July 19-21: Key series with Giants at home, with a rematch away next weekend. All hands on deck: missing newly IL Gavin Lux, and Betts day to day.
Game 1- Holy batman — what a 1st inning! Both teams go copycat with back-to-back homers — from usual suspects. 3-2 SF before the seats are warm. Gotta love those gopher balls — looked like home run derby. Ugh in the 2nd: Dodgers leave ’em loaded when Smitty fans on 3 slow curves (gotta know what he’s throwing that AB). Both pitchers gone in the 4th. Then the bats go to sleep for both teams, until the 7th, when the Giants explode on Victor Gonzo for 4 runs on 4 hits. Game over. The Dodgers embarrassed themselves by getting only 2 hits after the 1st.
San Francisco 7-12-0, Dodgers 2-4-1
Lineup: Missing red hot Mookie! (Guess he’s day to day.) Replaced in starting lineup by Reks instead of red hot Pollack!? Reks should hit 8th, with McKinstry ahead of him.
Rant on pitching: When will the Dodgers ever learn to not pitch killer Posey up and in — boom every time! Especially can’t be careless with a hanger there. Gonsolin has command issues early again, and he needs to use his toughest pitches early and not try to get by with just fastballs and curves. His splitter is unhittable, and he is tough when he keeps his curve/slider down and away. After 2 innings, his pitch count was 51! Pulled in the 4th (3.1 IP) after 2 more walks and 79 pitches (most were balls). Victor Gonzo brought in just off the Il in the 7th, got too much of the plate on mediocre pitches to get lit up for 4. Bright side: Vesia looked good.
Rant on opposing stealing: Dodgers let Yaz steal 2B without a throw or even anyone covering in the 4th (BS!). They could have at least tried a pitchout first. Then another steal of 2B without a throw. Throw the ball! Runners often overslide.
add this from MLB: “Fourteen hitters across six different teams made history on Monday and smacked seven separate sets of back-to-back home runs, an MLB record according to Stats by STATS.”
Game 2- Whoa! Yes! Wailing Walkoff Willie delivers “Happyness” and the 8-6 walkoff win — one we really needed. Looked grim when the Dodgers were behind 6-1 after 5, and were not doing a thing against old pal Woody. But tonight the Dodgers clawed their way back to 6-5 on the back of CT3’s pair of jacks. Still, it looked like a sure 6-5 frustrating loss for Dodgers in the 9th. DR sure picked the right PH this time! After he let Reks bat in the 8th, with Mookie just sitting there. What was he thinking? (Reks might get his 1st hit a week from Tuesday, right after Belli.) Nice AB by Barnesy to drive in Belli for the 3rd run.
Dodgers were in the 6-1 hole because they threw out there a raw, untested rookie Gray, who gave up 4 runs in 4 innings. This series is too important to rely on rookies. Unfortunately, we lost both our hot hitters JT and Mad Max after being plunked. (Smart of Woody to dispatch them — ouch! He’d rather pitch to Albert and Belli.)
Game 3- Ugh! Giant reversal. Dodgers let damn Giants turn the tables on them with a 9th inning go ahead 2-run bomb. Jansen robs Urias of a league first 13th win by his 2nd straight blown save. Kenley had nothing going for him, as he gave up single, homer, double, walk — with few swing and misses.
But Dodgers also repeat game 1 on offense: only 2 runs on 3 hits. Not gonna win many with only 3 hits. Usual hot hitters got those 3 hits and drove in both runs: CT3 (homer) and AJ (double). Where was the rest of the team? Only needed 5 runs to win!
Game 4- You’re kidding me, you’re killing me Dodgers. Back to back stabs in the back! Can’t happen twice in a row. 3rd blown save in a row by Jansen, and this time he had a 2-run cushion. Roberts blows over earning his 2nd straight ejection, after yet another controversial called ball 4 that brought in the tying run. Appeared Ruf did swing — game should have been over. But play before that, a routine grounder to end the game didn’t: Taylor should have thrown to 1st to end the game. Always risky to try for the force if the runner gets a good jump. Once again, both teams did what needed to happen for the Giants to steal a game, and steal a game (with a little help from the umps).
But the real problem was Roberts rolling the dice by going with Jansen again. We all knew what would happen. I would have let Buehler get 1 more out (only 99 pitches), and then leave in Treinen for a 4-out save. We surely would have won. Doc didn’t do Kenley any favors either, based on the results. And of course he left him in 1 batter too long. I feel sorry for Urias and Buehler, who both threw great games, only to lose their wins. Finally, why was McKinstry not in the game, replaced by another newbie, McKinney?
Sad bottom line: Dodgers can’t win with only 2-3 runs anymore, especially if they have to rely on Jansen to close. It looks like the Giants are destined to win the division.