The Los Angeles Dodgers won their seventh consecutive game against the San Francisco Giants in shutout fashion, backed by another strong start from Julio Urías.
The left-hander carried a perfect game into the fourth inning and didn’t allow his first non-two-out hit until the bottom of the seventh, when J.D. Davis led off the frame with a single.
That was followed by a broken-bat infield single because Gavin Lux couldn’t cleanly get a throw off, and a hard-hit grounder that got by Trea Turner to load the bases.
Urías was removed from the game in favor of Evan Phillips, who stranded the bases loaded without allowing a run for the second consecutive game. He was aided by the Giants running into an inning-ending double play on a shallow fly ball hit to right field.
Despite not being able to get through the seventh inning, Urías was pleased with his performance and praised Phillips for bailing him out of trouble, via SportsNet LA:
“I think the frustration came that inning. Couple tough-luck hits, tough-luck at-bats where things didn’t go my way, but just being able to navigate through the first couple innings was really positive. And then Phillips coming in and doing a great job, just tip my hat to him.”
Urías’ final line was six-plus innings pitched, seven hits allowed and no runs with six strikeouts. He again credited the mechanical adjustments he made earlier this season for his recent stretch of success:
“Yeah, I feel good. We made those adjustments in the bullpen and that’s part of what the results have shown.”
Since the start of June, Urías has gone 8-1 with a 2.30 ERA and 0.88 WHIP in 62.2 innings pitched. In 21 overall starts this season, the 25-year-old is 11-6 with a 2.57 ERA, 3.64 FIP and 0.99 WHIP across 115.2 innings.
Urías using legs to help increase velocity
As for the extent of his mechanical adjustments, Urías specifically noted there’s more of a focus on using his legs to help increase velocity.
“Just trying to use my legs to drive through the ball,” he explained. “Obviously not think too much about throwing the ball hard, just doing it. That kind of starts with the legs.”
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