Max Muncy, Joc Pederson and A.J. Pollock all homered on Sunday afternoon, powering the Dodgers to a 9-0 victory at home and securing the series sweep against the lowly Marlins.
It was the first home series for Los Angeles since returning to play from the All-Star break the previous weekend.
The series featured the best team in the MLB against one of the worst teams. However, before the blowout in the finale, the first two games in the series were a little too close for the Dodgers’ comfort level.
On Friday night, the offense seemingly took an evening off, but the trio of Hyun-Jin Ryu, Kenta Maeda and Kenley Jansen was strong in its pitching performance, limiting the Fish to just one run on four hits over the entire contest.
Saturday’s affair saw Clayton Kershaw throw six brilliant innings, only to see his relief crew collapse and squander his six-run lead in the seventh and eighth frames. JT Chargois, Yimi Garcia and Caleb Ferguson were charged with six combined runs in relief, erasing the much-deserved win opportunity for Kersh. Nevertheless, Matt Beaty delivered a three-run shot to the seats in right-center field in the eighth, rescuing his bullpen from another potential disaster and clinching the win.
On Sunday, the offense was near its peak, but the real story was the effectiveness of Walker Buehler. The 24-year-old righty threw seven outstanding innings, scattering just five hits and striking out 11 while walking none.
After a Justin Turner walk, Muncy’s 26th home run of the season put the Dodgers ahead to stay in the bottom of the first inning. With Buehler having collected a walk of his own in the bottom of the third frame, Pederson drove his 26th homer over the wall in right to stretch the lead to four runs. Pollock’s sixth long ball was of the three-run variety, putting an exclamation point on the Los Angeles scoring for the afternoon.
Pollock ended up going 3-for-4 on the day with four RBI and two runs scored.
Enrique Hernandez added two hits for the Dodgers, the biggest being a double to left field that scored Pollock in the sixth inning.
Casey Sadler pitch a perfect eighth frame and lefty Caleb Ferguson survived the ninth inning to preserve the victory for Buehler, his ninth of the year.
For the Marlins, highly-touted rookie right-hander Jordan Yamamoto suffered the loss.
After a day off on Monday, the Dodgers will host the Angels in a quick, two-game series beginning on Tuesday night.
One important date to keep in mind is is the league trade deadline on July 31, which is now just 10 short days away.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
Wow! That is a really bad baseball team!
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I have to be happy for the way that Pollock has become the player he was in AZ since his return from the IL. That was the epitome of a complete game played by a team with a purpose. Buehler was a right handed version of Kershaw. Pounding the zone and throwing strikes and being very efficient. Something he was not his last few outings. Joc is heating up, and Muncy going to left center for his homer was nice to see. Kike had a good game also and has really heated up. The only downer to me is the continuing struggles of Barnes at the dish. He is now below the Mendoza line. Checked the rosters today, and Kiebert Ruiz is now a member of AAA OKC. There are 3 active catchers there. Smith, Ruiz and Rocky Gale. Quackenbush now has 8 saves down there. No pitcher there has more than 7 wins. And those belong to Corcino. The biggest surprise to me since his call up to OKC is DJ Peters. The kid is hitting well over .300 and doing it with a lot of power…….I was diagnosed with cataracts at my eye exam and as soon as it is approved by the VA will have cataract surgery. I have been reading up on it so there will be no surprises when it happens. Hope you guys enjoy a Monday with no Dodger baseball…
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There is a story on Dodger Nation that says the team has interest in Tigers outfielder Castellano’s in a trade. I find that a little strange since he is a really bad defensive outfielder and the Dodgers outfield defense is one of the best in either league. 16 game lead now with 60 to play. Anyone seriously believe they are not going to win the division? 10 days to the deadline, pretty sure AF will target the best arms he can get for the cheapest price he can pay. 1 or possibly 2 for his beleaguered bullpen.
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I’d pump the brakes a bit on Pollock guys. Yes, he’s done quite well in his last 28 at bats. But he is not a .357/.424/.714 hitter. I knew that because NOBODY is. He will come back to earth.
Not sure why Castellanos either. He has played RF, and though his dWAR numbers kinda suck, his fldg % and RF #s are slightly above average. LF platoon maybe? He makes $10mm, Greene $4mm. Can we add them both? Not sure how that would work.
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Good luck with your surgery, whenever it happens Bear.
