The Dodgers has quite the offensive breakout in Miami against the hapless Marlins, but still only managed to win two out of three games.
During the three game series, the Dodgers scored 31 runs, hit 14 home runs, eight doubles and a triple. Cody Bellinger hit his 40th home run of the season. Those 14 homers were a franchise record for the Dodgers in a series. They tied the Atlanta Braves for most homers at Marlins Park this season, but it took the Braves 10 game to achieve that mark. It was quite the thing to behold.
Thursday’s pitching effort was not, however. The 13 runs by the Marlins were the most allowed by the Dodger pitching staff all season. Starter Walker Buehler couldn’t make it out of the fifth inning. Pedro Baez was brought in to relieve, and he also was unable to record an out. In all, the Marlins scored six runs in that inning, with just an onslaught of hits. The Marlins didn’t hit any home runs, and it was the first time since 2006 that the Marlins had four players with at least three RBI. It was an uncharacteristicly bad day for the whole pitching staff and hopefully they’ve gotten it out of their system.
The Dodgers now move on to tougher competition in the Braves, owners of the second best record in the National League at 72-51. They lead the NL East by 5.5 games over the Washington Nationals. They just took two of three games from the New York Mets, and were almost able to finish a comeback in Thursday’s game, but ultimately fell to them 10-8.
The Dodgers and the Braves have each hit 28 home runs so far this month, tied for the most in the National League. Ronald Acuna Jr.is mounting his own MVP campaign, having 35 homers so far on the season, and 28 stolen bases. He also has made incredible defensive plays, like his home run robbing catch over the wall in yesterday’s game.
Besides Acuna, Freddie Freeman has 31 homers, and Josh Donaldson has 28. Freeman is batting .311 with a .981 OPS.
The Braves has also had bullpen concerns. They acquired both Shane Greene and Mark Melancon at the trade deadline, and neither have been very good since their debuts for Atlanta. They’ve had to cycle through their bullpen arms to try to figure out who their steady closer might be.
Kenta Maeda will start Friday night for the Dodgers, coming off one of his best starts of the season where he went 7.0 innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks, allowing only three hits. The Braves will send Mike Soroka to the hill. Soroka is having a great season, with a 10-2 record and a 2.32 ERA in 21 games. He’s gone seven innings in each of his last three games, allowing only four runs total.
Saturday’s game will feature Hyun-Jin Ryu and Mike Foltynewicz. The Braves righty is 4-5 on the season with a 6.24 ERA in only 13 games. In two games since he returned from Triple-A Gwinnett, he’s allowed seven runs in 11.1 innings.
Finally for Sunday’s matinee, Dustin May will make his third start for the Dodgers, going up against Max Fried. The lefty for the Braves is 14-4 with a 3.78 ERA. He’s allowed only two runs in his last three games.
Both Friday and Saturday’s game will be at 4:20 PDT, and Sunday’s game will be at 10:20 PDT.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
Early line – Braves -120. Dodgers not favored? Don’t see that often.
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I think that is based more on the starters than anything else. Soroka is 10-2 with a 2.32 ERA. Maeda is 8-8 with an ERA north of 4. Atlanta is missing a couple of key pieces in Swanson and Riley. And their pen has not been all that great lately. They have inserted Melancon as their closer. Greene has not been very good since switching leagues. Guess ol AF was pretty smart not trading for him. Taylor was 2-3 with a HR and 3 ribbies in his first re-hab start.
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The pst season showdown I’m most worried about is Washington and that pitching staff. If we spit the first two games at home then you get Scherzer in game three back at Washington and could be down 2-1 and one bad game away from being eliminated. Gotta hope Philly gets hot and Washington fades
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538 don’t think so:
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2019-mlb-predictions/
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DC has to get to the wild card first. They are 5.5 games back of Atlanta right now, and Scherzer is back on the IL for the 3rd time this year. If they do happen to make the wild card, they will no doubt use their best pitcher in that game. Right now, that would be Strasburg. But there are so many teams withing striking distance that it is hard to even think who the Dodgers might face as the wild card winner. I think the season needs to play itself out before we even worry about who might be pitching for who. Believe it or not, AZ and the Giants are withing striking distance of making it to the wild card game. One of them gets extremely hot, and anything can happen. Cards and Cubs tied for the NL Central lead.
