Dodgers walk it off again on Alex Verdugo homer

LOS ANGELES — For the second consecutive night, the Dodgers walked it off against the Rockies. For the second night in a row, it came at the hands of a rookie.

Last night, Matt Beaty was the hero, as he hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to give LA the 4-2 win. Tonight, the hero was Alex Verdugo. On a 1-1 pitch, Verdugo crushed a 95 mph fastball over the right field fence, giving the Dodgers a 5-4 victory.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Hyun-Jin Ryu pitched yet another good game. He went six innings, allowing only one run while striking out five. His ERA sky-rocketed from 1.25 to 1.27. For Ryu, it’s almost a bit of a shock to see him not go at least seven innings in a start. Nonetheless, he still had another efficient outing.

One run was earned, but in total for the game three runs scored off of Ryu, mainly due to some shaky defense. He was forced to throw 33 pitches in the third after a few infield miscues, which is what ultimately cost him going an extra inning.

Max Muncy doubled to lead off the second inning, extending his on-base streak to 31 games. It’s the longest streak for a Dodger since Yasiel Puig’s 33-game streak back in 2014. Chris Taylor followed with a single, putting runners at the corners with no outs. Last night’s hero, Matt Beaty, continued his hot stretch with an RBI single, tying the game at one.

Things fell apart defensively for the Dodgers in the next inning. Charlie Blackmon grounded to Joc Pederson at first, who then threw to second to turn the double play. Taylor caught the ball, but bobbled it in an attempt to gather himself and throw it to first. The mishap cost the Dodgers an out, and runners were at first and second with zero outs still.

This came back to bite the Dodgers, as Ian Desmond singled in the runner at second the following at bat, putting the Rockies back ahead. A few batters later, the defense would commit yet another error that would cost the team a run. Daniel Murphy grounded into what should have been a double play, but Pederson, who was making his second career start at first, mishandled the throw, letting it drop, and allowing another run to score for Colorado.

LA would answer right back, as a double from Alex Verdugo and single from Justin Turner brought the Dodgers to within a run. The game would be tied in the fifth, thanks to a home run from Verdugo. It would be his sixth of the season.

The game would be turned over to the bullpen in the seventh. Yimi Garcia started the inning, striking out the lone batter he faced. He would then be taken out, with Caleb Ferguson coming in to pitch. Raimel Tapia came in to pinch hit, and hit a home run over the left center field fence, putting Colorado back up by a run.

Cody Bellinger got the rally started for the Dodgers in the eighth. He doubled to lead off the inning, putting the tying run at second. For Bellinger, he has reached base in 70 of his 72 starts this season. After a groundout from Muncy and strikeout from Taylor, the tying run was 90 feet away with two outs, with Beaty stepping up to the play.

As we saw last night, the moment isn’t too big for the rookie, as he hit a blooper into left field, tying the game at four.

Kenley Jansen came in to pitch the ninth, and retired the side in order. It looked as if the Dodgers were poised to walk things off in the bottom half of the inning. Pederson and Verdugo each reached with back-to-back singles, putting runners on first and second with only one out.

Both Turner and Bellinger were unable to deliver in the clutch, as they both struck out swinging, sending the game into the 10th inning. For the Dodgers, this was only the third time all season they had gone into extra innings.

Pedro Baez pitched a 1-2-3 10th inning. For Baez, he’s been the best reliever for the Dodgers going back until the end of April. Since April 25, his ERA is 1.37.

Muncy walked to start the bottom of the 10th, and the Dodgers were back in action. Taylor followed with an infield single, putting the winning run at second for Beaty. He was unable to walk it off for the second consecutive night, grounding into a double play. Russell Martin walked, bringing up pinch-hitter Austin Barnes. He was unable to end things, as he struck out, sending the game into the 11th.

Getting the ball in the 11th was Joe Kelly. He worked around a walk to throw a scoreless innings, getting two strikeouts as well. His ERA now sits at 6.39, down over two runs from less than a month ago.

With one out in the bottom of the inning, Verdugo stepped up to the plate, and hit his second homer of the night, a walk-off to give the Dodgers the victory.