Four horseman and a wild horse trample the snakes

♦ October 7, 2017 ♦ Leave a comment

You couldn’t have scripted a better beginning to the Dodgers quest for a 2017 World Championship with all the key players in the 104 win season contributing right away.

It really was a bing, bang, and a big ole boom as Taylor/Seager/Turner put the Dodgers on the board 3 – 0.  Bellinger walked and showed off his speed scoring from first on a booming double by Puig.  That at-bat by Puig was his 2017 season in a nutshell.

With four runs in the book, you would have expected to rest easy but 2014 is not far enough away that any Dodger fan really could.

One solo home run later and Godley cruising you were right if you started feeling just a tad worried.  The wild horse and two of the four horsemen answered your concerns by driving in three runs and putting the Dodgers back up 7 – 1.

That seemed like a reasonable lead for Dodger fans to breath easier.  Even when JD Martinez hit another Diamondback home run to cut the lead to 7 – 2 that lead felt gold. Kershaw wasn’t at his best but two runs in six innings was a solid effort.

The 7th inning loomed and given the five-run lead and thirteen pitchers on the roster I really expected to see someone like Ross Stripling or Pedro Baez for the seventh. Isn’t that why they are on the roster to pitch with a five-run lead? Roberts felt differently and allowed Kershaw to pitch the 7th. Twitter groaned and for good reason. Two home run later, one by one of the worst hitters in the history of baseball the score was 7 – 4 and no Dodger fan was breathing easy.  Evidently, Kershaw became the first Dodger pitcher to give up four home runs and win a postseason game.

The Dodgers and I felt they had built a better bridge from the starters to Jansen, and we were about to find out if that was true. Dr. Watson got the first call and gave up a single before getting the second out. Brandon Morrow came in and settled things with one pitch.  The Dodgers still had a three-run lead and were headed for their turn in the 7th. The Morrow bridge had held.

Puig led off the 7th with the most exciting play of the night as he slid into 3rd base in full Michael Jordon mode.

Any frustrations Dodger fans had were in full bloom in the bottom of the 7th. With Puig at 3rd base and no outs, Granderson and Grandal hit empty fly balls.  Granderson has been a big zero with the Dodgers and takes up a vital spot in the lineup. Not sure how long they can go with a left fielder doing absolutely nothing.  Grandal had a hot final week but last night he looked more like the catcher who had lost his job to Austin Barnes.

Morrow was awesome in the 8th and the Dodgers scored a few more insurance runs for Jansen. Jansen pitched because he hasn’t pitched in almost a week so best to get any rust out before he needs to pitch in a close ballgame and he showed he needed the work.

In the end, the 9 – 5 score seemed like an easy win, but that seventh inning caused a few heart palpitations.

Some major highlights:

Justin Turner drove in five runs matching the most ever in the postseason by a Dodger. Pedro did his damage in the series-deciding World Series game six giving the Dodgers their 1988 World Championship and is why he shared in the World Series MVP with Ron Cey and Steve Yeager. Davey Lopes hit two homes in game one of the 1978 World Series as he got a measure of revenge for 1977 but his revenge was short lived as the Yankees would win the final four games.

Player                 Date Series Gm#   Rslt PA H 2B 3B HR RBI
Justin Turner    2017-10-06   NLDS   1  W 9-5  5 3  0  0  1   5
Pedro Guerrero   1981-10-28     WS   6  W 9-2  5 3  0  1  1   5
Davey Lopes      1978-10-10     WS   1 W 11-5  5 2  0  0  2   5

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/7/2017.

Puig hit a double and triple become the first Dodger to do that since Hanley Ramirez in 2013. Does anyone remember Andre hitting a double/triple/Home run in 2009?

Player                 Date Series Gm#   Rslt PA H 2B 3B HR
Yasiel Puig      2017-10-06   NLDS   1  W 9-5  5 2  1  1  0
Hanley Ramirez   2013-10-06   NLDS   3 W 13-6  5 3  1  1  0
Andre Ethier     2009-10-10   NLDS   3  W 5-1  5 3  1  1  1
Mike Marshall    1988-10-10   NLCS   5  W 7-4  5 3  1  1  0
Mariano Duncan   1985-10-16   NLCS   6  L 5-7  5 3  1  1  0

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/7/2017.

Taylor got a single in his first postseason at-bat

Bellinger had only one hit but made a sparkling play in the field and showed off his speed while on the bases

Seager hit a triple and key single

Austin Barnes hit a pinch-hit single and is now 2 for 3 in the postseason. I expect him to start the next two games.

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