Final: Dodgers take series with 11-9 win over White Sox
CHICAGO — The Dodgers took the first series of this six-game road trip, prevailing in Thursday’s rubber match against the Chicago White Sox with a 11-9 win.
Max Muncy was the big story, marking his return from the injured list with a five-RBI performance — including a go-ahead two-run double in the fifth and a three-run home run in the sixth.
The Dodgers also got big games from Freddie Freeman (3 for 5, three RBIs) and Gavin Lux (4 for 4, one RBI) on a day their lineup combined for 12 hits and seven walks.
It helped the team overcome a three-inning, four-run start by Tyler Anderson — an outing that snapped his 28-inning scoreless streak — and a shaky day from the bullpen, which gave up two runs in both the eighth and ninth innings.
The Dodgers are now 37-20 and open a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants on Friday.
Final: Dodgers 11, White Sox 9
White Sox get back within three, but miss opportunity for bigger rally
After clean sixth and seventh innings from relievers Caleb Ferguson and Evan Phillips, respectively, Alex Vesia immediately got himself in trouble in the eighth.
The Dodgers left-hander walked his first two batters. Gave up an infield single that loaded the bases. Then, while trying to field another infield grounder he’d knocked down on the mound, made a poor throw to first base, allowing a second run to score on the play.
With no outs in the inning, the White Sox suddenly had the tying run at the plate. De facto Dodgers closer Daniel Hudson sprung to action in the bullpen.
After a mound meeting with pitching coach Mark Prior, though, Vesia settled down, getting back-to-back strikeouts before ending the inning on a long fly ball to right.
End 8th: Dodgers lead 10-7
Dodgers stretch lead on Max Muncy’s three-run homer
Max Muncy said before today’s game he felt ready to contribute.
In his last two at-bats, he’s followed through.
After his go-ahead two-run double in the fifth inning, Muncy crushed a three-run home run in the sixth inning to blow this game open.
The homer was part of a four-run rally for the Dodgers, who benefitted in the inning from another misplay by third baseman Jake Burger — who’d hit a home run a half-inning prior off Phil Bickford — and a puzzling decision from White Sox manager Tony La Russa, who intentionally walked Trea Turner in a 1-2 count an at-bat before Muncy’s homer.
Mid 6th: Dodgers lead 10-5
Dodgers rally to take the lead in six-run fifth inning, highlighted by Max Muncy’s two-run double
Down by four runs through the first four innings, the Dodgers exploded for six runs in the top of the fifth to take their first lead of the day.
The frame started with some good luck. Cody Bellinger snuck a single through the infield. Gavin Lux worked a full-count walk. Austin Barnes reached on an error by White Sox third baseman Jake Burger.
White Sox starter Dylan Cease fanned Mookie Betts for the second out, but couldn’t escape the jam from there.
Instead, Freddie Freeman lined a two-run double to right, Trea Turner beat out an infield single to drive in another score, then Max Muncy came to the plate and gave the Dodgers the lead with a two-run double into the left-center field gap.
The team tacked on one more run when reliever Matt Foster threw a bases-loaded wild pitch.
Mid 5th: Dodgers lead 6-4
White Sox knock Tyler Anderson out in the fourth, open up four-run lead
Tyler Anderson didn’t just fail to get out of the fourth inning, he couldn’t even get an out in the frame.
After a walk, single and RBI ground-rule double by AJ Pollock doubled the White Sox lead, Anderson was lifted after issuing another walk that loaded the bases with no outs.
His three-plus innings marked his shortest outing this year, as a starter or bulk reliever.
Brusdar Graterol was summoned from the bullpen, but hit the first batter he faced to force home another run before then giving up a sacrifice fly.
Both of those runs were charged to Anderson, whose ERA is now 3.07.
End 4th: White Sox lead 4-0
Tyler Anderson’s scoreless inning streak ends after strange play in third
There were a lot of pitches thrown in the first two innings today, but no runs.
