The Dodgers kept rolling Wednesday night, taking down the Royals 4-2 to finish off a three-game sweep and move to 73-48 on the season. The win had a little bit of everything: a long grind from Eric Lauer, a pair of big swings from the middle of the order, and a scary moment late involving Freddie Freeman.
Lauer was asked to do plenty and answered with 6.1 innings and 112 pitches. He closed out his marathon night with his sixth strikeout, giving the Dodgers a steady start while the offense did the rest.
Mookie Betts got things moving with a towering solo home run in the second inning to tie the game. Then, after the Dodgers had fallen behind again, Shohei Ohtani flipped the script in the fourth with a two-run blast that put Los Angeles back in front.
The power surge kept coming. Hunter Feduccia, a newly-acquired former Dodger, followed with a solo homer that traveled 402 feet and marked his first home run as a Dodger.
The eighth inning brought the one real concern of the night. Freeman went after a foul ball and fell straight into the dugout. He remained in the game on defense, but was pulled once his spot in the order came up in the bottom of the inning.
Afterward, Dave Roberts said Freeman is “day-to-day” and added that the club “really dodged a bullet.”
“He’s sore. Hand, knee, foot, shoulder a little bit," Roberts said, via the SportsNet LA broadcast.
"But I think that we really dodged a bullet. It looked very scary visually.”
The Dodgers also made a roster move before the game, demoting a reliever whose average fastball velocity is a little over 100 mph. Landon Knack was called up in the corresponding move, and he returned to a major league mound for the first time in almost a month, finishing the final eight outs to get the save.
There was another transaction involving the catching group as well. The Dodgers officially released a catcher after two strong months in the organization. The 24-year-old was hitting .295 at Double-A with an OPS of .948.
And on the injury front, a decision was made on whether Dalton Rushing will need elbow surgery. Catcher health has been a major issue for the Dodgers, with All-Star Will Smith out since early June because of an inflamed disc in his neck and Rushing recently dealing with a slightly torn UCL.
In Other News...
Dodgers Suddenly Face A Freddie Freeman Injury Concern
Freddie Freemans night against the Royals took an uneasy turn when the Dodgers first baseman tumbled into the dugout while chasing a foul ball, then stayed in the game long enough to keep giving Los Angeles a brief sense of relief. The play looked worse than the immediate aftermath suggested, but the real concern arrived later, when Freeman was pulled because of soreness after the collision.
The early read is encouraging enough for the Dodgers to exhale, even if only a little. The discomfort has been centered mostly in Freemans left shoulder, and manager Dave Roberts said the club dodged a bullet, but the bigger question now is how Freeman responds once the adrenaline fades and the team checks him again. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees Trade Addition Suddenly Looks Like A Home Run Bet Again
Andy Pages has quietly become one of the more interesting power angles on the Dodgers side as the club gets ready for its August 13 matchup, and the betting market has started to notice. The analysis around the game points to recent performance trends and a pitching matchup that could put Pages in a better spot to drive the ball, which is exactly the kind of setup that can turn a fringe look into a live home run play.
For a Dodgers lineup that always draws attention, Pages is the sort of bat who can get overlooked until the conditions line up just right. The broader home run card for the day also includes Luis Garcia Jr. and Kyle Schwarber, but Pages case rests on the combination of form, context and the opposing pitcher, giving the Dodgers another reminder that not every power angle comes from the biggest name in the order. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Make Another Catcher Move As Bigger Questions Linger
The Dodgers have added another layer of depth behind the plate, signing veteran catcher Chadwick Tromp to a minor league contract and sending him to Triple-A Oklahoma City. It is the kind of roster move that can look minor on paper but matters to a club that is always trying to keep its catching pipeline stocked, especially with a major league staff that tends to value options and experience.
Tromp brings parts of seven big league seasons with him, and his recent stops in the Braves and Orioles organizations make him a familiar type of insurance for a team that has already cycled through catching depth this year. The addition follows the release of Chuckie Robinson, leaving the Dodgers with another fresh name in the system, while the larger question of how they want to manage the position behind their big league catchers remains in the background. [Read more 🡒]