Daily Clips July 29, 2017

Transcription

1 Daily Clips July 29, 2017

2 LOS ANGELES DODGERS DAILY CLIPS SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017 DODGERS.COM Seager's 2 clouts help Dodgers beat Giants Chris Haft and Joshua Thornton Confident Dodgers rack up comebacks Ken Gurnick Hill aims to stay strong against Giants Joshua Thornton Feeling 'really good,' Kershaw plays catch- Joshua Thornton Dodgers bring up prospect Farmer- Joshua Thornton LA TIMES Corey Seager's two home runs lead Dodgers to come-from-behind win over the Giants Andy McCullough Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw cleared to play catch but still no timetable for return- Andy McCullough Dodgers' Magic Johnson guarantees World Series victory- Bill Shaikin OC REGISTER Corey Seager s two home runs lead Dodgers past Giants- J.P. Hoornstra Miller: Dodgers are so magic even Magic knows it Jeff Miller Dodgers Notes: Clayton Kershaw begins playing catch ahead of schedule- J.P. Hoornstra Giants at Dodgers: Saturday game time, TV channel and starting pitchers- J.P. Hoornstra ESPN Seager homers twice as Dodgers rally past Giants 6-4- Associated Press Dodgers P Clayton Kershaw plays catch five days after back injury- Associated Press How the Dodgers are burying the Giants like never before- Brian Reiff TRUE BLUE LA Dodgers take the opener behind Corey Seager s big night Ryan Walton Keibert Ruiz homers as Quakes extend lead to four games- Craig Minami Grant Dayton to DL, Kyle Farmer recalled- Ryan Walton Dodgers acquire RHP Luke Farell, move Adam Liberatore to 60-day DL- Ryan Walton Dodgers-Giants open weekend series with strange feel to rivalry- Ryan Walton DODGER INSIDER Seager sends Dodgers to sixth straight win with two-homer night- Rowan Kavner Kershaw already back to playing catch five days after injury- Rowan Kavner Dodgers acquire RHP Luke Farrell from Kansas City- Rowan Kavner LADF: Third annual Dodger spouses mystery bag fundraiser- Erin Edwards Dodger Stadium hosts Kershaw s fifth annual Ping Pong 4 Purpose event- Rowan Kavner NBC LA Comeback Kids Strike Again as Dodgers Rally Past Rival San Francisco, 6-4- Michael Duarte Joc Pederson Surprises Special Olympics Players at Dodger Stadium- Nicki Kaplan THE RINGER The Dodgers Were Good Enough Already and Now They Have a Surprise Star- Michael Baumann USA TODAY Dodgers keep proving they can handle anything- Carter Karels

3 LOS ANGELES DODGERS DAILY CLIPS SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2017 Seager's 2 clouts help Dodgers beat Giants By Chris Haft and Joshua Thornton DODGERS.COM LOS ANGELES -- Corey Seager's two homers and a four-run seventh inning propelled the Dodgers past the Giants, 6-4, on Friday night at Dodger Stadium, as they won their sixth game in a row to open up a 13-game lead in the National League West. Seager clubbed a homer off Giants lefty Matt Moore in the first, but Brandon Crawford was able to respond with a solo jack of his own in the next frame to tie it. The Giants were able to get to Dodgers lefty Alex Wood, who allowed four runs on eight hits in seven innings, tossing 99 pitches and getting the win thanks to Los Angeles' rally. San Francisco did most of its damage against Wood in the seventh, racking up four hits and three runs to take a 4-2 lead to the bottom of the inning. "You're still a little irritated when you come out," Wood said about leaving the game after giving up a lead. "But at the same time, the quality of our at-bats in our lineup, it doesn't really matter if it's the first inning or the ninth, if the game's close, we got a chance to win a ballgame. From that perspective, it's special is only the really way to describe it." Yasiel Puig and Chris Taylor were able to tie things up, with Puig notching a pinch-hit RBI groundout and Taylor ripping an RBI double to left field, both off reliever George Kontos. Seager broke the tie with his second homer of the night, taking Giants lefty Josh Osich deep to right field for a two-run homer. Seager notched his second multi-homer game of the season and sixth of his career. "You look at quality of at-bat, quality of contact, even the last month, he's hitting the ball really hard," manager Dave Roberts said. "Squaring it up, lining it up, hitting balls to the track. As far as quality of at-bats and every time he's in the box I think he's going to get a hit." Moore was impressed by the Dodgers, who chased him in the seventh after he remained in control for most of the previous six innings. "You've got to tip your hat to them," Moore said. "It wasn't just like homer, homer, homer, double, triple. They battled and scrapped their way to get four runs. You definitely tip your cap to that group. They've got something special going on." MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Wild toss: A leadoff walk in the bottom of the fifth to Austin Barnes ended up coming back to haunt the Giants, after Moore misfired and catcher Nick Hundley had trouble corralling it. Barnes hustled over to second, with Hundley trying to gun Barnes down, but to no avail as the throw was off and Barnes turned a walk into basically a triple, running over to third. Wood brought Barnes home with an RBI groundout one at-bat later.

