When Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer said, “I don’t like losing,” a few days ago, it apparently resonated with his teammates.
The Dodgers didn’t like losing much either. It led to a seven-game winning streak, knocking the San Francisco Giants out of first place in the National League West standings.
After suffering through a 2-8 stretch that saw the Dodgers drop out of first place in the NL West standings, the tides have turned. The Dodgers have won 11 of their past 12 games and shoved the Giants to third place in the standings after sweeping them in San Francisco.
Bauer’s words, “I don’t like losing. I want to win. That’s why I came here,” were first interpreted as a dig at how bad the Dodgers were playing.
But they became a rallying cry for the Dodgers to start winning. It didn’t hurt that a cast of new faces played a part in the turnaround.
The most noticeable was Albert Pujols. He drove in a run in his first game with the Dodgers, a 3-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday. He hit his first home for the Dodgers in his fourth game with his new team on Thursday, a 3-2 win over the Diamondbacks to complete the sweep.
But Pujols might not be the most impactful new face on the Dodgers.
Reliever Nate Jones made his debut with the Dodgers on Friday in the series opener against the Giants. He pitched a perfect 1 ⅔ innings to bridge the gap between Bauer and closer Blake Treinen to preserve a 2-1 lead.
More importantly, Jones provided reliable relief for a team that has struggled out of the bullpen in the early weeks of the season.
Jones, who came over from the Atlanta Braves, has appeared in 13 games and has a 3.00 ERA in 12 innings pitched. Nothing too Earth-shattering there, but Jones doesn’t need to be exceptional, just effective. The Dodgers look like they have a major league arm to go with Victor Gonzalez, Kenley Jansen and Treinen in the bullpen. That has been hard for the Dodgers to find in the early part of the season.
Another new face that has yet to produce many dividends is Yoshi Tsutsugo, who came over from the Tampa Rays last week. The power hitter from the Japanese leagues has struggled in the majors. But he drove in his first run and scored his first run with the Dodgers in Sunday’s 11-5 win over the Giants. Maybe it’s a sign of things to come.
Perhaps the biggest surprise came from a familiar face in the Dodgers circle. Gavin Lux has been giving the Dodgers a life of luxury in recent games.
He hit his first grand slam of his career in Tuesday’s 9-1 win over the Diamondbacks. He hit his second career grand slam in Sunday’s win over the Giants. Seeing Lux swing the bat with such success has been worth the wait.
Here are the Dodgers starting pitcher power rankings:
- Trevor Bauer
- Julio Urias
- Walker Buehler
- Clayton Kershaw
- David Price
The Dodgers are 29-19 and trail the pesky San Diego Padres, winners of nine in a row, by one game in the NL West standings.
Next up for the Dodgers are the stinky, cheating Houston Astros on Tuesday for a short two-game series before heading home for a weekend series against the Giants.
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