Yesterday afternoon the Dodger bats continued their hot-hitting-ways by driving in eight runs on sixteen hits against the Cubs, and this time the bullpen didn't falter like on Saturday. In fact, yesterday's game was a bullpen game; meaning that the pitching would be done solely through the 'pen.
The elder statesman of the staff, Jamey Wright, came out to start the game. Then, Carlos Frias came in to relieve him after a couple of innings. He was followed by Chris Perez, Paco Rodriguez, Pedro Baez and Kenley Jansen. It was like experiencing a Spring Training game during the regular season.
Overall, they gave up five runs, eight hits and struck out a collective 13 batters. The Dodger offense was fueled by Matt Kemp who had a home run, three singles and four RBI's. On top of that, five other Dodgers had multiple hits.
With the victory, the Dodgers now have a firm strangle hold on the National League West Division title. They now lead the Giants by 4.5 games and saw their magic number shrink to three games. With the Giant series starting tonight the Dodger have a chance to clinch the division with San Francisco looking on if they win two games.
BTW, on Sunday the Dodgers held their first annual LA Dodgers Foundation 5K run at Dodger Stadium. As you can see in the above photo
tweeted out by the @Dodgers there was a large crowd on hand. There were 3,805 runners. Now, below are some links to check out:
He said he is looking forward to the Dodgers’ next playoff-clinching
party because it will feel like his first. Gordon spent most of last
season at Triple-A Albuquerque, starting just 23 games for the Dodgers.
Even though he made the postseason roster, primarily so he could be used
as a pinch runner, Gordon said he didn’t consider himself part of that
2013 team that made it to the NLCS.
“That didn’t count,” Gordon said. “I didn’t feel like I was part of
it, to be honest. I hadn’t been there all year. This will be a great
moment for me.”
"To tell you the truth, when we swept them [in San Francisco] two months
ago, the feeling in the clubhouse was that we needed to sweep. We
understood the magnitude of the series even months ago. We've played
really well to be in a good position. Now we don't have to sweep, just
play good ball. "
- I had failed to mention this over the weekend. The hazing in Chicago of the Dodger rookies didn't end with only costume play. Joc Pederson got treated extra special by the grisly Dodger veterans. On Friday morning he was tasked with fetching some coffee at a nearby Starbucks. As you can see in the photo below (as instagramed by Joc himself) he completed the task in full uniform. The person helping him out (walking in front of Joc) is Dodger Clubhouse Manager Mitch Poole.