4 Not out of it: The Dodgers have continued to get big contributions from Taylor, who has been superb for the club in July, entering the game hitting.438. Taylor showed up again, smacking a line drive for his RBI double in the seventh as Giants left fielder Gorkys Hernandez wasn't able to make the grab. QUOTABLE "I think we have the confidence. We have a really good lineup, obviously -- one through eight, there's some threats, obviously. It's kind of hard to keep us quiet one through eight on any night." -- Barnes SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS The Dodgers own the best home record in the Majors at and have won 24 of their last 27 games at Dodger Stadium since June 7. WHAT'S NEXT Giants: Ty Blach, who has excelled against the Dodgers, will start Saturday's 1:05 p.m. PT rematch at Dodger Stadium. In four career appearances against Los Angeles, including three starts, Blach is 2-1 with a 1.17 ERA and a.156 opponents' batting average. Dodgers: Rich Hill will take the mound for Saturday's 1:05 p.m. PT start at Dodger Stadium. The southpaw has put his blister issues behind him to go 4-1 with a 1.93 ERA in his last six starts. Confident Dodgers rack up comebacks By Ken Gurnick LOS ANGELES -- Alex Wood had two thoughts when he left Friday night's game in the seventh inning. He was irritated for allowing the Giants to take a two-run lead, but equally eager to see what his offense could do about it. "It's nice when you come out losing 4-2 and know that with our lineup, they'll score a couple of runs," said Wood, selling short an offense that erupted for a four-run seventh and a 6-4 win over the Giants that turn defeat into Wood's 12th win of the season. The Dodgers also extended their MLB record of winning 51 consecutive games in which they led at some point. "Where do I start?" said Wood, who became the winning pitcher when Corey Seager's second homer of the game snapped a 4-4 tie. "It literally is a different guy every night and tonight it was Corey. Been a lot of fun to watch." The Dodgers have 30 comeback wins, well short of the franchise record of 53 set in 2004, but they trailed in each of their last five wins. "We don't panic," said Seager, which goes along with manager Dave Roberts' pregame response when asked if the late-inning drama was some kind of magic. "I believe there is something with the dynamic of the players, the clubhouse. Good things do happen and they manifest from thoughts and things that happen earlier in the season," Roberts said. "This is a special team and special things are happening."

5 And after the game, Roberts continued the theme, going beyond the two home runs from Seager to cite several winning elements that might have gone underappreciated. He mentioned Austin Barnes, who has earned increasing playing time with a grinding, hustling play exemplified in three walks, a stolen base and two runs. He mentioned a clutch game-tying RBI double from Chris Taylor that preceded Seager's game-winner. He mentioned a situational ground-ball RBI from pinch-hitter Yasiel Puig to tie the game at 4. He mentioned an overpowering eighth-inning hold from Brandon Morrow, who struck out a pair. And he didn't forget a three-strikeout save from Kenley Jansen, No. 26, with one of his liveliest cutters of the year. "It was a team effort with big-time plays from big-time players," said Roberts. "I said the other day, this is who we are. I can tell you we're going to come from behind and play 27 outs. This is who we are." "I think we have a confidence," said Barnes. "We have a really good lineup, obviously, one to eight. It's hard to keep us quiet one through eight any night." Hill aims to stay strong against Giants By Joshua Thornton The first-place Dodgers will look to continue to ride the arm of Rich Hill, who has been on a roll in his last six starts, against the Giants on Saturday. Hill (7-4, 3.48 ERA) has posted a 4-1 record with 52 strikeouts, a 1.93 ERA and eight walks allowed in his last six outings for Los Angeles. The southpaw has put aside the blister issues that plagued him earlier in the season to regain his 2016 form. Since joining the Dodgers, Hill has allowed four runs in 21 innings against the Giants. Lefty Ty Blach will step to the mound for the Giants, making his 17th start this year. Blach (6-6, 4.50 ERA) took the loss in his last start against the Padres on Sunday, allowing five runs on eight hits, but he notched a career-high seven strikeouts and induced a career-high 15 fly balls. Despite that rough outing, the Giants have won seven of Blach's last 12 starts. Things to know about this game Blach has faced the Dodgers four times (three starts) in his career, owning a 2-1 record with a 1.17 ERA. Opponents have a miss rate of 42 percent on Hill's fastballs over the last 30 days, which ranks first out of 161 qualified starting pitchers in baseball. Friday's game marked the first time there was a 30-game difference or larger between the Giants and Dodgers entering a series. The last time these teams met with a 30-game difference in the standings was Sept. 27, 1985, when the Dodgers were exactly 30 games ahead of the Giants.

6 Feeling 'really good,' Kershaw plays catch By Joshua Thornton LOS ANGELES --- Good news came to the Dodgers clubhouse when team doctors gave three-time Cy Young Award winner and former National League MVP Clayton Kershaw the go-ahead to play catch, ahead of what the club anticipated. Kershaw, who was put on the 10-day disabled list with a lower back strain, played catch in the outfield about five hours before the Dodgers' series opener against the Giants on Friday. Manager Dave Roberts said the southpaw came in the clubhouse Thursday and "felt really good." The lefty started receiving treatment and has been taking medicine since Monday. Roberts said the club will continue to monitor Kershaw's progress and if he continues to respond well to the medication, they will move forward, but a rehab assignment "is still down the road" for Kershaw. "The medication obviously he responded to," Roberts said. "For him to get the go-ahead to start playing catch again, I think it's ahead of where we all anticipated, so I'm going to be cautiously optimistic." The Dodgers won't try to rush Kershaw back, a lesson they learned last season when Kershaw suffered a setback after he tossed a bullpen session two weeks after he went on the DL. "He is an elite baseball player," Roberts said. "And players intrinsically have that in them where they feel they can kind of overcome adversity and they're in a better spot physically or mentally than they might be. With Clayton's eagerness to get back, we take it with a mild grain of salt." Gonzalez nearing rehab assignment Adrian Gonzalez will hit in a simulated game Sunday and is still on track to go on a rehab assignment sometime next week, Roberts said. Gonzalez, who has been on the disabled list since June 12 dealing with a lower back injury, took early batting practice Friday. Dodgers bring up prospect Farmer By Joshua Thornton LOS ANGELES --- The Dodgers added depth to their bench by calling up catcher Kyle Farmer, their 30thranked prospect according to MLBPipeline.com, and placed lefty Grant Dayton on the 10-day disabled list. Farmer, a former college shortstop, gives the Dodgers an extra bench player after they had been rolling with a short bench, carrying 14 pitchers and 11 position players on their roster. Manager Dave Roberts said Farmer could play at first and third and behind the plate. "He's performed, which is a credit to him," Roberts said. "And having the ability to fire to that bullet with Austin [Barnes] earlier in the game with a third catcher is a luxury. Kyle can play third base -- and I've

