‘It feels really good’: Cody Bellinger is Dodgers’ grand-slam hero vs. Giants
There was an eruption from the crowd. Air horns over the PA system. And, in a dramatic scene in the bottom of the eighth inning at Dodger Stadium on Friday night, a cathartic relief from one of the Dodgers’ most struggling hitters.
With the bases loaded and the score tied, shades of the old Cody Bellinger reappeared at Chavez Ravine.
In an 0-and-2 count with two outs, the former MVP and once-feared slugger unloaded on a curveball over the plate, blasting a monumental — and, the Dodgers hope, momentous — grand slam that sent the Dodgers to a 5-1 win over the San Francisco Giants.
Entering the at-bat, Bellinger was in the midst of another bad night, in what has become another bad season.
Final: Cody Bellinger’s grand slam lifts Dodgers to 5-1 win
Cody Bellinger broke a tied score with a bang in the bottom of the eight.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Bellinger stayed alive in an 0-and-2 before hammering a hanging curveball to right for a grand slam, giving the Dodgers their first lead since the start of the fourth inning.
It was Bellinger’s 12th home run this year and the seventh grand slam of his career.
In the next half-inning, Craig Kimbrel finished off the win — giving the Dodgers their sixth in a row.
The team is now 62-30
Final: Dodgers 5, Giants 1
Dodgers escape jam in the eighth to keep it tied
For a second straight night, Alex Vesia inherited a messy situation late in the game.
This time, he got out of it.
A night after giving up a game-tying grand slam, Vesia entered in the eighth tonight and stranded a couple runners — inherited from Yency Almonte, who gave up a single and walk earlier in the inning — by getting the final out on a check swing grounder.
Mid 8th: Tied 1-1
Tyler Anderson completes six-inning start with one unearned run
Tyler Anderson followed up his All-Star first half of the season with a strong second-half debut.
The left-hander gave up just one unearned run in six innings against the Giants, otherwise scattering four hits and two walks while striking out six.
His ERA is now 2.79.
He was followed by David Price out of the bullpen, who threw a scoreless top of the seventh.
Mid 7th: Tied 1-1
Giants tie it up in the fourth inning
Tyler Anderson retired his first eight batters in a row.
Of the next eight, however, five reached base, culminating in an RBI single for Yermín Mercedes in the top of the fourth.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, have gone quiet at the plate against Logan Webb since an inning-ending double-play in the second left a runner stranded at third.
End 4th: Tied 1-1
Walker Buehler set to take another significant step in comeback from injury
Exactly six weeks removed from suffering a flexor tendon strain in his right elbow, Walker Buehler is finally scheduled to pick up a baseball again on Monday.
The right-hander said he will play a light game of catch Monday, in what will be his first time throwing since going down with the injury — and later having an operation to remove an unrelated bone spur in his elbow — in June.
“[It will be] about as light as catch can be,” Buehler said with a laugh. “Part of me felt like six weeks have gone by really quick. Part of me feels like it’s taking forever.”
With 2½ months remaining in the regular season, the clock is indeed ticking.
Dodgers score first on bases-loaded walk from Logan Webb
Giants starter Logan Webb ran — err, rather walked his way — into trouble in the first inning.
With one on and two outs in the opening frame, the right-hander walked three consecutive batters, missing the zone on four straight pitches to Gavin Lux to force home the game’s opening run.
His counterpart, Dodgers left-hander Tyler Anderson, worked a scoreless top of the first, though not without a peculiar sequence.
Four pitches into the opening at-bat, Anderson was visited on the mound by pitching coach Mark Prior. After their brief chat, which included the entire infield but no trainer, the four umpires huddled for several moments. Then one of them went to talk to Giants manager Gabe Kapler.
It was unclear what the issue was, but when play finally resumed, Anderson was unfazed, retiring the side in order.
End 1st: Dodgers lead 1-0
Justin Turner sits with injury; Tyler Anderson squares off against Logan Webb
A day after exiting the Dodgers’ series-opening win against the Giants with abdominal tightness, Justin Turner was not in the lineup for Friday’s game.
The third baseman said he was doing better and the Dodgers don’t believe he’ll have to go on the injured list. But manager Dave Roberts said Turner would be unavailable Friday and could need another two to three days before going back in the lineup.
Turner said he first felt some discomfort near his ribs while taking practice swings on deck during his third at-bat Thursday night.
He said it was a different sensation from oblique and intercostal injuries that he’s experienced in the past, and described his current restrictions as more of a precaution.
“I’m calling it a little gremlin in my ribcage,” Turner joked. “Just going to try to treat it for a day or two and hopefully be good to go.”
Turner has not gone for an MRI, but said he could if the issue doesn’t go away in the next few days.
“I don’t see it being an IL situation,” manager Dave Roberts said. “But we have some time to let this thing play out.”
Here is the Dodgers’ starting lineup for tonight’s game
Here is the Dodgers’ starting lineup for Friday’s game against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium:
Luis Castillo, not Juan Soto, should be the Dodgers’ top trade target
In the fifth inning of the All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday, a chant arose from the outfield pavilions.
It was directed at outfielder Juan Soto, the Washington Nationals star who is suddenly and famously on the trading block and could be headed to you-know-where.
“Fu-ture Dodger!” fans chanted. “Fu-ture Dodger!”
Right sentiment. Right time. Wrong player.
At that same moment, standing on the mound was a skilled veteran who is far more important to the Dodgers, yet who was being completely ignored.
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: Mookie Betts’ late three-run blast lifts Dodgers over Giants
Mookie Betts saved the day.
But the Dodgers bullpen made Thursday a lot harder than it needed to be.
After the Dodgers led by five runs early, then blew it by giving up six straight runs to the San Francisco Giants in the seventh and eighth innings, Betts came to the plate with the score tied in the bottom of the eighth.
There were two runners on and two outs.
And in the night’s critical moment, the former MVP delivered.
Betts hit a three-run home run to left field, putting the Dodgers back in front in a 9-6 win.