Dodgers mum on Trevor Bauer suspension but are plenty loud in win over Tigers
The closest any Dodgers player came to commenting n Trevor Bauer’s two-year suspension Friday night was this exchange with Clayton Kershaw when reporters approached him at his locker before the game.
Kershaw: “What’s this about?”
The Times’ Dylan Hernandez: “You know …”
Kershaw grins: “I can’t talk about that. Everybody’s day good?”
A few hours later, the answer from several teammates was a resounding yes. The Dodgers opened a five-game homestand with a 5-1 win over the Detroit Tigers on Friday night by taking an early lead and riding a stellar start from Tyler Anderson.
Justin Turner and Chris Taylor each hit their first home run of the season, the last Dodgers regulars to do so. Turner’s was a two-run blast in the first inning after Freddie Freeman walked and stole second, and Taylor’s was a solo shot in the second.
Dodgers hold 5-1 lead in the seventh inning
Top of the seventh: Phil Bickford took over for Dodgers reliever Evan Phillips and promptly retired the Tigers in order, benefiting from a great forward-sliding catch by Cody Bellinger on liner by Jonathan Schoop. Phillips also mowed through a 1-2-3 inning in the sixth after relieving starter Tyler Anderson.
Anderson had a solid start, allowing five hits, one earned run and a walk while striking out five over five innings.
End of seventh: Dodgers 5, Tigers 1
Dodgers score another run to take 5-1 lead
Bottom of the fourth: Mookie Betts gave the Dodgers a 5-1 lead when his bouncer to short went five-hole on Tigers third baseman Jeimer Candelario and shortstop Javier Baez to plate Will Smith from second. The play was ruled a single with an error given to Baez.
Smith reached base with a leadoff walk.
Top of the fourth: After a shaky third inning, Tyler Anderson was back in control in the fourth, getting Austin Meadows, Jeimer Candelario and Jonathan Schoop to hit into pop outs. He allowed a single to Spencer Torkelson — the fourth Tigers hit of the game.
End of the fourth: Dodgers 5, Tigers 1
Trea Turner drives in another run for Dodgers in the third
Bottom of the third inning: Mookie Betts scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by Trea Turner to give the Dodgers a 4-1 lead. Betts reached base on a leadoff walk before advancing to third on a Freddie Freeman single to right field.
The run ended Detroit starter Tyler Alexander’s night after 2 1/3 innings. He allowed four earned runs, two homers, four hits, walked two and struck out one. Veteran Wily Peralta will take over on the mound for the Tigers.
Top of the third inning: Javier Baez drove in Tucker Barnhart on a single to center field, for Detroit’s first run of the game. A well-fielded catch by Dodgers second baseman Gavin Lux on liner by Miguel Cabrera limited the damage.
⚾ End of the third: Dodgers 4, Tigers 1
Chris Taylor’s first home run of the season gives Dodgers a 3-0 lead
Bottom of the second: Chris Taylor gave the Dodgers a 3-0 lead on a solo home to left field off Tigers starter Tyler Alexander. It was Taylor’s first home run of the season.
Top of the second: Tigers right fielder Austin Meadows singled off Dodgers starter Tyler Anderson, but he was left stranded when Jeimer Candelario grounded out to first.
⚾ End of the second: Dodgers 3, Tigers 0
Justin Turner homers to give Dodgers a 2-0 lead
Bottom of the first inning: Justin Turner hit his first home run of the season — a two-run blast off Tigers starter Tyler Alexander to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.
Turner’s homer drove in Freddie Freeman, who reached base on a one-out walk. Turner’s home run reached the front railing of the left-field pavilion.
Top of the first inning: Pitcher Tyler Anderson, making his second start for the Dodgers, retired the Tigers in order on 12 pitches. He struck out Robbie Grossman as part of the 1-2-3 frame.
⚾ End of the first inning: Dodgers 2, Tigers 0
Report: Third woman accuses Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer of sexual assault
Hours after Trevor Bauer was suspended two years by Major League Baseball for violating its domestic violence and sexual assault policy, the Dodgers pitcher was accused of sexual assault by a third woman in a story published by the Washington Post on Friday.
In the Post story, the woman accused Bauer of choking her unconscious during sex, and of slapping her without her consent and sodomy while she was unconscious.
The woman, who lives in Columbus, Ohio, was not identified, but said she shared her allegations with MLB during its investigation and would be willing to testify when an independent arbitrator hears Bauer’s appeal of the suspension.
How Trevor Bauer’s suspension gives Dodgers new flexibility to make major deals
The strain had been evident for almost a year.
In the way the Dodgers relied on openers and bullpen games down the stretch last season. In how they were seemingly one arm short in last year’s playoffs. In their concerns about rotation depth entering this season. In a payroll that had been ballooned by a player barred from taking the field.
Since Trevor Bauer was put on administrative leave last July following allegations of sexual assault, the team had dealt with the financial and competitive ramifications created by the absence of their highest-paid player.
After the announcement Friday that Bauer would be suspended two years for violating baseball’s sexual assault and domestic violence policy, there is now a path for the Dodgers to get out from under the dead weight of his deal.