7 seen it with my eyes, he plays a good third base -- [and we] can move him to first base if need be and also have him behind the plate." Farmer, who played college ball at the University of Georgia with lefty Alex Wood, has slashed.326/.384/.488 and nine homers in 81 games for Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City this season. On Dayton's injury, described as neck stiffness, Roberts said the southpaw has issues firing off pitches. "Grant has had a little bit of a neck [issue] and it flared up on him," Roberts said. "He can play catch, but when he gets full extension and kind of lets it rip, there's something in that cervical [area], in that kind of neck region that is maybe impeding his arm stroke, so we want to DL him and get him right." Among other moves, the Dodgers also acquired right-handed pitcher Luke Farrell from Kansas City and transferred lefty Adam Liberatore to the 60-day DL with a left elbow strain. Farrell, who is the son of Red Sox manager John Farrell, has spent most of this season in the Minors for Triple-A Omaha this season, going 7-4 with a 4.07 ERA. The 26-year-old, who will be sent to Oklahoma City, made his Major League debut this season after the Royals selected his contract July 1. He threw 2 2/3 innings with two strikeouts against Minnesota. Liberatore, who has pitched in four games this season with a 2.70 ERA over 3 1/3 innings, was placed on the 10-day DL on May 31 dealing with left forearm tightness. LA TIMES Corey Seager's two home runs lead Dodgers to come-from-behind win over the Giants By Andy McCullough At this point in the Dodgers season, fixation on one particular game, or even one series, feels myopic. The team owns a double-digit lead in the National League West. They burnish the sport s best record almost every night. All is prologue until the playoffs. Our goal, manager Dave Roberts said before a 6-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Friday, is to win 11 games in October. Two months remain between now and then. The threat of tedium looms. Yet until October arrives, there are still so many moments to savor for fans of this club. Take the bottom of the seventh inning Friday, as a majestic drive soared off the bat of Corey Seager and toward the fence in right field. Backpedaling was Giants outfielder Hunter Pence. He retreated and retreated until he could go no farther. When Pence stopped moving, when it became clear Seager s go-ahead, two-run shot couldn t be stopped, the crowd at Dodger Stadium erupted. The comebacks, the rallies, the victories night after night they can look repetitive from afar. But inside this clubhouse, inside this stadium, the joy is still palpable.

8 Seager atoned for an error earlier in the inning by supplying his second multi-homer of the game of the season as the Dodgers (72-31) increased their latest winning streak to six games. After Alex Wood yielded three runs in the top of the seventh, undone by some defense behind him, the offense roared back against the rickety Giants staff. Austin Barnes walked against Giants starter Matt Moore to open the flurry. Joc Pederson doubled. Yasiel Puig provided an RBI groundout against reliever George Kontos. Chris Taylor doubled off Kontos to tie the score. When reliever Josh Osich hung a slider, Seager made it disappear. It literally is a different guy every night, Wood said. Tonight it was Corey. He s special, man. It was a lot of fun to watch. During Roberts pre-game scrum with reporters, there were few questions asked about the series with San Francisco. Roberts expressed cautious optimism about Clayton Kershaw, who played catch in the afternoon six days after straining his back. He insisted his front office was working their tails off to improve the team by Monday s trade deadline. Roberts brushed aside the suggestion that a team can peak too early. Roberts also embraced a prediction by one of his bosses his only boss with five NBA championships on his resume. On Thursday evening, while attending Kershaw s annual charity ping-pong tournament, Magic Johnson set his hopes high for the team he co-owns. The Dodgers are going to win the World Series, Johnson said. This is our year. Roberts did not blanch at the bravado. I agree with Magic, Roberts said. If Magic says it, then I take it as law. He doesn t have a Major League Baseball championship ring, but he s got enough fingers to take on another ring. The journey will not be complete for a few more months. Until then, the Dodgers are trying to maintain momentum through the long summer. On Friday, they hoped for a revival from Wood after his rockiest outing of the season, when he gave up nine runs to Atlanta. The teams traded solo homers early. Seager belted a first-pitch fastball from Moore in the first. Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford tied the game in the second. Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw cleared to play catch but still no timetable for return The deadlock held until the fifth. Wood drove in the go-ahead run. The inning began with a walk from Barnes. He swiped second base and advanced to third on an errant throw by Giants catcher Nick Hundley. After Pederson walked, Wood came to the plate with one out. He tried to squeeze a bunt down the third base line, but the ball trickled foul. He fouled off another attempt. With the count full, Wood squared up to bunt, only to shift into swing mode moments before Moore threw. Pederson left early to avoid the double play which proved vital, when Wood chopped the ball toward Crawford. Crawford looked to second, but Pederson was already there. The throw beat Wood to first, but Barnes was safe and the Dodgers took the lead.

