Trevor Bauer snapped a three-start winless streak as the Los Angeles Dodgers shut out the Miami Marlins to win a fourth consecutive game and take a second straight series.
Bauer tied a season high with 10 strikeouts and allowed just two hits over seven scoreless innings. “I think my command was pretty darn good all night. I didn’t have very many large misses, so command was good,” he said after the game.
“My body felt really good coming into the start, I knew I was going to have my really good stuff. Ball was jumping out of my hand early, so the velocity was good. And I think the gameplanning we had was really good as well. Pretty good combination when you have all three of those things going.”
Bauer’s postgame interview featured a different look as he tapped a paper sign to his chest, which read, “Not my logo. Don’t fine me.”
It was an apparent reference to previously being in MLB’s crosshairs during Spring Training because of wearing an undershirt and belt that featured the “Bauer Outage” logo. He obliged, but during the regular season has worn a t-shirt with the logo.
When asked if he wished to elaborate or explain the sign, Bauer simply said, “Nope.”
With respect to his impressive outing, Bauer fell short of a pregame goal and hoped to remain in the game despite throwing 113 pitches through seven innings. “I felt great. I was trying to hide from Doc so he would send me back out there,” Bauer said.
“My pregame prediction was 12 punch outs, so I was a little bit frustrated I couldn’t get two more in the last three innings. I wanted to pitch the eighth so I could get a couple more.”
The 30-year-old doesn’t always focus on strikeouts but does regularly set targets. “Sometimes it’s innings, sometimes it’s hits, sometimes it’s all of them. I usually have a pretty good feel for how the night is going to go,” Bauer explained.
Bauer responded physically
After back-to-back outings in which he anticipated not being at his top form, Bauer was back on track against the Marlins.
“In Chicago, I just didn’t feel great. My body just didn’t recover. I was kind of half a day behind recovery-wise that entire cycle,” he said. “Against Anaheim, yeah, I was kind of sick. I woke up a little sick that morning with a bug.
“Everything cleared out, had a really good cycle this time, felt great coming into today. Happy about that.”
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