Last season the Dodgers had a few games where they simply blew out the opposition. They also suffered a few of those kinds of losses. It was that kind of year. Their first big blowout came on April 29th against the Marlins at Dodger Stadium. This win came on the heels of a 10th inning walk-off the night before. Sandy Alcantara started for Miami. It was a bullpen game with Jack Dreyer getting the opening nod. He gave up a run in the first, allowing a triple to lead off man Xavier Edwards before he was driven in by Dane Myers, who singled with 1 out. 
In the bottom of the inning, the Dodgers immediately got the run back when Ohtani homered to lead off the inning. Betts singled and was doubled to third by Freeman. Teoscar Hernandez then doubled both of them home for a 3-1 lead. Dreyer pitched a scoreless 2nd. The Dodgers scored another off of Alcantara in the second. Matt Sauer came in to pitch in the 3rd and pitched a scoreless inning. LA chased Alcantara in the 3rd scoring 3 more runs. Tyler Phillips came in and did not allow a run over the next 2.1 innings.
Sauer meanwhile shut down the Marlins through the 6th. In the bottom of the 6th, George Soriano came in to pitch for Miami. LA jumped on him for 4 runs. Freeman Edman and Smith all doubled off of him. Sauer gave up a run in the 7th, and LA got it back in the bottom of the inning. Garcia came in a shut Miami down in the 8th. Miami, not wanting to was any more pitchers brought in Javier Sanoja from left field to pitch the bottom of the 8th. He was touched up for 3 runs, one of which came on Andy Pages 6th homer of the year. Kike came in to pitch the 9th inning and allowed 2 hits but no runs as the Dodgers romped, 15-2. Sauer got the win, his first.
The next blowout came May 7th in Miami against the Marlins. This game was different; it was a pitcher’s duel until the 7th inning. Landon Knack started against Valente Bellozo. Both pitchers were excellent through 5 innings with Bellozo outpitching Knack allowing just a hit and 2 walks and striking out 7. Knack meanwhile allowed 4 hits, a walk and struck out 5. Bellozo started the 5th inning and got 1 out and was pulled from the game and replaced by Cade Gibson. 
Ohtani greeted him with a booming triple. Betts then drove Ohtani home with a run scoring ground out. LA led 1-0. After Matt Sauer retired the Marlins in the 6th, they brought in Lake Bachar to replace Gibson, and the roof fell in. LA scored 6 times on 4 hits and 3 walks with the big blow a triple by Freeman. Bachar was relieved by Ronny Hernandez who did not allow a run in 1.2 innings of work. LA got a 3-run home by Outman in the 9th off of Tyler Phillips, and Sauer gave up a run in the 9th for the 10-1 final. Knack got his 2nd win and Sauer his 1st save. Freeman was 3-4 with 4 RBIs.
On May 15th, the Dodgers were playing the A’s in the rubber match of a 3-game series. Oakland had won game 1, and the Dodgers had beaten the A’s 9-1 in the second game. Matt Sauer got the start against Osvaldo Bido. Oakland scored first when Langeliers drove in Wilson, who had walked in the first inning. In the bottom of the first, Ohtani struck out leading off, but Betts singled and then stole second and scored on a single by Freeman tying the game. Muncy then blasted a ball into the RF pavilion for a 3-1 lead. Sauer gave up a solo homer to Schueman in the top of the second for a 3-2 score. Oakland would not score again.
The Dodgers would chase Bido in the 2nd, scoring 3 more runs. Dalton Rushing, making his first big league start after replacing Austin Barnes on the roster, drew a walk to lead off the inning. Outman then struck out bringing Kim to the plate. Kim singled to right sending Rushing to third. Ohtani then hit a sac-fly to right scoring Rushing, his first MLB run. Kim then stole second, jamming his fingers on the second baseman’s foot. Betts lined a 2-2 pitch to left scoring Kim.
Freeman singled sending Betts to third. Jason Alexander replaced Bido on the mound. Alexander is former Dodger, Scott Alexander’s brother. Muncy hit a flare into left scoring Betts and sending Freeman to third. Pages then flied out to left to end the inning. In the top of the 3rd, Sauer set the A’s down in order. Conforto grounded out to second to lead off the Dodger 3rd. Rushing then took a 3-2 pitch and hit it up the middle for his first MLB hit. Outman walked on 4 pitches bringing up Kim. Kim singled to left scoring Rushing from second.
