Andy Pages had a sunflower seed shower. Then he delivered another one himself.
In a 6-0 win over the Angels on Friday night, the Dodgers’ third straight win was tied to two big swings.
Pages had the first, ambushing a 3-0 fastball from Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz for a three-run homer in the top of the fourth inning. Moments later, Max Muncy served the other ball, crushing a 0-2 error that Kochanović had left over the board to convert back-to-back long balls with a solo shot to the right.
When Biggs returned to the dugout after jogging around the bases, he got the usual seed shower from teammate Teoscar Hernandez — who has made the celebration a staple since arriving in Los Angeles three years ago.
But with Hernandez on deck as Muncy went deep, it was Biggs’ turn to take the honors, grabbing a bag of seeds himself and throwing them in Muncy’s face when he returned from the field.
“He’ll have my job when I’m not here,” Hernandez joked about Pages’ seed-throwing style. “So it’s getting better.”
The scene marked a remarkable turn to what began as a dark day for the Dodgers (27-18), who placed scheduled pitcher Blake Snell on the injured list before the game with a loose object in his elbow that may require surgery.
Snell’s injury is the Dodgers’ third to a star player in the past month (following Edwin Diaz and Tyler Glasnow). It leaves them worryingly thin at the back as they try to emerge from a month-long slump.
“It seems like we go through it every year,” manager Dave Roberts said of the sudden deluge of injuries. “What I’ve learned is that we get through it.”
The easiest way to do it this time: more offensive performances like Friday’s.
Thanks to a third-run home run in the sixth inning from Hernandez — who ended a month-long homer drought by driving a two-run blast the other way — the Dodgers crossed the six-run mark for only the fifth time in the last 23 games.
It gave their staff a lot of breathing room in what became an emergency game.
It was the latest encouraging sign that they are beginning to rediscover better form at the plate.
“The bats have been improving all this week,” Hernandez said.
Given the team’s promotional situation, there’s no moment too soon either.
What does it mean
The Dodgers don’t want to play bullpen games regularly this year.
But when they need to, as Friday showed, that’s not always the worst tactic.
Eight different Dodgers pitchers combined for the club’s fifth shutout of the year, limiting the Angels to just two hits while striking out 11 batters.
It started with two scoreless innings from Will Kline, who retired his first five batters before stranding a pair of runners in the second. Edgardo Henriquez and Blake Treinen then followed with 1-2-3 frames, keeping the Angels quiet while the Dodgers built their lead.
Wyatt Mills and Kyle Hurt each worked walks in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively. Alex Vesia negated the seventh-inning single by striking out his other three hits. Jack Dryer and Charlie Barnes (the last waiver claim called up in Snell’s pregame) have handled the final six games.
It was the latest standout performance from a Dodgers relief corps that has a top-10 ERA in the majors this year.
It was also somewhat historical; Marking only the 10th time in MLB’s modern era (since 1901) that a club has shut out the ball using at least eight pitchers.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better situation tonight,” Roberts said. “It was good to see a few guys break out.”
Who’s hot?
We covered Hernandez (who is 9-for-19 in his last five games with four extra-base hits) in this space last night.
So, let’s go with the pages.
Entering Friday, the third-year slugger was in quiet form, being held hitless in his last 13 at-bats. But with his opening home run, he continued to build on his generally strong start to the season — and continued to be the Dodgers’ most consistent and powerful hitter.
Pages’ big fly was his 10th of the year, trailing only Muncy (who has 12) for most on the team.
It also brought him back into a tie for the MLB lead in RBIs with 38, while helping him finish the night with a .305 batting average (11th-best in the National League) and an .893 OPS (which ranks 12th).
Who is not
Simply put, angels.
Since an encouraging 11-10 start to the season, the team has lost 19 of its last 24 games. At 16-29, they now have the worst record in the majors.
Before the game, head coach Kurt Suzuki was asked if the club’s recent slump was just a “cold stretch” — or something reflective of the state of an organization that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2014.
Suzuki He insisted it was the firstarguing that “there are a lot of matches that we participate in; we are one step away, perhaps one stadium away, and one goal away.”
“We will turn this around,” he added.
Either he was hiding his superiors, or he was helplessly kidding himself.
Regardless, a franchise that has never lost 100 games before is on track to do so now. Unsurprisingly, the “cold stretch” continues.
the next
The Dodgers will pick up just their second win in the last three weeks on Saturday, when Justin Wrobleski (5-1, 2.42 ERA) faces right-hander Jose Soriano (6-2, 1.66).