That changed following a strange play in the bottom of the third.
White Sox second baseman Josh Harrison led off the inning with a line drive into the right field corner. As Mookie Betts gave chase, the ball landed in fair territory, bounced up off the netting in foul ground, then kicked up onto the top of the right field wall, rolling at one point along the yellow line.
The unusual bounce allowed Harrison to race all the way to third.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts came out of the dugout, seemingly asking if the play should have been ruled a double because the ball rolled on the top of the yellow line.
However, the call didn’t change, and there was no review.
Harrison scored on a ground ball in the next at-bat, giving the White Sox an early lead and ending Tyler Anderson’s scoreless inning streak at 28.
End 3rd: White Sox lead 1-0
Max Muncy returns from injured list, will bat cleanup in series rubber match
Max Muncy will rejoin the Dodgers on Thursday, batting cleanup and playing second base after being activated from the injured list.
Muncy hasn’t played since May 25 because of a flare up in the same left elbow he sustained a torn UCL last season. After taking a week off to recover, the infielder went out on a minor-league rehab assignment with triple A Oklahoma City this week before returning to the Dodgers lineup Thursday.
“I feel ready to play,” Muncy said. “That’s the important thing. I’m ready to be here, I’m ready to do my part.”
While Muncy batted just two for 14 during his rehab stint — he did a walk-off home run but also struck out seven times — he said he wasn’t overly concerned with the results, especially while adjusting to the new automated ball-strike system being utilized in triple A this season.
“You get an inch off all the way around the zone, and all the ball has to do is clip it, so technically you get three inches around the zone,” Muncy said. “If you’re a free swinger, it’s not that big of a deal. But for a guy like me, you get down in the count real quick. So that’s not necessarily the best thing.”
Muncy said he thinks the automated strike zone would need to be adjusted if it were ever adopted at the major-league level.
“I think the technology is there, I think it could work, but they would have to make a lot of tweaks to it for sure,” he said. “They can’t use it as is.”
As far as his own game, Muncy was more focused on how his elbow and swing felt. To that end, he thinks he made some strides after starting his season with the Dodgers with a .150 batting average and .591 OPS in his first 41 games.
“The important thing was just making sure the elbow was ready to go, make sure the body’s ready to go,” Muncy said. “And then a couple tweaks here and there with the swing, just making sure those took hold. They all feel good ready to go.”
Manager Dave Roberts said will return to an everyday role in the Dodgers lineup, despite his early season struggles.
“This is a fresh start for him,” Roberts said. “The new season – however we want to frame it – starts now. There were some things physically that he had to deal with, which then got to be a little bit mental. So we’ve kind of cleaned some things up – physically, mechanically. So I kind of want to start the timeline for him personally right now.”
On the mound Thursday, the Dodgers will start left-hander Tyler Anderson, who enters the game in the midst of a 26 scoreless inning streak. Overall this season, Anderson is 7-0 with a 2.59 ERA.
The White Sox will send right-hander Dylan Cease (4-2, 3.39 ERA) to the mound.
Here’s the Dodgers full lineup for Thursday:
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: Dodgers back Tony Gonsolin’s strong outing in 4-1 win over White Sox
CHICAGO — For a brief moment Wednesday night, last year’s version of Tony Gonsolin started to reappear.
The right-hander gave up a home run and a double to lead off the fifth inning, then labored through a long at-bat that ended with a walk.
His pitch count was starting to rise. His secondary weapons looked a little out of whack. And the bullpen began to stir as the pitching coach Mark Prior came to the mound.
But then, this year’s new and improved version of Gonsolin returned.
He got the next three batters out to limit the damage in the fifth, returned to the mound for an impressive sixth inning, and ended his start in the Dodgers’ 4-1 win over the Chicago White Sox back in possession of the National League’s ERA lead, lowering his mark to 1.58 in a six-inning, one-run gem.