Los Angeles Times - 08.09.2019

LATIMES.COM/SPORTS SSS SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2019D3

BASEBALL

A matchup anticipated
as much for its quirkiness as
its potential for baseball the-
ater materialized late Friday
night when Dodgers catcher
Will Smith stepped to the
plate against Giants closer
Will Smith in the ninth in-
ning with two outs and the
potential tying run on first
base.
The San Francisco left-
hander fell behind the Dod-
gers rookie with three balls.
A called strike and a foul ball
produced a full count. Will
Smith the batter then struck
out to end a 5-4 Giants win,
as Will Smith the pitcher
earned his 32nd save.
“It was weird to hear your
name,” the reliever told Gi-
ants reporters. “It was a lit-
tle weird hearing him come
up to hit. At the end of the
day, we just have the same
name.
“I’m sure we’ll cross
paths throughout our ca-
reers a couple more times, so
we’ll see who wins the Will
Smith battle at the end. It
was nice to win the first one.”
The showdown was be-
lieved to be the first time
since May 11, 1999, a pitcher
faced a batter with the same
name. That day in Coors
Field, two pitchers named
Bobby Jones squared off for
the Mets and Rockies.
Their four plate appear-
ances against each other
produced two groundouts, a
walk and a strikeout. Col-
orado won 8-5.

Rehab report

Max Muncy, out since
Aug. 29 because of a right
wrist fracture, an injury the
infielder suffered when he
was hit by a 95-mph fastball,
began hitting live pitching in
the cage and extended his
throwing program from 60 to
90 feet Saturday.
Muncy, who is batting
.253 with 33 homers and 87
RBIs, is expected to hit on
the field early next week and
return to the lineup Friday in
New York.
The outlook for out-
fielder Alex Verdugo, who
aggravated a back injury in
his first and only game for
rookie-league Ogden (Utah)
last week, is more bleak.
Verdugo recovered from
the right oblique strain that

sent him to the injured list

Aug. 6, but he returned to Ar-

izona after injuring his back

and has been able to take

only dry swings. With three

weeks and 18 games left in

the season, Verdugo’s post-

season readiness appears in

doubt.

“As far the progression,

we’re kind of stagnant right

now,” manager Dave Rob-

erts said. “I do feel like

there’s enough time for him

to return, but the calendar is

not stopping. I don’t see him

active on this next trip, so

you do the math. We just

have to get Alex back to

health, and right now, we’re

just not there.”

Dumb and dumber

The second three-homer

game of A.J. Pollock’s career

Friday night featured three

of the outfielder’s 12 hardest-

hit balls of the season, a trio

of solo shots that traveled, in

order, 429 feet, 425 feet and

420 feet.

“I think I just tried to

dumb it down a little bit, get

good pitches to hit,” said

Pollock, who homered three

times for the Diamondbacks

in an April 30, 2018, home

game against the Dodgers.

“I’m just trying to simplify

my game a little bit. Get a

pitch to hit. That’s about it.”

Teed off

Roberts did not see Clay-

ton Kershaw viciously kick a

hard plastic cooler in the

dugout after the left-hander

was pulled Friday night fol-

lowing his shaky four-inning,

three-run, seven-hit, 99-

pitch start, “but I heard

about it,” he said.

“Obviously, he’s emo-

tional, and he wanted to

pitch better,” Roberts said.

“He was frustrated and took

it out on the cooler. I talked

to him today, and his foot is

fine, so that’s a good thing.”

What about the cooler?

“The cooler,” Roberts

said, “is still on the IL.”

Short hops

Ross Striplingwill start

Wednesday night’s game in

Baltimore.... Julio Uriasis

scheduled to throw four in-

nings and about 60 pitches

in Sunday’s start against the

Giants.... Friday night’s loss

was the third in a row for

Kershaw, his first such

streak since June 17-27, 2015.

DODGERS REPORT

Giants win a

battle of Wills

By Mike DiGiovanna

DODGERSmanager Dave Roberts jokes Saturday
with Clayton Kershaw, who wasn’t laughing Friday.

Mark J. TerrillAssociated Press

CHICAGO — Shohei

Ohtani shared few details

about his recent hitting ad-

justments. The results

speak for themselves.

