Daily Clips

July 17, 2017

LOS ANGELES DODGERS DAILY CLIPS

MONDAY, JULY 17, 2017

DODGERS.COM Turner homers, Hill fans 9 as streak hits 9—Patrick Pinak and Glenn Sattell Statcast of the Day: Hill confounds with curve—Glenn Sattell Dodgers, White Sox meet for rare set—Glenn Sattell LA TIMES Dodgers' tear continues with victory over Marlins 3-2—Andy McCullough Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig gets day off as team faces lefty—Andy McCullough OC REGISTER Dodgers notes: Close game exposes lack of setup man—J.P. Hoornstra ESPN Real or Not? Rich Hill makes the Dodgers even scarier—Bradford Doolittle Whose stretch schedule will keep playoff races tight?—Dan Szymborski Turner homers, Dodgers win 9th straight by beating Miami 3-2—Associated Press TRUE BLUE LA Wilmer Font pitches six strong innings, wins 4-2—Craig Minami Dodgers finish off yet another sweep, this time of Marlins—Eric Stephen Rich Hill, the Dodgers, and relishing the moment- Eric Stephen Starling Heredia just keeps hitting, Raptors capture a 7-3 win- Craig Minami Dodgers cruise to 8th straight win behind another Alex Wood gem- Eric Stephen DODGER INSIDER Dodgers collection of brooms reaches 11—Cary Osborne Pederson’s found his stroke since return from disabled list- Rowan Kavner DODGERS PHOTOG BLOG 7/16/17-Something Current-LAD-3, MIA-2 at Marlins Park. Photography by Jon SooHoo/©Los Angeles Dodgers,LLC 2017—Jon SooHoo NBC LA Vin Scully, Bob Uecker, Charlie Brown Inducted Into 'Shrine of the Eternals'—City News Service BOSTON GLOBE Why these Dodgers might be the closest thing to a great team- Nick Cafardo

LOS ANGELES DODGERS DAILY CLIPS

MONDAY, JULY 17, 2017

DODGERS.COM Turner homers, Hill fans 9 as streak hits 9 By Patrick Pinak and Glenn Sattell MIAMI -- Justin Turner keeps hitting, and the Dodgers keep winning. The third baseman homered and drove in two to lead Los Angeles to a ninth straight victory and a three-game sweep of the Marlins, 3-2, on Sunday at Marlins Park. The Dodgers, who boast a Major League-best 64-29 mark, have won 29 of their last 33 games since June 7. Miami was swept for the first time since Houston took three at Marlins Park from May 15-17. "I know that he likes to throw that cutter in," said Turner, who hit his 11th homer of the season and went 2-for-3 for his team-leading 29th multi-hit game. "I got ahead on the count and was just looking middle in, and he just left it in." Facing a left-hander for a second straight game, the Marlins struggled against Rich Hill. After tossing seven perfect frames on Sept. 10, 2016, in Miami, the southpaw fanned nine over five innings of one-run ball. "This has been five starts in a row where he's been in control," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "The command on the mound, his mound presence and just the way he's throwing the baseball. He has such good feel of that breaking ball." Christian Yelich singled home a run to bring Miami within one off Kenley Jansen in the eighth, but the Dodgers' closer fanned pinch-hitter Justin Bour on a 97-mph fastball with two on to end the Marlins' threat. Jansen worked a perfect ninth for the four-out save (No. 23). Making his second big league start, Marlins southpaw Chris O'Grady allowed three runs on five hits over five innings while striking out six. The Dodgers tacked on their third run off O'Grady on Austin Barnes' RBI single in the fourth. "He's not a guy that's gonna overpower," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of O'Grady. "He's gonna have to hit spots and change locations, but he hung in there." MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Turner time: Turner's day began with a first-inning solo homer off an O'Grady cutter, but his at-bat that counted most came in the third. With two runners on, Turner lifted a 1-1 fastball deep enough to right to score Logan Forsythe from third. Turner, who is just a few at-bats away from qualifying to sit atop the batting average leaderboard, added two hits to push his season clip to .374.

"I knew coming in he was one of the guys I needed to keep off the bases," O'Grady said of Turner. "Him and [Cody] Bellinger and [Corey] Seager, and [I] did what I needed to do against the two lefties, but unfortunately Turner hurt us." The Hill has Ks: Marcell Ozuna's leadoff double in the second snapped Hill's perfect inning streak against Miami at eight, but it also gave the Marlins a chance to score early against him. The left-hander quickly extinguished the threat by fanning Tyler Moore and Derek Dietrich before catching A.J. Ellis looking on a 90-mph fastball to end the frame. Miami struggled with men on, going 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position. "We started to scratch back," Mattingly said. "We had a few chances with guys out there and just weren't able to get that big hit." QUOTABLE "I think a lot of offensive guys are going to be really happy to get out of this place. If we're at home in Dodger Stadium, we might have hit 20 homers this series. This place is enormous, and they have a very athletic outfield and cover a lot of ground. They made a lot of really good plays today, and the whole series, really." -- Turner "We've just gotta rebound and get going. We were playing pretty well going into the break. We ran into a little bit of a buzzsaw here." -- Mattingly, on getting swept SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS Ichiro Suzuki lined a pinch-hit RBI infield single off Hill's leg in the fifth, bringing him to 3,055 career hits. The 43-year-old is now tied with Rickey Henderson for 23rd on the all-time hits list. DEFENSE ROBS DODGERS The left-field fence at Marlins Park was lowered from 11 1/2 to 7 feet in 2016 for two reasons: more home runs and more chances to rob home runs. So when Ozuna drifted back on a deep fly by Enrique Hernandez in the sixth, he was well-equipped to snag it before it left the yard. Ozuna used one leg to leap onto the fence before hanging over it to rob Hernandez. Just an inning prior, Yelich took away extra bases from Forsythe on a leaping catch at the wall in left-center. "I mean, you've gotta love outfielders that are willing to do that," O'Grady said. "They're giving everything they've got. Made a couple really nice plays today, all three of them." More > WHAT'S NEXT Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw gets his first start since the All-Star break when the Dodgers open up a short two-game series against the White Sox at 5:10 p.m. PT on Tuesday. The left-hander is 14-2 and hasn't lost since May 1. Marlins: Tom Koehler (1-4, 8.00 ERA) toes the rubber for his third start since being called back up to the Majors as the Marlins open a three-game set with the Phillies at 7:10 p.m. ET on Monday in Miami.

Statcast of the Day: Hill confounds with curve By Glenn Sattell MIAMI -- Rich Hill certainly feels the magic in Miami. The left-hander struck out nine and did not walk a batter in the Dodgers' 3-2 win on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep of the Marlins. It marked the Dodgers' Major League-leading 11th sweep of the season and ninth consecutive victory. Hill's last start at Marlins Park was nearly one for the record books. He worked seven perfect innings on Sept. 9, 2016, earning the win in a 5-0 victory. In that game, he also struck out nine and did not walk a batter. "I like the mound," Hill said with a smile. "It's a really good mound." Hill went five innings on Sunday, scattering five hits and giving up just one run in a 94-pitch outing (62 strikes). Hill struck out five consecutive batters after yielding his first hit, a second-inning leadoff double to Marcell Ozuna. He was touched up for three consecutive hits and a run in the fifth before working out of further trouble with a strikeout and a groundout. While his fastball didn't top 90.1 mph, a nasty curveball averaging 74 mph kept Marlins hitters honest. He threw it 37 times and got a season-high nine swinging strikes and three called strikes on it. In fact, Hill's three highest whiff totals with his signature curve have all come in his three most recent outings. The L.A. lefty -- who confounded opponents so often with his wide assortment of curveballs a season ago -- has been able to inject more life into his hook since the calendar flipped to July. Data collected over the first 2 1/2 seasons of Statcast™ shows that higher spin on curveballs tends to help the pitch dive and elicit more whiffs and ground balls. Hill's curveballs featured an average spin rate of 2,780 RPM before this month, but have bumped up to a 2,841 RPM average during his last three trips to the mound. That's almost the exact same spin rate Hill recorded on the pitch last season (2,837 RPM), when opponents hit just .178 and slugged just .233 against it. "He was in complete control today, in my opinion, and some of the best stuff he's had all year," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "He likes pitching here. The fastball had the life in the zone, the swing and miss, and the breaking ball was sharp. He had great feel." It marked Hill's second consecutive outing with nine strikeouts and no walks. He posted those same stats against the D-backs in a seven-inning no-decision on July 6. As the temperature rises in July, Hill has sizzled on the mound. In three starts this month, Hill is 2-0 with a 0.95 ERA. He has struck out 29 batters and walked only one during that 19-inning span while giving up 11 hits and two runs. "Last five or so outings have been really good, just attacking the hitters," said Hill, who is coming off his worst month of the season. In June, Hill went 2-2 with a 5.04 ERA. He credits the turnaround to remaining focused.

