After dropping the series opener to the New York Mets, the Los Angeles Dodgers rebounded in the second of the four-game set behind Trayce Thompson’s walk-off home run.
Prior to Thompson’s heroics, Jacob deGrom and Alex Wood engaged in a pitchers’ duel, with both starters allowing two runs, though only one charged to Wood was earned. For deGrom, the outing was reminiscent of his Game 1 start in the 2015 National League Division Series.
The Dodgers jumped on the right-hander for two runs in the first inning, only for deGrom to settle in. Wood also pitched well after somewhat of a shaky second inning. He finished with nine strikeouts, matching a season high, over 6.1 quality innings.
“There wasn’t a whole lot of hard contact,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Wood’s work. “The pitch quality is continuing to get better, he’s getting the swing-and-miss strikeouts. For him to give us six-plus was huge.”
Wood’s string of success at home is nothing new. He’s also continuing to capitalize on a mechanical change that’s improved Wood’s timing with his his delivery.
“The thing with Alex now, he’s consistently been down in the zone over his last three starts,” Roberts said. “When he’s down in the zone, his secondary pitches come out of the same window and look like a fastball. When he release point is right, his fastball, slider, fastball and changeup all look the same. That’s where you get the swing-and-miss.”
Although there’s a subpar road start sandwiched between two strong outings, Wood is pleased with his recent stretch. “I’ve felt pretty crisp in my last three (starts),” he said. … Me and [Yasmani Grandal] have been on the same page, and it’s about executing pitches. We’ve been able to do that lately. … I think it’s just making everything consistent across the board.”
On the season Wood is 1-3 with a 4.58 ERA, 3.76 FIP and 1.39 WHIP in seven starts. However, he owns an impressive 1.33 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and has 21 strikeouts over 20.1 innings pitched in three home starts.
