On day honoring Sandy Koufax, Julio Urías ends personal skid as Dodgers rout Guardians
It might be expected that Sandy Koufax’s presence would inspire a pitchers’ duel. Instead, it triggered an overdue Dodgers offensive outburst in a 7-1 victory Saturday over the Cleveland Guardians.
Check that. Consider one pitcher sufficiently motivated by the fact that the man who threw four no-hitters and won three Cy Young and two World Series most-valuable-player awards in the 1960s sat next to the Dodgers’ dugout.
Julio Urías ended a three-game losing streak, giving up one unearned run and two hits in six innings. He is Exhibit A of why a pitcher’s win-loss record can be a poor indicator of effectiveness. Last season, Urías was 20-3 with a 2.96 ERA. This season, his ERA is 2.56 but his record is 4-6.
Before the Dodgers batted in the first inning Saturday, clips from Koufax’s statue unveiling earlier in the day were shown on the video board of Clayton Kershaw lauding his mentor and an unexpectedly ebullient Koufax expressing sincere thanks to family, fans and former teammates.
Reyes Moronta shuts down Guardians in ninth to secure Dodgers’ 7-1 win
Dodgers reliever Reyes Moronta retired the Guardians in order in the ninth to secure the Dodgers’ 7-1 win Saturday.
Moronta struck out Owen Miller and Oscar Gonzalez before Richie Palacios field out to center field to end the game.
Julio Urías, who allowed two hits, zero earned runs and struck out six, got the win and improved to 4-6 on the season. Justin Turner hit a two-run double, Trea Turner drove in two runs and Freddie Freeman had three hits.
The Dodgers (40-24) will close out their three-game series against the Guardians (33-28) on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. PT.
Dodgers lead 7-1 heading into the eighth inning
Bottom of the seventh: A throwing error by Cleveland pitcher Nick Sandin allowed Gavin Lux to score from third and give the Dodgers a 7-1 lead.
Lux reached base on a one-out walk, then moved to second when Sandin walked Austin Barnes. A Freddie Freeman grounder to the mound should have been the final out of the inning, but Sandin made a wide throw to first base, giving Lux plenty of time to round third and score.
Phil Bickford will replace David Price on the mound for the Dodgers in eighth, with 19 of the last 21 Cleveland batters having been retired.
⚾ End of the seventh: Dodgers 7, Guardians 1
Dodgers take 6-1 lead over Guardians with bases-loaded walk
Bottom of the sixth: Cleveland reliever Anthony Castro walked Justin Turner with the bases loaded to score Austin Barnes and give the Dodgers a 6-1 lead.
Barnes led off with a walk before Freddie Freeman singled for his third hit of the game. Castro then walked Max Muncy to load the bases. After Castro walked Turner, Cleveland manager Terry Francona put Anthony Gose into the game.
Gose then struck out Cody Bellinger for the final out.
David Price will take over for Julio Urías on the mound of the Dodgers in the seventh. Urías was superb, allowing two hits, zero earned runs, two walks and striking out six over six innings and 87 pitches.
End of the sixth: Dodgers 6, Guardians 1
Julio Urías has allowed just one hit through five innings
Top of the fifth inning: Another 1-2-3 inning for Julio Urías and the Dodgers. Urias has allowed one hit through five innings, retiring 13 of the last 14 batters he has faced.
Chris Taylor, filling in for Mookie Betts in right field, made a nice sliding catch on a Myles Straw blooper near foul territory for the third out.
⚾ End of the fifth inning: Dodgers 5, Guardians 1
Justin Turner and Gavin Lux help give Dodgers a 5-1 lead
Bottom of the third: The Dodgers took a 5-1 lead on a run-scoring double by Justin Turner and an RBI triple by Gavin Lux.
Turner’s hit might have been a single had it not bounced off the outstretched glove of Cleveland left fielder Steven Kwan. Turner then advanced to third on a throwing error by Cleveland shortstop Amed Rosario on the relay throw to home plate.
Max Muncy, who led off the inning with a walk, scored on the Turner hit and Turner scored on Lux’s triple. The speedy Lux took advantage of a slow bounce off wall in the right-field corner for the three-base grab.
Cleveland starter Cal Quantrill has allowed eight hits and five earned runs over 62 pitches so far.
In the top of the inning, Julio Urías put in another strong inning, retiring the side on eight pitches and striking out Owen Miller in the process. He retired the Guardians in order in the second inning, too.
⚾ End of the third: Dodgers 5, Guardians 1
Dodgers take lead on Trea Turner’s two-run home run
Bottom of the second: Trea Turner hit a two-run home run off Cleveland starter Cal Quantrill to help give the Dodgers a 3-1 lead.
Turner’s ninth home run of the season came after Austin Barnes drove in Cody Bellinger on a sacrifice fly for the Dodgers’ first run.
Bellinger reached first on a single before Chris Taylor followed with a ground-rule double into the left-field corner. Barnes’ popup to right field gave Bellinger plenty of time to tag up and get the Dodgers on the board. Taylor then scored on the Turner home run.
⚾ End of the second: Dodgers 3, Guardians 1
Cleveland takes a 1-0 lead on a Max Muncy fielding error
Top of the first inning: A Max Muncy fielding error allowed Amed Rosario to score and give the Cleveland Guardians a 1-0 lead.
Muncy’s fifth error of the season came on liner up the middle by Oscar Mercado. Muncy got in front the ball as it rocketed past second base, but he couldn’t scoop it up, the ball ricocheting off him into right-center field. That gave Rosario enough time to score from second.
Julio Urías walked Rosario and Owen Miller with one out. He struck out Andres Gimenez to cap the frame.
Dodger fans gave Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Kofax a standing ovation between innings. The Dodgers unveiled a statue of the Dodgers legend outside the stadium this morning.
Bottom of the first: After Will Smith and Max Muncy singled with two outs, Justin Turner struck out to end the inning. The Dodgers left 13 runners on base in Friday’s 2-1 loss to the Guardians.
⚾ End of the first: Guardians 1, Dodgers 0
Dodgers starting lineup vs. Guardians on Saturday
Here’s the starting lineup for the Dodgers vs. the Cleveland Guardians on Saturday:
And here is the starting lineup for the Cleveland Guardians:
How to watch and stream the Dodgers this season
Here’s a look at the Dodgers broadcast and streaming schedule for the remainder of the 2022 regular season:
ICYMI: Clayton Kershaw’s sharp outing wasted by Dodgers’ lackluster offense in loss
The long-awaited bronze statue of Sandy Koufax will be unveiled Saturday in the Centerfield Pavilion at Dodger Stadium.
Koufax retired in 1966. Should the Dodgers take as long to create a statue for their current left-handed pitcher who has posted similar career numbers, Clayton Kershaw would have his unveiled in, oh, 2078 or so.
Not that Kershaw is pitching like someone on the verge of retirement. Making his second start since spending five weeks on the injured list with lower back inflammation, the 15-year veteran was sharp in a five-inning outing Friday night against the Cleveland Guardians, giving up one run and leaving with the score tied.
Cody Bellinger’s second-inning home run was all the offense the Dodgers could muster, however, in a frustrating 2-1, 10-inning loss in which they went one for 13 with runners in scoring position. Perhaps their most head-scratching statistic is that they are 0-5 in extra-inning games this season after losing 11 of 12 in 2021.