On Wednesday night, the Dodgers suffered their first shutout loss of the year by falling 3-0 to the San Francisco Giants. On Thursday, the Dodgers returned the favor and shut the Giants out by the exact same final score.
Only Luis Arraez could break through Tyler Glasnow on Thursday, as the right-hander dominated through eight shutout innings allowing just one hit and one walk— both to Arraez— while striking out a season-high tying nine hitters. It was the first time in two years that Glasnow completed eight innings, and he and Tanner Scott helped the Dodgers narrowly avoid being swept by San Francisco and dropping five of seven games on the road trip.
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It’s been an amazing start to the season for Glasnow, who now holds a 2.45 ERA on the season with a 0.70 WHIP, 38 strikeouts and seven walks over 34 innings through his first five starts. Glasnow has only allowed one run and three hits over his last 15 innings on the mound, and Dave Roberts commended him following Thursday’s contest for his insurgency as the Dodgers head back home off the heels of a shutout victory, per Kirsten Watson of SportsNet LA.
“He just knew we needed to win, and I think all three of our guys that went out— as far as starters— did a great job. Today we were kind of on a little funk offensively, and he set the tone… He helped the ‘pen, got us a win, and like I said before, this is who he is, and so for me this is not surprising.”
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Thursday was a much needed offensive boost for Kyle Tucker, as in his first game demoted to cleanup in the starting lineup on Thursday, he went 2-4 with a double and a run scored after going hitless in the first two games against San Francisco.
The plan for the “foreseeable future,” as noted by Sonja Chen of MLB.com, is to have Tucker keep hitting cleanup while Freddie Freeman will hit behind Shohei Ohtani at second in the lineup.
“I think it’s more of just trying to give Kyle a different look. I think that he’s obviously going through it right now and not feeling great at the plate,” Roberts said before the game. “So sometimes, the different visual, letting the game come to you a little bit before jumping in there in the two, changes your outlook and potentially the results.”
Tucker spoke with Watson postgame about the lineup adjustment, to which the outfielder insisted that his main goal is to produce no matter where he’s hitting.
“Being there is fine. Wherever I am in the lineup, I’m trying to help this team win, and I’ll do it. It’s kinda been a little bit of a grind, but we got a couple knocks today.”
As the Dodgers head home with a 5-4 record over their last nine games, they host a Chicago Cubs team that has rattled off nine straight victories, fresh off a four-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies that sent them to their eighth consecutive loss. At the helm for Chicago is the brief former Dodger Craig Counsell, who had some choice words to say about MLB’s Shohei Ohtani rule, per Patrick Mooney of The Athletic.
“I’ve never understood it,” Counsell said. “It’s an offensive rule, essentially. It’s a rule to help offense, more than anything, if you ask me. And then there’s one team that’s allowed to carry basically one of both, and he gets special consideration, which is probably the most bizarre rule. For one team.”
The rule does indeed apply to every team in baseball. It just so happens that the Dodgers have the only incarnation of Babe Ruth in the game today.
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