July 1-4. Dodgers open a tedious 4-game trip to DC. This is a matchup of the last 2 WS champs.
Game 1- Dodgers and Angels both in rain outs back east in DC and NYC. but Dodger game went 5 innings, so we got a 6-2 rain shortened win. rain gods were our friend today. Interesting pitcher selection by Roberts due to rain predictions: went with Gonzo as an opener, but didn’t even let him finish the 1st inning (weird). Then came Gonso the Cat, who looked pretty good, but also got an early hook. Enter the Clever, who gave us a shutdown 5th and final inning.
The offense, down 2-1 in the 5th, was sparked by AJ’s leadoff solo jack (yet another solo) for the tie, then along came red hot Mad Max to bomb his 2nd career grand slam (18th HR, on track for a 3rd straight 36 HR season), to put up a big 5 in the 5th. Game over, as the rains washed up Washington.
Game 2- The Dodgers were fresh off a trip to the White House when they politely handed the Nats 3 runs in the 2nd. JT made yet another throw in the dirt that is usually scooped by Muncy, but it inexplicably scooted by, letting 2 runs score and setting up a third. Max has to knock that ball down! Against the other Mad Max, Sherzer, the Dodgers had little hope. But relief was on the way when Sherzer was pulled after 6. A succession of Nat relievers opened the flood gates in the 7th, when again, the Dodgers put up a 5 spot. But wait, there’s more … Dodgers scored twice more, and then 2 more on an AJ blast, for a total of 9 runs!
Urias lasted a quality 6, matching Sherzer with only 1 ER on 3 hits (Sherzer gave up 4 hits). Julio showed poise by shutting down the Nats after the nasty 3 runs in the 2nd (only 1 run was earned). Dodgers were extremely sloppy in the field. Not only was there the painful JT to Muncy miscue, but also Muncy completely missed a double play grounder, and then Belli dropped a fly ball — leading to the Nats final 2 runs. Good thing we had a 7-run cushion to cement our 7th straight win, 10-5.
The final highlight was the surprise season debut appearance of Brusdar Graterol, who gassed the Nats with 100 mph fastballs and confounded them with 83 mph curves.
Let’s send the Dodgers to the White House again.
Game 3- That’s 8 straight! But an odd night for the offense just scratching out 5 hits with no homers, but were able to plate 5 with a bit of luck.
Kershaw got careless with a hanger to Gomes for the Nats only protest. Then the rain in the 5th cancelled Kersh to deprive him of his 10th win. Our bullpen held tight, but with tension to the finish as Kenley got a rough start, letting 1st 2 batters and tying runs get on. Facing 1 bad pitch to lose the game, Kenley came up big again to close it out. Best performance was Graterol throwing smoke at 100-102 mph to pitch a clean inning. Worst performance was Joe Kelly nearly hitting 2 batters in a row (but walked one) when he could not control his wildly tailing 2-seamer. So Joe stuck with his curve and pitched out of the jam.
Game 4- That’s 9 straight and a 4-game sweep! Good all around game, as Dodgers survive a HBP hat trick, including 2 in the head. Nice job for the bullpen, as 7 different pitchers did well.
Dodgers offense was dulled by a strong SP Ross until the 7th yet again feasting on relievers, with 2 in the 7th and 2 more in the 9th. Dodgers could have easily had a few more, as they left bases loaded with no outs in the 9th, with both Belli and Taylor striking out. Belli is still the swing and miss king, swinging way under the ball on fastballs. I would not bat him high in the lineup, but put him at 6 or 7, as he is a big hole in the middle. Uncle Albert came through again with a PH RBI for the game winner — hitting it off the wall, and making it all the way to 1B (LOL). Muncy just missed his 2nd slam of the series by a foot — off the top of the CF wall at the deepest part of the park marked 402.
Rant: please coach Barnes how to catch without interference (twice this series).