Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
After yet another disappointing loss Saturday night, the Dodgers (39-27) bounced back today in the series finale behind Clayton Kershaw to avoid being swept by St. Louis (36-29). The offense was 1-for-13 with RISP in the series opener (with the one being an infield single), and 0-for-12 yesterday, bringing the total to a staggering 1-25 heading into today’s game. Luckily and also naturally, that performance from the best offense in those situations did not continue today. It wasn’t an incredible performance, going 3-for-14, but it was all that was needed with Kershaw providing five strong innings today.
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Prior to today’s outing, Alex detailed Kershaw’s recent performance heading into this outing in St. Louis.
“Clayton Kershaw makes his fifth start of the season and is still searching for his first decision. Last time out, Kershaw was given a four-run bottom of the first and the Dodgers tried their darndest to get him through five to qualify for a win. Max Muncy made a one-out error, and Kershaw got a second out but allowed a double and a single (with Kershaw a bit slow to cover first) to give the Mets a 5-4 lead. The Dodgers did come back to win on a Freddie Freeman double, but man was it frustrating to see them leave Kershaw in too long like the good old days. Kershaw’s only struck out eight batters and issued nine walks in his 15 2/3 innings, which is extremely unKershaw-like.”
With his five inning, one earned run, seven strikeout performance today, he looked much more like himself, nearly equaling his season strikeout total in one outing. With those seven strikeouts, Kershaw upped his career total to 2983, passing old friend Zack Greinke (2979) for 20th all-time.
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The start of the game was a little ominous for the Dodgers’ offense, as Shohei Ohtani began with a double, before Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Teoscar Hernández went down in order against Michael McGreevy.
The offense finally struck, however, in just the following inning, with Max Muncy and Will Smith singling to start the top of the second inning. After a Michael Conforto fly-out, the series total with RISP was up to 1-for-29 before Tommy Edman stepped to the plate. The former Cardinal singled up the middle scoring Muncy, ending the drought.
This was encouraging to see as Edman had been scuffling a bit as of late, and it brought Hyeseong Kim up to the plate with runners on second and third. Kim proceeded to turn on a cutter up and in, driving in both runners and ending up on third base with a two-run triple.
Kershaw then held the Cardinals scoreless for the next three innings, racking up strikeouts on both his slider and curveball.
He got some assistance from Kim in center field, looking rather comfortable out there despite minimal playing time. Combined with his performance at the plate, on the bases, and in the field, it’s hard to justify him not starting most days, even though he is due for some regression at the plate.
Meanwhile, Edman doubled on a little squib liner past Nolan Arenado after a Will Smith triple in the fourth inning, tacking on another run, giving Kershaw some breathing room.
Kershaw was looking to get through five scoreless innings, but left a slider up to Masyn Winn with runners on first and second, allowing the lone earned run of his outing and exited up 4-1.
Lou Trivino entered in the sixth inning and allowed an earned run on two hits, bringing the Cardinals within two runs, but Mookie Betts nullified that with a solo shot in the top of the seventh to push the lead to 5-1.
Mookie had three hits in each of the first two games and has been seeing the ball well as of late, with four multi-hit games over his previous five, and ten hits in 20 at-bats in addition to two walks and just one strikeout.
Jack Dreyer and Kirby Yates combined to allow a run in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Matt Svanson gave it back immediately and more, with a wild top of the eighth inning. He walked two batters, hit two, and allowed a single for a total of two earned runs. The Dodgers took a 7-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning, where Michael Kopech made his return from the Injured List and closed it out.
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| NL West | Record | GB |
|---|---|---|
| Dodgers | 39-27 | – |
| Padres | 37-27 | 1.0 |
| Giants | 37-28* | 1.5 |
The Dodgers will now head to San Diego for three games to conclude this brief road trip, before taking on the Giants and Padres at home starting next weekend.