9 Once again, it was not safe for long. A single by Buster Posey started the seventh. Wood induced a grounder from Crawford, and Logan Forsythe fed Seager for an out at second base. Trying to turn two, Seager lost control of the baseball and spiked it in the dirt. The Giants pounced on the opportunity. They strung together three runs before Wood could escape. Seager lamented his mistake as he returned to the dugout. That one was hard to move on from, Seager said except he managed to do so with one swing in the bottom of the inning. That helps a lot, Seager said, as he cracked a grin, enjoying another Dodgers victory. Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw cleared to play catch but still no timetable for return By Andy McCullough Six days after he strained his lower back, Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw played catch before Friday s game against the Giants. Earlier in the week, manager Dave Roberts had indicated Kershaw would not throw until he no longer felt pain in his back. Roberts could draw only one conclusion from Kershaw s pregame session. I guess he s asymptomatic, Roberts said. He came in yesterday, and felt really good. The medication, obviously, he responded to. For him to get the go-ahead to start playing catch again, I think that s ahead of what we all anticipated. I m going to be cautiously optimistic. The Dodgers have not revealed a timetable for Kershaw s absence. The initial prognosis was four to six weeks, according to people familiar with the situation. Kershaw pushed back at that revelation, and Roberts indicated Kershaw could return earlier than that. Even so, the team is aware of what happened last summer, when Kershaw hurried back from a herniated disk. He suffered a setback in July that kept him on the shelf until early September. With the Dodgers holding a comfortable lead in the National League West, Kershaw s presence in the regular season is not imperative. But it will be in October. Roberts expects to speak with Kershaw on an almost daily basis to gauge Kershaw s recovery. He hopes Kershaw will be honest with him and the medical staff about his symptoms. Players intrinsically have that in them, where they feel like they can overcome adversities, that they re in a better spot physically or mentally than they might be, Roberts said. With Clayton s eagerness to get back, we take it with a mild grain of salt. Kershaw indicated on Wednesday that he hoped to make a few starts before the playoffs began, and he expected to be able to do so. But he also expressed his eagerness to get back as quickly as possible. That s why we were all reluctant to put a timetable out there. Roberts said. Everybody reacts differently to rest, medication. And so to box anyone in a corner just doesn t make sense.

10 Farmer up, Dayton to DL The Dodgers called up Kyle Farmer, a catcher batting.316 for triple-a Oklahoma City, before Friday s game. The team will carry three catchers for the time being. Farmer allows Roberts the ability to utilize Austin Barnes earlier in games as a pinch-hitter. Barnes carried a.952 on-base-plus-slugging percentage into Friday s game. To make room on the roster, the team placed left-handed reliever Grant Dayton on the 10-day disabled list again because of neck stiffness. The Dodgers are looking to add relievers before the trade deadline on Monday. Short hops Andre Ethier (herniated disk) and Adrian Gonzalez (herniated disk) took batting practice on Friday afternoon. Gonzalez could begin a rehabilitation assignment next week. Ethier is not expected to rejoin the team until September... The Dodgers acquired pitcher Luke Farrell, the son of Boston manager John Farrell, for cash considerations from Kansas City. Adam Liberatore (elbow strain) was placed on the 60-day disabled list to clear a space on the 40-man roster for Farrell. Dodgers' Magic Johnson guarantees World Series victory By Bill Shaikin Magic Johnson called his shot Thursday night, and he wasn t shy about it. The Dodgers co-owner did not hesitate when he predicted how the team would finish this year. The Dodgers are going to win the World Series this year, Johnson said. This is our year. Johnson spoke at Clayton Kershaw s annual Ping Pong 4 Purpose event at Dodger Stadium, at which the Dodgers ace currently on the disabled list because of a back injury presented Johnson with the Kershaw s Challenge Impact Award, in honor of the charitable work Johnson and his foundation have done. Get healthy, Johnson told Kershaw in accepting the award. "Lead us. That s the only ring I don t have, and I need that ring. The Dodgers and Lakers are the two most beloved sports teams in Los Angeles, and Johnson is involved in trying to end the championship drought for both. The Dodgers, with the best record in the major leagues, are trying to win the World Series for the first time since The Lakers, with Johnson as the newly installed president of basketball operations, have not won the NBA Finals since Johnson won five NBA titles as a player with the Lakers.

11 OC REGISTER Corey Seager s two home runs lead Dodgers past Giants By J.P. Hoornstra LOS ANGELES That low hum in the background of the Dodgers current hot streak six straight wins, 37 in their last 43 is the bat of Corey Seager. He s been held hitless only three times in 20 July games. His All-Star-worthy statistics are a byproduct of consistency, not streakiness. Occasionally, there are games like Friday s. Seager greeted San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Moore with a solo home run in the first inning of the Dodgers 6-4 win. His two-run blast against Josh Osich broke a 4-4 tie in the seventh. It was Seager s sixth career multi-homer game, in a month that s seen his batting average go from.294 to.293 a steadiness that eludes most 23-year-olds. Seager also was responsible for the Dodgers only error Friday, an inexplicably bad throw that allowed the Giants to rally from a 2-1 deficit to take a 4-2 lead in the seventh inning. Mistakes like that don t always stick with a player beyond the moment but that one did, Seager said. That one was hard to move on from. That one, you know, you can accept it if it it s something that you actually did you actually made the mistake but when it slips out of your hand that hurts a little bit more. You ve got to move on. You ve got to keep playing. In the end, Seager could laugh about it. If he looked more excited than usual rounding the bases in the seventh inning, it s because he was. It kind of came out of nowhere, Seager said. That normally doesn t happen. That was a fun one, though. After the Giants quieted the announced crowd of 51,426 in the top of the seventh, a response was needed. Austin Barnes led off the bottom of the inning with a walk against Moore. With one out, Joc Pederson doubled to right-center field, sending Barnes to third base. When Yasiel Puig was announced as a pinch-hitter, Giants manager Bruce Bochy summoned righthanded reliever George Kontos to face the Dodgers slugger. The numbers say it was a curious choice; Puig has one home run and a.167 batting average against left-handers this year; 18 home runs and a.285 average against righties. Puig hit a ground ball to shortstop Brandon Crawford that allowed Barnes to score from third base. The next batter, Chris Taylor, continued his own hot July with an RBI double. The score was tied, 4-4, and the stage was set for Seager s go-ahead home run. You look at quality of at-bat, quality of contact, even in the last month he s hit the ball really hard, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Seager. Squaring it up and lining out, hitting balls to the track it kind of gets distorted a little bit because you don t see the hits or getting rewarded. But every time he s in the box I think he s going to get a hit.