"You've just got to keep moving forward and taking it one step at a time," Hill said. "The perseverance and the continuing to keep your head down and move forward; that's the biggest thing, making forward progress, and making sure that you stick to the process. That's the most important part." Dodgers, White Sox meet for rare set By Glenn Sattell The Dodgers and White Sox open a short two-game series in Chicago on Tuesday. The two franchises have been a Major League staple. The Dodgers date all the way back to the late 1800s in Brooklyn, while the White Stockings sprung up in 1901. Both franchises have played for more than 100 years, but only 27 games against each other, mostly after the implementation of Interleague play. The teams first met in the 1959 World Series when the Dodgers claimed the title in six games. The teams first got together during the regular season in 2003 with the White Sox taking two of three games. They haven't played each other since Chicago took two of three in '14. The White Sox hold a 16-11 advantage all-time over the Dodgers. Clayton Kershaw takes the mound for the Dodgers in his first appearance since the All-Star break. He'll be opposed on the hill by White Sox right-hander Miguel Gonzalez, who makes his first start since going on the disabled list with A/C joint inflammation in mid-June. Kershaw has won 10 straight decisions. Three things to know about this game • Gonzalez dropped three consecutive decisions in June before going on the DL. He gave up 25 hits, including five home runs, over 15 2/3 innings as his ERA swelled to 8.62. • Kershaw earned the win the last time the Dodgers beat the White Sox. On June 2, 2014, Kershaw went eight innings of two-run, four-hit ball, striking out nine in a 5-2 win at Dodger Stadium. • Gonzalez has never faced the Dodgers, but over his career he has pitched to two current players on the roster: Chris Taylor has four hits in seven at-bats (.571), while Logan Forsythe has four hits in 16 trips to the plate (.250).

LA TIMES

Dodgers' tear continues with victory over Marlins 3-2 By Andy McCullough On Sunday morning, Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen told Dave Roberts that his flu had faded. Jansen had pitched the first night of this series, but Roberts still felt cautious about his usage. The symptoms, as

Jansen described them, were not pleasant, a combination of feverish nights and gastro-intestinal woes that began just after the All-Star game. But Jansen wanted the baseball, and so, in the eighth inning of a 3-2 victory over Miami, he started to warm up. There was a runner at first base and two outs. Roberts elected to remove reliever Brandon Morrow and give Jansen a chance for his ninth multi-inning save of the season. Jansen jogged to the mound, only to realize the lingering effect of his illness. “Your body is still recovering,” Jansen said. “You think you feel good. But when you go out there and you’re warming up, you don’t have it.” The outing was not pretty. Jansen yielded a pair of singles and allowed the Marlins to cut the Dodgers’ lead to one. He recovered to strike out first baseman Justin Bour to strand two runners. Angry with himself, Jansen returned for a spotless ninth, to close out a ninth victory in a row for the Dodgers (64-29). This is what passes for an unsatisfactory appearance for this team, which now holds a 10 1/2-game lead in the National League West. As a reward, Jansen and the rest of his teammates will receive a day off Monday in Chicago. They return to action Tuesday for an interleague series against the last-place White Sox. Clayton Kershaw will make his second-half debut in the series opener. On Sunday, Rich Hill (6-4, 3.55 ERA) spun his fifth encouraging start in a row. He struck out nine during five innings of one-run baseball. Justin Turner supplied a first-inning homer and drove in two runs. The train kept rolling, with the team now on pace for 111 wins. “We’re playing the right way,” Roberts said. The day lacked drama. No Dodger bashed a go-ahead homer late, like Yasiel Puig did on Friday. No Dodger hit for the cycle, as Cody Bellinger did on Saturday. Hill even allowed a Marlin to reach base. He gave up a second-inning double, which meant he would not stage a reprise of his outing here last September, when Roberts removed him after seven perfect innings, out of concern over the blisters on Hill’s left hand. Hill leaned on dry humor when asked about his affinity for this ballpark. Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig gets day off as team faces lefty “Yeah, I like the mound,” Hill said. “It’s a really good mound.” When Hill started the day, his club already led. Turner homered in the game’s third at-bat. He was facing a rookie named Chris O’Grady. Turner crushed a thigh-high cutter for his 11th homer of the season. “I know that he likes to throw that cutter in,” Turner said. “I got ahead in the count, and was just looking middle-in. And he left it there.” Two innings later, after a walk by Logan Forsythe and a single by Corey Seager, Turner provided a sacrifice fly. The Dodgers added a third run in the fourth after a triple by Chris Taylor and an RBI single by Austin Barnes.

Hill ran into difficulty in the fifth. An old friend started it. A.J. Ellis, the beloved former Dodgers catcher, pounded an 88-mph fastball from Hill into the left-field corner. It was Miami’s third double of the game. Hill had snuffed out rallies on the previous two. He was less fortunate this time. Marlins shortstop J.T. Riddle singled on an elevated curveball. In to pinch-hit, Ichiro Suzuki topped a 2-2 curve back to the mound. The grounder caught Hill in an awkward position, off balance and leaning forward. He reached for the ball with his bare hand, but could not grab it. As Hill tumbled to the ground, Suzuki reached on a single and Ellis scored. The hit rolled over the Marlins lineup to the top of the order. Hill limited the damage. He struck out third baseman Martin Prado on three pitches. He induced a grounder from slugger Giancarlo Stanton to finish the frame. Hill would have preferred to last longer, but he had reached 94 pitches. Roberts did not want to extend him much further. In his last five appearances, in which he has modified his delivery to streamline excessive movement, Hill has posted a 1.74 ERA. “We’re going on a month where it’s been a pretty good stretch,” Hill said. “Once you do find that release point, it makes it much more competitive. So you can make those competitive pitches that you want to make, and attack the zone.” The bullpen handled the rest of the afternoon. In the eighth, Morrow gave up a leadoff single to former Dodger Dee Gordon when Seager bobbled a grounder. Morrow retired the next two batters, including a three-pitch strikeout of Stanton. With Jansen warming up, though, Roberts did not want him to sit down and restart loosening up for the ninth. The door opened for Jansen. On the mound, he could tell he was not right. He balked while facing outfielder Christian Yelich. He could not react in time to snag a groundball, which deflected off his glove for a single. After another hit, Jansen steadied himself to get Bour. The ninth was less dicey, and Jansen could exhale. “I’m not 100%, but that’s no excuse,” Jansen said. “Not every day is going to be your day.” A parting reminder: The Dodgers won. Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig gets day off as team faces lefty By Andy McCullough hen Yasiel Puig returned from his minor-league exile in September, the Dodgers assigned him a diminished but specific role. The acquisition of Josh Reddick took at-bats away against right-handed pitchers. Puig started only against the left-handers, a task he accomplished with distinction, posting a .900 on-base plus slugging percentage in the final month of the season. Reddick left in free agency during the winter. The Dodgers decided not to trade Puig, and instead re-installed him as their starting right fielder. Heading into Sunday, Puig had hit 18 homers, one shy of his career high, with a .799 OPS, his best since 2014.

