Dodgers Successful in First Experience With New Extra Innings Rule
In a game following the Joe Kelly incident, you would likely expect plenty of fireworks. That was not the case in Wednesday night’s game between the Dodgers and Astros.
Both clubs plated runs early in the game, with Corey Seager connecting on his first home run of the season in the 2nd inning. Houston pushed a run across in the bottom half of that inning with a weak infield single after starter Dustin May was late covering first base.
That would pretty much do it for the offense for the first 9 innings.
That is where things started to go poorly for Los Angeles experiencing the new extra innings rule for the first time. Seager lined out very softly into the shift to start things with Justin Turner placed on second base. That would be the closest they would get to moving runners over in the 10th.
Luckily, Scott Alexander came on in the bottom of the inning to somehow shut the Astros down. In the top of the 11th, the Dodgers did manage to score a run when Mookie Betts knocked a ball off of the wall in left. Unfortunately, the Astros bats woke up in the bottom half were able to tie things up.
Things stayed that way until the 12th inning when Edwin Rios hit a massive two-run shot to start the inning. The Dodgers would go on to lock down the longest extra-inning game thus far in 2020 by a score of 4-2.
Notably, Rios became the answer to a trivia question with that long ball.
Edwin Ríos with the first leadoff 2-run homerun in MLB history!
— Rex Kaplan (@rexkap3) July 30, 2020
Overall, the Dodgers had trouble getting the bat on the ball and driving runners in. They only tallied 5 hits 13 innings and left plenty of guys out there on the basepaths.
What’s Next
After a series split, the Dodgers will head to Arizona for a four-game series with the Diamondbacks. Their starting rotation is mostly set, though Dave Roberts has yet to officially name a starter for Friday as of this post. A member of the taxi squad or one of the guys from the USC candidates are all options to take Wood’s turn in the order.
Dodgers: Jomboy Breaks Down Joe Kelly Fight Against Bregman, Correa, and the Astros
The new extra innings rule where pitchers can lose a game while flawlessly recording consecutive outs (eg. groundout, sac fly) is another brainless idea by the preeminent moron in baseball, Manfred. Does this guy take hallucinogenic drugs, or does it come naturally? But at least the Dodgers won.
I like the tie break rule. It adds a level of excitement at the end of the game. I think they should bunt the runner over, especially if the shift is on.
Isn’t the taxi said and the player’s at USC the same thing?