12 The rally made a winner of Dodgers starting pitcher Alex Wood (12-1), who allowed only a solo home run to Crawford over the first six innings. In the seventh inning, San Francisco sandwiched four hits around Seager s throwing error to score three runs. The only sure-fire hit was a double to dead center by Gorkys Hernandez, which allowed Nick Hundley to score the Giants fourth and final run. Like Seager, Wood seemed more free than usual to reflect upon his mistakes. A win has that effect on a man. It s nice when you come out losing 4 to 2 and know that our lineup s probably going to score a couple runs, Wood said. It s been fun to watch. Wood (12-1) was charged with four runs, all earned, in seven innings. He didn t walk a batter and struck out five. A change to his tempo I was getting stuck in the middle of my windup, Wood said made a noticeable difference compared to his most recent start, his only loss of the season in which the Atlanta Braves scored nine runs in five innings. Brandon Morrow pitched a flawless eighth inning and Kenley Jansen pitched a scoreless ninth, recording his 26th save. The Giants are the National League s second-worst team by record. At 40-64, they are an unfathomable 32½ games out of first place with more than a third of the season left to play. Yet somehow they began the day with six wins in 10 head-to-head games against the Dodgers this season. When San Francisco took the lead in the seventh inning, a pair of conflicting narratives came to a head: the unpredictability of a century-long rivalry and whatever magic the Dodgers ascribe to their summer swell. Ultimately, Seager gained his atonement. The Dodgers conquered another demon, real or perceived. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, they ve won 51 consecutive games after leading at any point. That is a major league record. Miller: Dodgers are so magic even Magic knows it By Jeff Miller LOS ANGELES Technically, the victories are still classified as walk-off, even if that s not what they look like from the Dodgers perspective. Dance-off, maybe. Frolic-off, perhaps. Cavort-off, certainly. The latest episode came Wednesday when the giddiest team in baseball managed to manufacture victory from a game it early on appeared thoroughly determined to lose. Two flubbed defensive plays permitted Minnesota to score five unearned runs as the hitters did little through six innings against Twins starter Ervin Santana, a reigning All-Star.

13 None of that ultimately mattered, though, because these are the Dodgers and this is 2017, and when the Dodgers play in 2017 the wonderful, mystifying and downright unthinkable tend to happen, the result usually being a Dodgers win. Justin Turner beat Minnesota with a walk-off single, spilling his teammates onto the field for one of those scrambling, exaggerated celebrations that long has been a baseball ritual but now has become a Dodgers routine. This is a special team, Manager Dave Roberts said Friday before the opener of a three-game series against San Francisco. Special things are happening. But, again, where we re at, we really haven t accomplished anything yet. I m not going to suggest there s something magical, even mythical unfolding around here. Yet, it is worth noting that Turner does wear a majestic beard worthy of a thousand wizards. Besides, why would I suggest anything as absurd as this team being led by some higher power when the evidence of such is so obvious by now everyone can see it? Entering Friday, the Dodgers had 29 comeback victories and had won 14 times in their final at-bat, their eight walk-off wins the most in baseball. This team doesn t just bounce back; the Dodgers snap back, their resiliency comparable to a pair of Spanx. With these Dodgers, no deficit is safe. I believe there is something with the dynamic of the players, the talent, the mindset of the clubhouse, all that stuff that kind of comes into play, Roberts acknowledged. Good things do happen and then they kind of manifest (themselves). If a team, in late July, ever has appeared destined to win the World Series, it s one with a winning percentage of.857 over the past seven weeks. Eight. Fifty. Seven. Or, expressed more accurately Eight! Fifty! Seven! Or, better still Eight! Fifty! Freaking Seven! Baseball teams do go on these kinds of runs all the time. It s just that those teams typically play on Saturday mornings and mark victories with snow cones and Skittles. Again, I m not going to go bonkers here and flatly predict the Dodgers will triumph in October, something this franchise hasn t done since But, again, I don t have to. Part-owner Magic Johnson did that for me Thursday when, speaking at Clayton Kershaw s charity pingpong event, he proclaimed this team would, as a matter of fact, win the World Series. I m with him, Roberts said Friday, smiling. I agree. I agree with Magic. If Magic says it, then I take it as law. Who wouldn t right now? Going into Friday, the Dodgers had lost just six times since June 7. The White Sox and A s, by comparison, each had lost six times in the previous week.

