dodgers vs astros

Dodgers On Deck: Dodgers vs Oakland Athletics Series #18

www.franchisesportsmedia.com

Los Angeles Dodgers (40-17)  |  Oakland Athletics (34-22)

 

The Dodgers, in one of the last few series of the season, faced the Oakland Athletics in Los Angeles. With only losing one series this year, the chances are that they finish off well. This Oakland Team is no slouch and has one of the best records in the American League for a reason.

 

Los Angeles Dodgers vs Oakland Athletics Series #18

 

Game 1 – WIN 7-2

The game started with a slight back and forth feel in the beginning for the Dodgers vs Athletics. Dustin May and Frankie Montaz both gave up runs in the first, and then they settled down. Max Muncy hit a blast in the third, after a bloop single from Joc Pederson that no A’s could get to. This is the play that separated the Dodgers from Oakland, and they never looked back. This team seemed to be playing extra hard to earn Dustin May (9.0, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 R 10 SO’s 1 HR), only his second win of the season.

May has looked great this season, and excellent in the early innings. When he gets to around 50 pitches, and beyond, his splits are eye-opening. His opponents OPS (ON BASE PLUS SLUGGING) is .542 with three home runs, and pitches 51 and up see a .886 OPS with seven home runs. It’s puzzling how good he looks pitching, but his record is 1-1 this season in nine starts with a well swinging Dodger lineup. 

To go five innings and qualify for a win on just over 50 pitches is unrealistic. But May’s record is a little more understandable and raises the question of can he get a hold of the situation moving forward. He is one of the most potent and exciting pitchers in the organization, but will also need time to develop on a win-now team. 

Mookie Betts got a great jump off third in the seventh on a soft hit ball towards first from Cody Bellinger. That gave Bellinger his second hit of the game and got Betts across home to score. Dodgers’ Joe Kelly and Pedro Baez were battling and giving Dave Roberts some hard decisions going into the Postseason on who’s the higher leverage guy. Does Roberts want to go to one guy specifically first, or save him for a setup spot? 

Mookie also finished the night with a phenomenal catch on a bad initial read. The ball was going back while moving away from his glove hand; he grabbed it and could have made a great play if runners had been on. He showed offensively and defensively why he could win another Most Valuable Player Award and a Gold Glove.

 

Game 2 – Loss 4-6

The Dodgers started this game with Joe Kelly in the opener role. He was hit around pretty good in the inning but did not have much help from the defense. The defense made a few plays that didn’t help Kelly’s outing, letting up the first three runs of the game and turning it over to Brusdar Graterol for the second inning. Max Muncy skied one that looked like a high pop up, but it barely skimmed over the wall in right and brought the score to a 3-2 deficit.

LA’s pitching (9.0, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 R 10 SO’s 1 HR) started roughly in the first inning with Kelly’s three runs. Then they settled down through the next six until the seventh when they gave up one more. That score was answered back by Cody Bellinger with a big blast from the sweet uppercut swinging lefty on a poor spotted and hanging curveball.

Sean Manea gave the Athletics seven great innings on the mound with only a few base runners and that home run from Muncy. He really handled a potent and hot Dodger offense. Julio Urias matched Manaea’s performance after coming in to start the third inning, only letting up one run through four.

But in the top of the ninth, Ramón Laureano hit a two-run home run to give the A’s the 6-4 lead, and the win. Laureano also robbed Mookie Betts of an extra-base hit to lead off the 8th inning with a diving catch in the left-field gap.

 

Game 3 – WIN 5-1

Game three of the series had Walker Buhler going against Mike Fiers. Buehler had a fantastic outing, only allowing one hit through four innings and recording six strikeouts. His fastball was there as usual, but more importantly, his curveball was very crisp. This is a good sign going into the Postseason, considering he just came off the Injured List for his blistering problems on his fingers. “My stuff was probably as good as it has been this year,” Buehler said after the victory. The Dodgers used up the bullpen again in this game, but all six pitchers made easy work of their batters except Jake McGee, who let up a solo shot to Athletics catcher Sean Murphy.

 

The Dodgers entire team offense scored the five runs tonight on eight hits with four walks and three strikeouts, not bad at all from the young lineup. Justin Turner, Cody Bellinger, and Will Smith all turned hard hits into doubles tonight, which is great to see. LA can also play some small ball when necessary. Corey Seager got in on the fun in the third with a solo jack that helped maintain the lead.

Headlining the team pitching was the absurd amount of strikeouts against the Athletics, recording sixteen in the game with five of the six pitchers having at least two strikeouts. This is the dominant pitching needed to bring another World Series Championship back to Los Angeles. With pitching being an apparent hole in this team in recent years and, more importantly, in the Postseason, The Dodgers need to keep the bullpen weapons fresh and their confidence high these last few games.  This game gave the Dodgers their league-leading 40th win on this short 60 game season.

 

Los Angeles Angels Series Preview

The battle for Los Angeles. In the final series for the Dodgers and Angels, it should be a good set of games as the Dodgers look to keep the bullpen weapons fresh going into the Postseason. The Dodgers took the last series from the Athletics and extended their lead in the National League. With just a few games left to play, they will try and keep the Angels out of the Postseason.

 

 

Scheduled to pitch in game 1 Monday, 9/14

Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw (5-1)  / Padres: LHP Andrew Heaney (4-3)

 

 

Schedule to pitch in game 2 Tuesday, 9/15

Dodgers: Tony Gonsolin (1-2) / Padres: RHP Dylan Bundy (6-3)

 

 

Schedule to pitch in game 3 Wednesday, 9/16

Dodgers: Dustin May (2-1) / Angels: RHP Griffin Canning (2-3)

Dodgers vs Athletics      Dodgers vs Athletics      Dodgers vs Athletics      Dodgers vs Athletics      Dodgers vs Athletics      Dodgers vs Athletics      Dodgers vs Athletics      Dodgers vs Athletics      Dodgers vs Athletics      Dodgers vs Athletics      Dodgers vs Athletics      Dodgers vs Athletics      Dodgers vs Athletics      Dodgers vs Athletics      Dodgers vs Athletics      Dodgers vs Athletics      Dodgers vs Athletics      Dodgers vs Athletics      Dodgers vs Athletics      Dodgers vs Athletics      Dodgers vs Athletics      Dodgers vs Athletics      Dodgers vs Athletics          

-Rich Decristan – Franchise Sports Media

Follow The Franchise on social media

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

YouTube