The Los Angeles Dodgers had their first series after the All-Star break playing the 4th place Rockies. This was a big series for the Dodgers coming out of the All-Star break. The team is finally starting to get healthy, and they need to show the league that the Dodgers are back to being the dominant force they have been for the last five years. The Dodgers took two out of the three games in this series. The Dodgers actually dominated the Rockies in this series, and it should have been a sweep. Unfortunately, a couple bad pitches in the late innings of game three allowed the Rockies to get the better of us.
In the first game of the series, the matchup was between Julio Urias and Chi Chi Gonzalez. Every Dodger player got a hit in this game, including Urias and reliever Phil Bickford. Julio Urias wasn’t particularly sharp this game but didn’t need to because of the Dodgers offense. Mookie Betts was a bright spot for the offense, going 3-5 with an RBI. It seems the All-Star break was what Mookie needed to break out and perform like the Mookie we traded for two years ago. Mookie always appeared to be on the cusp of a break-out but never managed to punch through. He sure did in this series.
Walker Buehler versus Kyle Freeland was the matchup in the second game. Walker Buehler was a monster in this game. Walker threw seven innings only giving up two runs with eight strikeouts. Again, the bright spot for the Dodgers offense was Mookie Betts. He went 4-4 with three doubles and a homerun. The real test will come against the upcoming series against the Giants, a much better team that the Rockies.
In the final game versus the Rockies, the pitching matchup was between David Price and Jon Gray. It was a good outing for Price as he threw four strong innings. David Price has stepped up for the Dodgers in the absence of Trevor Bauer, who is on administrative leave for an extended period of time and Dustin May, who is out for the year due to Tommy John Surgery. The Dodger offense was hot yet again getting nine hits in the game. Will Smith went 3-4 with a homerun and three RBIs. The Dodger bullpen did not do their job this time around. While Jansen and Bickford combined to get us a loss here, they have been performing very well for the Dodgers so far this season.
The big problem the Dodgers having coming out of this series is of course the injury bug. Both Mookie Betts and Gavin Lux came out of their games with injuries. Mookie had a right hip injury which has been a season-long lingering issue for him. Mookie says it is no big deal and that he is fine, which is what you would expect to hear from a high-level competitor like Betts. Time will tell. Gavin Lux clearly had a hamstring injury in the last game, pulling up short after hitting a measly ground out. Though the injury to Lux isn’t ideal, the probable return of Corey Seager will offset the absence of Gavin Lux. Hopefully, their injuries will be short because we need those pieces.