Dodgers in the zone, controlling the zone, too

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers prevailed in the opener against the Brewers on Friday night, even though a Milwaukee starting pitcher allowed two or fewer runs to them for the fourth time in four games this season.

The Dodgers have won three of those games.

On Friday, Chase Anderson was stingy in his five innings, allowing just two runs. But he also has 92 pitches through five innings and was pulled.

“We taxed him,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s really good, with a 95-96-mph fastball. He’s got a cutter with a good curveball, a good competitor. The first couple innings we got that pitch count up and got him out in five, that was a good thing. A lot of times, that’s what we do.”

Justin Turner singled and walked twice against Anderson, then stole second base and scored the go-ahead run in the fifth inning. The Dodgers walked four times on Friday and lead the majors with 524 walks on the season.

“When we talk about our lineup and the depth, when you swing at balls in the zone you have a better chance of getting good results,” Turner said. “I think that’s what we’ve done all season.

“We’re top two in on-base percentage, and up in the top in slugging percentage. When you stay in the zone, usually balls go a lot further than when you’re chasing.”

The Dodgers lead the National League with a .343 on-base percentage, and their .451 slugging percentage is second only to the Nationals (.459).

Defense on display

A trio of defensive plays stood out on Friday. In the third inning, Kiké Hernandez and Yasiel Puig each made stellar plays in left field and right field, respectively, tracking down hard liners. Then in the ninth, Hernandez made a spectacular catch on a drive by Neil Walker.

“By Yasi making that play in right field, and Kiké making that spectacular play when I was pitching, it was awesome,” said closer Kenley Jansen, who notched his 35th save.

“We expect to win everyday, even though realistically you’re not going to win everyday,” Jansen added.

Replay lightning

The final play of the game was a tapper in front of the plate by Ryan Braun, who was called safe at first base after a throw from catcher Yasmani Grandal.

But after the Dodgers challenged, the call was overturned seemingly immediately. The official time of replay was 24 seconds, the shortest of the season for the Dodgers, but if MLB headquarters would have said 2.4 seconds, I would have believed it.

“That was a quick one,” Roberts said. “We’ve walked off many different ways, but that was our first replay walk-off.”

3 million, again

The Dodgers recorded their seventh sellout crowd of the season on Friday, with an announced attendance of 52,455. That put them at 3,017,994 in total attendance on the season, the first team in MLB to reach three million in 2017. This is the sixth consecutive season over three million in attendance for the Dodgers, and 16th time in the last 17 years.

Up next

The Dodgers will turn to Ross Stripling to start essentially a bullpen game on Saturday, a 6:10 p.m. PT start, with Zach Davies starting the middle game of the series for Milwaukee.