CHICAGO – The Dodgers are doing the equivalent of riding a bicycle with their feet on the handlebars, yelling “Look — no hands” to the rest of baseball. Tuesday night in Chicago, they went 1…
CHICAGO – The Dodgers are doing the equivalent of riding a bicycle with their feet on the handlebars, yelling “Look — no hands” to the rest of baseball.
Tuesday night in Chicago, they went 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position. They hit into four double plays. They managed to load the bases with no outs and not score. They had two players get on base four times each – Chris Taylor (four hits) and Cody Bellinger (two walks, two hits) – and 16 baserunners in all but only scored one run.
And still they won.
Left-hander Clayton Kershaw went seven scoreless innings as the Dodgers added a pair of 10s to their ace with a 1-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
“It does feel like every night we just find a different way to win, ” Kershaw said. “Tonight, usually we capitalize on those situations. My run support has to be one of the best in the league. Tonight that didn’ t happen and we still found a way to win.
“We just keep finding different ways to win.”
This one was different indeed. But nonetheless, the win was the Dodgers’ 10th in a row and gives them two winning streaks at least 10 games long for the first time since the 1955 team had streaks of 10 consecutive wins and 11 consecutive wins.
It was also the Dodgers’ 30th win in their past 34 games. No team has ripped off a 30-4 stretch since the 1977 Kansas City Royals and no National League team had done it since the 1936 New York Giants.
“I think the formula is just finding a way to win, ” Taylor said. “We’ ve been pretty good at that.”
Pitching for the first time since he closed out the first half with a complete game against the Kansas City Royals nine days ago, Kershaw looked both rested and rusted.
He didn’ t retire the side in order until the fifth inning and stranded runners in scoring position in three of those first four innings. He had to work out of another dangerous situation in the sixth when Corey Seager’s throwing error on an infield single put Avisail Garcia at second base with one out.
Matt Davidson singled, moving Garcia to third. But Tyler Saladino bunted Kershaw’s first pitch right into the air at home plate for an out and Kevan Smith grounded out softly to third base to end the inning.
“Obviously I was a little rusty tonight, ” he admitted. “Fastball command wasn’ t great the first few innings. It got a little better as it went. Nine days off is definitely not something I’ m used to. So I’ m thankful to get out of that unscathed and get this win.”
Kershaw (15-2) allowed seven hits in his seven innings, the most he has given up in a start since May. But the White Sox were 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position against him, Davidson’s harmless (as it turned out) single being the only success.
The Dodgers’ offense had similar issues against White Sox starter Miguel Gonzalez. Three of the first four Dodgers reached base against Gonzalez and they scored a run on Cody Bellinger’s RBI single. But that was all the damage they could do against Gonzalez despite 11 baserunners – five hits, five walks and a hit batter – in his six innings. The White Sox turned three double plays in the first five innings.
They turned a fourth in the eighth inning when the Dodgers loaded the bases with no outs but came away without a run.
“Tonight, I just thought when we had guys on base I didn’ t think we had the right approach at the plate, ” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “There’s the result of having success but there’s also the process. I just didn’ t think we were good.
“I just think it’s getting better pitches to hit and understanding the situation. You’ re looking to get a pitch you can drive. I think we were a little too aggressive in certain situations.”
That gave Pedro Baez and Kenley Jansen no margin for error when they took over for Kershaw after his seven innings.
Yasiel Puig, who bounced into a double play with the bases loaded, made up for his part in the unproductive offense by making a diving catch in right field to start the eighth. Taylor had to go back to the wall in left field to corral Davidson’s long fly to start the ninth. But Baez and Jansen closed it out.
