LOS ANGELES, CA — The Pirates come ashore for a three-game series this weekend with a slumping NL West division-leading Dodger team that had a hard days night Wednesday with an equally slumping NL East division-leading Phillies. The state of Pennsylvania has not been kind to LA this year. The Pirates are 2-1 so far vs the Dodgers, and the Phillies are 5-1. The Dodgers seemed to be swinging Norwegian Wood against these two teams, and you can’t do that if you want to stay at the top of your division. LA needs their bullpen to come together. They have 22 blown saves to date this year. They would be running away with the division if it were half of that. Their bullpen has recently been looking like the fool on the hill.
Evan Phillips, one of four Dodger pitchers used on Friday night against the Pirates – Image Credit: Emma Sharon/Latino Sports
The Dodgers got the scoring going when Freddie Freeman said hello goodbye to a 91 mph cutter off of Pirate’s starter, Mitch Keller, in the first inning. Then, the floodgates opened up on Pittsburgh in the third inning. Shohei Ohtani must have been using Maxwell’s Silver Hammer when he hit a monster 448-foot two-run home run to dead center field.
Scenes from Pirates-Dodgers last night with Shohei Ohtani’s 35th home run ⚾️#Dodgers #MLB #LatinoSports #LetsGoDodgers pic.twitter.com/TAK9wSh7K6
— Latino Sports (@LatinoSports) August 10, 2024
Three more runs followed as the Dodgers batted around to take a 6-0 lead. 2022 NL LatinoMVP Rookie of the Year, Oneil Cruz, San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, got the Pirates on the board with a 396-foot home run into the right field pavilion. But by the fifth inning, it was 7-1 Dodgers who were flying like Lucy in the sky with diamonds.
MISIL de Oneil Cruz a las gradas de Dodger Stadium 🚀 pic.twitter.com/nKBAP3IA7q
— LasMayores (@LasMayores) August 10, 2024
But I should have known better than to think the pesky Pirates would lay down and die as they put three on the board in the next inning on a 369-foot three-run home run into the left field pavilion to make it a 7-4 game. But this game was becoming a hitters paradise as we saw fan-favorite Kiké Hernández, San Juan, Puerto Rico, hit a line-drive that went in and out of Pirate’s left fielder Bryan Renolds’ glove and into the left-field pavilion for a two-run home run making it 9-4 Dodgers. Final score: 9-5 Dodgers.
Kiké homer? You glove to see it. pic.twitter.com/Y6zsn44Nxm
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 10, 2024
Note: The Pirates used only two pitchers in a 9-5 loss, and their batters struck out 16 times tonight.
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