14 Know who else had lost six games since June 7? Rick Porcello and Ricky Nolasco. No kidding, two starting pitchers for the Red Sox and Angels, respectively who ve played no more frequently than every fifth day. The Dodgers sterling performance defies both common sense and basic mathematical probability, particularly when considering that the other teams are paying their players to succeed, too. I can t speculate on how many games we re going to win, Roberts said. But I can tell you we re going to come from behind. We re going to play 27 outs. At the end of the game, we re going to win a lot more than we lose. The Dodgers winning the division seems like such a foregone conclusion today it seems impossible that the regular season runs for two more months, right? Rather than losing games, the greater concern for management going forward might be the players losing interest. In that regard, I wouldn t bet against Roberts, the NL s current manager of the year who could be on his way to repeating. Of course, this is still baseball, a quirky endeavor that, despite the white chalk lines and clear paths from one base to the next, can go strangely sideways with little notice. The Dodgers haven t clinched anything yet, their division lead even at an oversized 12 games entering Friday topped by both Washington in the NL East and Houston in the AL West. Still, at the moment and very much in the moment, it s impossible to dismiss the magic, just like it s impossible to dismiss Magic, keeping in mind Johnson also recently used the occasion of their meaningless Summer League crown to seriously announce the Lakers are back! He doesn t have a Major League Baseball championship ring, Roberts said of the five-time NBA champ. He s got enough fingers to take on another ring. OK, fine, but does Magic have enough moves for the dance-off afterward? Dodgers Notes: Clayton Kershaw begins playing catch ahead of schedule By J.P. Hoornstra LOS ANGELES A mere four days after he was forbidden from picking up a baseball, Clayton Kershaw played catch at Dodger Stadium. When will Kershaw pitch in a game again? Only a handful of state secrets are more carefully guarded. The pitcher and Dodger officials have been hesitant to provide a timetable for recovery ever since Kershaw strained a muscle in his lower back Sunday.

15 Now that Kershaw is throwing again, Manager Dave Roberts acknowledged the left-hander will probably need less than the 4 to 6 weeks originally reported, absent any setbacks. It s day-to-day, Roberts said. It s been such a short time so (Kershaw s) arm strength is obviously still there. Just kind of see how it progresses as he stretches it out, keeps his arm in shape. If his back responds well, he can continue to move forward. Kershaw was originally prescribed pain medication after meeting with a back specialist on Monday. He was instructed not to throw until he was symptom-free. The next day he was back in the Dodgers dugout, lightly tossing a baseball against a wall. I guess he s asymptomatic, Roberts said Friday. For him to get the go-ahead to start playing catch again, that s ahead of what we all anticipated. The tepid assertion begged an important follow-up: Does the manager trust Kershaw to report his symptoms truthfully? I d like to say I trust all my players, Roberts said. He is an elite baseball player and players intrinsically have that in them, where they feel they can overcome adversity they re in a better spot physically or mentally than they might be. With Clayton s eagerness to get back, we take it with a mild grain of salt. Kershaw got through two scoreless innings against the Braves before the injury forced him from the game. He said the first sign of pain came while throwing his final warm-up pitch of the second inning. The Dodgers believe the injury is less serious than the herniated disk that cost Kershaw more than two months last season. FARMER ARRIVES Kyle Farmer s first major league promotion came at an interesting time. Bill Haselman, the manager at Triple-A Oklahoma City, called Farmer with the news Thursday morning. Farmer relayed the good news to his father, Bryan, then his fiancee, Courtney, who was in Atlanta to close on the couple s first house. As luck would have it, the Dodgers begin a three-game trip in Atlanta on Tuesday. Farmer hopes the trip includes more baseball than housework. I m really pushing to stay in the hotel, he said. Farmer, 26, was the Dodgers eighth-round pick in 2013 out of the University of Georgia, where he was teammates with Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood. An infielder in college, Farmer was drafted as a catcher and projected to make the big leagues as a potential utility player/backup catcher. For a time, the plan stalled. In his first exposure at Double-A last year, Farmer s on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) dipped to.718, the lowest of his professional career. A chat with Dodgers roving hitting instructor Tim Hyers after the season encouraged Farmer to shift his focus: less on hitting home runs, more on the solid contact that leads to singles and doubles. The past couple years they tried to make me do something I wasn t capable of doing, Farmer said. I got away from myself. I was very humbled last year.

16 When he was summoned to Los Angeles, Farmer had a.316/.363/.503 slash line at Triple-A (a.866 OPS). Roberts said Farmer can expect to see time at catcher, third base and first base. Farmer recently played shortstop at Triple-A, as well. DAYTON TO THE DL To make room for Farmer on the active roster, the Dodgers placed left-handed reliever Grant Dayton on the 10-day disabled list. Dayton was told to stop sleeping on his stomach after he was sent to the disabled list with neck stiffness on July 4. He was activated July 20 the Dodgers went 11-0 in his absence but the pitcher was still struggling to adjust to sleeping on his back. Dayton said his neck felt better at the time, but he wasn t sleeping as well. This week, the neck stiffness flared up on him, Roberts said. He can play catch but when he gets full extension and kind of lets it rip, something in that cervical/neck region is maybe impeding his arm stroke. The Dodgers still have two left-handed pitchers in their bullpen, Luis Avilan and Edward Paredes. According to sources, the Dodgers have expressed interest in acquiring left-handed relief pitching before Monday s trade deadline. ALSO Farmer is the 40th player to appear in a Dodgers uniform since the season began. Paired with Kings forward Tyler Toffoli, pitcher Ross Stripling was the highest-placing Dodger in Thursday s Ping Pong 4 Purpose tournament. Stripling and Toffoli reached the semifinals of the charity event, which benefits Kershaw s Challenge. Adrian Gonzalez will take part in a simulated game Sunday at Dodger Stadium before he begins a minor league rehabilitation assignment, Roberts said. Giants at Dodgers: Saturday game time, TV channel and starting pitchers By J.P. Hoornstra GIANTS at DODGERS When: 1 p.m. Where: Dodger Stadium TV: SNLA (where available), Fox Sports 1 THE PITCHERS DODGERS LHP RICH HILL (7-4, 3.48 ERA) vs. Giants: 3-2, 2.62 ERA

