Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger each homered in the first inning of Sunday’s series finale against Arizona, propelling the Dodgers to an eventual 9-3 victory over their division rival and stretching their NL West lead to a whopping 19 games.
Turner also slammed a long ball to the left-center field stands in the fifth inning, increasing his season total to 19. Bellinger’s blast was his 38th of the year, placing him in a second-place tie in the National League with Pete Alonso of the Mets.
Catcher Will Smith continued to stay on fire at the plate. The 24-year-old Kentucky native went 2-for-3 with a double and a homer of his own, improving his season average to .313. Smith’s effort also increased his OPS to an impressive 1.106, passing Bellinger’s 1.077 for the team lead.
On the pitching front, Hyun-Jin Ryu once again delivered an outstanding performance. The lefty threw seven shutout innings, scattering just five hits while striking out four batters and walking one. With the win, Ryu improved his season record to 12-2 and lowered his ERA to a ridiculous 1.45.
Mike Leake to the loss for Arizona, his ninth of the year. The Dodgers tagged the veteran righty for eight runs on 10 hits, four of which were home runs.
Joc Pederson and Corey Seager joined Turner, Bellinger and Smith as the only Dodgers who gathered two or more hits on the afternoon.
In relief of Ryu in the eighth inning, Yimi Garcia gave up a solo home run to Eduardo Escobar to wipe out the Los Angeles shutout. In the ninth, JT Chargois surrendered a two-run shot to Nick Ahmed, allowing the Snakes to cut the lead to six.
After a day off on Monday, the Dodgers begin a six-game road trip on Tuesday, starting with a three-game series against the Marlins in Miami.
Pregame conversation as Sadler was informed he was going to OKC:
Sadler: I thought I was pitching well enough to stay here Doc.
Doc: We plan to pitch Yimi, Shaggy and Fergy enough so that one or all of them will eliminate themselves from playoff consideration and we can bring you back and put you on the playoff roster.
Postgame conversation:
Doc and Sadler in unison: Two down, one to go.
They won’t be watching the playoffs from the bullpen but in front of a tv!
You guys are so bad…..LOL…. Nobody knows at this point who is going to be here and who is not. Lead is back to 19. Really nice to see Bradley twiddling his thumbs with nothing to do in the pen. Guy is an ass. Turner now 1 dinger away from joining the 20 HR club with Muncy, Belli and Joc. Belli one homer from tying his career high 39 he hit his rookie year. Muncy 2 from 30, and Joc with one more will have hit 25 or more in 4 of his 5 seasons on the Dodgers. I love watching Smith hit. Kid is so confident.
Smith continues to impress. The hole in his swing, if there is one, hasn’t been revealed.
Bullpen stinks it up again. The key appears to be get to the 9th without need of a closer. I still see a couple of starters there in October. Several weeks to go on that front.