Yet with Miami starting a left-handed pitcher on Sunday, Puig rode the bench. His day off was partially in deference to his reverse split in 2017, a reversal of the trend he appeared to establish last season. Puig has batted only .164 against left-handed pitchers, while hitting .282 against righties. “In talking to him, he just says that the ball coming into him, from left-handers, he’s just not seeing it well,” manager Dave Roberts said. “The hard [fastball] in, and the changeup under the zone, as opposed to the right-hander coming across and going away from him — he just feels more comfortable. I don’t get it.” Enrique Hernandez started in right field on Sunday. Trayce Thompson started in center. Roberts indicated he was committed to giving every position player on his roster a start during this series. He was able to do, with the exception of Chase Utley. Adrian Gonzalez is making progress Adrian Gonzalez (herniated disk) took 60 swings off a tee before Sunday’s game. He was scheduled to fly back to Los Angeles and skip the team’s two-game trip to Chicago. Gonzalez is still at least two weeks away from starting a rehabilitation assignment, Roberts said, but is making progress. The biggest test for Gonzalez will involve running the bases and taking batting practice on multiple occasions to gauge the readiness of his back. He could accomplish those tasks during the upcoming home stand, which lasts from July 20 to 30. The team does not need to rush Gonzalez back. Cody Bellinger has surpassed Gonzalez’s production at first base, and the team is deep in the outfielder. But Gonzalez was still a useful hitter in 2016, and the Dodgers would like him to be available to contribute as the playoffs approach.

OC REGISTER Dodgers notes: Close game exposes lack of setup man By J.P. Hoornstra MIAMI — The Dodgers led the Miami Marlins, 3-1, when the eighth inning began Sunday. It had been nine days since the Dodgers held such a slim margin that they needed to turn to a traditional setup man — a drought so long, the game served as a reminder that the Dodgers do not have a traditional setup man. Brandon Morrow got the call Sunday. Fellow right-hander Pedro Baez had been warming up too, but Baez pitched two-thirds of an inning the day before and Manager Dave Roberts only wanted to use Baez for one batter. “The way Morrow’s been for us, just has really given me a lot of confidence to start the inning,” Roberts said. “I felt more comfortable with Morrow.”

So Morrow started the eighth and faced three batters. That might have been enough to retire the side, but Marlins leadoff man Dee Gordon beat out a ground ball that handcuffed Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager. The play was ruled a single. Thanks in large part to Gordon’s speed, Morrow was ultimately charged with a run when Gordon came around to score with Jansen on the mound. It was only the fourth run Morrow has allowed in 16 appearances this season. Is he the Dodgers’ setup man now? No, Roberts said. Besides Baez there’s right-hander Josh Fields, who pitched the sixth inning Sunday. “Even Ross (Stripling) … I like Ross in that spot too, as far as his ability to execute four pitches,” Roberts said. While Roberts framed his wealth of options as “the beauty of our ’pen,” it also highlighted the possibility that the Dodgers could acquire a more traditional eighth-inning pitcher. They have been linked in published reports to Baltimore Orioles closer Zach Britton, whose 125 saves since 2014 rank fifth in baseball. Jansen endorsed the idea of adding Britton to form a peerless eighth/ninth-inning combo. Other options include San Diego Padres lefty Brad Hand, Detroit Tigers lefty Justin Wilson, and Chicago White Sox right-hander David Robertson. Two potential late-inning options left the market Sunday when the Oakland A’s traded Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson to the Washington Nationals. Down time The Dodgers endured a grueling stretch of 26 games in 27 days leading into the All-Star break. Now, after most of the team enjoyed four days off at midseason, down time abounds. The schedule calls for six off-days in the next five weeks. That, plus the Dodgers’ 10 1/2-game cushion in the National League West standings, could mean more equitable playing time in the coming weeks. In three games against the Marlins, Manager Dave Roberts started every position player except for veteran Chase Utley. Every reliever besides Sergio Romo appeared in at least one game. “It’s going to be a fight to get some of these starters rest because the off-days are there,” Roberts said. “I’m going to have to find a way to manipulate these guys, to convince them that they need an off-day to get their teammates an off-day too. We have 25 good players. I know we need to keep ’em all current.” Gonzalez update First baseman Adrian Gonzalez increased his workload to 60 swings Sunday, adding soft toss to his tee work. Gonzalez, who hasn’t played since July 11 because of a lingering back injury, was planning to fly back to Los Angeles to continue his rehab. The Dodgers play in Chicago on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Dodgers are treating Gonzalez’s rehab with caution. Roberts said it would be “a couple weeks” before Gonzalez begins a minor league rehab assignment, after which he’d have up to 20 days before rejoining the active roster. That projects to mid-August, roughly, but an exact timetable is to be determined. “I’m really reluctant to put a timetable on there,” Roberts said. “We are going to take the time to make sure he’s right. If something unforeseen does happen, then we can feel comfortable we can go to him early.” Gonzalez, 35, is hitting .255 with one home run and 23 RBI in 49 games this season. Buehler’s day up Right-handed pitcher Walker Buehler was promoted from Double-A Tulsa to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Some within the organization have long considered Buehler, the Dodgers’ first-round draft choice in 2015, a candidate to join the major league bullpen this season. Before being promoted, Buehler had 91 strikeouts and a 2.89 ERA in 65 1/3 innings between Class-A and Double-A. He has pitched exclusively as a starter to this point in his first full season back from Tommy John surgery. A predetermined innings limit would likely relegate Buehler, 22, to the bullpen before the season ends, regardless of where he is pitching. His immediate role at Oklahoma City hasn’t been defined.

ESPN

Real or Not? Rich Hill makes the Dodgers even scarier By Bradford Doolittle It was mostly a very Rich Hill kind of outing on Sunday. The Los Angeles Dodgers lefty baffled the Miami Marlins for five innings, burning through 92 pitches while allowing a single run, as his team went on to win 3-2. It was the ninth straight win for the juggernaut Dodgers, who are threatening to reach 70 victories before they even reach 30 losses. They just don't seem to lose anymore. Hill has been the poster boy for baseball's surge in blister problems over the past couple of seasons, during which he's gone on the disabled list four different times because of the nettlesome malady. The issue has kept Hill's innings total low, and not just because of the DL stays. He's now pitched five innings or fewer in 10 of his 13 starts, though he had gone seven in three straight outings prior to Sunday. An unfortunate offshoot of Hill's low innings total is that it skews just how well he's pitched overall. Hill has had two poor outings, giving up five runs in four innings against the St. Louis Cardinals on May 24 and seven runs in four innings against the Cleveland Indians on June 15. Because of those bombs, his season ERA remains an artificially high 3.55 even after Sunday's performance.

But since, Hill has hit a stretch of good health and longer outings. Let's ponder the possibilities here. Take out the two bad outings and Hill's ERA this season is 2.25 -- only a bit higher than last year's 2.12 mark between L.A. and Oakland. Now think about this: If Hill is pitching at that level and you've got Clayton Kershaw, who has been at that level since birth, and Alex Wood, who has allowed three runs over the past month, just how good is that playoff rotation stacking up? We often look at teams, such as the San Francisco Giants in years past, as being a greater threat in October than in the regular season because the postseason format allows their starting pitching to paper over shortcomings elsewhere, and often to dominant effect. But these Dodgers ... don't have any apparent shortcomings to paper over. Hill is about the most un-scary guy you'd ever meet. But if he stays off the DL, he makes the Dodgers truly frightening. The real Samardzija, where are ya? Is there a ballplayer who is producing just flat-out weirder results these days than the Giants' Jeff Samardzija? Samardzija entered Sunday's start against the San Diego Padres leading the National League with a rate of 1.1 walks per nine innings and a strikeouts-to-walks ratio of 9.07. And yet he was just 4-10 with a 4.58 ERA. Make that 4-11 with a 4.86 ERA. Samardzija was tagged with seven runs and nine hits over six innings during San Francisco's 7-1 loss to San Diego. But those control numbers were still growing: He struck out eight and didn't walk anybody. Since April 28, Samardzija has struck out 100 batters and walked four over 92 2/3 innings in 14 starts. That's an easy K:BB ratio to calculate: 25.0. His ERA during that stretch? It's 4.37. So we ask again: Who is the real Samardzija? Frankly, I'm betting it's more the control-master version than the one with the inflated ERA. Samardzija has allowed a .333 average in balls in play this season. It's "only" the 11th-highest number among qualifying hurlers, but it's 33 points above his career mark. And perhaps not coincidentally, the Giants rank 29th in the majors with minus-74 defensive runs saved. This is why they call it a ballglove. The Chicago White Sox are a little more interesting in the present for their role in the upcoming trade deadline than their attempts to win games on the field. That's the reality of the rebuild, and an unfortunate byproduct of that is their presence in highlight packages will be largely limited to curiosities. But as far as curiosities go, this is a pretty good one: Derek Holland's behind-the-back stab and subsequent throw of his glove -- with the ball stuck in the webbing -- to first baseman Jose Abreu. At least he kept his glove in the park. In more glove-related hijinks from non-contending teams, Giancarlo Stanton's glove fled his hand when he ran into the outfield fence while trying to take an extra-base hit away from Chris Taylor. The only confusing thing here is why Stanton didn't simply tear a hole in the wall to retrieve his glove, because we know he's more than capable of doing that. Sun-blocked. It's usually a good idea to keep religion out of game-reaction pieces, but the sun god Sol played a key role in helping the Kansas City Royals to a 4-3 win over the Texas Rangers. After Jorge