Unless he’s planning to put him in the bullpen or trade Pollock I can’t see any possible reason that AF would have interest in Castellanos. Of course, there are always multiple team trades……………………..Hmmmmmmmm.
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It could be that taking Castellanos off their hands in exchange for another minor league piece is part of the price to get Greene.
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Could very well be Waldo since the Tigers would be really dumb to hang onto him without having any intention to extend him. If we did get him though, I’m not sure that AF would have a real spot for him. Who would he replace? That could still lead to flipping him to another team. I guess we’ll all know by the end of the month.
By the way, are you new to this site or just back after a long absence? I’m enjoying your comments, which are always well thought out. Please keep commenting.
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Best to you bear with your surgery. But wait until after the deadline so we can get your response! I just know that you will be singing praises to AF!
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I get it Scoop and I do not expect him to stay this hot the rest of the year, but none of us expected what Bellinger is doing out of him either. I’ll take what ever he gives them as long as it is positive stuff the rest of the year. I do not think Castellanos has a spot on this team. He hits the hell out of lefty’s, over 1.100 OPS, but his defense is suspect. They are already crowded out there and if they took him on, I am pretty sure they would have to move one of their outfielders in a trade. I do know that he is being scouted by the Cubs and a couple of other teams. Little twist in the Bumgarner rumors is the fact that he has a no trade list. He can veto trades to a lot of teams and I am pretty sure the Dodgers are on that list. My surgery will definitely be after the deadline. I have to wait for VA approval first. That usually takes a couple of months. Watched part of the HOF induction ceremony. Most moving moment was Halladay’s wife making the acceptance speech. 6 new members and still no Gil Hodges. What a travesty. Best first baseman of his era, stats comparable to those of Tony Perez, 2 time world champ, gold glover, perennial all star, and a world championship manager. Died way too soon. Should be in the hall with Duke, Pee Wee, Jackie and Campy. Matt Reynolds’ DFA’d by the Rockies and yesterday,. Keibert Ruiz made his AAA debut and went 2-4 with a HR and 4 RBI’s. Barnes slipped below the Mendoza line.
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Most projection sites had Pollock in the .260s and OPSn under ,800. Only Roto Champ has him over .800, and not by much. He has been a better than average center fielder but he’s older and thicker now so though he may be good out there, his best defensive years are behind him. He’s a good addition, not a great one. And his cost goes up next year and the years after that. $15mm, then $18mm, and $13mm, then a buyout. Those are years age 32-35. Frankly I’d like to see younger legs out there.
Agree about Hodges.
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If our starting outfield actually remains constant at Verdugo/Pollock/Belli we will certainly see Verdugo and Pollock switch positions in the next year or so.
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Another name on the list of possible trade targets surfaces. Amir Garrett. Reds lefty. Has one of the best ground ball percentages in the league at over 50%. He also does not allow a lot of hard contact. His K’s per 9 inning rate is 13.9. He is under control for the 2020 season. Not sure what it would take to pry him from the Reds, but the two teams have made a lot of deals since AF took over. So I believe he is worth looking at.
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This is exactly the kind of guy that AF would go after. I’m expecting him here by next week. If he’s had TJ surgery in his past it’s an absolute certainty. Just a matter of assigning him a uni number. Good digging Bear.
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I just read that too. Former starter with an ERA that started with a 7. He’s been good for 38 innings. Perfect. Can’t cost that much.
And why doesn’t this site “remember” me. No matter how many times I check that box I have to re-log in on every post.
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I don’t mean to offend you my friend, but you’re just not worth remembering. The good news is that this site doesn’t think any of us are and we’re all suffering from the same malady.
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Valid point.
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With Keibert Ruiz getting the call to OKC something big is about to happen. There’s no way they keep both Ruiz and Smith in AAA to share time behind the plate. Since Ruiz really wasn’t lighting the world on fire in AA Tulsa I see two outcomes. The first is they are bringing him up to AAA in an attempt to increase his trade value with the thinking being teams will pay more for a prospect on the cusp of the big leagues at AAA instead of AA. The second outcome, and the one I believe is about to happen, is that Will Smith is about to get his permanent promotion to LA and will take over the majority of the catching work at the expense of Austin Barnes so he’s comfortable by the time October arrives as the starter. What this means for Barnes I’m not sure. Maybe they send him down to work on his swing, maybe they carry 3 catchers since they all can play other positions. More likely I can see Barnes or Martin being included in a trade package. Even though Martin has been better with that bat this year I still think it’s an easy call that Barnes brings you more in return. Teams still value good defensive catching and Barnes still is relatively young with plenty of miles left behind the plate. Some team could easily buy low on a chance Barnes finds his swing again and then they have a quality starting catcher.
