The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants 8-2 in a game that gave the struggling Dodgers a much-needed boost.
Edwin Diaz’s statement
The Dodgers got a relief appearance from Edwin Diaz, his first since being activated earlier today from the injured list.
He came in to the ninth inning with an 8-2 lead, and the score stayed exactly the same, already much better than his last taste in the big leagues.
Diaz pitched the full inning, allowing one hit, no hard hits, and getting two punchouts, including seven called strikes and whiffs.
There are caveats: the Giants have been one of the worst teams in baseball, and the game was extremely low-leverage and low-stakes.
However, the stakes for Diaz could not have been higher, since he was looking for a clean outing to build from and to show the Dodgers he can continue this year in October.
The Dodgers explode offensively
Kyle Tucker hit a rare home run at Dodger Stadium, along with another hit, and walked.
Additionally, Mookie Betts hit two home runs, Max Muncy added another, and the recently returning Will Smith got his own slugging too.
Just two days ago in Cincinnati, the Dodgers went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position, and they have since responded with two offensive outbursts: eight runs today and another eight on Thursday.
On Friday, the Dodgers had 11 hits and 5 walks, for 16 base runners; while they went 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position, all the big power hits made it moot.
The biggest offensive standout was De Paula, who is on a run of near-perfect swing decisions, and now the hard hits are coming.
De Paula is becoming undeniable for the Dodgers and headed to the postseason roster.
