Dodgers Team News

Dodgers Tie Record by Allowing Only Two Runs in Four Games

The Los Angeles Dodgers did something over the weekend that hasn’t been done since 1915. Collectively, the team allowed only two runs over the first four games of the season to forever etch their names in baseball history. Not bad for the first few games right?

Tu fully understand the significance of this, let’s go back a little. The last time this happened, Woodrow Wilson was the President of the United States. Armored vehicles, gas masks, and all other sorts of military inventions were being introduced to the WWI battlegrounds. And 1915 was only a few years after the Wright Brothers made their first flights. So yes, it has been quite a while.

And yet despite this rare and glorious feat, the Dodgers only managed to take two games from the Giants. Which really shows what sort of crazy Opening Series they had. Clayton Kershaw had more hits on Opening Day than anyone on the team, with the exception of Yasmani Grandal. When your pitcher has more hits than everyone else, that often does not spell success for a team. The Dodgers dropped the first two games of the series without scoring a single run of their own.

But the record still stands, and it’s something for Los Angeles to be proud of. They rode the strong starts from their rotation deep into the bullpen, and baffled hitters along the way. The starting four pitched a total of 25 innings across the four games. In those innings, they allowed just one run and struck out 27 Giants. Clayton Kershaw kicked things off by allowing just one run over his six innings, followed by Alex Wood’s scoreless eight innings the following night. Kenta Maeda pitched five scoreless of his own, and Rich Hill finished up with six innings, also scoreless.

The bullpen was just as good. Across their 11 innings of work, they also allowed just one run. Tony Cingrani and Josh Fields got the most work out of the pen, as each of them pitched two innings of relief in the series. Neither of them allowed a single hit in their first appearances of the year.

Regardless of the record, the Dodgers have a ton of work to be done on the offensive side of things. The team hit a collective .200 against San Francisco, and did not tally an extra base hit until the third game of the series.

But a boost to pitching is always good, especially considering the question marks that surround both the rotation and the bullpen. Following an offseason that saw Yu Darvish and Brandon Morrow depart, Los Angeles will take any encouragement they can get.

Looking Ahead

The Dodgers are headed out to the desert this week for a three game series against the Diamondbacks. Hyun-jin Ryu will toe the rubber Monday night, with Kershaw and Wood expected to follow.

Justin Turner is Close to Baseball Activities

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