Great weekend for the Bucs in Los Angeles. You’ll take three out of four from any team, but leaving LA with three wins against the most talented team in all of baseball is quite an accomplishment.
The series opened up with Gerrit Cole facing Dan Haren on Thursday night, and Cole came away the victor. The teams traded runs before the Bucs put up three in the 7th to make the score 6-3, which ended up being the final. Cole allowed three runs in 6+ innings and only struck out three batters, but was still effective through the middle innings. Pedro Alvarez and Russell Martin paced the offense with solo homers, while Gaby Sanchez and Neil Walker each picked up an RBI. Josh Harrison stayed hot with two runs batted in, including the game-winner.
Francisco Liriano picked up his first win of the year on Friday night as the Bucs were able to guarantee at least a split of the series. Frankie out-dueled Josh Beckett, who was making his first start since no-hitting the Phillies. Neil Walker drove home a run to make it 1-0 and Ike Davis crushed a solo homer to CF to put the Bucs up 2-0. Liriano kept the Dodgers off the board through his 5.2 innings, and the bullpen picked up right where he left off. LA picked up a run late off but Jason Grilli slammed the door with a 1-2-3 9th to close out the 2-1 win.
Saturday’s contest was unlike the first two, with the Dodgers cruising to a 12-2 win. Brandon Cumpton was rocked, allowing 11 runs in less than 4 innings. Hanley Ramirez left the yard twice to lead the way on offense, and Hyun-Jin Ryu tossed 6 innings to earn a win.
The Bucs bounced back from the beating they took on Saturday night to put on an impressive display on the national stage Sunday night. Cutch put on a clinic, doubling twice and taking Zack Greinke deep for his first home run since late April. He also made a slick sliding catch in shallow centerfield, so he was certainly backing up his MVP and Gold Glove awards on the big stage. Josh Harrison also went deep, and Pedro drove in three runs, two of which came with two outs. Edinson Volquez went 5 innings and probably could have gone longer, but you’ll take two runs in 5 innings from your #5 starter every time. Justin Wilson, Tony Watson, and Mark Melancon breezed through the 6th, 7th, and 8th to set up Jason Grilli. He had a slight hiccup but was able to record his third save in four days.
Without dwelling too much on the shellacking the Bucs took on Saturday, this weekend was just what they needed. They’re not setting the world on fire by any means, but three of four against the Dodgers in LA is no small feat. They’ll need to carry the momentum into San Diego win at least two against the Padres, which is a team that they *should* beat. The absolute worst thing that could happen now is that they roll into San Diego, lay an egg, and go back to square one.
Also, it’s officially June and a couple of top prospects have already been called up, so let Polanco Watch begin.
Go Bucs
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