17 At Dodger Stadium: 6-4, 2.34 ERA Hates to face: Brandon Belt, 4 for 8 (.500), double, HR Loves to face: Hunter Pence, 2 for 8 (.250), 2 strikeouts GIANTS LHP TY BLACH (6-6, 4.50 ERA) vs. Dodgers: 2-1, 1.17 ERA At Dodger Stadium: 0-0, 0.00 ERA Hates to face: Chris Taylor, 2 for 4 (.500), HR, walk Loves to face: Corey Seager, 0 for 5 (.000) UPCOMING MATCHUPS Sunday: Giants RHP Matt Cain (3-9, 5.45 ERA) at Dodgers LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (3-6, 4.17 ERA), 5 p.m., ESPN ESPN Seager homers twice as Dodgers rally past Giants 6-4 By Associated Press LOS ANGELES -- For Corey Seager, the pitch he recognized allowed him to get over an error he wasn't about to forget. Seager hit two home runs, including a go-ahead, two-run shot in the seventh inning that was followed by a surprise celebration as the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied to beat the San Francisco Giants 6-4 on Friday night. "Yeah, I don't really know. It kind of came out of nowhere," Seager said of his animated response after crossing home plate. "That normally doesn't happen but that was a fun one." Seager capped a four-run seventh with a towering drive over the right field wall on an 0-1 pitch from reliever Josh Osich (3-2) to lift the Dodgers to their sixth straight victory and their 37th win in their last 43 games. "It was a curveball, but they had been throwing those pretty much all game after the first AB so I was ready for it, I guess," Seager said. Seager's second homer came just a half-inning after he committed an error on a ball he tried not to throw but lost it into right field in the midst of a three-run inning that put the Giants in front.

18 "That one was hard to move on from," Seager said. "You can accept it if it was something you actually did and made a mistake, but when it slips out of your hand, that one hurts a little bit more. At the last moment I tried to not throw it and it came out of my hand." Seager's first homer gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead in the first. He hit the first pitch from Giants starter Matt Moore deep into the left-centerfield bleachers. It was Seager's second multihomer game of the season, and his sixth in less than two major league seasons. He hit two home runs against the New York Mets on June 20, and has 18 on the season. The Dodgers recorded their 30th comeback victory, and their second in two games. Dodgers starter Alex Wood (12-1) got the win despite giving up four runs and eight hits over seven innings. He was coming off his worst start of the season, having given up a career-high nine runs in 4 2/3 innings against Atlanta last Saturday. Kenley Jansen struck out the side on 13 pitches in the ninth for his 26th save in 27 opportunities. Brandon Crawford hit his ninth home run in the second inning for the Giants, driving a 0-1 pitch from Wood a dozen rows into the right field bleachers. The Giants' bullpen was unable to hold a 4-2 lead as George Kontos gave up Yasiel Puig's RBI groundout and Chris Taylor's run-scoring single. The score was tied 4-4, setting the stage for Seager. "It wasn't a good inning, was it?" said Giants manager Bruce Bochy of the seventh. "We just hung some breaking balls there and we paid for it. It started with the walk and that's never a good thing. "That's a good hitting ballclub, and when you make mistakes you are probably going to pay for it." The Giants took a 4-2 lead with three runs in the top of the seventh as Nick Hundley and Gorkys Hernandez stroked back-to-back, run-scoring doubles. Jae-gyun Hwang had tied the game 2-2 with an RBI single. Los Angeles had taken a 2-1 lead in the fifth by converting two walks, a wild pitch, an error and a ground ball into an unearned run. Austin Barnes walked, took second on a wild pitch, advancing to third on Hundley's wild throw to second. Joc Pederson walked and broke for second when Wood pulled back after squaring to bunt and hit a hard grounder to shortstop, scoring Barnes from third. Moore held the Dodgers to two hits through his first six innings, only to surrender two runs in the seventh thanks to a walk and a double. "You have to tip your hat to what they have been doing this season -- it has been pretty special for them," said Moore. "They battled and scrapped their way to get back to four runs." TRAINER'S ROOM

19 Giants: 1B Brandon Belt was in the Giants' original starting lineup but was scratched about 90 minutes before the first pitch. Dodgers: 1B Adrian Gonzalez and OF Andre Ethier both took early batting practice before Friday night's game. Gonzalez will hit in a simulated game on Sunday, and is expected to begin a rehab assignment next week. UP NEXT Giants: LHP Ty Blach (7-6, 4.50 ERA) comes off a losing effort in which he gave up five runs and eight hits over seven innings against San Diego. In his only appearance at Dodger Stadium, Blach threw three perfect innings in relief on Sept. 21, Dodgers: LHP Rich Hill (7-4, 3.48 ERA) has limited opponents to four runs in 25 1/3 innings and posted a 3-0 mark over his last four starts, striking out 37, walking three. He's 3-1 with a 2.37 ERA in his last five starts at Dodger Stadium. Hill is 3-2 with a 2.62 ERA in nine lifetime starts against the Giants. Dodgers P Clayton Kershaw plays catch five days after back injury By Associated Press LOS ANGELES -- Clayton Kershaw participated in a pregame catch Friday, a brief workout that could force the Los Angeles Dodgers to rethink the timetable for their injured ace. The Dodgers said it would be four to six weeks before Kershaw returned to the mound after a back injury forced him out of his most recent start after two innings. That caution lasted four days. "He came in yesterday and felt really good," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "So the medication, obviously, he responded to. For him to get the go-ahead to start playing catch again, I think that's ahead of where we all anticipated, so I'm going to be cautiously optimistic." When asked if the Dodgers would have to, if there are no setbacks, adjust their timetable for the return of their three-time Cy Young Award winner, Roberts said, "Probably." "That's why we were reluctant to put a timetable out there," he said. On Friday, the Dodgers placed Grant Dayton, another left-handed pitcher of their roster, in the 10-day disabled list with a recurring neck problem. The team recalled Kyle Farmer from Triple-A Oklahoma City to take Dayton's spot on the 25-man roster. Dayton, 1-1 with a 4.94 ERA for Los Angeles this season, had pitched twice for the Dodgers, giving up four runs in 1⅓ innings with a blown save, since returning from his first DL stint. Farmer hit a combined.326 with nine homers and 47 RBIs, starting his season with Double-A Tulsa before joining Oklahoma City in late May.

