Dodgers: Dave Roberts Emphasizes Importance of Sunday's Walk-Off Win
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The Dodgers entered Sunday with a 1-5 record on the week. After dropping two of three against the Pirates (the Pirates!), the Dodgers came home and lost the first three games of their four-game series against the Phillies en route to a four-game losing streak. They needed a win, badly.
Michael Grove started the game for the Boys in Blue, it was his major league debut. Due to a Gavin Lux error on a routine groundout, the Phillies quickly jumped out to a 4-0 lead. The anxiety at Dodger Stadium was palpable. It appeared like the Phillies would sweep the Dodgers at home for the first time since the 1980's.
But the Dodgers didn't roll over. The bullpen got great performances from Phil Bickford, Alex Vesia, Yency Almonte, and Shane Greene. The four relievers combined for a scoreless 5.1 innings to back a solid debut from Grove.
The bullpen, with a little help from the Dodgers offense, clawed their way back to a 4-3 deficit entering the bottom of the ninth. Then, Gavin Lux hit a walk-off double to help LA snap their losing streak. After the triumphant come-from-behind win, manager Dave Roberts went as far to call it the biggest win of the Dodgers young season.
“It’s huge. I don’t want to say it’s the biggest win of the year. It’s a small sample. But right now this is a big one. To lose five in a row and potentially six or whatever it was, to go into this Arizona series – guys are feeling pretty good right now. We’ve just got to get back to playing our type of baseball – not giving outs away, not giving away bases, not walking guys and taking an extra base, taking good at-bats. When we do that, we’re as good as anyone.”
Lux deserves his shine, but Bellinger's triple and Chris Taylor's walk set the table for Lux to feast.
The best cure for a losing streak is a winning streak and after last night's game, they've won two in a row. Perhaps it's just the start of a better kind of streak.
