Julio Urías turned in another quality start as the Los Angeles Dodgers backed him with three home runs in the first four innings of a 4-2 victory that completed a sweep of the Colorado Rockies.
Like in his Opening Day start, Urías needed to pitch through some traffic before finding his footing. The Rockies loaded the bases with nobody out in the third inning but the Dodgers’ ace struck out Kris Bryant and followed that by inducing an inning-ending double play.
“Overall, felt good,” Urías said through an interpreter. “Obviously I was battling with the counts of getting ahead, getting two strikes and not finishing off hitters. It was really frustrating, but overall, I felt good.”
The left-hander needed 53 pitches to get through three innings. His efficiency improved after that point and Urías finished at just 87 pitches over six shutout innings.
Despite some of the frustration, he collected six strikeout without issuing a walk.
“I thought he was really good,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Bailed us out of some innings, making pitches. And I thought his mix was really consistent. In his first start, it took him a few innings to kind of figure out the fastball, but I thought tonight he was really crisp.
“And again, when we needed him to make pitches, he did. Really quality outing.”
Will Smith, who hit a home run in his third consecutive game, echoed Roberts’ sentiment.
“I thought he pitched really well,” Smith said. “His fastball command was there, breaking ball was there, changeup was there. Got out a couple of big situations, bases Loaded no outs.
“He’s a stud. He knows what he’s doing out there and it’s fun to catch him every five days.”
In his two starts this season, Urías has allowed a combined two runs, nine hits, and has 12 strikeouts against zero walks.
Is Julio Urías throwing cutter or slider?
The Opening Day start was not only a career first for Urías, but he also unveiled a new pitch. It’s been charted as a cutter, although Smith views the characteristics more like a slider.
“It’s just kind of a fourth option. It’s a swing-and-miss option to righties,” Smith added. “It’s just an extra one, an extra little wrinkle. And he’s worked hard on it, so that’s why you see it and why you see it doing well in the game.”
Urías said he worked on the cutter during the offseason and didn’t use it during the World Baseball Classic so that it would debut during the regular season. He threw it 11 times against the Rockies.
“I feel good with it,” Urías said. “I feel confident throwing it in any count and now we just need to keep improving it.”
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