May 10, 2017

Cody Bellinger continued his offensive onslaught, and the Dodgers completed a sweep of the Pirates with a 5-2 victory on Wednesday night at the Ravine.

Bellinger connected on a 2-run homer in the 1st inning, which was his 6th long ball on the season.  That was part of a 3-run first inning after Chase Utley delivered an RBI single later on in the 1st, which scored Yasmani Grandal.

Kenta Maeda (3-2) got the win after pitching a career-high 8 1/3 innings, giving up just 2 runs on 5 hits.  He struck out 5 and did not walk anybody.  He made 104 pitches.

Utley added to the lead in the 4th inning, knocking in Chris Taylor with an RBI double.  Utley started at 1st base after Bellinger was moved back to left field due to the season-ending knee injury to Andrew Toles.

Chad Kuhl (1-3) took the loss for the Bucs.  He went 5 innings, giving up 4 runs on 6 hits.  He was lifted for a pinch hitter in the 6th inning, and ultimately was buried by the two-out rally the Dodgers put together in the 1st inning.

Yasmani Grandal made it 5-0 in the 8th inning with an RBI double, scoring Corey Seager.  Grandal was 3-3 on the night, with a walk and a run scored.

Grant Dayton came in to record the final two outs of the game for the Dodgers.  He came into the game after Francisco Cervelli broke the shutout with a 2-run homer in the 9th of of Maeda.

With the sweep, the Dodgers have now won 5 straight games and improved their record  20-14.  They lead the NL in run differential.  LA is now 1.5 games back of 1st place Colorado in the NL West.

Speaking of the Rockies, the Dodgers will open a four-game series against Colorado beginning Thursday evening at Coors Field.  Hyun-Jin Ryu (1-4; 4.05 ERA) will get the ball for LA in game 1, while the Rockies go with Tyler Anderson (2-3; 6.69 ERA).