Did The Dodgers Turn The Page??

It was actually an encouraging game for the Dodgers as a team. CT3 got on base on 4 of his plate appearances.  Plus he actually got a stolen base.  Puig had a 3 hit night.  The Dodgers actually got a sac fly.   After the third inning they stopped chasing Corbin’s slider and worked him to where he was gone after 5.  Baez is proving to be a good low leverage reliever in the 6^th inning or earlier.  Good for him. Every team needs one.  Scott Alexander entered the 7^th with runners on 1^st and 3^rd with 2 outs, and got Ketel Marte to ground into a force out.  Then in the 8^th, Alexander got a 1-2-3 inning with 2 ground outs and a K of Descalso. And Kenley Jansen may now be rounding out of his Spring Training to record his 6^th save in a 1-2-3 9^th.

 

Kike’ had a tough night both offensively and defensively. They all have them. And Cody had a tough night at the plate.  He missed more than a couple of very hittable pitches with runners on base.  But on this night, the rest of the team picked up Kike’ and Cody and the Dodgers got a big win.  Not quite reminiscent of 2017, but closer.

 

If Kike’ reads the ball better off of Nick Ahmed’s bat, Alex Wood could have had his 1^st win of the season.  But to his credit, Alex nibbled all night on the corners but was not getting the calls.  More importantly, he did not give in and try to find more of the plate. Nomar was great at describing how good Wood’s location was, and while maybe he wasn’t getting the call, he should continue to paint, and hopefully he would start to get the call or the batters to chase.  All in all, this was a good team win.

 

Did this game trigger a turn the page moment? On Saturday May 21, 2016 the Dodgers lost their 2^nd consecutive walk off game to the Padres and fell to 21-23.  That was their 4^th consecutive loss and 6^th out of 7.  They beat the Padres in the series finale and faced the Reds in a 3 game series at home, which they swept.  The DBacks are not the Padres, and the Reds are coming in for four.  Maybe it is a stretch for comparisons, but close enough for me.

 

The 2016 season continued to be a struggle so much so that after a loss on June 26, the Dodgers not only lost to the Pirates and fell 8.0 games behind the Giants, they also lost Clayton Kershaw for the next 74 days (62 games). They tried to replace #22 with Bud Norris.  Yet when Clayton pitched again on September 9^th, the Dodgers were in 1^st place in the NL West leading by 5.0 games.  The Dodgers won 3 of the 5 games Kershaw pitched in September, and they went on to beat the Nats in the NLDS, only to lose to the Cubs in the NLCS.  The Dodgers accomplished this with a rotation of McCarthy, Kazmir, Norris, Urias, and Maeda and such stalwart relievers like Louis Coleman, Casey Fien, J. P. Howell, Baez, and Avilan.  Ross Stripling and Brock Stewart started and relieved during this period.

 

The Dodgers are 8.0 games back, and will soon be getting back their heart and soul…Justin Turner. Will Kershaw be out for a while?  I have read conflicting reports so it is hard to say.  But a rotation of Wood, Hill, Maeda, Buehler, and Stripling is better than the one two years ago.  If the Dodgers sweep the Reds as they did 2 years ago, they will climb back to .500.  The Dodgers have been horrid to this point, but the season is not over, and hopefully there is no quit in them. Will Doc and FAZ continue to generate questions?  Of course!! That is all we fans can do.  We cannot get out there and play.  So the questions will continue with the losses, and with the wins for some.  I question why CT3 is leadoff, but I also agree with those who ask…who else?  That appears to be a flaw in the structure of the team, but we can leave that for another set of losses.  In the meantime, let’s just hope that the team has turned the page.

 

MINI MINOR LEAGUE REPORT.

 

Not much positive in yesterday’s games. Both OKC and RC lost, and while Great Lakes won their game it was not pretty.

 

OKC lost for the third consecutive game, 7-2 to the Memphis Redbirds. Manny Banuelos was bested by RHP Jack Flaherty (Cards #2 prospect behind Alex Reyes).  This was Manny’s worst outing of the year.  Donovan Solano and Kyle Garlick both had 2 hit nights, with Solano hitting his 1^st HR on the season.

 

Rancho lost 1-0 to the Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres). The good news in this game was that Dustin May pitched 5.0 scoreless innings, walking 1 and striking out 9.  He tossed 72 pitches (48 for strikes). Jason Richman allowed an unearned run for the loss.  Jeren Kendall threw a runner out the plate.  The other good news was that Gavin Lux continued his streaks with a single giving him a 12 game hitting streak, and ran his streak to 25 games for reaching base at least once.

 

Great Lakes beat the Beloit Snappers (A’s) 6-5. Edwin Uceta completed 4.1 innings allowing 3 runs on 3 hits and 1 walk with 6 K’s.  Uceta’s downfall was a solo HR and a 2 run HR to account for his three runs allowed.  The Loons garnered 9 hits, 2 each by Brayan Morales and Brandon Montgomery, including his 3^rd HR.  Morales stole his 16^th base.  The LA Dodgers as a team has 12, the same as Jeren Kendall.  Mitchell Hansen made his 2018 debut and went 0-4.  I still pull for him.

Maybe Mark can insert one of my favorite’s…Bob Seger’s Turn The Page.

Here you go: (from MT)