Those Dodgers still can’t quite get their gears going, can they. The Boys in Blue lost two of three to the Boys in Green, and then Yellow, and then White. Maybe they ought to try multiple jersey tops, to switch things up.
Of course that is in jest, the Dodgers have one of the best uniforms in all of MLB. But still, they need something to ignite some more offense,
The Dodgers now head into Cincinnati, where they face a red-hot Reds team. Cincinnati came out of the gates from the All-Star break taking two-of-three from the New York Mets, and are 6-3 since the break, including winning their last four straight. They are currently one game out of the wild card race, in between the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants.
The Reds are led in pretty much offensive category by Elly De La Cruz. The only areas in which he doesn’t lead are on-base percentage, triples, and walks. Every other category is all Elly.
During this past weekend series in which they swept the Tampa Bay Rays, the Reds outscored the Rays 15-5, but hit only two home runs. The rest were all scored by small ball.
The Reds as a whole pride themselves on that kind of offensive mentality, grinding out at bats and hustling on the base paths as much as possible. Manager Terry Francona said as much after Sunday’s game.
“They were meaningful, very meaningful,” Francona said of Cincinnati’s early runs. “And they were kind of hustle plays, too. We didn’t knock the ball around the ballpark, but we run the bases, get down the line, they keep their heads up. Because of that, the music was playing [in the clubhouse.].”
Also stated in the article is how the Reds are also looking at bullpen help at the trade deadline. Some good news for the Dodgers is that the Reds set-up man Tony Santillan and closer Emilio Pagan both pitched on Sunday for the third day in a row, which seemingly renders them out for at least Monday’s game against the Dodgers.
Monday’s starter for the Reds will be Chase Burns, a righty that is 0-2 in five games so far this season, with a 6.65 ERA. He is a big strike out pitcher, K’ing 10 batters in each of his last two outings.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto will head to the mound for the Dodgers. Yamamoto is coming off of a decent outing against the Minnesota Twins at home, allowing only one run, walking just one, and striking out eight. He did only last five innings.
The weather is going to very hot in Cincinnati, with game time temps in the nineties all three games. Monday’s game has a chance of thunderstorms moving through around game time.
Monday game info
- Teams: Dodgers at Reds
- Ballpark: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati
- Start time: 4:10 p.m. PT
- TV: SportsNet LA
- Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)
