LOS ANGELES — It was another runaway victory for the Dodgers on the night that they retired Fernando Valenzuela’s number 34 jersey, as they got another great outing from one of their newest arms. The offense supplied plenty of run support tonight as well, racking up eleven hits to go along with six runs and multiple players with multi-hit games.
As for Lance Lynn, he is now 3-0 with a 2.00 ERA and 22 strikeouts as a Dodger and gave the team yet another excellent outing against Colorado. He went five innings, giving up only four hits and striking out an impressive nine Rockies. He has been an incredible addition to the rotation and should only get better as he gets more acclimated.
The offense did not need to provide much support for the great outing by the pitching staff tonight, but they did anyways. Mookie Betts, Chris Taylor, and David Peralta all had 2-hit games while Freddie Freeman cashed in 2 RBI. This is exactly what a balanced and savvy lineup can do when they are firing on all cylinders.
The bullpen once again came in and shut down the opposing team’s lineup. Caleb Ferguson, Alex vesia, Yency Almonte and Ryan Brasier combined for seven strikeouts over four innings to hold the Rockies to a single earned run. This has been a dominant stretch for a bullpen that ranked dead last in ERA in Dodger history early in the season, and this remarkable turnaround will only get better as September call-ups happen and injured arms return.
The Dodgers are now on a six game winning streak, 10-1 in August, 69-46 and seven and a half games up in the National League West due to the Giants losing yet another game.
Here are my three takeaways:
Fernandomania Lives On
It is the weekend of Fernandomania at Dodger Stadium, and tonight the team retired the iconic number 34 jersey in honor of Fernando Valenzuela. He brought pride to his native Mexico and won over a fanbase that loved him for his electric talent and charisma over the years. He won the 1981 World Series with the Dodgers and eventually went on to win a National League MVP award and make six all star appearances with a no-hitter on the ledger in his career. The Dodger legend finally gets his place among the greatest Los Angeles Dodgers to ever play, and deservedly so…
Yency Almonte Gets Hurt In The 9th
Yency Almonte’s stat line looked pretty good tonight, but he came up hobbling after a pitch in the ninth inning. After getting two runners on in that inning, he tried to continue after tweaking his knee pushing off of the mound. Eventually Dave Roberts had to make the move to Ryan Brasier who eventually finished the game and secured the win for the Dodgers. Almonte stayed in the dugout after the injury, which is a good sign, and we will provide updates as we get them.
The Dodgers Are Beating The Teams They Need To
I know the list of teams that the Dodgers have beaten on this stretch haven’t been great this year, but winning is winning. In the dog days of summer that we are in, every win is crucial and could come up big down the stretch.
The Dodgers are doing exactly what contending teams do and beating teams of lower talent than them. That is no disrespect to these clubs, but record-wise, the strength of schedule has not been near the best at all for the Dodgers. But, now within 5 games of tying the Braves for the best record in the league, which would secure home-field advantage through the entirety of the playoffs, including the World Series if they advance that far. For a team that had low expectations coming into the year, it has been a remarkably successful 2023 campaign so far…
The Dodgers continue the festivities as they hand out Fernando Valenzuela bobbleheads Saturday night as Tony Gonsolin faces Peter Lambert for Colorado. First pitch is set for 6:10 PM PST.
