Dodgers 4 Rockies 3: Won For Vin

The Dodgers could not have scripted their final home game any better, with a walk off victory to clinch the division.

The Dodgers completed a four-game sweep against the Rockies. In the process, they won the NL West for the fourth consecutive year and hit a walkoff home run in Vin Scully’s final home game.

Dodgers Starter

Brandon McCarthy made his return from the DL, and it was a pretty successful one.

McCarthy breezed through the first two innings, but had some trouble with the bottom of the order in the third. Cristhian Adames singled and Dustin Garneau doubled him in to make it 1-0. A sac bunt moved Garneau to third, and Charlie Blackmon flew out to center to score the second run.

Other than that inning, McCarthy generally had a smooth outing. He allowed a single in the fourth, but immediately erased it with a pickoff.

McCarthy got a strikeout to begin the sixth, but allowed a walk and was pulled for a reliever. The run didn’t score, so that closed the book on McCarthy’s first start in more than a month.

McCarthy allowed four hits and two runs in 5.1 innings. He made 79 pitches and walked a batter, but struck out six. It was a bit ominous as Julio Urias was warming up in the first inning, but McCarthy shoved through a hot September afternoon. He’ll likely have another start before the regular season is over, and if that goes well he very well could be their fourth starter in the postseason.

Dodgers Offense

The Dodgers didn’t have any issues getting runners on base, but they struggled to bring them home against Tyler Anderson.

In the first inning, they stranded Corey Seager at first base. No shame there, but both the second and third innings began with a single and a double. The Dodgers failed to score in the second inning, but Yasiel Puig hit a sac fly to bring one home in the third.

Anderson held the Dodgers to the one run until the seventh inning. He remained in the game for the seventh despite his past struggles in the seventh inning, which allowed the Dodgers to tie the game.

Justin Turner got the rally going with a one-out single. Seager got ahead in the count, and blooped a high fastball down the right field line for an RBI triple. They tied the game, but were unable to take the lead as they stranded Seager at third.

Seager took matters into his own hands in the ninth. Down to their last out, Seager hit a monster homer to right to tie the game and send it to extra innings.

I was ready to type some snarky comment about being shocked that they didn’t score in the 10th with Chris Taylor, Enrique Hernandez and Charlie Culberson. However, Culberson somehow hit a walk off home run to give the Dodgers the division. I’ve always said Culberson=Steve Finley.

Dodgers Bullpen

Luis Avilan inherited McCarthy’s runner on first. He got a groundout to move the runner to second, and intentionally walked Nolan Arenado. He ended the inning getting David Dahl to strike out.

J.P. Howell got the seventh and allowed a one-out single. Pedro Baez relieved Howell and got a strike-him-out throw-him-out double play to end the inning.

Baez turned around and tossed a 1-2-3 eighth to keep the game tied into the ninth.

Kenley Jansen came in for the ninth in a tie game. Makes sense, especially considering it was against the heart of the Rockies’ order. He got Carlos Gonzalez and Arenado, but allowed a two-out homer to Dahl to momentarily blow the game for the Dodgers.

Joe Blanton took the 10th and had some issues, but managed to escape. He allowed a leadoff single, but got two easy outs. Charlie Blackmon hit a grounder back at Blanton, and it hit off his ankle and went high in the air, landing for an infield single. However, he got DJ Lemaheiu to ground out to end the threat.

Other Stuff

This is where I was going to talk about the Giants game, but that beautifully doesn’t matter. Instead, I’ll talk about Vin.

I hate calling stuff “Hollywood”. If you’ve been in LA, you would know that Hollywood is a couple miles (a couple hours drive) from LA. But that couldn’t have been scripted any better. In Vin’s final home game. His last play at Dodger Stadium, a division-winning walkoff homer. Damn.

Next: Chemistry Key to a Playoff Run

What else is there to say? They get to party tonight AND have a day off tomorrow. Then, they get to go to San Diego for three, and then hopefully keep the Giants out of the playoffs with the final three games up there.