Dodgers Sprint Out of the Gate Against Archie, Take 6-2 Win in Opener

The Bucs started hot when Fraze and Melky opened with singles off Hyun-Jin Rhu; Gregory followed with  a 3-6-3 DP ball, although a run did score. It didn’t last real long; a two-out single was followed by a Cody Bellinger homer off Archie, who floated a change; Cody’s been unreal this month and def not the guy to be serving meatballs to. Cervy singled with one gone in the second and Bryan Reynolds doubled him to third. Cole chased a full count cutter well out of the zone and Archie tapped out; the Bucs can set ‘em up but can’t finish ‘em off. With two gone, Austin Barnes went yard (frustrating because he looked at strike three, but the ump missed the call); this is not trending well for the Pirates. The Pirates went down quietly in the third, and so did Big Blue when Bellinger lined an at ‘em ball to J-Bell with a runner on (or in this case, off) first for a DP. J-Bell opened the fourth with a dinger of his own; Cervy added a later single, and it’d be nice to see him heat up. Archie gave it right back. He walked the first two batters, then a bloop single that was bobbled by Gregory plated a run and left Dodgers on the corners. A passed ball and double scored two more before Arch got the next three guys to stop the dance at 6-2.

The Pirates were shut down in the fifth. Nick Kingham got the call; he put up a zero despite a walk and wayward pickoff toss. JHK singled in the sixth while Ryu struck out the other three Bucs; the Dodgers went down without a squawk for the first time tonight, with Nick picking up a pair of whiffs.  Ryu gave up a JB Shuck single in an otherwise uneventful seventh, while Ric Rod was touched for a pair of two-out raps, but fanned his way to the dugout. Scott Alexander climbed the bump in the eighth, and Gregory singled with an out. With two gone, Dylan Floro was called on to finish up; it took one pitch to get JHK on a bouncer. Felipe came on to get some work, and he got 24 pitches worth, giving up a walk and single off his glove while fanning two. Yimi Garcia was beckoned for the ninth inning, and seven pitches later it was over.

Hard to believe both teams had nine hits, but for the Bucs, seven singles and 11 whiffs without a walk offset the effect. It’s a tough series; LA is a good team, and if the pitching can’t keep the score down, the Pirates are gonna have a big headache competing in the City of Angels.

Notes:

• Cervy had two hits; no other Pirate reached more than once tonight.
• With Bellinger’s shot, the Dodgers have now homered in 33 consecutive games at home, a new record. 
• The South Korean press was out in force to chronicle the first Ryu-Kang matchup; Jung Ho went 1-for-3 with a K, holding his own.
• Corey Dickerson has joined AAA Indy for a rehab assignment. 
• Former Bucco farmhand LHP Taylor Hearn had a rough, wild child intro to the show yesterday (not completely unexpected, as he only had four AAA starts in his career); today the Rangers put him on the 10-day IL with elbow tightness. 
• It’s a long read, but Tyler Kepner (author of “The History of Baseball in Ten Pitches”) has a nifty tale regarding the history of the curve ball.