Dodgers in Review

The Dodgers had a big start to the season, sweeping the San Diego Padres in the season opening series in San Diego, but after that the team has been up and down, but maintaining a .500 or better record.

They played the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver, getting two of three games there. The last game had a total of 22 runs scored and Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen earned his paycheck that night , shutting down the Rockies’ great new rookie, Trevor Story. During Spring Training our reporter Claudia Gestro had the opportunity to interview Story, before he knew he would be in the starting lineup to start the season.

Then the Dodgers were swept in four games by the Don Mattingly-led Miami Marlins. Giancarlo Stanton and Dee Gordon both did well in the series, but immediately after the fourth game Gordon was suspended from play for 80 games after testing positive for banned substances. During the series Claudia interviewed Dee Gordon. At the time no one knew what was coming for Gordon. In her video report from the first game, that features comments from Mattingly, Claudia said the Marlins would like to sweep the Dodgers.

After that the Padres won two of three against the Dodgers who then split a two-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays in Florida. And finally they won two-of-three in Toronto against the Blue Jays. Trayce Thompson had a good series against the Padres and he spoke to Claudia about it.

Last season the Jays had pitcher David Price and Claudia had a chance to interview him when they were in Anaheim to play the Angels. Price is now with the Boston Red Sox, with a 5-1 record.

In the past week they have met the New York Mets and now are looking at a the final game of a three-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals. They split the series with the Mets, with Clayton Kershaw getting his fifth win and reaching an historic milestone: he is the first pitcher in the modern era (since 1900) to pitch five consecutive games with ten or more strike-outs with only one walk. After the game he told reporters, “Walking guys is how you get in trouble.” He added, he would prefer to “… make them swing the bats to beat me.” His aggressive approach on the mound has served the Dodgers well. So far this season Kershaw has 77 strikeouts and four walks in 66 innings pitched.

You can hear his post-game remarks from Thursday in this video report by Claudia. She also has an interview with Met’s left-handed pitcher Steven Matz who tipped his cap to Dodgers center fielder Trayce Thompson, who scored a big two-run homer off Matz in Monday’s game. “It was a good pitch,” Matz told Claudia, “He just put a good swing on it.”

The Mets still won, with Matz delivering an RBI double in that game to help his cause. On Tuesday Thompson scored a walk-off homerun and spoke to the media about it after the game.

The Dodgers new pitcher Kenta Maeda didn’t do so well against the Mets on Wednesday. He gave up four runs — all of them from Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard who held the Dodgers to just two runs over eight innings pitched. Joc Pedersen got an RBI in the ninth of Mets closer Jeurys Familia, scoring Adrián González on a ground-out to short. Claudia has a post-game report with Syndergaard.

• Adrián González has started a campaign in the major leagues to add the Spanish accents to the jersey’s the players wear on game day. The thought being players — and other immigrants — don’t have to give up any part of their identity and culture just because they move to the United States. González was born in San Diego, but has deep ties to Mexico.

The Cardinals came to town on Friday and the Dodgers have won the first two games. Dodgers rookie left-handed pitcher Ross Stripling got his first win of the season. These two teams of a long post-season history and it shows whenever they meet. A total of 20 runs have been scored in the first two game of this series and in today’s game we can expect the hitting to continue. Mike Leake will get the start for the Cards and Alex Wood will take the mound for the Dodgers.

Claudia has been covering the Dodgers all week, and has a few reports and interviews available on YouTube. Her latest is with Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager (below). Since being called up in August, he has proven to be a good addition to the team.

Last September, just after joining the team, Corey Seager spoke to Claudia. He got the call that he was going to the big show at 1 a.m. and his nerves kicked in when he landed in Los Angeles. Claudia also spoke with Corey’s brother Kyle Seager las year when the Seattle Mariners were in Anaheim to play the Angels.

The Dodgers will play the Cardinals one more time in this series, and then on Monday they begin a four-game series with the Angels; two games at Dodger Stadium and then two in Angel Stadium. Today’s game starts at 5 p.m. and will be featured on ESPN.

Photos by Claudia Gestro.