Recap: Dodgers Save Biggest Win of 2018 For Memorial Day
“There’s a little magic in the air tonight” – Joe Davis.
It certainly felt that way, as Kikè Hernandez hit a fly ball on the infield that should have been caught by Phillies’ infielder Cesar Hernandez. Instead, the ball fell idly onto the dirt at Dodger Stadium. The Los Angeles rally was on in full force – and the Dodgers were on their way to the biggest win of their 2018 season. Before any of that could happen, they had us taken for a pretty big swerve.
Brock Stewart’s Rough Outing
Stewart received the semi-spot start and did not look great. The positives were that he escaped several jams that could have been worse and put this game out of reach. The negatives were that he lasted just four innings and exited with the Dodgers trailing by four runs. Stewart will need to pitch better to become a fixture on the Dodgers’ 25-man roster with the big club.
The Flawless Bullpen
Scott Alexander, Erik Goeddel, Yimi Garcia, and Kenley Jansen were outstanding on Memorial Day. Pitching like they were honoring something, they compiled five scoreless innings; allowing just two hits and striking out five. The lion’s share of the work was done by Garcia – who was the pitcher of record. Garcia threw two perfect innings in his recall from AAA Oklahoma with two strikeouts in earning his first win of the season. Again, Kenley Jansen was perfect in the ninth-inning for 12th save of the season and ninth in the month of May.
A Comeback That Gets You Talking
The watercooler talk tomorrow will assuredly be about this Dodgers comeback win. They deserve it. This was just the third time this season that the Dodgers have come from behind when trailing after seven innings. A win that would have felt commonplace in 2017 – the Dodgers would need to chip away – and did so with big sixth and eighth innings to beat a good Phillies team 5-4.
The comeback! #Dodgers pic.twitter.com/dYpc32CCXF
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 29, 2018
Joc Pederson doubled to get the Dodgers on the board, and Justin Turner would soon follow with an RBI single. Matt Kemp’s pinch-hit double that scored Yasiel Puig certainly felt like the marquee moment of the game. Max Muncy singled on the infield to bring the Dodgers to a 4-4 tie. Two batters later, Yasmani Grandal singled through a drawn-in Phillies infield that scored Kikè; for a 5-4 lead they would not relinquish.
Memorial Day
The Dodgers wore the camouflage home uniforms, and played inspired baseball late. Their record sits at 25-28 on the year, and they’re just 3.5 games behind the Colorado Rockies in the division race. It’s often been said that what you see at Memorial Day in the baseball season is what is reality. If this is any indicator: Matt Kemp is the team’s MVP candidate, and the Dodgers are going to be in the thick of things in 2018.
Stay tuned, because things are setting up for the Dodgers to provide us with some incredibly dramatic baseball this summer.
