Dodgers sweep Pirates, 9-0
Pirates: Would you believe that Mitch White is still pitching? Great, great game by White tonight. In his 6.1 innings, he has given up only two hits and walked one while striking out four. Park walked on six pitches. Hayes struck out looking. Ben Gamel, hitting for the pitcher, struck out looking. Hayes hit a slow roller in front of the plate and was thrown out.
Final score: Dodgers 9, Pirates 0
We go to the ninth, 9-0 Dodgers
Pirates: Albert Pujols in at first. Beaty at third. Difo grounded to second. Polanco grounded to short. Perez walked on six pitches. Kevin Newman, batting for the pitcher, lined to short.
Dodgers: Right-hander Luis Oviedo now pitching for the Pirates. Park in center. Newman in at short. Pollock grounded to short. Fireworks went off in the distance at Dodger Stadium during Pujols’ at-bat. He walked on six pitches. Beaty popped to third. Seager grounded to first.
Score after eight: Dodgers 9, Pirates 0
Orel Hershiser explains his absence
It’s 9-0 Dodgers after seven innings
Pirates: Muncy to third base. Beaty in at first. Reynolds grounded to first. Moran struck out swinging. Tsutsugo grounded to first.
Dodgers: McKinney struck out swinging. Lux popped to third. White flied to right.
Score after seven: Dodgers 9, Pirates 0
Dodgers take 9-0 lead on Corey Seager’s home run
Pirates: Perez lined to left. Rodolfo Castro, batting for the pitcher, singled to center, missing White by inches. Park grounded to second, forcing Castro. Hayes grounded to second.
Dodgers: Right-hander Kyle Keller now pitching for the Pirates. Pollock lined to center. Muncy walked on seven pitches. Matt Beaty, batting. Matt Beaty, batting for J.Turner, struck out swinging. Seager homered to left, estimated at 395 feet. Smith walked on seven pitches. Bellinger lined to short.
Score after six: Dodgers 9, Pirates 0
Dodgers maintain 7-0 lead through five innings
Pirates: Moran singled to center. Tsutsugo flied to center. Difo grounded to the pitcher, forcing Moran. Polanco flied to left.
Dodgers: Left-hander Anthony Banda now pitching for the Pirates. Smith flied to center. Bellinger lined to right. McKinney walked on seven pitches. Lux walked on four pitches. White struck out swinging.
Score after five: Dodgers 7, Pirates 0
Max Muncy’s second homer of game gives Dodgers a 7-0 lead
Pirates: Park flied to left. Hayes struck out swinging. Reynolds lined to third.
Dodgers: McKinney flied to left. Lux lined to first. White walked on six pitches. Pollock singled to left, White to second. Muncy homered to right, estimated at 359 feet. His second of the game. J.Turner singled to center. Seager struck out swinging. Hard to believe they are leaving Brubaker in the game to absorb all of this.
Score after four: Dodgers 7, Pirates 0
Dodgers lead 4-0 after three
Pirates: Gregory Polanco grounded to third. Michael Perez grounded to first. JT Brubaker struck out swinging.
Dodgers: J.Turner walked on six pitches. Seager struck out looking. Smith struck out swinging. Bellinger struck out swinging.
Score after three: Dodgers 4, Pirates 0
AJ Pollock’s homer gives Dodgers a 4-0 lead
Pirates: Colin Moran singled to center. Yoshi Tsutsugo grounded into a 6-3 double play. Seager was playing right next to second base in the shift. Right-hander Mitch White replaces Bruihl. Wilmer Difo struck out looking.
Dodgers: Gavin Lux fouled to third. Mitch White struck out swinging. Pollock homered to center, estimated at 399 feet. Muncy struck out looking.
Score after two: Dodgers 4, Pirates 0
Dodgers jump out to quick 3-0 lead
Pirates: Left-hander Justin Bruihl pitching for the Dodgers. Hoy Park struck out swinging. Ke’Bryan Hayes lined to center. Bryan Reynolds grounded to first.
Dodgers: Right-hander JT Brubaker pitching for the Pirates. AJ Pollock singled to center. Max Muncy homered to center, estimated at 375 feet. Justin Turner doubled to left. This is not the start the Pirates were looking for. Corey Seager singled to right, scoring Turner. Looks like it is going to be one of those games. Will Smith grounded to third, forcing Seager. Cody Bellinger popped to second. Billy McKinney flied to right.
