaps more impressive, Teo leads five Dodgers who are on pace for more than 90 RBIs each: Freddie (105), Shohei (99), Mookie (93), Pages (90). Will Smith is nearly there, on pace for 84 despite fewer ABs. At the opposite end, Conforto is on pace to collect 18 RBIs. Yes, just six RBI so far in 154 ABs. Kim has 5 RBI in 41 ABs.
–Let us pause here to salute Will Smith’s quietly excellent season. He leads the league with an astounding .456 on-base percentage, built on a .333 BA (second in the NL to Freddie’s .361) and plate discipline that has produced 31 walks against 30 Ks.
Now some first trimester grades:
A+ to Shoehei, Freddie, Will and Teo. They’ve been carrying the team.
A- to Yamamoto and rookie relievers Dreyer and Casparius.
B+ to Edman, Pages and Dustin May.
B to Mookie…who is handing SS fine, but also one of his slump-ettes, despite some clutch moments.
B- to Kike, playing his role just fine, and Tanner Scott, because we expected A-level work.
C- to Max, who has been hitting better of late, but fielding worse.
F to Conforto, who right now looks like a $17 million bust. How much more opportunity should Conforto get? He’s now the 26th man on the roster, or should be.
Snell, Glasnow, Sasaki, Kershaw, Kim and Rushing get incomplete grades. We just need to see more. Looking forward to giving a second grade to Shohei, once he starts pitching.
For some reason, I still think Dodgers will finish with about 103-104 wins. While we can express some regression from the A+ performers, I’m optimistic Mookie, Max and the overall pitching should improve, and that Conforto will ride the bench more
57 homers by Ohtani is “nice”? How about incredible!
I would give Scott a C- and Yates a D.