Dodgers not done rolling
Wood continues to impress as L.A. tops Rockies for eighth consecutive victory.
The tomato can that was the New York Mets vacated Dodger Stadium on Thursday after being pummeled in a four-game sweep in which the Dodgers slugged 15 homers, a franchise record for a series.
Into the ring Friday night stepped the Colorado Rockies, an upstart with the third-best record in baseball and their sights set on dethroning the four-time defending National League West champions.
It wasn’t much of a fight. The Dodgers swatted away the Rockies like they were a fly on their shoulder, bunching five runs and 10 hits in the first four innings of a 6-1 victory in which left-hander Alex Wood continued his mound mastery.
Wood allowed one run and three hits in six innings, striking out seven and walking two, to improve to 8-0 with a 1.86 ERA and help the scorching-hot Dodgers extend their win streak to
eight. The Dodgers have also won 14 of 15 games, outscoring the Nationals, Reds, Indians and Mets 104-57 in the span.
“We have a lot of the same guys from last year, and there’s a lot of confidence,” manager Dave Roberts said. “People call it swagger, and when you’re playing the way we are, it certainly breeds that.”
Justin Turner had two singles, a double and an RBI to bump his average to .392; Cody Bellinger hit a sacrifice fly and an RBI double, giving him 51 RBIs in 55 games; and Austin Barnes drew two walks and tripled and scored in the eighth.
Yasiel Puig, who drew the ire of the Mets on Wednesday for taking 32 seconds to round the bases on a three-run homer, ran so hard out of the box on his fourth-inning solo shot to center — his 14th homer of the season — that he reached first base before the ball left the park.
The only snag was a righthamstring cramp that knocked shortstop Corey Seager out after two innings, an injury that does not appear serious but is cause for concern. Seager will undergo an MRI test on Saturday. “I don’t see him in the lineup [Saturday],” Roberts said, “but I still think we got ahead of it.”
Seager, who hit three homers on Tuesday, smoked line drives to right field in his first two at-bats, hitting a single and scoring on Bellinger’s sacrifice fly in the first and roping a two-out, RBI single in a three-run second.
Barnes, on an aggressive send by third-base coach Chris Woodward, scored from second on Seager’s hit when the one-hop throw from right fielder Raimel Tapia skipped past catcher Tom Murphy for a 2-1 lead.
Seager took second on the throw but clutched his hamstring as he reached the bag. He remained in the game and scored on Turner’s single to right, but he headed for the clubhouse and did not take the field in the third.
“I felt something during the swing and initial step; then I took a little bit of an awkward step around second base, and that’s when it happened,” said Seager, who is batting .298 with 12 homers and 39 RBIs. “It tightened up. It felt like a cramp more than anything.”
Seager would know. He suffered two right-hamstring strains and tore his left hamstring in the minor leagues.
“I know when it’s really bad, and this wasn’t,” Seager said. “That’s why I wanted to stay in and test it. I’m pretty confident [I can avoid the disabled list], but you never know. [Saturday] is the big day. The second day is when you really know.”
The Dodgers are 49-26 and have a 21⁄2-game lead over Colorado (47-29) and Arizona (46-28). They’re on pace to win 105 games. They have a major league-best 3.32 ERA and an NL-high 712 strikeouts, thanks in large part to a starting pitcher who wasn’t even in the rotation when the season started.
Wood gave up two hits in the second before retiring 14 of 15 batters in the next 42⁄3 hitless innings.