Ohtani then came up and crushed a 2-0 pitch from Alexander into deep left center field for a 3-run homer. LA led 10-2. Betts walked and Freeman flew out to center for the 2nd out. Muncy walked bringing up Pages. Andy crushed the first pitch to dead center for the second 3-run homer of the inning. LA up 13-2. Conforto then doubled down the line into the bleachers. Rushing would strike out ending the inning. Conforto and Rushing both hit twice in the inning. Sauer got the A’s out in the 4th.
Outman popped out to 3rd leading off the 4th. Kim walked and Ohtani hit his 2nd homer of the game, and 15th of the year to deep center field putting LA up 15-2. Alexander got out of the inning without any more damage and got through the 5th without allowing a run. Meanwhile, Banda pitched a scoreless 5th and Wrobleski came in to pitch the 6th inning. Wrobo would go 4 innings and get the win. Spence came in to pitch for the A’s in the 6th and gave up a solo shot to Outman. LA led 16-2. Spence would pitch 3 innings before being replaced in the 8th by Jhonny Pereda, a catcher by trade. 
Rushing singled off of the first baseman’s mitt. Outman hit a flare single to left. Kim hit a ball that hit the left field line and bounced into the stands for a RBI double. Ohtani struck out. Rojas singled to right scoring Outman. Kike walked, loading the bases. Muncy hit a sac-fly to center scoring Kim. Taylor hit into a force play at third ending the inning. Wrobleski shut down the A’s in the 9th and LA won, 19-2. None of the games in the series were close. Oakland won game one 11-1. LA won game two, 9-3. Kim was hitting over .400 with his 3 hit performance in the game and Ohtani was tied with Schwarber for the league lead in homers with 15.
On the 31st of May, LA would have an even more impressive blowout win. Mainly because it came against the team they beat in the 24 World Series, the New York Yankees. It was an afternoon game starting at 4.15 at Dodger Stadium, the game was broadcast on Fox. Grisham walked to lead off the inning. Judge then hit a hard grounder to third, Muncy fired to second to Edman who relayed the ball to Freeman for a double play. Bellinger flied to Hernandez for the third out.
Ohtani led off the inning with a single to right. Teo, batting second with Betts sitting, struck out. Freeman lined a single to left. Smith then hit the first pitch to right center scoring Ohtani and sending Freeman to third. Smith moved to second on Bellinger’s throw to third. Muncy then singled up the middle scoring Freeman with Smith moving to third. Pages walked, loading the bases. Conforto then hit a deep fly to right that Bellinger caught on the track for a sac-fly scoring Smith. Edman then doubled down the line scoring Muncy with the 4th run of the inning. Kim then walked reloading the bases. Ohtani, who got a pitch violation for getting in the box too late, struck out. LA led 4-0.
In the top of the second, Goldschmidt flew out down the RF line to Teo. Dominguez struck out and Volpe popped out to Freeman. Bottom of the 2nd, LA would basically put the game on ice. Teo and Freeman walked. Smith hit a groundball to Volpe that was originally called a double play. Review showed that Smith beat the throw. Teo moved to third on the play. Muncy then crushed a 3-run homer to deep left center field. LA led 7-0. It was Muncy’s 5th of the year and his 200th of his career. 
Brent Hendrick came in to relieve Warren. Pages flied out to left for the 2nd out. Conforto walked. Edman doubled to left batting RH against the lefty, Hendrick, scoring Conforto. 8-0 LA. Kim then homered to deep right field, his 2nd of the year, making it 10-0 LA. Ohtani struck out. Knack gave up a single to Wells and then he walked LeMahieu. Vivas came up and hit a soft liner to Kim who caught the ball and dived headfirst tagging second base. Wells was originally called safe, but the Dodgers challenged and the call was overturned with Kim making an unassisted double play. Grisham flied to center for the 3rd out.
Teo struck out against the new Yankee’s pitcher, Ian Hamilton. Freeman flied out to left. Smith popped out to end the inning. Hamilton would also set LA down in the 4th just issuing a walk to Conforto. Judge led off the Yankee 4th with a long homer to deep left field, his 20th of the year. Knack set the Yankees down without any more damage. Knack also pitched a scoreless 5th inning despite walking Volpe and giving up a double to Vivas. Leiter Jr. replaced Hamilton for the Yankees in the 5th.
