#WeLoveLA pic.twitter.com/z0MWdW09Ud
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 5, 2016
By Jon Weisman
With an innings milestone near and no starts remaining before the All-Star Break, it was no surprise for Dave Roberts to tell reporters after tonight’s latest Dodger comeback victory (7-5 over the Orioles) that the Dodgers will probably option Julio Urías on Tuesday.
Urías hadn’t allowed more than two runs in a game in his past five starts before tonight, when as Roberts said, he competed but “he was just missing on some pitches and really throwing to the big part of the plate.” The 19-year-old allowed five runs on eight baserunners in 3 1/3 innings, the most damaging being a 41-pitch, three-run second.
This doesn’t mean it’s the last we’ll see of Urías in Los Angeles this year. He still hasn’t quite matched last year’s innings total, which gives the Dodgers some leeway between now and October. The key is that Urías did his job when the Dodgers were hurting for starting pitchers, and they can now afford a pause before they turn to him again.
Urías’ big-league ERA briefly dipped below 4.00 after a perfect, 10-pitch first inning, before it rose to 4.95 at the time of his departure from the game. He has 44 strikeouts in his 36 1/3 innings.
The Dodgers can wait until Hyun-Jin Ryu is activated Thursday to send Urías down, but given another successful but lengthy night for the bullpen tonight (5 2/3 innings of shutout ball), it’s reasonable they would try to get a fresh arm in Los Angeles before Tuesday’s game.
The bullpen’s latest stalwart work gave the Dodgers time to rally from their 5-2 deficit. Justin Turner’s sacrifice fly after Corey Seager’s leggy triple in the seventh inning gave the Dodgers their first lead.
Yasiel Puig and Yasmani Grandal hit back-to-back homers in the second inning to begin the Dodger scoring. Chase Utley sandwiched Seager’s RBI single in the fourth with two RBI hits of his own, including the game-tying hit in the sixth. Howie Kendrick drove in an insurance run in the eighth.
Seager’s 17-game hitting streak is the longest in the National League this season.
As the Dodger postgame press notes passed along, Los Angeles is on hot streaks of 7-1 and 15-5 overall, and 10-0 at home — the longest home winning streak since a 13-game run to start the 2009 season.
oldbrooklynfan
Came home after a barbecue and the Dodgers were trailing 5-4, but was lucky enough to catch the triumphant rest of the game.
Don Bright
I would guess it’s between Frias and Avilan to come up for a couple games