Dodgers Team News

Dodgers Complete Series Victory to Control First Place

Dodgers fans have probably seen more than enough of the Los Angeles Angels of Orange County at this point. Those pesky Angels have been giving the boys in blue a hard time over the past two weeks. And the Dodgers shut out the series victory Sunday afternoon in yet another close game.

The Offense

For once, the offense did not have an entirely difficult time getting their bats going in this one. Yasmani Grandal crushed a solo shot in the second to give Los Angeles the lead early. Toles reached bases on some hustle, and Taylor moved him over to third on a base hit. He would score on Hernandez’ sacrifice fly.

Then Clayton Kershaw added some insurance with a base hit to right. The only offense that would follow came in the seventh when Hernandez hit a solo shot in a tied game. Toles had an rbi single in the eighth to add on the insurance run.

The Defense

Clayton Kershaw got the start in this one, and had a little bit of difficulty finding the strike zone. He walked four batters through his 6 2/3 innings. His only real mistake though came in the fourth when he gave up a three-run home run. He departed the game in the seventh with two runners on.

Kenta Maeda came in and immediately got into more trouble. He drilled Justin Upton on the shoulder to load them up. But he worked through it and struck out Kinsler to end the threat.

Scott Alexander worked a perfect eighth inning to follow up Maeda in relief. He struck out two and got one to pop out in foul territory. That left it up to Kenley Jansen who did not disappoint. Jansen struck out Ohtani to start the ninth. The rest of the inning was a cake walk to shut it down.

Looking Ahead

The Dodgers are now 53-43 and will head into the All-Star game in sole possession of first place. Not great, but also a far cry from where the team was two short months ago. The climb back to the top has been rough, but the reward is so sweet. The Dodgers will start a ten-game road trip when they return from the break.

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