Gilbert Romero always in a sombrero. He bleeds Dodger Blue! (It’s a haiku!)
Yesterday, I expressed my fear that we may have used up all the gas in our tank in the first game against the Rangers on Tuesday. Last night, that fear was realized as Texas cowed our anemic offense, 3-2. Ironically, it was beloved former Dodger shortstop Corey Seager who delivered the death blow with a 3-run homer in the 5th. The cheers his return to the Ravine was greeted with quickly turned to vicious boos.
It got exciting at the end, as Jason Heyward — with Will Smith on 2nd and Andy Pages on 1st — clobbered a 2-out double to deep right field, scoring Smith. But Pages missed a sign from Dino Ebel to hold at 3rd, and he was thrown out trying to score the tying run. Game over. Wah-wah-wah. Darn it!
I went to the game by myself, but an old friend from The Times, Carlos Lozano, showed up to keep me company. We had a great time, even though the outcome wasn’t what we wished it had been.
Holy cow! I just hope the Dodgers didn’t use up all their homestand home runs in one game!
What a slugfest that was last night. It was hard to believe it was even happening, there were so many homers and important hits, like Mookie Betts‘ 3-run double that tore the game open in the 4th. In the 6th inning, 10 Dodgers batted, scoring 7 runs on 6 hits (4 of them round-trippers)!
Not exactly the pitching duel I like to watch. In fact, in the 7th, the Rangers (reigning World Series Champions) had their backup catcher, Andrew Knizner, come out with bases loaded and a 14-2 deficit to do their dirty work on the mound. But to tell you the truth, he turned out to be more effective than their real pitchers. He lobbed the ball like it was batting practice, but only gave up a sac fly and one walk. And he had a 1-2-3 inning in the 8th.
The real batting practice came off Grant Anderson in the 6th, when the Dodgers were ahead, 7-1, with one out and Mookie walked. Shohei Ohtani blasted a home run to right field, and Freddie Freeman (who went 3-for-4 by the way) followed with another homer. Will Smith hit a single before Teoscar Hernández did what he does best: he clobbered the ball over the left field wall.
But a 12-1 advantage wasn’t enough for these greedy boys. After a lineout to left by Gavin Lux, Andy Pages smoked a single down the 3rd-base line, and Jason Heyward sent Anderson’s last pitch into the visitors’ dugout. Hey ya!!!
I just hope they still have some in the tank for tonight!
Side note: Whoever posts the pitch counts on the scoreboard kept counting the fourth ball in a walk as a strike, and there were a lot of walks (10 altogether). So the pitch counts were completely wrong throughout the game. What a numbskull!
Roberto at the Gold Glove Bar makes a mean Manhattan!
I spent the past two evenings at Dodger Stadium, with two very different outcomes.
Monday, my hubby’s birthday, we watched the game from a friend’s front-row Loge seats, and the Dodgers didn’t disappoint. But before the game, I persuaded my husband to come to the Gold Glove Bar with me for drinks and a pregame snack. We had Manhattans made by everybody’s favorite bartender, Roberto.
On our way up to our seats, we stood in camera range while Nomar Garciaparra, Jerry Hairston Jr. & John Hartung did the pregame show. We also toured Centerfield Plaza. It was Hawaiian Shirt Night, so there were a lot of people wearing blue-and-white Aloha-style Dodger shirts. (It was a special-ticket package, so we didn’t get one, although some dude offered to sell us his … for $500!)
Then there was the game, which boiled down to just one inning, in the long run.
In the bottom of the 3rd — with the D’Backs ahead, 1-0 — Kiké Hernández led off with a solo home run. Then Miguel Rojas and Mookie Betts each singled and Shohei Ohtani walked to load the bases with nobody out! Up to the plate steps Freddie Freeman. On a 2-1 count, he slams it over the fence just right of centerfield. It was so beautiful! Happy Birthday, Steve!
My view of the moment that won the game.
Will Smith capped the inning off with another solo dinger, and then the Dodgers managed to hold onto the lead through the rest of the game, finished ahead, 6-4.
Side note: Channeling the L.A. Blue Bum, I wrote a haiku to celebrate Steve’s birthday, which they (sort of) put on the left-field board after the 5th inning. It said, “Who woulda thunk it? Seemayer is 70 … Go Dodgers!” The last line was edited from a 5-syllable phrase that I wasn’t sure they’d use in the first place, but I had to try.
Now, last night was a completely different story. Our bats were dead, our pitching was not up to par, and when Joc Pederson put the nail in our coffin with a 3-run homer in the 7th inning, Steve got up and left. I stayed because I was keeping score, and I always hope until the last out that we will pull off a miracle. I’ve seen it happen, so I know it can be done.
Piewalla's Dodger Blues 