Click to watch Podcast
Despite making an improbable run at the Giants last night, the Dodgers couldn’t make it all the way back and lost their 7th game in a row, 8-7.
The Dodgers fell down 8-2 in the bottom of the 5th, but answered with a 4-spot in the top of the 6th, then added one in the 7th, and had 2 on and just 1 out in the 9th before Will Smith grounded into a double play to end the game.
Will Smith is unquestionably the hitter any team on the planet would want up in that situation because he’s hitting .328 overall, and is hitting .403 with runners in scoring position.
Michael Conforto had a great night, throwing out a runner at home plate on a perfect throw, then hitting a 2-run home run in the 4-run 6th to breathe life into the Dodgers by bringing them back with 2 runs.
Shohei Ohtani had a 9-pitch walk to lead the game off, then hit a 410-foot home run in his next at-bat. Mookie had a good night too, going 2-4 and scoring 2 runs, but Freddie Freeman continues to struggle, and is showing no signs of when it will end.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Freeman look like this at the plate.
Hyeseong Kim stole the show with his 3 hits and 2 stolen bases, and he made another sparkling play where he went behind the 2nd base bag, and made a jump throw to 1st base.
That dude is legit, and he needs to play every day.
Dustin May was the Dustin May we’ve gotten all year, for the most part. His last outing was excellent, but last night was more of “great moments” followed by stretches where he lost the strike zone, followed by home runs.
May has an incredible amount of potential, but is running out of starts to find the consistency we’ve been hoping for.
Anthony Banda came in to get the last out of the 5th, but gave up a triple to Willy Adames that scored 2, then gave up a single to Jung Hoo Lee to plate the 5th run of the frame.
Banda had an ERA of 4.35 in June, which isn’t good, but it’s all because of 2 outings on June 1st and June 24th where he gave up 5 runs combined in 10.1 innings. But, for the rest of his action, he gave up just no runs in 9 innings.
In July, his ERA is 5.06, and he’s given up a run in 3 of his 5 outings.
Jack Dreyer threw a scoreless 7th inning, which started the comeback, which always starts with hangin’ zeroes. Dreyer gave up a leadoff single to Patrick Bailey in the 6th, then after a sac bunt from Yastrzemski, he got Heliot Ramos to strike out, then Devers to pop out.
Dreyer has his ERA down to 3.02, his WHIP is just 1.11, his average against is just 1.11, and he’s given up just 1 run in his last 7 innings.
Lou Trivino followed him and gave up a 2-out single to Jung Hoo Lee, and Will Klein finished things off by walking a batter, posting a scoreless outing as well.
Even though the Dodgers lost, all was not lost, IMO. It was good to see the offense bust out after being in a pretty big funk by any team’s standards, but especially this offense that has been the best in ALL of baseball all year. Coming back off of Logan Webb, and then also scoring on the Giants’ bullpen is not something that happens very often, so hopefully that is a springboard for tonight and moving forward.
Down On the Farm
AAA OKC
Justin Wrobleski turned in a good start for AAA OKC.
5IP 4H 1R 4Ks 1BB
Wrobo retired the first 8 batters he faced before giving up a home run on a good slider down in the zone. That home run was the only run he gave up all night.
He worked around a hit and a walk in the 5th, after the 1st 2 hitters reached in the 6th, he got a K and a double play ball to finish his evening.
Wrobo sat 95, hit 98, was in zone with his 4-Seam 67%, and 69% with his sinker. The cutter was also a good strike pitch, and his slider had his highest whiff %.
He split time with his slider and sinker as his 2nd and 3rd most thrown pitches.
Austin Gauthier had 2 hits for AAA OKC, no surprise the 1st hit was turned around into center field. Tonight was great to see, because it’s been a patch for Gator, which, the way he hits, is not something you see very often, but he has the ability to get hot in a real hurry.
In fact, I expect it! More Cowbell Please!
Alexis Diaz threw a scoreless inning for AAA OKC, but it was anything but routine. He struck out the 1st hitter he saw with a really nice slider, but then all Hell Broke Loose.