Score after one: Dodgers 3, Pirates 0
Giants open door a bit with loss on Wednesday
The Dodgers have won nine of their last 10 games, but have nonetheless been blocked from gaining ground in the NL West standings thanks to a similar surge from the first-place San Francisco Giants.
“Obviously you’re trying to catch those guys,” manager Dave Roberts said. “There’s really not a whole lot we can do about it.”
However, the Giants fell to the New York Mets 6-2 earlier Wednesday, leaving the door open for Los Angeles to pull within three games.
“Everyone knows that they lost today,” Roberts said. “We’ve got to go out there today and play a good baseball game.”
Injury updates on Urías, Betts, González and Gonsolin
The list of injured names for the Dodgers might be longer than many kids’ Christmas letters to Santa, but Roberts indicated a few key players will be back soon.
Julio Urías, who is second in the league in wins, looked spry in throwing a sim game a few hours before the first pitch Wednesday. Roberts said it was a good exercise for him, and anticipates slotting him back into the rotation once his stint on the 10-day disabled list is up, which would come on the 24th. Star outfielder Mookie Betts – plagued by a bone spur in his hip – is “moving well,” per Roberts.
“Every day has gotten progressively better,” the manager said.
Betts may undergo a short two-to-three-day rehab assignment, Roberts said, and won’t be in action this weekend but is looking to return next week.
Reliever Victor González, who’s been on the 10-day disabled list since August 6, will be back in a couple of days as well, according to Roberts. The manager also plans to have starter Tony Gonsolin – out since July 31 – throw bullpen sessions over a series of days starting tomorrow, monitoring his progress at each step.
Evan Phillips brings growing confidence to Dodgers
The newest member of the Dodgers travels light.
After Los Angeles claimed pitcher Evan Phillips off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays, the 26-year-old reliever packed just a single suitcase for his flight out west.
“Hopefully that gets me whatever I need for the rest of the season,” Phillips said matter-of-factly in his first media session Wednesday.
In the last couple of months, he’s racked up plenty of experience with packing.
After a couple of rocky big-league campaigns in 2019 and 2020 with the Baltimore Orioles – putting up a cumulative 5.95 ERA across 42 1/3 innings – Phillips began 2021 with the Orioles’ Triple-a affiliate in Norfolk. After being released August 2 and signing the following day by Tampa Bay to a minor league deal, Phillips emptied his Norfolk apartment, stuffed it into his car and made the three-hour drive to Durham and the Rays’ Triple-a squad.
Less then two weeks later, he was called up to the big leagues while in Atlanta. So Phillips threw together a suitcase for the Rays’ trips to Boston and Minnesota – and was then waived the day after his Tampa Bay debut. That, at least, gave him the chance to go back and get his car, still parked in Durham.
Amid the cross-country travel the last months have brought, though, Phillips was just happy to be wanted.
“Two of the best organizations in baseball really [sought] me out,” Phillips said, referring to the Rays and Dodgers. “That meant a lot to me as player.”
Why has Phillips been scooped up so readily, then, when his career ERA sits at 7.26?
“I think they liked that I’m on a bit of a hotter streak,” Phillips said. “Dating back a month or so, I’ve been throwing the ball really well.”
He looked strong in his lone appearance with the Rays, notching a save across three innings of one-run ball. More generally, Phillips sports tantalizing stuff – he whiffed over 12 batters per nine innings in 2019 and 2020 while limiting homers. The key to sticking with the Dodgers will likely rest on his control; Phillips has walked 40 batters in 57 major league innings.
“If I throw strikes and put my pitches in the zone and make the hitters do something with it, I feel 100% confident that I can get guys out,” Phillips said.
In the meantime, he’s happy to be a Dodger, saying he was “star struck” being in the clubhouse and looking around at the names on the wall. He hasn’t spoken with manager Dave Roberts or pitching coach Mark Prior yet about his particular bullpen role, he said.
“Whenever that conversation is had or if it happens when I come into the game, I’ll be ready,” Phillips said.