Bonifacio struck out with one out and the bases loaded, Lorenzo Cain lofted a lazy fly ball to Rangers right fielder Shin-Soo Choo. But the afternoon sun blinded Choo, and the ball clanked off his glove, allowing Alex Gordon to score the winning run. The best part is Cain's response, which was to pay homage to that bright, glowing orb in the sky. Thanks, Sol. The win ended a five-game skid for Kansas City and put the Royals back at the .500 mark. Through Sunday, the American League wild-card race now features four teams within a game of .500 chasing a postseason slot, just behind the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays. It's a good year to be so-so. Godley streak ends. Zack Godley has been, well, a godsend for the Arizona Diamondbacks' rotation, which had to pivot from the season-ending injury by Shelby Miller early in the year. Entering Sunday, Godley had started 11 games and allowed three runs or fewer in all of them. According to ESPN Stats & Information, that was the third-longest streak in Arizona history. The streak is over. Godley was tagged for seven runs -- six earned -- over six innings in Arizona's 7-1 loss at the Atlanta Braves. The Braves swept the weekend series at SunTrust Park and, at 45-45, are back at .500 for the first time since April 17. And when the Braves hit .500 that day, it was their first time getting back to break-even since July 7, 2015. The Braves are a half-game behind the Chicago Cubs in the National League wild-card chase as the teams begin a three-game series in Atlanta on Monday. Chicago is 5.5 games back of the Colorado Rockies for the NL's second wild-card spot and 6.5 games behind Arizona. Old-school standings. Among the slew of advanced metrics, forecasts and simulation models in my MLB tracking system, I keep one sheet that is simple as simple can be. This one displays the current standings as if there were just two leagues and no divisions. Yes, if I was in charge, that is the way it would be. With the Dodgers and the Houston Astros running away with their respective leagues, that wouldn't be a popular policy right now. Through Sunday, Houston leads the AL by 11 games over the Boston Red Sox (pending Sunday night's game), and the Dodgers lead the Washington Nationals by eight games. My argument would be that if one race or the other actually turns into a race, it would be of the epic sort that in today's structure is literally impossible. And all of this examination of who might emerge from the gaggle of .500-ish wild-card contenders would be moot. I'll never let go. Language peeve alert. I've never been too thrilled with the rise of "walk-off" as an adjective, especially as it pertains to things such as "walk-off walks" and even "walk-off balks." This year, I've increasingly picked on announcers who are going one step further and using it as a verb. Example: When the Royals won their game against Texas in the ninth inning on Sunday, I heard the broadcasters from another game say, "The Royals walked off the Rangers today." One request: Stop. Please. Just stop.

Whose stretch schedule will keep playoff races tight? By Dan Szymborski Baseball never plays a truly balanced schedule, even over a full 162-game season, and as the playoff races reach their inevitable conclusion, differences in who you're playing and when can make a large difference. The difference between playing .500 teams for the rest of the season and playing .510 teams doesn't sound like a huge number, but even that small advantage in strength of schedule is worth 0.7 wins over a 70-game period, an improvement as significant as acquiring a league-average player to play over a replacement-level guy. Naturally, the 2017 season is no different. While strength-of-schedule considerations won't win pennants or lose divisions by themselves, the difference of a game or two over the margins does have the potential to be that winning or losing margin, the difference between October baseball and October golf. To calculate the remaining strength of schedule for each team, I used the up-to-date ZiPS projections to estimate the strength of the rosters teams will face off against for the rest of the season. These numbers also include the mix of home and road games and include the recently concluded moves, most notably Jose Quintana to the Cubs. Winners Chicago Cubs: How big a deal is the 19-point schedule difference between the Cubs and the Brewers? That's 1.3 wins over the number of games remaining, almost as valuable to the reigning champs as the new addition to their rotation over the same portion of the schedule. You could argue that the schedule is like getting two Jose Quintanas for the rest of the season. While it reflects poorly on the team's performance that they're even in the position that it matters, with no games against the Dodgers and just three against the Nationals, the schedule is certainly in the Cubs' favor. Texas Rangers: With more than a half-dozen teams fighting for two wild-card spots, having the strength of schedule in your favor is a significant benefit, given that it's almost certain that the spots will come down to a small number of games in the final week of the season. The schedule does get tougher, though. If the Rangers don't play well until the trade deadline, with six games against the O's (and their shambleriffic rotation) and three against the Marlins (with their impending fire sale), they might fall enough behind that it makes sense to start shopping Yu Darvish and/or Cole Hamels, schedule be damned. Seattle Mariners: It seems kind of weird to call the Mariners winners, given that their remaining record is slightly harmed by their schedule, so give me a minute to explain before you hit X on your browser and curse the existence of Dan Szymborski. What benefits the Mariners here, in their trajectory, is where their schedule is strong. Starting Monday, the team plays a 10-game run against the Astros, Yankees and Red Sox. This franchise could use some clarity, and that stretch should provide it. If they play well the next two weeks, they have a strong argument to make a big push at the deadline. And if they're miserable in those games, they probably fall enough out of the wild-card race that it might be enough to poke the team into going the other way and trading off some of their older assets.

Los Angeles Dodgers: Given the strength of the roster, they hardly need a friendly schedule to make the playoffs comfortably. But with such an easy run -- relatively speaking -- ahead of them, it increases the chances that the Dodgers actually lock up home-field advantage until the World Series well before the end of the season. Considering how many of the team's starting pitchers have a lengthy injury history, they might be thankful to get them some extra rest in September. Losers Milwaukee Brewers: Nothing like the schedule to sit there in the future and try to ruin a perfectly good underdog tale. But there's no escaping it -- the Brewers have the third-toughest schedule in the National League, second among realistic playoff contenders (I'd say sorry to the Padres' fans, but I think they're all cognizant of where the team is). The Brew Crew has 10 games left against the Dodgers and Nationals, compared to the Cubs' three, and they will have to compete without their competition's four-game set against the White Sox. The AL East wild-card contenders: In the AL East, even the weakest team, probably the Baltimore Orioles, has at least some plausible case at relevance, something you can't say about any other division in baseball. Having so many contenders makes the wild-card race tougher for all of them, with September schedules being heavily shifted toward divisional opponents. A weaker team such as the Royals, on the other hand, gets 10 games against the White Sox, the latter possibly getting even weaker in the next week or so with the trade deadline coming up. Baltimore Orioles: The O's are also partly covered in the previous bullet point. But a further complication is that their schedule, weighted heavily toward a tough September, might leave them in a position in which they overrate just how well their team stands. The team has a relatively easy August on tap (opponents' strength: .492) but a has brutal September (.530) that will happen beyond the period at which it can really expect to make a significant addition to help itself. The total number of games the O's play in September against offenses projected by ZiPS to be worse than league-average? Three. With their disastrously bad rotation, this could be a painful reminder of the 1986 Orioles, a team that went 14-42 down the stretch after being just 2½ games out of first in early August in a season that spelled the end of Earl Weaver's managerial career. Here's hoping Buck Showalter doesn't suffer the same fate. Turner homers, Dodgers win 9th straight by beating Miami 3-2 By The Associated Press MIAMI -- The Los Angeles Dodgers had all three Miami Marlins outfielders leaping for the ball at the wall, and only Justin Turner managed to clear it. Turner homered and also singled to increase his batting average to .374, and the Dodgers extended their winning streak to nine games Sunday by beating Miami 3-2. It was the Dodgers' fourth one-run victory during their streak, and the score was close only because Marlins Park is so big.

