Los Angeles Dodgers: Game two at Fenway Park after bad first night
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Dodgers are at Fenway Park for only the third time in team history in the regular season and are played like an inexperienced team.
The Los Angeles Dodgers‘ first series after the All-Star Break is a truly historic one as the team is at Fenway Park in the regular season for only the third time in team history. It did not get off on the right foot, however, as the Dodgers were unable to overcome the Red Sox at home.
In a game that felt like we were back in October for the 2018 World Series, the Dodger bats virtually became nonexistent as the team only scored one run off of an Alex Verdugo solo home run.
Kenta Maeda looked really sharp as he did allow two early solo shots but had his offspeed stuff working and was able to mow through the team the rest of the way. He did have a bit of a hiccup with a run allowed in the sixth, but still put the Dodgers in a position to win.
Then there was Pedro Baez coming in and the Dodgers made two boneheaded plays to put two runners on base. A rain delay later and the Red Sox managed to score five runs in the inning, scoring eight all together on just eight hits.
It was definitely frustrating to see the Dodgers play that bad at Fenway Park with the innocent teasing that was going on from Red Sox fans. However, Fenway still was one of the greatest things I have experienced in my life and I recommend anyone that is considering it to make the trip out to see a game, Dodgers or not, at Fenway Park.
I won’t be there on Saturday night as we are doing other things in the city but I will be back on Sunday. Either way, here is my Los Angeles Dodgers Beat the Streak selection for Saturday.
Jason’s pick (Current streak: 0): David Freeese
The Los Angeles Dodgers have to face another left-handed pitcher on Saturday and are facing one of the best left-handed pitchers in the league in Chris Sale. Sale has had a rollercoaster 2019 season that did not include an all-star appearance but he is still one of the hardest southpaws to hit in the MLB.
The Dodgers did face Sale twice in the World Series and were actually moderately successful against the southpaw in Game 1. Sale only ended up going four innings, allowing three runs on 91 pitches.
The Dodgers need to look to the same recipe on Saturday and grind out at-bats against Sale, get his pitch count up and actually manufacture some runs. The team’s offense has not been great the last four games because they haven’t been doing those things.
I am going with the guy that went 2-2 off Sale in the World Series last year and is actually the only player on the Dodgers with a regular-season base knock off of Sale in his career (Russell Martin also has at-bats but is 0-14).
Freese looked good in his return to the Dodger lineup on Friday with a good at-bat walk and a missile shot into center field that was caught in his second at-bat. Now it is time to get back in the hit column.