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Line up for today’s game. Pederson RF, Muncy 2B Turner 3B Bellinger CF Seager SS Rios 1B Smith C Beaty LF Maeda P. Pretty strong lineup….lots of pop that’s for sure. 4 HR’s or more in 4 straight games. Soroka has only given up 7 this year.
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Braves line up, Acuna LF Albies 2B Freeman 1B Donaldson 3B McCann C Inciarte CF Hechavarria SS Joyce RF Soroka P They must have just signed Hechavarria. He was just released a few days ago….yep, just read about that on MLBtraderumors. Padres lose Tatis Jr. for the rest of the year. Billy Hamilton DFA’d by the Royals. If that guy could hit he would be a real weapon with that speed.
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I know it’s the safe bet but I still see the Braves and Cubs being the other Division winners with the Nationals and Cardinals in the WC playoff. Yeah, a lot can happen, and no doubt will happen, but from my recliner those are the best teams with the best leadership. I still believe the Dodgers will beat all of them and whoever has home field in the Series will have advantage.
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When Maeda throws strikes he’s a good pitcher and when he doesn’t you get the 2nd inning. He just doesn’t seem to trust his stuff! Frustrating
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He did not make it out of the 5th. 4 walks. He strikes out 7 in a row, then gives up a single, a walk and he is gone. At least Roberts got him out of there before he could inflict any more damage. This kid looks so hittable, but they are not making any hard contact except Beaty’s double and Belli’s bomb. I am at the point where I no longer trust Maeda in a starting roll. Chargois optioned to AAA. Sborz recalled.
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Belli just missed # 42! What a shot.
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5 games, 22 homers. First team ever to hit 4 or more HR’s in 5 straight games. In all my years of watching the Dodgers play, I have never seen a Dodger team with this kind of power. Some of the Brooklyn teams had lots of power, but most of it was supplied by Campy, Duke and Hodges. Bellinger became only the 8th Dodger to hit 40. Snider, Campy, Hodges, Piazza, Green, Sheffield, and Beltre. Kemp came close in 2011 when he hit 39. Snider did it 5 times, and Green did it twice. What is amazing about Snider is that he did it 5 years in a row. And the Dodgers are not even the best in the majors this year. Minnesota is the big cheese so far. The Twinkies have 238, Yanks 222 and the Dodgers 215. Yanks have a weird stat in that they have exactly as many doubles as they do homers. Miami just got their 100th. In the Giants-D-Backs game there were 12 HR’s last night. 6 by each team. Yaztremski hit 3. A major league record as he became the 3rd rookie this year to hit 3 in a game. Alvarez of Houston, and the kid in Cincinnati, Aquino.
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It’s the ball.
Snider was 6’ around 180. That’s second base size now.
Last night looked pretty easy.
Garlick and Beaty continue to OPS over .800. Rios and Smith over 1.000. I didn’t expect this. Watch Lux come up and do the same thing.
May and Gonsolin to the pen for a while. I’m hope they do well. Their stuff is as good as anyone down there. In fact, it’s better than most of them down there.
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Duke was listed as 6’0 179. Gil was 6’1 200, and Campy was 5’9″ 190. Belli is 6’4″ 203, Muncy is 6’0″ 218, Turner 5’11” 204. Pederson 6’1″ 220.. All of them much bigger than the Brooklyn guys. And yeah, the ball has a lot to do with the increase. They are on a pace to hit 1000 more HR’s this year than last. Hodges hit 40 twice. Snider 5 times and Campy once. I think Belli can pass that Snider mark if he stays healthy. But 5 years in a row/ I doubt that.
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