Dodgers beat the Pirates, 4-3
Pirates: Right-hander Kenley Jansen now pitching for the Dodgers. Tsutsugo doubled to left. Stallings struck out swinging. Polanco walked on six pitches. First and second, one out. Moran singled to center, scoring Tsutsugo, Polanco to second. It’s 4-3 Dodgers. Gamel popped to third. Park grounded to second.
Final score: Dodgers 4, Pirates 3
We go to the ninth, 4-2 Dodgers
Pirates: Max Muncy in at first. Right-hander Blake Treinen now pitching for the Dodgers. Newman struck out swinging. Hayes struck out looking. Reynolds grounded to first.
Dodgers: Right-hander David Bednar now pitching for the Pirates. Pollock doubled to right-center. Muncy struck out swinging. Taylor struck out looking. Billy McKinney, batting for Treinen, was hit by a pitch. J.Turner grounded to short.
Score after eight: Dodgers 4, Pirates 2
It’s 4-2 Dodgers after seven
Pirates: J.Turner at third. Right-hander Phil Bickford now pitching. Castro struck out swinging. Gamel grounded to first. Hoy Park, batting for the pitcher, popped to second.
Dodgers: Park at second. Left-hander Chasen Shreve now pitching. Seager struck out swinging. Smith struck out swinging. Bellinger lined to first.
Score after seven: Dodgers 4, Pirates 2
It’s 4-2 Dodgers after six
Pirates: Tsutsugo grounded to first. Stallings flied to center. Polanco grounded to second.
Dodgers: Lux grounded to second. Justin Turner, batting for Knebel, grounded to short. T.Turner struck out swinging.
Score after six: Dodgers 4, Pirates 2
Dodgers take 4-2 lead on Matt Beaty’s two-run double
Pirates: Gamel struck out swinging. Wilmer Difo grounded to third. Newman grounded to third. Lux airmailed it to first, so the runner is safe. Hayes walked on nine pitches. And that’s it for Price. Right-hander Corey Knebel is now pitching. Reynolds lined to right.
Dodgers: Right-hander Cody Ponce now pitching for the Pirates. Seager hit a ground-rule double to center. Smith grounded to short. Bellinger struck out swinging. Pollock walked on five pitches. Beaty doubled down the right-field line, scoring Seager and Pollock. Taylor grounded to second.
Score after five: Dodgers 4, Pirates 2
Pirates tie it in top of fourth
Pirates: Hayes singled to left. Reynolds doubled to center, scoring Hayes. Tsutsugo flied to right, Reynolds to third. Stallings grounded to third. Lux threw the ball away for an error, runner scoring, Stalling to second. Polanco flied to right. Castro grounded to the pitcher.
Dodgers: Lux grounded to first. Price grounded to first. T.Turner flied to center.
Score after four: Dodgers 2, Pirates 2
Dodgers take 2-0 lead on AJ Pollock’s single
Pirates: Rodolfo Castro struck out swinging. Ben Gamel tripled to right. Taylor crashed into the wall, but he appears to be OK. Wil Crowe hit a grounder to third, runner holding because if he had tried to advance, Lux could have just turned around and tagged him. Newman flied to right.
Dodgers: Seager doubled to left. Smith grounded to third. Bellinger doubled to center, Seager to third. Pollock singled to center, Seager and Bellinger scoring. Beaty grounded to first, Pollock to second. Taylor struck out looking.
Score after three: Dodgers 2, Pirates 0
No score after two
Pirates: Yoshi Tsutsugo flied to left. Jacob Stallings grounded to short. Placido Polanco struck out swinging.
Dodgers: Matt Beaty singled to right-center. Chris Taylor walked on seven pitches. Gavin Lux struck out swinging. David Price sacrificed. T.Turner flied to right.
Score after two: Dodgers 0, Pirates 0
No score after one
Pirates: Left-hander David Price pitching for the Dodgers. Kevin Newman lined to center. Ke’Bryan Hayes grounded to the pitcher. Bryan Reynolds grounded to short.
Dodgers: Right-hander Wil Crowe pitching for the Pirates. Trea Turner doubled to left. Corey Seager walked on six pitches. Will Smith flied to left-center, Turner to third. Cody Bellinger struck out swinging. AJ Pollock struck out swinging.