Ohtani hit a three-run

home run and drove in a ca-

reer-high five runs to help

the Angels to an 8-7 victory

over the Chicago White Sox

on Saturday night.

“I’m not only happy with

the results but the process

and how I’m feeling at the

plate,” Ohtani said through

an interpreter.

Ohtani finished with

three hits and was a triple

shy of hitting for the cycle.

“He struggled there for a

bit and started working on

some things in Oakland with

some mechanics in his

swing,” manager Brad Aus-

mus said. “He seems to be

reaping the benefits of it. We

seem to be reaping the ben-

efits.”

Albert Pujols and Kevan

Smith each had two hits for

the Angels, who have won 10

of 11 games against Chicago.

Jose Abreu homered and

drove in four runs, and Yoan

Moncada had three hits for

the White Sox, who have

dropped 10 of 12 games.

Tim Anderson was two

for five to raise his American

League-leading batting av-

erage to .334, six points

ahead of the DJ LeMahieu of

the New York Yankees.

Abreu hit a three-run

home run against Luis Gar-

cia to pull the White Sox

within one run in the sev-

enth inning. It was Abreu’s

30th home run.

The Angels loaded the

bases in the ninth with a sin-

gle, intentional walk to

pinch-hitter Mike Trout and

another walk. Brian Good-

win lined out to first base to

end the threat.

Hansel Robles pitched a

perfect ninth inning for his

20th save in 23 opportuni-

ties.

Ohtani homered against

Dylan Covey (1-8) to give the

Angels a 5-2 lead in the third

inning. The opposite-field

shot was the designated hit-

ter’s 17th home run this sea-

son. Ohtani is 11 for 24

against the White Sox this

season.

“I feel like it’s just a coinci-

dence,” Ohtani said.

“Yesterday, today, faced

really good pitchers. Balls

just found holes.”

He became the first Japa-

nese-born player to have five

RBIs and a stolen base in a

major league game.

Carson Fulmer replaced

Covey and walked two con-

secutive batters to bring in a

run. A run scored on a wild

pitch for a 7-2 Angels lead.

Center fielder Adam Engel

ran into the fence to make a

catch and end the inning.

Covey, who was recalled

from triple-A Charlotte on

Tuesday, was charged with

seven runs and seven hits in

22 ⁄ 3 innings. His last victory

was May 31 against Cleve-

land.

Andrew Heaney (4-4)

struck out eight batters and

gave up four runs in six in-

nings for the Angels.

He was 2-0 with a 2.10

earned-run average in four

career starts against the

White Sox.

SHOHEI OHTANIis greeted by Brian Goodwin, left, and Justin Upton after
hitting a home run in the third inning with the two men aboard.

David BanksGetty Images

Ohtani continues to punish

the White Sox with the bat

He drives in five runs,

three with a homer,

and is 11 for 24 against

Chicago this year.

ANGELS 8

CHI. WHITE SOX 7

associated press

It was the kind of mo-

ment Cody Bellinger has

lived for this season. Bases

loaded, two outs in the fifth

inning, his team down by a

run, two-ball count, a chance

to change the game with one

swing, a Dodger Stadium

crowd of 53,870 serenading

him with chants of “MVP!

MVP!”

The scene perfectly set

for the slugger, Bellinger

took two healthy hacks

against San Francisco start-

er Tyler Beede. The first pro-

duced a foul ball, the second

a lazy fly ball to left field to

end the inning, the rally fiz-

zling like the Dodgers’ of-

fense in a 1-0 loss to the Gi-

ants on Saturday night.

The Dodgers’ magic

number to clinch their sev-

enth straight National

League West title remained

stuck at four, meaning the

earliest they can clinch is

Tuesday in Baltimore. The

10-game edge they held over

Atlanta for home-field ad-

vantage in a potential NL

Championship Series on

Aug. 16 is now 2^1 ⁄ 2 games.

“We are gonna clinch at

some point in time,” Dod-

gers manager Dave Roberts

said, his hand nowhere near

the panic button despite his

team’s eight losses in the last

15 games and first shutout

since May 18. “We just have to

play a complete baseball

game, and those things will

take care of themselves.”

