Dodgers: Offense Shows Signs of Life in 4-0 Win Against Oakland

The Dodgers are on a modest 2 game win streak as they beat the Oakland A’s 4-0 Tuesday night to improve to 3-6 on the young season.

The Dodgers fresh off the heels of a walk-off win in San Francisco Sunday afternoon resumed their season on Tuesday after a day off on Monday.  The Dodgers came into the game looking to break out of their offensive slump and while they didn’t score a ton of runs, the Dodgers recorded eleven hits including five extra-base hits.  Here were the main keys to the Dodgers win on Tuesday:

Restful Ryu Dazzles

Due to the off days and rain out, Hyun-Jin Ryu started on extra rest for the Dodgers and it paid off.  Ryu had a no-hitter until the fifth inning when he allowed a hit with two outs.  Ryu walked only one batter and struck out eight.  Ryu made it a point this spring to work on his curveball and he definitely had a good one working on Tuesday night.

Ryu’s changeup was diving and he had pinpoint control of his fastball.  Many A’s hitters were late on Ryu’s fastball despite it being around 90 miles per hour.  This is how you know Ryu has the off-speed working when he can get lots of swings and misses on his average fastball.  After not having anything working in his first start, this was a much-needed effort from Ryu to get his season going.

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Living by the Long Ball

Three of the Dodgers four runs came via the long ball on Tuesday night.  Chris Taylor and Corey Seager lead off the game with back to back home runs.  Matt Kemp would add his first home run of the season leading off the bottom of the sixth inning.  The three home runs were very nice to see after the Dodgers offense couldn’t muster up many extra-base hits last week.  Seager especially has been lacking power but his first inning home run had plenty of oomph behind it.  Perhaps this will get Taylor and Seager going as they are off to slow starts like much of the Dodgers offense.

Jansen Back?

Kenley Jansen blew two saves during the first week of the season which was one of the oddest events to happen in what was a strange first week.  Jansen came into the game with two runners on base and one out nursing a four-run lead.  Jansen struck out Jonathan Lucroy on a foul tip and he got Stephen Piscotty to weakly ground out to end the game.  Jansen was around 91-92 miles per hour according to the Spectrum broadcast but he had more control of his pitches.

Next: Dodgers finally get the all-star game they deserve

Fun Fact: Kenley Jansen is now 11-11 in save opportunities with a 4 run lead