Score after one: Dodgers 0, Pirates 0
Turner and Muncy not in Tuesday’s lineup
Roberts said there was no cause for alarm over the absence of Justin Turner and Max Muncy from Tuesday’s lineup. With Turner coming off a groin injury, the Dodgers are being cautious about playing him consecutive days, but expect him back in the lineup on Wednesday.
As for Muncy, despite being hit in the back by a pitch on Monday, this off day is merely a product of having played seven days in a row, Roberts said. Both he and Turner will be available off the bench late in Tuesday’s game.
The Dodgers officially activated right-hander Evan Phillips, who they acquired off waivers from Tampa Bay on Monday, along with Gavin Lux on Tuesday. To make room on the active roster, pitchers Andre Jackson and Conner Greene were sent down.
Roberts said Phillips could be a candidate to pitch as soon as Tuesday night. The 26-year old has thrown just three major league innings this year, but has a career 7.26 ERA.
Mookie Betts to start baseball activities Thursday
After spending the last 10 days recovering from a bone spur, Mookie Betts will resume baseball activities on Thursday, according to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
“I don’t wanna put a date on Mookie,” Roberts said. “Body’s moving well in the weight room, moving around. He’s gonna be doing baseball activities Thursday so we’ll see where that takes him.”
Betts received a cortisone injection last Thursday to help ease the pain in his hip stemming from the bone spur. The plan is for him to try and get through the season without surgery before addressing that question in the offseason.
Gavin Lux back in the Dodger lineup
Gavin Lux was in the Dodgers’ lineup for the first time since July 18 on Tuesday and at a new position: third base.
Lux, who was on the injured list with a left hamstring strain, played 20 triple-A innings at the position this year, but as far as major league innings go, he’s played exclusively in the middle of the infield. But now that the Dodgers have two superstars manning second base and shortstop in Trea Turner and Corey Seager, expect that to change.
“I think right now for Gavin, it’s help anyway he can, and I know he’s of that same mind,” manager Dave Roberts said before Tuesday’s game against the Pirates. “So whether it’s third, it’s second, it’s potentially right field, it’s a bat off the bench, it’s a pinch hit, pinch run, whatever the ball club needs, he’s up for it.”
Roberts said that Lux has taken ground balls at third base in spring training, and is helped by his experience playing on the left side of the infield.
“I always try to take ground balls over there, kinda messing around in early work and stuff,” Lux said. “But it’s similar, like reading the ball off the bat, at short, so it’s not too different. I feel pretty comfortable.”
Prior to hitting the IL, Lux was slashing .227/.307/.349 with six home runs. He said he now feels fully recovered after a seven-game rehab assignment in which he hit .318 at triple-A.
“Coming back I felt pretty rusty, my first few rehab games, but now it’s good,” Lux said. “I think I have probably 30 at bats or so. Ready to rock and roll.”
Right field could also be an option for Lux down the line in addition to third, though he said he hasn’t played there before.
When the Dodgers traded for Trea Turner, Lux went to Roberts to bring up the possibility of shifting positions, as Turner would be the everyday second baseman.
“I said, ‘I’ll run out wherever,’ ” Lux said. “Wherever [Roberts] wants me to. Wherever that is, I’ll do. That’s kinda where I am with it.”
Dodgers defeat Pirates, 2-1
Coming into Monday night, the last time the Pittsburgh Pirates had beaten the Dodgers was June 6, 2018, an 11-9 thriller in which Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig played the corner outfield positions for the Dodgers. Despite not playing each other in 2020, the winning streak stood at 13 games — and 1,167 days.
For a brief moment Monday, it looked as if that streak would end. Then Billy McKinney and Max Muncy sent baseballs into the right-field bleachers, tying the score and putting the Dodgers ahead.
It took until the seventh inning for the Dodgers to score their first run of the game. It took until the eighth inning for them to go ahead. And it wasn’t a night when their offense was much to brag about. But, after returning from the East Coast at 4:30 in the morning, their winning streak over Pittsburgh would reach a 1,168th day.
Here are three observations from the 2-1 win.
Dodgers take 2-1 lead on Max Muncy’s homer
Pirates: Gamel struck out looking. Stalling struck out swinging. Polanco grounded to second.