Kim led off with a single to left. Ohtani singled to right, sending Kim to 3rd. Teo flied out to shallow right, Kim had to hold third. Freeman doubled down the right field line scoring Kim. Smith hit a soft grounder to the pitcher. Muncy then homered deep down the RF line, making it 14-0 LA. It was his 6th of the year and 196th as a Dodger. De Los Santos replaced Leiter. Pages walked. Conforto grounded out to third.
Knack threw a scoreless 6th inning, and De Los Santos and Devin Willliams combined for a scoreless 6th for the Yanks. Banda shut the Yanks down in the 7th allowing just a walk. In the Dodger 7th, Luke Weaver took over and gave up a solo homer to Pages, his 10th. LA made some wholesale changes with Kike taking over at 1st, Rojas at SS, Kim moved to CF with Pages going to right. In the 8th, Chris Stratton came into pitch and allowed Judge his 21st homer and 2nd of the game. Kim made a great defensive play in the top of the 6th when Judge hit a ball off the top of the wall and Kim threw him out at second.
With the score 15-2, the Yankees sent OF, Pablo Reyes into the game to pitch. Edman singled to right, his 4th hit of the game. Kim followed with a single to right, his 4th hit of the game. Rushing, pinch hitting for Ohtani, homered to right, a 3-run shot and the first of his career. LA now led 18-2. Kike singled for his 2nd hit of the game. Rojas flied out to left. Smith then doubled for his 2nd hit of the game and Muncy popped out. Pages did the same. Kike came in to pitch the 9th. He allowed just a single and LA won 18-2. Muncy had 3 hits and 7 RBIs. The game was played on Roberts 55th birthday.
The Dodgers were on the losing end of some games like this too. On April 12th, the Cubs shellacked them 16-0. Before winning the last two games of the A’s series, the A’s won an 11-1 game on May 13th. On July 12th, the Padres also won a game against LA with an 11-1 final score. On July 14th, with Kershaw on the mound, the Dodgers beat the Giants in LA, 11-5. But the game was a blowout until the 9th inning when Kike gave up a grand slam to Casey Scmidt, who had hit another granny the night before. LA was leading 11-0 when Hernandez took the mound. He allowed 3 hits, 5 earned runs and walked 3. Banda had to be called in to get the last out. Ohtani homered twice in the game.
They scored 13 runs and then 10 runs in consecutive games against the Giants in September, the last time they scored in double figures in 25. After July 22nd, no team scored 10 runs against them until the Jays hammered them for 11 in the first game of the World Series. It is always memorable when you score a ton of runs against a quality team.
I’m ready
I just got up. I’ll need a few minutes.
MLB Executives poll on a variety of farm rankings. We do rather well:
https://www.mlb.com/dodgers/news/front-office-executives-poll-for-farm-systems-2026?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage
I just saw an interview of Muncy. He mentioned that multiple short winter breaks for the Dodgers contributed to their slumps during the season ( and possibly injuries). In the playoffs every year, season starting early as the travel to Asia to start the season 2x in a row plus then going to the WS both times
Sounds like pre season excuses for the upcoming maybes.
Just waiting for the trade and free agent markets to heat up. What will be the first shoe to drop??
Will Bauer or Urias ever play in MLB again??
I don’t think Bauer has a chance. Urias will probably pitch in the Mexican League or the KBO first. But he is younger than Bauer. Maybe after a year or so someone will take a chance. He would be a natural fit in San Diego.
I’d bring them both back. Bauer was never charged with a crime and Urias did his time.
I would also.
I know Bauer was railroaded, he has been pitching in different leagues trying to convince a team to take a chance on him. He posts a lot of videos that is for sure. I haven’t heard much about Urias since he was cleared by baseball to return to the game.
Good morning, guys. A couple of things on MLBTR caught my eye this morning. First, 9 teams, including the Angels, cancelled their deals with Fan Duels Sports network. Manfred has implied that MLB will most likely step in and take over the broadcasts. Teams affected are the Angels, Braves, Brewers, Marlins, Rays, Reds, Tigers, Royals, and Cardinals. Speaking of the Tigers, Tarik Skubal and the Tigers did not reach a contract agreement and will likely go to arbitration with a 13-million-dollar gap in their numbers. Skubal’s group wants 32 million and the Tigers offered 19. If he wins, it would be the largest arbitration win in MLB history. Bellinger offered a deal with an average AAV of 30 mil by the Yankees. The term of contention with Belli seems to be the length of the deal. He is more concerned with the years. Baseball has discussed an in-season tournament like the NBA has. There is absolutely no need for that. That is what the post-season is for. LA signed all four of their arbitration eligible players with Banda signing last night. Woke up this morning to a blanket of snow.