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Martin has seemingly done a very good job of mentoring the younger guys this season (not only the catchers). Always walks around with a smile on his face. I really don’t know how much trade value Barnes has at this point, so that might determine which of the two goes if Smith is coming and I agree that he probably is. Another possibility is that they do keep three catchers with all of them capable of playing one or two infield positions as well.
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Matt Beaty has pretty much ended any prospects of carrying 3 catchers. He has just been too good to keep in the minors. Beaty is trade mane people aren’t talking about but probably should be.
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Maybe Smith is being traded. To the giants for Smith.
AAA must not be that hard. Ruiz doubled his average in one day there.
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Our Smith for 2.5 months of their Smith is an overpay not worth doing.
One of the Baseball America gurus says that we should be able to get Vazquez for 1 top 100 MLB prospect plus a couple of others in our (Dodger) top 30.
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Let’s pick a date. When does the first big deal get done and does AF wait till the 31st to get his big deal done?
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I say the first big deal is this Saturday (the 27th) and AF makes a reasonably big deal before the 31st. Does Amir Garrett count as a big enough deal?
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As far as the Dodgers are concerned, probably. But I still have to believe he wants more than just 1 arm for that pen.
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He definitely needs more than one arm. If that arm is Vazquez (possible) or Hand (unlikely) or Yates (unlikely) that trade would happen on the 31st because the GM doing the trading will take it down to the wire and have everyone bidding against everyone else.
A deal for a non-premier might very well happen sooner.
So my official prediction is Garrett on the 27th and Vazquez on the 31st.
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I say it all starts happening next Monday and AF waits till the 31st
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I honestly believe that AF will make his deal on the 31st. Other than Machado, he has made most of his moves on the 31st and waited until just before the clock struck 12 to get Darvish. If it is a massive multi team deal like he did with the Marlins and the Braves a few years ago, he would have to have those irons in the fire a lot earlier.
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Wow JeffD I hope you’re right. That haul should give us a great shot at a WS. And a job well done to AF if he only has to give up one top prospect to make that happen! I’d be very happy. We shall se!
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“Our Smith for 2.5 months of their Smith is an overpay not worth doing.”
The Cubs gave up 4 prospects, including Gleyber Torres, for Chapman. Ah, what do they know. Didn’t work for them did it. As soon as they won their first Championship in forever he was long gone.
I’ve already said I don’t believe they will do that. But I may be the only guy in here that would trade Smith for the right reliever
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Good point Scoop. Although I don’t think most GM’s view Smith in quite the same regard as Chapman was viewed back then. Even so, that was a huge hall and it’s fair to suggest a Smith-Smith trade based on that previous one.
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I think there is not a chance that Vazquez gets moved. That is wishful thinking, and he would cost a package worth a lot more than the Cubs gave for Chapman based simply on his age and controllability. Plus the Pirates GM stated again today that he was not going to be available. I also do not think that a Smith for Smith trade is in the Dodgers best interest. I would hate to see that guy beating on the Dodgers for the next 10 years.
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I don’t think he would be Bear. Not as a catcher anyway. Third base? Doubt it. Fact is I don’t believe Zaidi wants a catcher, unless it’s to flip him. His catcher situation is the least of his problems. Joey Bart is the Top Rated catcher in MiLB.
Frankly I’m not convinced about Smith. He’s a career .244 hitter in the minors and is hitting .194 in his last 10. Counting his last game with the big club he’s struck out 12 times in his last 11 games. Just playing the devil’s advocate here. Now for positive spin – Ruiz is hitting .500 with a 1.750 OPS at OKC.
You see, bottom line here is I’m not thinking about next year, or the year after that. We need to fix this leak or the boat won’t make it to the dock. I still don’t think any of our top 3 will be traded, but I could be wrong about that. Smith ain’t one of them so frankly I don’t care if he stays or goes. I think Friedman feels the same. Hope so anyway. I do not want another high risk high reward player. Not this year. Figure out the can’t miss fix you like the best and make it happen.
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