Dodgers: Left-hander Wilson Shreve now pitching for the Pirates. T.Turner lined to short. Muncy homered to right, estimated at 383 feet. Corey Seager, batting for Treinen, struck out swinging. J.Turner was hit by a pitch. Pollock grounded to the short.
Score after eight: Dodgers 2, Pirates 1
Billy McKinney’s first homer as a Dodger ties it in seventh
Pirates: Bellinger in at first. Right-hander Brusdar Graterol now pitching for the Dodgers. Polanco was hit by a pitch. Castro grounded to short, but the ball clanked off Turner’s glove for an error. First and second, nobody out. Wilmer Difo, batting for the pitcher, bunted. Bellinger threw the ball away for an error, Polanco scoring, Castro to third, Difo to second. The replay clearly showed Difo was running out of the baseline, interfering with Bellinger’s throw. But it’s not a reviewable play. Park lined to left. Hayes struck out swinging. Reynolds was walked intentionally to load the bases with two out. And that’s it for Graterol. Right-hander Blake Treinen is now pitching for the Dodgers. Moran grounded to first.
Dodgers: Left-hander Anthony Banda now pitching for the Pirates. Taylor struck out swinging. McKinney homered to right, estimated at 399 feet. Barnes struck out looking. Bellinger flied to left.
Score after seven: Dodgers 1, Pirates 1
Dodgers leave bases loaded, no score after six innings
Pirates: Left-hander Alex Vesia now pitching for the Dodgers. Moran lined to second. Gamel struck out swinging. Stallings popped to second.
Dodgers: Cody Bellinger, batting for Vesia, lined to third. T.Turner doubled to center. Muncy was hit by a pitch. Pujols popped to first. Right-hander Nick Mears now pitching for the Pirates. J.Turner walked on four pitches, loading the bases with two out. Pollock grounded to short.
Score after six: Dodgers 0, Pirates 0
No score after five innings
Pirates: Castro walked on five pitches. Brault sacrificed. Park flied to left. Hayes walked on seven pitches. Reynolds flied to right.
Dodgers: Pollock grounded to short. Taylor singled to left. McKinney flied to center. Barnes grounded to the pitcher.
Score after five: Dodgers 0, Pirates 0
No score after four innings
Pirates: Gamel struck out swinging. Stallings flied to center. Polanco struck out swinging.
Dodgers: T.Turner flied to center. Muncy walked on six pitches. Pujols struck out swinging. J.Turner lined to center.
Score after four: Dodgers 0, Pirates 0
No score after three innings
Pirates: Park struck out swinging. Hayes walked on four pitches. Reynolds singled to right, McKinney threw Hayes out trying to advance the throw. Good throw, great grab and tag by Turner. Reynolds took second on the throw. Moran struck out swinging.
Dodgers: Billy McKinney fouled to third. Austin Barnes grounded to second. Andre Jackson struck out swinging.
Score after three: Dodgers 0, Pirates 0
No score after two innings
Pirates: Right-hander Andre Jackson makes his major league debut for the Dodgers. Ben Gamel flied to left. Jacob Stallings walked on five pitches. Gregory Polanco singled to right, Stallings to second. Rodolfo Castro struck out looking. Jackson balked. Steven Brault grounded to second.
Dodgers: Justin Turner struck out swinging. AJ Pollock grounded to third. Chris Taylor struck out swinging.
No score after one inning
Pirates: Left-hander Justin Bruihl pitching for the Dodgers. Hoy Park flied to right. Ke’Bryan Hayes singled to center. Bryan Reynolds flied to right. Colin Moran grounded to first.
Dodgers: Left-hander Steven Brault pitching for the Pirates. Trea Turner singled to left. Max Muncy popped to short. Albert Pujols grounded into a 5-4-3 double play.
Score after one: Dodgers 0, Pirates 0
Cole Hamels moved to 60-day IL, ending his comeback bid with Dodgers
The Dodgers moved Cole Hamels to the 60-day injured list just over a week after signing him to a deal. The move ends Hamels’ chances of a comeback with the Dodgers.
Last week, Roberts had said Hamels was in Arizona, building up ahead of eventually joining the Dodgers rotation.