Gee, sports gambling and sports themselves in bed together. What could go wrong with that?
Watched MLB channels Ohtani tribute. Included some Angel highlights. Pretty cool.
Dodgers just claimed inf Ryan Fitzgerald off of waivers from the Twins. Roster now sits at 40.
And now we’re signing infielder Andy Ibanez to a major league deal so that puts the 40-man at 41.
Are we getting ready to trade an infielder or two? Freeland? Kim?
Or is this just AF playing musical infielders and tomorrow they’ll both be on waivers?
Neither one is that great. Ibanez has some experience, 4 yrs in the majors and hit as many as 11 homers. Seems to be more of a glove first kind of guy. Fitzgerald is almost 32. Doubt he even makes it to spring training.
Hard agree
Ibanez is a solid veteran. The arrival of both Ibanez and Fitzgerald, I think, is not good news for Alex Freeland. It’s now much easier to add Freeland into a trade package.
The Tigers’ low-ball arbitration offer to Skubal has me wondering when, not if, they’ll trade him. Would they act now to avoid all of the ’26 salary?
The Dodgers don’t need pitching, but they are in the best position to both make an offer and sign him to a long-term contract. Skubal would move to the top of the rotation.
Let’s assume the Tigers want younger players/prospects with years of control. The offer starts with Sheehan and includes at least four more players, including Freeland and one of the four touted OF prospects.
Both are over 30. LA does not need another aging veteran infielder. Most of the starters are 30 or approaching it except for Pages. Does not make any sense to sign this guy or claim Fitzgerald.
Seems to me that the Mets are also in a good position to go after Skubal, and they need pitching more than we do.
I agree with Badger. Skubal is just too much of an injury risk to spend all that prospect capital.
Who isn’t at risk of injury?
Those prospects can get hurt too, you know. And isn’t every prospect “suspect” until they prove themselves in The Show?
Nope, I would not be nervous about Skubal’s health.
He’s been healthy enough the last two seasons to win the Cy in dominant fashion. Reads like a clean bill of health to me…
I assume that the Mets could meet Skubal’s salary demands, but I believe the Dodgers have the deeper farm system.
The team from Queens has the greater need, however, and would be more likely to go all-in.
You’re ok with his medical history?
MLB Pipeline has just released a survey of executives with regard to teams’ farm systems (linked below).
The Dodgers came in first overall but the question that I found most interesting was “which team hoards prospects the most?” The Dodgers did not get even one vote. I know many of us here, myself included, feel that AF sometimes hangs on to our young players so long that their trade value evaporates. I guess those “in the know” don’t agree.
Execs poll: Top system? Best at drafting? Best at trading for prospects?
Thx for the link. Good stuff.
I notice that the Guardians are known for developing pitchers. Perhaps they’d be interested in trying to fix Bobby Miller and Maddux Bruns, two former first-round draft picks.
Oh, as I’m watching this, a commentator on MLB Tonight is calling on the Yankees to go after Tarik Skubal.
But that executive survey suggests that the Mets have the 7th most admired farm system, and the Yankees aren’t in the mix.
The more I think about it, the more it seems that Detroit wants to deal Skubal sooner rather than later.
Why piss Skubal off with a low arbitration offer? The Tigers won’t be able to meet his long-term contract demands, so why give fans false hope? Why not seek a big return now rather than later?
The Dodgers could offer:
–Sheehan
–Rushing
–A prime OF prospect
–Second-tier hitter and pitcher
With another trade, the Dodgers could get Rortvedt back from the Reds, or another good back-up.
Whether the Dodgers should make such a bold move is another question. But how often does a guy like Skubal get on the market?
Of course Skubal would look good right away on this team. But the bidding will be very high. If we are going to go for that high cost trade, shouldn’t it be for a position of need?
Then of course there is the question of throwing 100 mph fastballs after those two surgeries, both a TJ (UCL) and a flexor tendon and 400 innings in two years. Maybe that’s why Detroit lowballed him?
It would probably be a fun year if he comes here. If they do it, ok. But I would rather use those prospects on an every day 5 WAR centerfielder.