"A lot of our guys are going to be real happy to get out of this place," Turner said. "If we were at home in Dodger Stadium, we might have hit 20 homers this series. This place is enormous. They have a very athletic outfield and cover a lot of ground, and they made a lot of really good plays." Marcell Ozuna jumped high above the 7-foot wall in left field to rob Kike Hernandez of a home run, and Christian Yelich leaped at the wall in center to steal an extra-base hit from Logan Forsythe. But Giancarlo Stanton lost his glove over the 8 1/2-foot wall in right field trying unsuccessfully to catch Chris Taylor's triple. When Stanton made a running leap and stretched his left arm above the wall, the glove came off and fell to the other side. "I just hit my wrist at the top of the fence, and the glove just popped off," Stanton said. Five Los Angeles pitchers combined for 16 strikeouts with no walks. Rich Hill (6-4) allowed one run in five innings, and Kenley Jansen got the final four outs for his 23rd save in as many chances. The Dodgers (64-29) climbed 35 games above .500 for the first time since 1977 by completing their 11th sweep of the year, most in the majors. They've won 29 of their past 33 games and have the best record in the big leagues. "It has been fun," Hill said. "We know our end goal, and what we want to do, and where we want to go, and how we see the season finishing. But we can't get there without focusing on tomorrow." The Dodgers have the franchise's best record through 93 games since 1955. Turner hit his 11th homer in the first inning, added a sacrifice fly in the third and reached on an infield single in the fifth. He was sidelined for three weeks early in the season by a hamstring injury, but entered the game on the verge of qualifying for the NL batting race, which he would lead. The three-game sweep was the Dodgers' first in Miami since 2008. They didn't even need ace Clayton Kershaw, who makes his first start since the All-Star break Tuesday at the White Sox. "We ran into a buzz saw," Miami manager Don Mattingly said. Los Angeles won six of seven games from the Marlins this year. It was that rare game where neither starter exceeded 90 mph. Chris O'Grady (1-1), making his second career start, allowed three runs in five innings. One Dodger who struggled against O'Grady was Cody Bellinger. Less than 24 hours after hitting for the cycle, Bellinger went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts against the left-hander. Right fielder Yasiel Puig, batting .164 against left-handers this year, was among the regulars held out of the Dodgers' starting lineup. Jansen struck out pinch hitter Justin Bour with two on to end the eighth, and followed that with a perfect ninth to lower his ERA to 0.90.

TRAINER'S ROOM Dodgers: 1B Adrian Gonzalez (lower back) is likely a couple of weeks away from beginning a rehab assignment, manager Dave Roberts said. Gonzalez took 60 swings on the side Sunday, but has yet to take batting practice or run the bases. Marlins: 2B Dee Gordon (neck spasms) was held out of the starting lineup, but had a pinch-hit single and is expected to start Monday. UP NEXT Dodgers: After a day off, the Dodgers will open a two-game series Tuesday at the White Sox with All-Star LHP Kershaw (14-2, 2.18) scheduled to face RHP Miguel Gonzalez (4-8, 5.15). Kershaw is unbeaten in his past 13 starts despite allowing 18 homers this year, and he's unimpressed by the barrage of long balls around the majors. "Everybody's asking, `Is the ball juiced? Is it the era for home runs?" Kershaw said. "But there are still a lot of guys not giving up home runs. There are a lot of guys pitching really well. To me it's not that big a deal. Offense is what people like to see; it's exciting. But I think pitching will still win out in the end." Marlins: RHP Tom Koehler (1-4, 8.00) is scheduled to start Monday against Philadelphia's Jerad Eickhoff (1-7, 4.63). LHP Adam Conley will be recalled from Triple-A New Orleans to start Tuesday, Mattingly said.

TRUE BLUE LA

Wilmer Font pitches six strong innings, wins 4-2 By Craig Minami Four of the five Dodger affiliates that played on Sunday won with only Great Lakes taking a defeat. Player of the day Wilmer Font pitched his best game in a month, striking out eight in six innings pitched. Triple-A Oklahoma City The New Orleans Baby Cakes (Marlins) had won the first three games of their series against the Dodgers but on Sunday, Wilmer Font held them down and the Dodgers won 4-2. Font made his first start since the Triple-A All Star game and he pitched his best game in a month. Font pitched six innings, gave up a run, three hits and struck out eight. Edwin Rios got the big hit, a two-run homer and Kyle Farmer also had two hits. Double-A Tulsa

The Drillers pounded out 17 hits and scored eight runs in the fourth on their way to a 11-7 win over the Arkansas Travelers (Mariners). Jose Miguel Fernandez had three hits, including a home run, Fernandez scored twice and drove in three runs. Six Drillers had two hits apiece, Tim Locastro, Errol Robinson, Henry Ramos, Peter O’Brien, Erick Mejia and Blake Gailen all had two hits. Eddie Gamboa only pitched five innings but he did pick up his first win this season for the Drillers. Class-A Rancho Cucamonga The Quakes got solid pitching from Caleb Ferguson and had three home runs in their 9-1 win over the Stockton Ports (Athletics). Ferguson pitched six innings, gave a run on two hits and a walk. Ferguson also struck out nine. Dean Kremer pitched three scoreless innings for the save. Luke Raley, Ibandel Israel and Drew Jackson each had home runs. Keibert Ruiz was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Class-A Great Lakes The Loons lost 7-1 to the Beloit Snappers (Athletics), Dustin May gave up four runs in six innings pitched. May also gave up seven hits, a walk and struck out seven. The Loons only had three hits, including Mitch Hansen’s fifth home run of the season that accounted for the Loons only run. Rookie-Level Ogden The Raptors scored four runs in the second inning and went on the beat theHelena Brewers 7-4. Starling Heredia, Romer Cuadrado, and Brayan Morales each had two hits in the win. Rookie-Level AZL AZL Dodgers were not scheduled to play on Sunday. Transactions Triple-A: Right-handed pitcher Walker Buehler assigned to Oklahoma City from Tulsa. Double-A: Right-handed pitcher David Hale assigned to Tulsa from Oklahoma City. Class-A: Rancho Cucamonga placed right-handed pitcher Daniel Corcino on the 7-day disabled list retroactive to July 15, 2017; left-handed pitcher Jason Richman assigned to Rancho Cucamonga. Great Lakes released right-handed pitchers Gavin Pittore and Kam Uter. Sunday’s Scores Oklahoma City 4, New Orleans 2 Tulsa 11, Arkansas 7

Rancho Cucamonga 9, Stockton 1 Beloit 7, Great Lakes 1 Ogden 7, Helena 4 Monday’s Schedule 11:05 a.m. PT: Great Lakes (TBD) vs. Beloit (TBD] 5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Fabio Castillo) vs. Memphis Redbirds [Cardinals] (TBD) 5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (TBD) vs. Arkansas (Dylan Unsworth) 6:00 p.m.: Ogden (Adalberto Pena) vs. Helena (Nelson Hernandez) 7:00 p.m.: AZL Dodgers at AZL Angels 7:05 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Dennis Santana) vs. Stockton (TBD) Dodgers finish off yet another sweep, this time of Marlins By Eric Stephen Justin Turner drove in a pair of runs, Rich Hill struck out nine in another stingy performance, and the Dodgers held to beat the Marlins 3-2 on Sunday afternoon at Marlins Park in Miami, completing yet another sweep by the Dodgers. With their third straight series sweep, the Dodgers have won nine straight games. They also had a 10-game winning streak this season, making them the first Dodgers team with two separate win streaks of nine or more games since the 1955 Boys of Summer in Brooklyn. The Dodgers have seven sweeps in their last 11 series, and have won 29 of their last 33 games. Hill pitched scoreless ball through four innings, retiring 10 of his first 11 batters face. He ran into some trouble in the fifth inning with a double and two singles, including one ground ball from Ichiro Suzuki off Hill’s fit to score Miami’s only run. Once cruising with a seemingly insurmountable 3-0 lead, Hill’s pitch count was rising and all of a sudden had the tying runs on base with the top of the Marlins lineup coming up. But he struck out Martin Prado and got Giancarlo Stanton to end the threat. Hill had nine strikeouts and no walks for the second straight start, and in three July starts has allowed a total of two runs in 19 innings, with 29 strikeouts against just one walk. Red alert

