LOS ANGELES, CA — Last night, the Dodgers called on another prospect, River Ryan, to make his major league debut to fill their never-ending gap of starting pitchers. This came hours after they designated veteran left-hander James Paxton for assignment. Ryan went 5.1 innings, four hits, and gave up one unearned run. Tonight, they send out another rookie, Landon Knack, who made his MLB debut on April 17 against the Nationals.
Returning seasoned, veteran starters to their rotation and bullpen has been slow. Tyler Glasnow will get the start tomorrow, and it is expected that Clayton Kershaw will get the start on Thursday.
Future HOF Clayton Kershaw set to make his 2024 debut on Thursday at Dodger Stadium – Image Credit: George Napolitano/Latino Sports
But tonight, it will be another Dodger prospect who will try to keep this juggernaut rolling. Their player development system has done a phenomenal job developing pitchers. Position players have not had the same quick success. Most are at least two years away from cracking into the big leagues.
The Dodgers scored first in the bottom of the first inning with two outs. Freddie Freeman was hit by the pitch and advanced on a wild pitch by Giants starter Jordan Hicks.
Freddie Freeman taking his lead off of first base – Image Credit: Emma Sharon/Latino Sports
Teoscar Hernández, Cotui, Dominican Republic walked and then both runners advanced on a second wild pitch by Hicks. Gavin Lux then doubled both runners in and was thrown out at third trying to stretch his double into a triple.
The rookie Knack gave up a 379-foot home run to Tyler Fitzgerald in the top of the second inning, and that was how it stood until the fifth inning when Shohei Ohtani doubled in two runs to make it 4-1 Dodgers.
Shohei Ohtani gives the #Dodgers a 4-1 lead over the #Giants with a double in the bottom of the fourth inning ⚾️ #SFGiants #LetsGoDodgers #MLB #LatinoSports pic.twitter.com/qEFqRG7THO
— Latino Sports (@LatinoSports) July 24, 2024
As for Knack, the rookie threw 96 pitches over five innings while giving up two hits and one run, the home run by Fitzgerald. Quite the performance.
The ninth inning brought the eleventh sellout crowd of 52,627 to the edge of their seats as Dodger reliever Alex Vesia walked the first two batters and then gave up a run-scoring single to Fitzgerald. He retired the next two batters, but manager Dave Roberts had seen enough. He brought in Evan Phillips, who promptly walked the first batter he faced before getting LeMonte Wade to ground out to second to end the 2:55-hour game.
Evan Phillips closes the door on Giants on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium – Image Credit: Emma Sharon/Latino Sports
With this 5-2 win, the Dodgers are up 2-0 in this four-game series. Shohei Ohtani Struck out three times tonight but still was able to have one double and one single with three RBI’s.
One good sign for the Dodgers today was Mookie Betts taking extended infield practice with the cast off of his left hand. He will still need more time for his bone to heal before he can begin hitting off of a batting “T” but a good sign nonetheless.
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