LOS ANGELES, CA — This season, the 2-2 San Francisco Giants come to LA for the first of 13 games with their arch-rival Dodgers, who are 4-2. The Giants went with Keaton Winn, who saw limited action last year and will be making his first start at the Major League level. The 26-year-old righty worked his way into the rotation as the fifth starter and will have to face a monster Los Angeles lineup. The Dodgers countered with 35-year-old lefty James Paxton.
Views from Dodger Stadium ⚾️
The California & NL West division rivals, @SFGiants (2-2) and @Dodgers (4-2), open up a three-game series tonight in LA ☀️⭐️#MLB #LatinoSports #Giants #Dodgers pic.twitter.com/1LjPBfNrsM
— Latino Sports (@LatinoSports) April 1, 2024
The first batter Winn faced was Mookie Betts, who greeted him with a 370-foot line drive triple off of the left-center field wall. Betts scored on Shohei Ohtani’s groundout to second base. Welcome to the Big Leagues, son.
Paxton looked solid as he gave the Giants a mix of fastballs, change-ups, curves, and cutters, changing speeds on all his pitches. He left after five innings with a 3-0 lead. Winn also went five innings, giving up three runs on four hits. He had one walk and six strikeouts.
Dodgers 1B Freddie Freeman recorded two singles, one double, two RBI and had two runs scored in LA’s Monday night win over SF – Image Credit: Emma Sharon/Latino Sports
Betts continued his hot start to the season with a triple, walk, and double, scoring two runs. Freddie Freeman went three for four (3-4) with two singles, a double, two RBI, and one run scored. Will Smith was two for four (2-4) with two RBI. This Dodgers lineup is scary!
Teoscar Hernández, 31, of Cotui, Dominican Republic, put the game away in the sixth inning with a one-out 431-foot blast into the left-field pavilion. The final score was 8-3 Dodgers — LA improves to 5-2 on the year, while San Francisco drops to 2-3.
Teoscar absolutely crushed that. 😳 pic.twitter.com/7oDELmP4jV
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 2, 2024
Final note: Watching veteran shortstop Miguel Rojas, of Los Teques, Venezuela, work out pre-game is always a pleasure. He is smooth as silk in the field and a significant presence in the Dodgers’ clubhouse. They made a wise choice bringing him to Los Angeles last year. He was supposed to be the backup to Gavin Lux until Lux went down in spring training for the entire 2023 season. He was solid up the middle all year.
The big difference between the two is that Lux can hit much better. Rojas, though, is way better on defense.
The 36-year-old Miguel Rojas is as slick as a fielder that you’ll see in the Big Leagues – Image Credit: Emma Sharon/Latino Sports
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