Turner homered in the first inning to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead, then drove in the club’s second run with a sacrifice fly in the third inning. Turner also singled and walked, giving him a team-best 29 multi-hit games this season. Turner is hitting .374/.469/.584 on the season. He leads the majors in batting average and on-base percentage, and with 287 plate appearances through Sunday is now one PA shy of showing up on most leaderboards. The Dodgers hit six home runs in this weekend series while allowing none to the Marlins, and in July have out-homered their opponents 18-7. Rally time The Dodgers loaded the bases in the seventh and eighth innings but failed to score, and took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the eighth. Brandon Morrow got the first two outs of the inning, but also left with Dee Gordon on second base. Kenley Jansen was summoned to try for his ninth extended save of the season. Jansen in his first eight saves longer than one inning allowed just three hits and one walk in 11 total innings, with 15 strikeouts. He allowed no runs, and stranded all nine inherited runners. That made the single by Christian Yelich memorable, as it scored Gordon to cut the Dodgers’ lead in half. Jansen struck out Justin Bour to end the inning without further damage, but with 14 pitches already tacked on the odometer. Jansen showed no fatigue in the ninth inning, striking out two in a perfect frame to end the sweep. He needed just 12 pitches in the ninth, and 26 total. Highlight reel Kiké Hernandez nearly added to the Dodgers’ lead in the sixth inning, driving a ball literally over the left field wall. But his solo home run was not to be, as Marcell Ozuna climbed the wall, using it as a step of sorts to reach up and pluck the ball out of the air. Old friend alert Longtime Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis got the start for the Marlins in Sunday’s series finale. He doubled and scored in the fifth inning, then hit a ground rule double in the seventh. Entering Sunday, Ellis had no doubles and one extra-base hit — a home run -- in 74 plate appearances this season. Up next The Dodgers are off Monday, then start a quick two-gamer against the White Sox in Chicago on Tuesday night. Clayton Kershaw starts the series opener on eight days rest thanks to the All-Star break, and right-hander Miguel Gonzalez starts for Chicago in the 5:10 p.m. game. Sunday particulars Home run: Justin Turner (11) WP - Rich Hill (6-4): 5 IP, 5 hits, 1 run, 9 strikeouts

LP - Chris O’Grady (1-1): 5 IP, 5 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts Sv - Kenley Jansen (23): 1⅓ IP, 1 hit, 3 strikeouts Rich Hill, the Dodgers, and relishing the moment By Eric Stephen The Dodgers are playing roughly as well as they have ever played in well over a century as a franchise, and in trying to complete yet another series sweep against the Marlins on Sunday morning turn to a kindred spirit in Rich Hill. After winning four consecutive division titles but without a World Series trip to show for it — running the Fall Classic drought to 28 years — the Dodgers’ season will be defined more how they do in October than during the regular season. But that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate the ride. Most of my time in prepping game previews or recaps over the last month or so — when the Dodgers have won 28 of their last 32 games — has been spent searching for teams either in franchise or MLB history to do what this team is doing. For instance, should the Dodgers complete their third straight sweep on Sunday they would be the first Dodgers team with two separate win streaks of nine or more games since the 1955 team. That Brooklyn team won the Dodgers’ first championship, but doing something they did doesn’t guarantee anything for this October. Rather, it’s just to point out how rare some of these achievements are. Yes, a World Series championship is the ultimate goal, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t parts of the journey well worth savoring. Baseball is insanely difficult. Every bit of success should be cherished, whether it is in July or October, or whenever. You never know how long the ride will last, so make sure to enjoy every part of it. Just ask Rich Hill. He went from pitching in the independent leagues in late 2015 with the Long Island Ducks to becoming one of the best pitchers in baseball from September 2015 through the end of 2016, with a 2.00 ERA in 24 starts. The peak of Hill’s resurgence came at Marlins Park last Sept. 10, when he retired all 21 batters he faced, striking out nine. A victim of timing — that was just his third start in six weeks as a Dodger, and his blister problems worried the club with the playoffs just four weeks away — Hill was robbed of a chance to finish his masterpiece, the only man in major league history pulled that late in a game with a perfect game still intact. At the start of this season, Hill was nowhere near perfect. When he wasn’t dealing with blisters, his command was erratic, and his trademark curveball was nowhere near as effective as it was last year. He

set a record by failing to last past five innings in each of his first nine starts in 2017, and had a mediocre 4.72 ERA. But then he made a tweak to his delivery, making it more of a hybrid stretch and windup, in an attempt to give him more command. So far, it has worked swimmingly. Hill has lasted seven innings in each of his last three starts, something he didn’t even do in 2016. During that time, he has allowed four total runs, with 27 strikeouts and only three walks. After a 14.5-percent walk rate in those first nine starts, Hill has reduced that to just 3.9 percent over his last three outings. Whatever it is that has allowed Hill to be Hill, he seems to have found it again. And it’s been fun to watch, with the animated Hill leg kicking and hopping all over the mound after confounding batters with his curveball, now doing exactly what he wants it to do. Enjoy it, however long it lasts. The opponent With starter Edinson Volquez still ailing and not yet ready to come off the disabled list, the Marlins turn to left-hander Chris O`Grady in the series finale. The 27-year-old is making his second major league start, after beating the Giants last Saturday in San Francisco. O’Grady had a 3.29 ERA in 12 games, including nine starts, for Triple-A New Orleans, with 54 strikeouts and 15 walks in 54⅔ innings. The Dodgers have won nine straight games and 16 of their last 18 against left-handed starting pitchers, and their 19-9 mark against southpaws is the best in the majors. They are hitting .262/.348/.471 against lefties this season, second in the majors in OPS (.820) and wRC+ (117), and first in home runs (54). Trayce Thompson gets the start in center field on Sunday, with Kiké Hernandez starting in right field. Austin Barnes gets the call behind the plate, giving the Dodgers six right-handed bats to go with Corey Seager and Cody Bellinger in Sunday’s lineup. Game info Time: 10:10 a.m. PT TV: SportsNet LA Starling Heredia just keeps hitting, Raptors capture a 7-3 win By Craig Minami Only Tulsa and Ogden could raise the victory flag on Saturday, Oklahoma City can’t have their cake and eat it this season, Rancho Cucamonga could not sweep, Great Lakes couldn’t contain a few snapping turtles and in Arizona, rolling sixes was not enough.

Player of the day Starling Heredia started his season in Arizona where he hit .429 with an 1.357 OPS in seven games. Then he moved on to Ogden and the hitting continued. The 18-year-old Heredia is hitting .462/.543/.846 in 46 plate appearances. Triple-A Oklahoma City The New Orleans Baby Cakes (Marlins) won their fourth straight game against the Dodgers as they held on to a 4-3 win on Saturday. The two teams have played consecutive weekends that bookended their All-Star break and the Baby Cakes have won six of the seven games played thus far. The Dodgers will try not to kept swept today. In this game, the Dodgers had a 2-0 lead until the seventh inning when the Baby Cakes scored all four of their runs to take a 4-2 lead. The Dodgers got a Mike Freeman RBI single to make it a one-run game but that was as close as the Dodgers got. Freeman had three hits, Scott Van Slyke had two hits. Willie Calhoun was 2-for-4 with a double. Double-A Tulsa The Drillers won a one-run game against the NW Arkansas Naturals (Royals) with their 7-6 win. Outfielder Blake Gailen had four RBI, three of those coming on a two-out three-run homer that tied the score in the seventh inning. In the eighth inning, Errol Robinson singled, stole second and went to third on an error. Erick Mejia drove in Robinson to give the Drillers the lead and ultimately the game. Prior to all of this, Walker Buehler started and he struck out seven in the first three innings. But in the fourth, Buehler walked the bases loaded. After recording his eighth strikeout, he gave up a sacrifice fly. The next hitter singled to tie the game and after that, Buehler was taken out. Michael Johnson gave up a two-run double that gave the Naturals the lead until Gailen’s home run tied it later. Class-A Rancho Cucamonga The Quakes could not finish their sweep of the San Jose Giants as they lost 7-5 on Saturday at LoanMart Field. The Giants broke a 4-4 tie with a run in the eighth and then two more in the ninth. Yadier Alvarez started for the Quakes and while he was not hit very hard, he had an up and down game. In the first, he gave up a couple of well-placed hits that scored two runs. Then he settled down for two innings, but after two were out in the fourth, a single, a balk and another single scored the third run. Alvarez finished with four innings pitched and he gave up three runs (two earned), five hits, two walks and five strikeouts. Trailing 3-2, the Quakes took the lead when Johan Mieses doubled home two. But then the Giants scored the four runs before the Quakes scored a run in the ninth to make the final score 7-5. Class-A Great Lakes

