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On a steamy Sunday when everyone in the Dodger Stadium seats was using programs to fan themselves, Blake Snell was fanning Pittsburgh Pirates — six strikeouts in six innings of work — and the bottom of the order played like the top of the lineup, providing ample offensive spark for a 4-0 victory that stretched the Dodgers’ winning streak to six games.
What a weekend for Dodger pitchers — Yoshinobu Yamamoto followed by Tarik Skubal followed by Snell, with Tyler Glasnow on deck and Shohei Ohtani getting healthier by the day and scheduled to throw a bullpen session during the upcoming series in Atlanta.
“It’s daunting,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, barely suppressing a smile. “As an offense — an opposing offense — to look at the probables you see Glasnow, Yamamoto, Snell, [Roki] Sasaki, and then potentially Shohei. It gets daunting.”
Come October, Dodger Stadium could be a daunted house.
Struggling reliever Edwin Díaz says he understands why the Dodgers aren’t planning to use him in high-leverage situations when he returns from injury.
In the meantime, the team is coming off back-to-back sweeps of the Colorado Rockies and Pirates (63-69), who mustered two hits Sunday after a combined 14 in the first two games of the series.
For his part, Snell was happy but not thrilled about his performance, which included three walks and one hit batter.
“There were a couple innings there where, you know, get two quick outs and then full-count walk, full-count walk,” he said. “It’s not acceptable. Especially with, I feel good, I know I can command the ball. Honestly, it’s lazy. It’s me trying to get strikeouts instead of, you know, trying to go seven, eight, nine. So I definitely got to clean that up. But I know I’m going to do that, and just continue to get better, and learn, and grow.”
Yamamoto, Skubal and Snell combined for 26 strikeouts, five walks and five earned runs in 19 innings.
“It’s going to be a lot of good competition within the starting rotation,” Snell said. “I’m really excited about it. I mean, being able to watch some of the best pitchers in the game and learn from them — their mentality, the way they attack — having those conversations are very big. I’m definitely grateful to be on the same team, but a lot to learn.”
At the plate, the Dodgers (80-51) got some welcome help from the bottom of the order. Center fielder Alek Thomas and catcher Hunter Feduccia — replacements for injured All-Stars Andy Pages and Will Smith — drove in runs with consecutive singles in the fourth. That turned a familiar one-run game, of which the Dodgers have had a lot lately, into a leisurely Sunday stroll.
Before the game, Roberts expressed some concern that while Thomas could handle all the defensive responsibilities of Pages, there might be a drop-off in hitting. But that hasn’t been a worry so far, as Thomas had key hits on both Saturday and Sunday.
“Definitely feels good,” said Thomas, formerly of the Arizona Diamondbacks. “Coming here, I played against the Dodgers my whole career, grew up not really liking the team, whatever. And coming over here, it feels good to be on a side that wins a lot and has fun.”