Dodgers Team News

Dodgers Win 5th Straight Behind Julio Urias Gem, Bellinger & Muncy Blasts

The Los Angeles Dodgers continued an impressive display of baseball on Thursday night in defeating the Milwaukee Brewers 3-1 at Miller Park. While showing the mark of a team that can out slug the opposition, on this evening the pitching may have grabbed the wheel.

Indeed, Julio Urias likely had his best outing as a professional; certainly if the eyeball test counts. All night long, Urias had hitters off balance with a power fastball and nasty secondary stuff. Still, this was Urias’ last start for now. The team announced he will be moved to the bullpen with the return of Hyun-Jin Ryu.



Of course, the Dodgers weren’t without their usual display of flash and home runs. Let’s cover how the team won their fifth straight ballgame below.

The Offense

In a scoreless ballgame, Cody Bellinger dropped his 10th home run of the season which leads the National League. This took place in the sixth inning. Furthermore, this was the only frame in which the Dodgers scored. Bellinger’s solo shot off Matt Albers gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. He also added a single earlier in the game, and has hit in all games this season except one.

Truly, he’s about as locked in as a player can get in the game of baseball. It’s something to behold to watch the guy night over night right now.

The Dodgers weren’t done there, and it’s a good thing. Max Muncy swatted his sixth homer of the year just a few hitters later – following an A.J. Pollock single. Then, the Dodgers lead swelled to 3-0. Furthermore, Pollock stung the ball all night long. While he had two hits in the box score, he hit a few other line drives right at people and is showing signs of coming around at the plate.

Lastly, the Dodgers made their three runs and six hits on the night count. Again, Zach Davies showed good command of a generous strike zone and did not allow a run in his five innings of work. Los Angeles capitalized off a reliever who was brought in to face the heart of their lineup, and drove hitter’s pitches after working nice at-bat’s. The offensive approach continues to impress me even when they don’t compile 9 or 10 runs. Situationally, the Dodgers really show the ability to string together enough good plate appearances even in the tough nights to beat you. That’s the mark of a good team who could become great.

The Pitching

When talking about this game that took place on April 18th, 2019 for the Los Angeles Dodgers; you have to highlight Julio Urias. Yes, circle his name and put it in bold. The guy was absolutely phenomenal. Urias did not allow a hit until 4 and 2/3 innings into the game. In his six innings of work, he struck out a career-high nine hitters and walked just two.

Overall, he displays glimpses of what the Dodgers can expect from him in the future. Without question, the Dodgers have a surplus of options in the rotation and as Urias continues to develop and heal; he’s going to be a phenomenal weapon for them moving forward.

This isn’t necessarily goodbye for Urias – as much as it’s ‘goodbye for now’. Just a gut feeling, but this won’t be the last start we see him make in 2019. He’s earned the right to get the ball again when the situation calls for it. On the road, against a good offensive team; he really impressed me.

The defensive play of the night belongs to Alex Verdugo. Earlier in the game, Verdugo got a great jump on a hard hit ball in the gap that looked like it would be extra bases. It was off the bat of pinch-hitter Ben Gamel. Yet, Verdugo was under the ball and seemed to glide right to it. It’s little things like this that show a guy is going to be a pretty fundamentally sound ballplayer. Of course, we all know Verdugo can swing it already.

Then, with the Dodgers crashing around the waves a little bit in the bottom of the eighth inning, Verdugo struck again. As shown by the highlight above, he fired a strike to Austin Barnes who did a nice job receiving the play and making the tag. Joe Kelly survived the inning scoreless due to the fine work of his teammate.

In the ninth, Kenley Jansen allowed a solo home run to Christian Yelich. Still, the Dodgers have done a nice job of mostly shutting down Yelich in the recent past as we mentioned in the series preview. It was probably a matter of time until this happened, and the home run tied him with Bellinger for the league lead.

Final Word

This was an impressive road victory for the Dodgers in bringing their road record to 4-4 and overall to 13-8 on the season. Surely, they took their lumps during a losing streak; but that’s becoming forgotten quickly with each win they scratch out. As the season moves along through it’s first full month, it’s interesting to see what type of true identity the Dodgers carve out for themselves. Right now, they’re showing the mark of a solid club that can not only out-slug you; but has the ability on a given night to win a tough pitcher’s duel.

Overall, the brand of baseball they’re playing is pretty exciting. The Dodgers take on the Brewers again tomorrow night with Ross Stripling getting the ball.

Remembering Chris Taylor’s NLCS Game 7 Catch

Staff Writer

Staff Writer features content written by our site editors along with our staff of contributing writers. Thank you for your readership.

6 Comments

  1. Julio, Gracias!!!!! Great game!!!!!! Show them who you are, they can’t keep you down forever.

  2. The Dodgers are blessed with so many GREAT YOUNG players it’s almost embarrassing. Urias, Pederson, Verdugo, Bellinger, Buehler, Ferguson……..it’s downright filthy…….gotta love it!

  3. What is wrong with the Dodgers media department? WAKE UP FELLAS! Everytime I turn on the tube ALL the sports channels are gushing over Christian Yelich……..I get it, since he left Miami and went to Milwaukee he is the toast of baseball……….but what about CODY?????? The Dodgers should be pushing back with his daily exploits, he is every bit the player that Yelich is, and more. Am I just biased?

    1. It’s better to go unnoticed. You don’t want the media exposing everything 24/7 like when the Dodgers were 8-2 that buster douche exposed everything and they lost 6 in a row. We get to enjoy Bellinger and that’s good enough.

  4. ………..last note of my morning………does anyone know, what is the story with what actually happened to Andrew Toles???????

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