The Los Angeles Dodgers reached the end of their five-game road trip on Mother’s Day, which was also Adrian Gonzalez’s 34th birthday. Gonzalez spent Sunday afternoon as the Dodgers’ designated hitter, with Howie Kendrick starting in his place at first base.
With a win against the Toronto Blue Jays, the Dodgers would finish 3-2 on their road trip. Marco Estrada got a pair of groundouts and a fly out for a 1-2-3 first inning. Ross Stripling bookended the bottom of the first with strikeouts as he retired the side in order.
Estrada induced another pair of grounders in the second, and ended the inning with a strikeout of Kendrick. Stripling missed his location on a pitch to Edwin Encarnacion, and it nearly cost him as Encarnacion flied out to the warning track in left-center field.
Justin Smoak went down swinging and Troy Tulowitzki was called out on strikes to complete two scoreless innings. Estrada added to his strikeout total by getting Joc Pederson swinging and Carl Crawford looking in the third. Trayce Thompson flied out to end the third inning.
Stripling’s early bid for a perfect game came to an end on Kevin Pillar’s leadoff double in the bottom of the third. Pillar then advanced to third base on a Russell Martin grounder to the right side of the infield.
With the corners drawn in, Kendrick made a stop on his knees and attempted to throw Pillar out at home plate, but it was to no avail. Stripling retired the next two batters faced to keep the Blue Jays’ lead at 1-0.
CONTINUE READING: Joc Pederson adds to home run total, Chase Utley makes amazing diving catch
Estrada lost his perfect game in the fourth inning as he issued a leadoff walk to Chase Utley. After Corey Seager struck out, Justin Turner reached on a Tulowitzki fielding error that left runners on first and second.
They were both stranded, however, as Gonzalez and Yasmani Grandal struck out to end the inning. Meanwhile, Stripling continued to do his part in keeping the Blue Jays in check, running his strikeout total to six as he retired the side in order in the bottom of the fourth.
Pederson struck out swinging a second time as part of a 1-2-3 fifth inning for Estrada. Stripling matched his counterpart, retiring Tulowitzki, Pillar and Martin in order in the bottom of the fifth.
Thompson ended Estrada’s no-hit bid with a leadoff double to the right-center field gap in the sixth inning. Thompson tagged and advanced to third base on Utley’s deep fly ball to center field. After Seager struck out on a pitch low and away, Turner extended the inning by drawing a walk.
It was to no avail, as Gonzalez hit a grounder up the middle, where Tulowitzki was playing as part of a shift, to end the inning with the Blue Jays still clinging to a 1-0 lead. Stripling induced three groundouts in the bottom of the sixth, giving him 11 consecutive batters retired.
Pederson injected a little life into the Dodgers by sitting on a first pitch curveball and tying the game with a solo home run in the seventh inning. Crawford followed with a base hit to right, but any thoughts of a rally quickly ended as Thompson grounded out.
Chris Hatcher retired the first two batters faced, then allowed a base hit to Smoak. Tulowitzki drew a walk to keep the inning alive for Pillar, who hit an RBI single to right field. Smoak was initially held at third base, then sent home as Thompson bobbled the ball.
Drew Storen took over for the Blue Jays in the eighth and issued a leadoff walk to Utley. Seager followed with a ground-rule double to put runners on second and third, and knock Storen out of the game.
Roberto Osuna struck out Turner and intentionally walked Gonzalez to face Grandal with the bases loaded. Grandal lifted a sacrifice fly to deep center, tying the game, and also allowed Seager to tag and take third.
That proved pivotal as Seager easily scored on Kendrick’s sharp RBI single to right field, giving the Dodgers a 3-2 lead. Pedro Baez allowed a one-out single in the bottom of the eighth, then rebounded to strikeout Donaldson.
Kenley Jansen came on for a four-out save and benefited from a terrific diving catch by Utley, who was breaking to cover second base with the runner on the move, and laid out to snag a liner hit toward shortstop.
Seager added an insurance run with an RBI single to left in the ninth inning. Jansen worked around a ground-rule double in the bottom half of the inning to earn a save in the Dodgers’ 4-2 win.