The Loons got a good performance from Jordan Sheffield but the offense couldn’t get going as they went down 5-1 against the Beloit Snappers (Athletics). Sheffield pitched six innings and gave up two runs and six hits. Sheffield struck out ten but also walked four. However, the Loons could only muster three hits and one walk against the Snappers, which proved to be their downfall. They went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Rookie-Level Ogden The Raptors won their game against the Helena Brewers 7-3 behind another big offensive game from Starling Heredia and Nick Yarnall. Heredia went 3-for-4, with a triple and home run, three runs scored and three RBI. Yarnall went 1-for-2 with two walks and three runs scored. However Matt Jones was the big man on the mound for the Raptors, the former first baseman and outfielder, pitched his eighth game and won his first game of his minor league career. Rookie-Level AZL The AZL Dodgers had one big inning but it wasn’t enough as the AZL Reds won 9-7. Trailing 7-1, the Dodgers tied it with six runs in the seventh inning. But then the Reds scored two runs in the bottom of the inning to retake the lead and eventually the game. Grant Dayton made a rehab appearance and he pitched one inning, he gave up one walk and he struck out two. Transactions Class-A: Great Lakes activated outfielder Zach Reks from the 7-day disabled list; right-handed pitcher Wills Montgomerie assigned to Great Lakes from AZL Dodgers. Rookie-Level: Right-handed pitcher Vinny Santarsiero and outfielder Brayan Morales assigned to Ogden from Great Lakes. Los Angeles sent left-handed pitcher Grant Dayton to AZL Dodgers to begin a rehab assignment. Saturday’s Scores New Orleans 4, Oklahoma City 3 Tulsa 7, NW Arkansas 6 San Jose 7, Rancho Cucamonga 5 Beloit 5, Great Lakes 1 Ogden 7, Helena 3 AZL Reds 9, AZL Dodgers 7

Sunday’s Schedule 11:05 a.m. PT: Great Lakes (Dustin May) vs. Beloit (TBD] 3:00 p.m.: Ogden (Osiris Ramirez) vs. Helena (Harold Chirino) 4:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Wilmer Font) vs. New Orleans (William Cuevas) 4:05 p.m.: Tulsa (TBD) vs. Arkansas Travelers [Mariners] (Brent Ash) 5:05 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Caleb Ferguson) vs. Stockton Ports [Athletics] (TBD) Dodgers cruise to 8th straight win behind another Alex Wood gem By Eric Stephen The Dodgers continued their weekend rollicking, cruising to a 7-1 win over the Marlins on Saturday night, thanks to a milestone night by Cody Bellinger and even more zeroes from Alex Wood. One night after winning their 12th consecutive Friday game, the Dodgers won their eighth consecutive Saturday contest. Bellinger had his first career four-hit game in the win, becoming the first Dodgers rookie ever to hit for the cycle, and just the 10th cycle in the 134-year history of the franchise. Bellinger’s home run in the third inning put the Dodgers on the board, a two-run shot and his 26th of the season. Later in the inning, Yasmani Grandal smashed a three-run home run of his own to blow the game open. That was more than enough for Wood, who picked up right where he left off before the break. The left-hander pitched six scoreless innings, allowing only three hits and a walk while striking out four and inducing 11 ground ball outs. Wood is the first Dodgers pitcher since at least 1913 to start a season 11-0, and he lowered his seasonal ERA to just 1.56. Wood already had a 27⅓-inning scoreless streak earlier this season, has a current streak of 15 consecutive scoreless frames, dating back to June 30. He apparently got his run allowing out of the way on Tuesday in the All-Star Game. In his last 10 starts, Wood has allowed zero runs six times and one run three times, allowing six total runs in 62 innings during that span with 74 strikeouts. Rare company The Dodgers have now won eight straight games, making them just the fourth LA Dodgers team with two separate win streaks of at least eight games, joining the 1974, 2003, and 2008 teams.

But in their last 32 games, the Dodgers are an absurd 28-4. They were just the eighth MLB team in the last 50 years with a 26-4 stretch, and now they are only the fourth team in the last 50 years to win 28 of 32 games. The others were the 2002 Athletics, the 2001 Athletics, and the 1977 Royals. Those three teams won 103, 102, and 102 games respectively. The Dodgers, owners of the best record in MLB this season at 63-29, are on pace for 111 wins in 2017. Up next For an unbelievable eighth consecutive Sunday, the Dodgers will have a chance to sweep their opponent. Rich Hill takes the mound in the Miami finale, having never allowed a runner to reach base in Marlins Park. The Marlins starter is still to be announced, with Tom Koehler among the candidates for the 10:10 a.m. PT game. Saturday particulars Home runs: Cody Bellinger (26), Yasmani Grandal (12) WP - Alex Wood (11-0): 6 IP, 3 hits, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts LP - Jose Urena (7-4): 3 IP, 7 hits, 5 runs, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts

DODGER INSIDER Dodgers collection of brooms reaches 11 By Cary Osborne Kiké Hernández was robbed of a home run. The Dodgers let two opportunities go by with the bases loaded without scoring a run. The Marlins plated a run off Kenley Jansen. Even when things aren’t ideal, the Dodgers are finding ways to win. They beat the Marlins 3–2 on Sunday in Miami to complete their 11th sweep of the season and win their ninth game in a row. It’s also the ninth series win in the Dodgers’ last 11 series. The Dodgers split two two-game series June 26–29 with the Los Angeles Angels. The Dodgers had enough go right. Despite it being his shortest outing since June 21, Rich Hill was outstanding in five innings of work. He allowed five hits, one run, walked none and struck out nine, making 94 pitches. The lone run came in the fifth on an Ichiro Suzuki infield single. “He was in complete control today,” said Dodger manager Dave Roberts to SportsNet LA’s Alanna Rizzo. “In my opinion some of the best stuff he’s had all year. … This has been five starts in a row where he’s been in control — the command on the mound, his mound presence, and just the way he’s throwing the baseball, he’s letting the fastball eat and just has such good feel of that breaking ball.”

Since June 21 (over his last five starts), he has a 1.74 ERA and 0.81 WHIP with 44 strikeouts in 31 innings. His season ERA has dropped from 5.14, coming into that June 21 start, to 3.55. “Last five or so outings have been really good,” Hill said. “Today was no different — just attacking the hitters and Austin (Barnes) did a great job behind the dish keeping that good combination (fastball/breaking ball) going.” Turner being Turner The biggest chunk of Dodger offense on Sunday came from Justin Turner, who hit a solo home run in the first inning off left-hander Chris O’Grady, and he drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the third inning. Turner is hitting .374. He has nine homers in his last 22 games and now has 11 on the season. He’s one plate appearance from qualifying for the batting title and officially being recognized as baseball’s batting average leader. At .350, Houston’s Jose Altuve leads the Majors in average. After a Chris Taylor triple in the fourth, Austin Barnes followed with a single to give the Dodgers a 3–0 lead at the time. It’s all the offense the Dodgers needed. Bullpen comes through again The bridge to Jansen was strong. Josh Fields pitched a scoreless sixth with two strikeouts. Luis Avilan pitched a scoreless seventh. Brandon Morrow allowed a tough hop single to Dee Gordon to start the eighth, then retired the next two batters — including a strikeout of Giancarlo Stanton. Morrow passed the baton to Kenley Jansen for a four-out save. And though Jansen had to battle to get the last out of the eighth — he allowed a single to Christian Yelich to cut the lead to 3–2 and a single to Marcell Ozuna — he struck out Justin Bour to end the frame and retired the Marlins in order in the ninth to pick up his 22nd save of the season. Jansen is now 9-for-9 in save opportunities this season where he’s had to get at least four outs. Left is right The Dodgers are now 21–9 when a left-hander starts against them. Only the Chicago Cubs, at 15–6, have a better winning percentage against lefty starters this season. The Dodgers were 22–24 when a lefty started against them last year. Pederson’s found his stroke since return from disabled list By Rowan Kavner 07/16 Dodgers at Marlins, 10:10 a.m. PT: Logan Forsythe 2B Corey Seager SS Justin Turner 3B Cody Bellinger 1B Chris Taylor LF Austin Barnes C Kiké Hernández RF Trayce Thompson CF Rich Hill P

