Dodgers 3 Rays 2: Errors Sting Rays

The Dodgers took game one from the Rays and now sit 2.5 games back in the NL West.

Bud Norris went 6.1 innings tonight as he walked two, struck out six batters and did not allow a run. Norris has completely stepped up since the Dodgers signed him. They brought him to the team in hopes of a few quality starts. Since then, Norris has not only met expectations, he has exceeded them and proved to be a reliable starter. He left tonight’s game having only given up two hits to the Rays offense.

The Dodgers got two on the board thanks to a few gifts in the bottom of the third inning. After Andrew Toles flied out to left for the first out, Joc Pederson was called safe at first thanks to an error. Bud Norris then came to the plate and put down a great sacrifice to move Pederson over to second. The gifts kept coming when Chase Utley was called safe at first thanks to a throwing error from Chris Archer. Archer’s throwing error allowed Pederson to take third. Corey Seager then came to the plate and singled in a run. Justin Turner followed him up with a single to left and all of a sudden the Dodgers were up by a score of 2-0.

The boys in blue would tack on another run when Yasmani Grandal homered to right in the bottom of the seventh inning. Things got a little rocky in the top of the eighth inning when Joe Blanton came in. After back to back singles, he allowed a double to Brad Miller, which allowed the Rays to get on the board. They would cut the deficit to one run when Luis Avilan relieved Blanton and allowed the Rays second run to score on a wild pitch. Avilan would eventually get out of the inning, but the score was now 3-2, Dodgers.

The score would remain locked as Kenley Jansen came in for the top of the ninth inning looking for another save. He would get the save, but he had to face a little trouble first. Oswaldo Arcia led off the inning with a single to right. After a sacrifice, Arcia was standing on second with one out. Tim Beckham struck out against Jansen which meant there were two outs. Logan Forsythe extended the inning when he was hit by a pitch from Jansen. Now with the winning run on base, Jansen managed to get Miller to strike out and secure the win.

Chris Archer also pitched great tonight for the Rays. He went seven innings, allowed four hits, one earned run and struck out eight batters. The errors were what really killed the Rays tonight, because Archer put together a solid start.

The Giants also won tonight which means the Dodgers are still 2.5 games back in the NL West, but slowly making progress at catching the Giants. Game two of the series is tomorrow and first pitch is scheduled for 12:10 PM.