Like Don Sutton, Clayton Kershaw appreciates significance of Dodgers strikeout record
Of all the accolades from his Hall of Fame career, being the Dodgers franchise strikeout leader was one of the distinctions Don Sutton cherished the most.
Not because his record total of 2,696 was any round number. Or because the mark stood for the last 41 years of his life, from the time he set it in 1979 to his death in 2021.
Instead, what made it special to Sutton were the names he passed along the way — legends such as Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale who were once his mentors and role models with whom he became forever linked.
“Being a part of the history of the franchise meant a lot to him,” Sutton’s son, Daron, said. “He always made me aware of those that helped him get to where he was. And those were the two guys on the list that he was chasing.”
Whenever Clayton Kershaw breaks Sutton’s franchise strikeout record, he will feel a similar way.
Q&A: What comes next for Trevor Bauer in his suspension fight against MLB?
Fourteen months ago, the Dodgers signed Trevor Bauer, fortifying their roster for a World Series championship defense with the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, a hometown star who played at UCLA.
Bauer signed for three years. On Friday, Bauer’s Dodgers career might have come to an end.
Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred suspended Bauer for two seasons, beyond the expiration of his contract with the Dodgers.
Questions and answers on the Bauer saga:
Dodgers vs. Tigers starting lineup
Here’s the starting lineup for Friday’s game against the Detroit Tigers:
Here’s who will be starting for the Tigers:
Outdrawn by Angels, outbid by Pirates, Dodgers found salvation 10 years ago Sunday
The Dodgers were shopping for a veteran catcher. He could have been the starting catcher. He did not need to be a star.
They were interested in bringing back Rod Barajas. He was coming off a season in which he had hit 16 home runs. He was 36. For a one-year stopgap, he would have been a fine fit.
The Pittsburgh Pirates signed Barajas. The Pirates agreed to pay him $4 million. The Dodgers were not sure whether they could afford that amount.
This was life with the Dodgers a mere decade ago. During the tumultuous months of a franchise sale supervised by a bankruptcy court, with ownership of the team in limbo as contestants from Mark Cuban and Stan Kroenke to Rick Caruso and Jared Kushner competed in the bidding, the Dodgers still had to patch together a roster for the coming season.
In 2011 the Dodgers had fallen out of the top 10 in player payroll, outspent by the Minnesota Twins, who only a decade before had nearly been contracted. For the only time in the 62 years the teams have shared the Southland, the Angels outdrew the Dodgers.
Trevor Bauer suspended for 324 games by MLB and will appeal
Trevor Bauer was suspended for two years by Major League Baseball on Friday, triggering a new front in Bauer’s efforts to fight sexual assault allegations that could keep him off the field until well into the 2024 season.
The Dodgers pitcher can pursue an expedited appeal to the league’s independent arbitrator. He cannot play during the appeal process.
Of the 16 players suspended under baseball’s sexual assault and domestic violence policy, Bauer is the first not to agree to a negotiated settlement. He could argue that he does not warrant any suspension because he did nothing wrong, and that commissioner Rob Manfred has suspended him for unconventional but consensual sex rather than for sexual assault.
“In the strongest possible terms, I deny committing any violation of the league’s domestic violence & sexual assault policy,” Bauer said in a statement. “I am appealing this action and expect to prevail.”
Takeaways: Dodgers work to resolve winning almost everywhere except the scoreboard
PHOENIX — In three games against the Arizona Diamondbacks this week, the Dodgers more than doubled their opponent’s hit total, gave up only eight runs and trailed for just five total innings.
And yet, they lost the series.
After winning four straight series, and winning Monday’s opener behind Walker Buehler’s shutout, the team struggled Tuesday and Wednesday, scoring just four runs in two games despite 14 hits.
They committed a couple of costly errors, too, leading to either game-tying or go-ahead rallies in each of the Diamondbacks’ wins.
They returned home from a six-game road trip managing only a 3-3 record.
How to watch and stream the Dodgers this season
Here’s a game-by-game breakdown of how to watch and stream the Dodgers in 2022:
ICYMI: Dodgers doomed again by sloppy sequence in loss to Diamondbacks
PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks didn’t hit a ball out of the infield in Wednesday’s eighth inning.
To score the winning runs in their 3-1 defeat of the Dodgers, they didn’t need to.
Instead, a sloppy sequence doomed the Dodgers for a second straight day. Reliever Daniel Hudson issued a leadoff walk. Third baseman Max Muncy fired high on a bunt in the next at-bat. And in the ensuing scramble, one run scored, another runner ended up at third (leading to a second run later in the inning), and the Diamondbacks had taken a lead they wouldn’t relinquish in a rubber-match win at Chase Field.
“Up until this series, I thought we played good baseball, fundamental baseball, catching it and throwing it accurately,” manager Dave Roberts said. “This series we didn’t do a good job of that.”
Indeed, a day after they hit into five double plays (tying a franchise record in the live ball era) and were punished for poorly timed walks and errant defense in a loss, the Dodgers (12-6) struggled with the same issues in the series finale.