While the Los Angeles Dodgers set a season high with five home runs en route to completing a sweep of the Cincinnati Reds, each of the first three innings on Thursday also saw the team run into out on the bases.
In the first, Trea Turner was doubled up when he attempted to steal second base on a pitch Will Smith lifted to left field. Turner went head-first into second base and failed to locate the ball in time, allowing Tommy Pham to throw over for an inning-ending double play.
Then in the second, Justin Turner was caught in a rundown for another double play that ended an inning. The Dodgers did take a 1-0 lead on Cody Bellinger’s sacrifice fly to center field because the throw to home plate was cut off.
In the following inning, Austin Barnes was thrown out trying to go from first base to third base on Trea Turner’s single.
The sequences were similar to prior instances of the Dodgers running into outs on the bases, but like in those cases, manager Dave Roberts did not find issue with them, via SportsNet LA:
“There were some outs that we shouldn’t have made. The results certainly weren’t good. I thought the Justin play, I thought there might be a play (at home plate), so when you’re facing Hunter Greene and you’ve got Clayton on the mound, to get a run on the board to get a lead, I didn’t think there was anything wrong with that.
“I thought Austin made an aggressive play with nobody out. Tommy Pham made a heck of a throw. It just seems like some of those bang-bang plays have been going against us. But Austin will say this later, he could’ve taken third base on the overthrow too.
“Trea, just lost sight of the ball in that first inning. Our guys are still staying in it. I don’t think it’s mental mistakes. I still like them being aggressive.”
After the Dodgers went through a stretch of getting picked off multiple times and thrown out on the bases in series against the Arizona Diamondbacks and Pittsburgh Pirates, Roberts said he liked how aggressive the team was being.
Dodgers baserunning
Per FanGraph’s baserunning metric (BsR), which turns stolen bases, caught stealings and plays such as extra bases and being thrown out on the bases, the Dodgers are the third-best team in the Majors at 8.1.
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