The Los Angeles Dodgers lineup can feature multiple All-Stars and future Hall of Famers for any given game, but the group was held in check by Colorado Rockies starter Kyle Freeland through the first three innings of their Opening Day matchup at Coors Field.
Freeland had six strikeouts and and stranded four baserunners up to that point, which allowed the Rockies to take a 2-0 lead on Walker Buehler and the Dodgers. Freeland nearly pitched his way through more traffic in the fourth but wound up failing to make it through the inning.
Gavin Lux delivered a game-tying two-run base hit, and he then came around to score on Mookie Betts’ RBI double. Trea Turner kept the rally alive by greeting Tyler Kiney with an RBI single, and Freddie Freeman scored on a wild pitch to cap off the five-run inning that propelled L.A. to a 5-3 victory.
“They were quality up and down,” manager Dave Roberts said of the at-bats put together by the Dodgers lineup.
“Two guys that really stood out were Freddie and Gavin. Left-on-left from Gavin, that two-out base hit to tie the game was huge. Another walk, I just thought he had good at-bats all day. Freddie, the same. We got some big hits when we needed to.”
Roberts went on to add the Dodgers putting the rally together supported the belief of their lineup being a potent group of players top to bottom.
“It started off by a soft-serve single by Will Smith, and then you just start having at-bats, guys are grinding, taking walks when given to you,” he said. “As I mentioned, Gavin and Freddie, Mookie got into a hitter’s count, which was a big hit for us.
“But Freddie, it’s not going to show up in the scorecard, but going first to third, and a situation where there’s a wild pitch and he scores an insurance run. Those are things that are a little microcosm of what we can do.”
The sequence was reminiscent of the Dodgers’ situational hitting en route to winning the 2020 World Series. “We’re going to hit the three-run homer, but I think what is sustainable is swinging at strikes and taking balls,” Roberts said.
“If we can do that, with the hit tool that our guys have one through nine, those are the innings that you get to the ‘pen early and really tack on. It should be stressful every inning when you play our club.”
Taylor: Dodgers lineup kept line moving
Chris Taylor was part of setting the table for the two-out rally as he followed Will Smith’s base hit with a double to put the tying runners in scoring position.
“Obviously we take pride in passing the baton onto the next guy and we know one through nine we have a deep lineup and we all can have good at-bats,” Taylor said. “That’s when we’re at our best.”
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