Also Monday, Left-handed pitcher Darien Núñez and right-hander Edwin Uceta were sent to triple-A Oklahoma City, Andre Jackson was recalled from Oklahoma City and the contract of reliever Neftali Feliz, who the team signed in early July, was selected.
‘Best-case scenario’ for Clayton Kershaw: A couple of starts in September
About two hours and 45 minutes before the first pitch of Monday night’s game against the Pirates, Clayton Kershaw was in left field at Dodger Stadium playing catch. When he finished, Kershaw, who has been out since early July with left elbow inflammation, raised both his arms in mock celebration.
Speaking to reporters before the game, manager Dave Roberts said that Kershaw could be back on the mound by next month.
“Best-case scenario is he’s making a couple starts in September,” Roberts said. “So that’s kind of the best-case scenario, then we’ll see how it plays out.”
The plan for Kershaw as of now is to keep playing catch over the coming days, then see how he feels and go from there.
“How his arm responds to that will determine how aggressive we can be,” Roberts said. “So this is the first day of catch play and we’ll see how he feels later today and tomorrow.”
The Dodgers promoted right-hander Andre Jackson on Monday and he is expected to make his major league debut as part of a bullpen game.
Jackson, the No. 22 prospect in the Dodgers’ organization according to MLB Pipeline, throws a fastball that can reach 98 miles per hour and has a 3.28 ERA in 71.1 innings between double-A Tulsa and triple-A Oklahoma City.
The Dodgers also added right-hander Evan Phillips off waivers from Tampa Bay earlier in the day. Phillips, who has been a part of three organizations in the last four seasons, pitched just three innings with the Rays this year. Over his career, he has a 7.26 ERA in 57 innings.
“He’s got a good arm,” Roberts said. “It’s three plus pitches and misses bats. So I don’t know a whole lot about him, but I know that our guys are really excited about having him with our club.”
Travel woes
After Sunday’s game in New York was switched to an 7 p.m. eastern start to accommodate ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, the Dodgers were forced to come home on a red-eye after completing their sweep of the Mets.
According to Roberts, the team landed around 4:15 a.m. and the manager got home at 5.
“But the guys seem like they’re OK,” he said. “They’re fine. It’s kind of where we’re at and they’re preparing methodically.”
No real update on Mookie Betts
Manager Dave Roberts didn’t have news on Mookie Betts before Monday’s game, saying only that the outfielder was in the weight room doing “some active warm up stuff.”
“I don’t know if it’s gonna entail playing catch, hitting, running the bases,” Roberts said. “I haven’t seen him yet today, so I’ll know more when I see him and talk to the guys.”
Betts received a cortisone injection last Thursday to help him play the rest of the season while dealing with a bone spur in his hip. He last played Aug. 7 against the Angels, going one for four in a 5-3 Dodgers win.
Corey Seager gets the day off
Shortstop Corey Seager was out of the lineup on Monday against left-hander Steven Brault with Trea Turner manning the position and leading off. Roberts said that decision was driven not by wanting to avoid a lefty-lefty matchup, but merely because Seager had played six days straight during the team’s East Coast swing.
“Just to kind of get other guys in there,” Roberts said. “So yeah, I don’t really care about who’s pitching with Corey.”
ICYMI: Dodgers sweep Mets
NEW YORK — When the Dodgers departed for a six-game trip to Philadelphia and New York last Monday, they trailed the National League West-leading San Francisco Giants by four games with 50 to play.
When their red-eye cross-country flight lands in Los Angeles following Sunday night’s 14-4 shellacking of the Mets in Citi Field, their fifth win of a grueling trip in which they played 22 hours, 2 minutes of baseball — much of it in scorching heat — and endured 2 hours, 37 minutes of rain delays, they’ll be right where they started, four games behind the Giants, but with 44 games left.
San Francisco kept the Dodgers at arm’s length by winning five of six against Arizona and Colorado. There is still time to catch the Giants, but the Dodgers can’t do it running on a treadmill.
“We can’t worry about the Giants — we just have to worry about ourselves,” said first baseman Max Muncy, who led a 16-hit attack with a pair of two-run homers to left-center field, giving him 25 homers on the season. “At the end of the season, it’s going to be how it’s going to be.