The Dodgers did not play

a complete game Saturday

night. They got a decent

four-inning start from rook-

ie right-hander Tony Gon-

solin and some stout relief,

but they managed only four

hits against Beede in five in-

nings and none against six

Giants relievers.

Gonsolin survived a wob-

bly first in which he gave up

one run despite giving up

two hits, walking two and

throwing 39 pitches, recov-

ering from the 20-minute

frame to throw three hitless

innings.

“The thing I like the

most,” Roberts said, “is he

had a super-stressful first in-

ning, and to not concede, to

reset, gather yourself and

put up three more zeroes ...

for a young pitcher to not

only limit damage in the first

but to come back and make

pitches and get better as the

outing progresses shows a

lot of maturity.”

Gonsolin was pulled after

four innings, his pitch count

at 88. His final line — four in-

nings, two hits, one earned

run, four walks, five strike-

outs — neither extended a

two-week slump by the Dod-

gers rotation nor ended it.

The team’s starting

pitchers entered Saturday

with a major league-best 3.16

ERA, but in 15 games since

Aug. 23, the rotation has giv-

en up 43 earned runs in 70^2 ⁄ 3

innings for a 5.48 ERA.

The stretch includes 10

starts by rookie catcher Will

Smith, who won the starting

job with his hot bat but has

yielded a 6.56 ERA (35 runs

in 48 innings) to the starters

during the stretch.

“There’s a learning

curve,” Roberts said of

Smith, who played his 41st

big league game Saturday

night, “but the responsibility

is on all of us. The more rep-

etitions, innings, you get

with each pitcher, the more

familiarity, trust and confi-

dence you get in him, and

that works both ways.

“That will enhance the

rhythm of the game, the exe-

cution, all that stuff. Yeah,

we’re in a little bit of a funk as

far as our starters, but I

think if you look at any start-

ing staff in baseball, we all go

through it, so I don’t think

it’s something we’re not go-

ing to overcome.”

Gonsolin struggled to

find his rhythm in the first.

Mike Yastrzemski led off

with a catchable bloop sin-

gle that dropped between

right fielder Joc Pederson

and second baseman Gavin

Lux.

“It was just a miscommu-

nication,” Lux said. “I was in

a shift. Joc and I kind of

called it at the same time. It

happens.”

Brandon Belt popped

out, but Evan Longoria

walked, and Stephen Vogt

singled to right to load the

bases. Kevin Pillar’s dribbler

to third scored Yastrzemski.

Brandon Crawford walked

to load the bases, prompting

left-hander Caleb Ferguson

to begin warming up. Gon-

solin struck out Austin Slat-

er to end the inning.

The Dodgers threatened

in the second when Bellinger

walked and took second on

Lux’s one-out walk. One out

later, Smith hit a grounder

that appeared headed into

the left-field corner before

Longoria, the Giants third

baseman, made a diving

backhand stop. Smith

reached on an infield single,

but Longoria saved two runs

on the play. Gonsolin struck

out on three pitches to end

the inning.

“He made a really nice

play,” Roberts said of Longo-

ria. “That could have been a

different ballgame right

there.”

Setup man Joe Kelly

threw a scoreless seventh af-

ter being sidelined since last

Sunday because an unspeci-

fied leg injury.

“It’s something with his

lower half that doesn’t feel

right,” Roberts said. “I don’t

know the cause of it. I stayed

away from him for five days

because you don’t want

something in the lower half

to affect the arm. But the

stuff was coming out really

good tonight.”

Magic number

Combination of Dodgers wins

or Arizona losses that will

clinch the NL West title.

4

THE GAMEgot off to a bad start for the Dodgers when a blooper by Mike Yastrzemski fell between right

fielder Joc Pederson, left and second baseman Gavin Lux. Yastrzemski would score the only run of the game.

Photographs byVictor DecolongonGetty Images

More flinch than clinch

GIANTSright-hander Tyler Beede gave up four hits

in five scoreless innings, striking out five.

Dodgers can’t produce

any runs against

Giants and fail to

lower magic number.

SAN FRANCISCO 1

DODGERS 0

By Mike DiGiovanna