Well, kinda!
After the leadoff K, the next hitter hit a triple on a routine flyball, which CJ Alexander, the left fielder, never picked up.
As an FYI, Alexander has been playing mostly 1st base.
Diaz then hit the next batter to put runners at 1st & 3rd. He got down 3-0 to the next hitter, then on a 3-1 count threw a 92 MPH fastball that was pretty much middle/middle and got a very adventurous double play. That ended the inning and secured the scoreless outing.
Diaz was 93-96 on his fastball, spin touched 2619, and averaged 2442. Fastball was in zone 60%, which is just about perfect. Slider had a 50% whiff rate.
AA Tulsa
Jerming Rosario turned in another scoreless outing for AA Tulsa as he continues to settle into his new role. Rosario has given up just 2 runs in his last 10.1 innings, and has an average against this month of .158.
Atta Baby Jerming, keep this thing rollin’!
Jeisson Cabrera threw a scoreless inning for AA Tulsa to move his ERA down to just 3.16. Nice bounce back for Cabrera, who had his only 2 tough outings on the year coming into tonight.
Cabrera gave up 6 runs in 2/3rds of an inning in that outing, but prior to that, he had given up just 4 runs in 24 innings.
High A Great Lakes
Kendall George had 3 hits, including a double where he took 2nd on a left-fielder bobble. He later tried to stretch another double on his next hit, then had an infield base hit.
George also stole his 38th base, so he was using his speed ALL night long to make an impact on the game tonight for the Loons.
Cameron Decker had a couple of hits and an RBI last night for Great Lakes. Decker grew up playing shortstop, but plays just about everywhere as a pro.
Last night he was in right field, where he’s played 20 games in his pro career. He’s played 32 games in left field, 3 games at third base, and 69 games at 1st base.
Super talented young man with the potential to have tremendous power inside the framework of a great hitter.
Last night, in combination with his recent home runs are the perfect example. Last night, he served 2 balls into right field, but that’s on the heels of hitting two pretty big home runs to the pull side a couple of games before that.
Evan Shaw gets an “Atta Baby” for his good work last night in relief for the Loons.
3.2 IP 2H 0R 4Ks 0BB
Shaw lowered his ERA to 3.25 and has gone four outings in a row without allowing a run. Shaw has an average against of just .204, so when he’s throwing strikes consistently, it’s always a rough night for the opponent.
For instance, Shaw has 13 outings on the year where he did not walk a batter, and, in those 13 outings, he’s gone scoreless in 11 of them.
Single A Rancho Cucamonga
Jaron Elkins had a big night for Rancho, getting 2 hits, including home run #7 on the season. He also stole his California League leading 45th base of the season, which is a number so high that I can’t wrap my head around it.
Elkins was out for about a week, and last night was just his 2nd night back, and it didn’t take him long to get back in the swing. Jaron has his average up to .271, and is coming off a month of June where he hit .316.
Ryan Brown was very impressive last night for Rancho Punchin’ 3 in a 2-inning scoreless outing.
2IP 0H 0R 3K 0BB
Brown has a very impressive arsenal with a very good fastball, and a unique “Vulcan” change, and has some of the most lethal “swing and miss” stuff in ALL of Minor League baseball. He has 61 Ks in 34 innings, I mean…Whu?
Of course, keeping the ball in the strike zone is the key, as it is with every pitcher with that type of strikeout stuff, but the sky is the limit for this dude.
Become a subscriber to our Dodgers Daily YouTube page and follow us on Twitter @dodger_daily, on Instagram @dodger.daily, on TikTok @dodgers_daily, or on our new discord server by following this link, https://discord.gg/zFM3yYCv.
Also, please consider donating to our Live Dodgers Dawgs shows to help Dodgers Daily keep growing. We go live every Sunday & Wednesday Evening at 5:00 Pacific, and we’d love to have you join the chat. This site will always be free to its viewers, but it does take time and money to run, so any sized donation would be greatly appreciated.