20 The Dodgers also announced the acquisition of RHP Luke Farrell from the Kansas City Royals for cash considerations. Farrell, 26, made one start this season for the Royals, giving up five runs in 2⅔ innings against Minnesota in his major league debut on July 1. He was 7-4 with a 4.07 ERA with Triple-A Omaha with 94 strikeouts in 97⅓ innings. Farrell was designated for assignment by Kansas City earlier this week after the Royals acquired Trevor Cahill, Brandon Maurer and Ryan Buchter from the San Diego Padres. How the Dodgers are burying the Giants like never before By Brian Reiff The rivalry between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants is one of the greatest in baseball, creating historic moments such as the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" in Over the course of 128 years, the two teams have played each other 2,459 times, separated by only 34 wins and 85 runs in the all-time series. There are usually playoff implications involved when they meet in the second half of the season, as both have been among the best teams in recent years. That's not the case this weekend. With the Dodgers holding a 13-game lead in the division and the Giants 32 ½ games back, it's difficult to imagine a scenario in which July games between the two could hold less playoff significance. The gap between the two teams has reached historic levels, but how has it happened? The Giants were at the top of MLB as recently as 2014, when they won their third World Series in five years and appeared to be on the cusp of establishing a dynasty. Three short years later -- and little more than a year since they boasted baseball's best record at the All-Star break in they have the secondworst record in baseball and appear just about as far away as possible from lifting the trophy again. Meanwhile, the Dodgers have the best record in baseball and look set to make a run at their seventh World Series title and their first since There's no one specific area that has caused the massive separation between the two teams but rather a combination of all three parts of the game: offense, defense and pitching. Let's break down all three. Offense Last season, the Giants and Dodgers were evenly matched at the plate. By woba the Giants slightly outperformed their southern rivals, posting a.315 mark compared to the Dodgers'.314. This season, that has changed drastically -- Dodgers hitters have combined for a.341 woba, third highest in MLB, while the Giants sit in last at.293. For the Dodgers, the reason behind the improvement is easy to spot. In 2016, they were atrocious offensively against left-handed pitching, slashing just.213/.290/.332, good for a league-worst.275 woba. They've dramatically improved their performance against southpaws since, as they have the third-best woba against lefties this season at.350. Biggest Improvements vs. Lefties, Using woba

21 TEAM DIFF Dodgers Astros Tigers Braves Rockies The addition of infielder Logan Forsythe in the offseason undoubtedly contributed to this turnaround. He has a.360 career woba against lefties, which was probably part of what attracted the Dodgers to him in the first place, and he has been even better against southpaws this year with a.426 woba. Many other Dodgers have seen improvements in this regard, but two who particularly stand out are Justin Turner, who's now mashing lefties after posting reverse platoon splits for much of his career, and superutilityman Chris Taylor, acquired from the Mariners in a trade last season. The Giants' problem is similarly clear, although there's less of an obvious explanation behind it. They've struggled mightily at AT&T Park, posting the lowest woba at home of any team, and it's not close. My first thought was that this could be explained by park factors, so instead I looked at weighted runs created plus (wrc+), which adjusts woba for the park and league and sets the average to 100. The Giants are last there as well with a 76 wrc+ at home, meaning that they are 24 percent below league average. Their road wrc+ is 84, so it's difficult to determine why their offense has been even worse at home. One number that stands out to me is their hard-hit rate. At Baseball Info Solutions (BIS), we classify every ball in play as either soft, medium or hard, and only 25 percent of the Giants' batted balls at home have fallen in that final category, lowest in the majors. There's no clear reason behind it, especially because they hit the ball hard 31.1 percent of the time on the road, but it's a problem that needs to be fixed. Defense No National League team has been worse defensively than the Giants this season, according to defensive runs saved (DRS). Giants fielders have combined to cost their team 45 runs only one year after saving it 58. The biggest concern for the team is in center field, where Denard Span, Gorkys Hernandez and Drew Stubbs have combined to cost the team 26 runs, worst in MLB. Span is the single worst offender, having played the most time there and costing the team 18 runs on his own, which is the worst of any player at any position this season. Although that number is extreme, it's not entirely unexpected, as Span has been a below-average fielder every year since This year, though, his range and positioning skills have declined dramatically. He has made 13 plays fewer than average, tied for second worst among outfielders and better only than noted center-field liability Andrew McCutchen. Failing to cover ground in the outfield Fewest plays made above average in the outfield in 2017 PLAYER SHALLOW MEDIUM DEEP TOTAL Andrew McCutchen Denard Span Melky Cabrera Dexter Fowler