The Dodgers’ OPS leader in July isn’t the All-Star first baseman, who hit for the cycle Saturday. It’s not the All-Star shortstop, who leads the team in hits, nor is it the All-Star third baseman, who still leads the Majors in batting average and on-base percentage. In fact, it’s not any of the Dodgers’ All-Star representatives. But Joc Pederson has been playing like one since returning from the disabled list June 13. Pederson leads the Dodgers with a 1.147 OPS in July. It’s a mark nearly identical to the 1.149 OPS he posted in June, which was the second best OPS among Dodger players who recorded at least 50 at-bats in the month. He’s hitting .325/.447/.701 since his return to action, a span of more than a month. In that time, he’s bashed seven of his nine home runs and eight of his 12 doubles on the year. Manager Dave Roberts said at the end of June he thought Pederson had cleaned his swing up mechanically. “He’s staying square to the plate, not flying open too early,” Roberts said. “He’s winning pitches.” And he’s helping the Dodgers win games at a record pace. The Dodgers enter Sunday’s finale having won 28 of their last 32 games. The last time they went on a 28–4 stretch was 1899. They’ve already clinched the season series with the Marlins and this specific series in Miami as they look to sweep their third opponent in a row. It’s the second straight Sunday the Dodgers have had a chance to sweep. They accomplished the feat with Clayton Kershaw on the mound to finish off the Royals before the break. This time, that task is in the hands of Rich Hill, who along with All-Stars Clayton Kershaw and Alex Wood has made it a trio of dominant starting southpaws in the Dodger rotation in recent weeks. Hill has gone seven innings each of his last three starts, allowing a total of four runs in that span. In two July starts, Hill has 20 strikeouts in 14 innings while allowing just one run. Prior to today’s game, Roberts gave an update on Adrián González, out since June 13 with lower back discomfort. Roberts said the Dodger first baseman took about 60 swings today. Roberts said González is a couple of weeks from rehab assignment, but that’s not set in stone.

NBC LA Vin Scully, Bob Uecker, Charlie Brown Inducted Into 'Shrine of the Eternals' By City News Service Retired Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully, catcher-turned-broadcaster Bob Uecker and "Peanuts" character Charlie Brown were inducted into the Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals Sunday at the Pasadena Central Library. The Shrine of the Eternals differs from the Hall of Fame in that statistical accomplishment is not the principal criterion for election. Its criteria are distinctiveness of play (good or bad), the uniqueness of character and personality and the imprint the individual has made on the baseball landscape, according to the website of the Baseball Reliquary, which bills itself as a nonprofit, educational organization dedicated to fostering an appreciation of American art and culture through the context of baseball history. Scully received votes on a record 59.5 percent of the ballots in his first year of eligibility. The previous record was 53 percent, set in 2000 by colorful pitcher Bill "Spaceman" Lee and matched in 2008 by Buck O'Neil, a first baseman and manager in the Negro Leagues and the first black coach in Major League Baseball. Elections have been held annually since 1999. The three candidates in the field of 50 receiving the most votes are elected. Uecker received votes on 37 percent of the ballots and Charlie Brown 25.5 percent. Runners-up included the late manager Leo Durocher, who received votes on 24.8 percent of the ballots, and broadcaster Bob Costas, who received votes on 23.5 percent of the ballots. Scully did not attend the ceremony because of a previous commitment, according to Baseball Reliquary executive director Terry Cannon. His induction was introduced and accepted by Lisa Nehus Saxon, a former Los Angeles Daily News sports reporter. Uecker missed the ceremony to broadcast the Milwaukee Brewers-Philadelphia Phillies game in Milwaukee. His induction was introduced and accepted by former major league outfielder Jay Johnstone. Charlie Brown's induction was introduced and accepted by Craig Schulz, the youngest son of "Peanuts" creator Charles M. Schulz. Also honored were Cam Perron, who received the Hilda Award, which recognizes distinguished service to the game by a baseball fan, and Richard Santillan, who received the Tony Salin Memorial Award, which recognizes individuals for their commitment to the preservation of baseball history.

Perron, 22, began writing letters to Negro Leagues players when he was in middle school. By his freshman year in high school, he began organizing annual Negro Leagues reunions and reconnecting players who had been out of touch for more than 50 years. Perron located more 100 previously undiscovered players from the Negro Leaguers and obtained pensions for many of the players through a program offered by Major League Baseball. Santillan is the lead author of the Mexican-American baseball book series which showcases Mexican-American baseball and softball pictures through the lens of race, class, gender, political and civil rights, the border, prejudice and discrimination and illustrates how baseball and softball served as political tools to advance equality and social justice.

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Why these Dodgers might be the closest thing to a great team By Nick Cafardo There’s parity in major league baseball. Just look at the standings and you’ll see that pretty clearly. But the question we ask is, is there a great team? If we go by Bill Parcells’s philosophy of “You are what your record says you are,” then the Dodgers and Astros are the best teams in baseball. I would rank the Dodgers ahead of the Astros. Folks in Houston and Washington might debate this and make a case for their teams. The Red Sox, Indians, defending champion Cubs, upstart Brewers, and better-than-expected Diamondbacks and Rockies could also make a case. But as the second half begins, Dave Roberts’s Dodgers might be the closest thing to a great team. “I think what they have is a lineup where they have a few guys who can play multiple positions and that’s extremely valuable,” said Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon. “They have a great closer [Kenley Jansen], a great starting pitcher [Clayton Kershaw], and a whole staff of pitchers that are pretty tough.” Not to mention the fact that they have resources coming out of their eyeballs. If they need something, whether the cost be money or prospects, they can go get it, though the Dodgers are trying to be more frugal on both fronts. The days of taking on $260 million in salaries — as they did in the Adrian Gonzalez/Carl Crawford/Josh Beckett deal with the Red Sox in August 2012 — are likely over. Yet, if there’s a blockbuster deal available where they had to take on money, they likely would. And really, the Dodgers have waited long enough to reach this point. They’ve teased their fans for a few years now and haven’t delivered. But they may be on the verge of delivering. It doesn’t hurt having Kershaw at the head of their rotation, or that Jansen is the most dominant closer other than Craig Kimbrel. It doesn’t hurt that the Dodgers have a minimum-salaried rookie in Cody Bellinger who has stood LA on its head since he was called up in April, and a heck of a third baseman in

Justin Turner. They have super-utility player Chris Taylor, who has three grand slams among his 10 homers in a surprise season. Dave Roberts goes to high five Cody Bellinger after a solo home run against the Royals in early July. Bellinger has filled in at first base for the injured Gonzalez and will likely shift to the outfield when Gonzalez returns. “It’s just been so much fun to be a part of,” Bellinger said. “We have a good group of guys who root for each other and pull for each other. We have guys who can play different positions and play them well. We have great pitching and defense.” And they’re in the toughest division in baseball, contending with the Diamondbacks, Rockies, and yes, the Giants, who are having a poor season but remain an intense rival of LA. “We have to keep it going,” Jansen said. “We all have a job to do and I think that’s the way we approach it. I’ve got to do my part at the end of the game.” Jansen ended the first half with 57 strikeouts and just two walks in 37⅔ innings. “I hate walks,” Jansen said. “I’m just the type of pitcher that would rather come at you and pitch in and out to try to get you out. Walks are never good.” The Dodgers allowed 300 runs in the first half, fewest in the majors and 44 fewer than Arizona, which ranked second in that category. LA culminated the first half by wining 26 out of 30 games for a 61-29 record, a half-game better than the Astros (60-29). The culture created by the upbeat Roberts — a Red Sox hero in 2004 — has also been a huge factor. “I think he’s a great manager,” Bellinger said. “Everybody loves playing for him.” The Astros have that explosive offense and they hit a lot of home runs. The Nationals have a great offense and great starting pitching, but they lack a closer. Both the Astros and Nationals play in inferior divisions. Who knows if the Cubs, who recently acquired Jose Quintana from the White Sox, can find the magic again. Who knows if the Red Sox will emerge as a flawless team if their Big Three of Chris Sale, David Price, and Rick Porcello pitch lights-out and their offense finds consistency. There are those in baseball who believe there is no great team right now. But the Dodgers are making a case to the contrary.