(East Los Angeles, CA) September 11, 2020 [From The Editor’s Desk]: The COVID-19 driven season continues on at a brisk pace, pleasing the MLB owners, players, and all fans alike. There have been no major outbreaks since the initial start of the season. And now, just for a minute, let’s draw our comparisons from the re-start of pro sports back in July, to see how they have not only crept slowly but surely back into our daily lives, but how they have magically created a good landing space for our always craving sports appetites and emotions.

By Correspondent Hector Ponce-Dodgers Weekly Roundup August 31- September 6: This week the Dodgers lost their first series of the 2020 season. However, they were still able to finish the week with a positive record (4-2). Following their road trip to San Francisco and Texas they returned home to open up a series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. After a day of rest on Monday they opened the series on Tuesday evening, September 1^st.

Pitcher, Julio Urias, the native of Culiacan, Mexico, took the mound to open up the series. He pitched (6) frames, allowing (4) hits and just (1) earned run. The Dodgers took an early lead in the 1st after a flurry of walks led to Corey Seager scoring on a bases-loaded walk to Chris Taylor. Urias surrendered the lead by giving up a home-run to catcher Carson Kelly in the 3rd. The Dodgers re-took the lead with C. Taylor at the plate as he doubled in AJ Pollock. The Boys In Blue would not surrender the lead for the rest of the game. Enrique “Kike”  Hernandez and Edwin Rios each had a pair of sacrifice fly-outs in the 5th and 6^th innings, as C. Taylor drove in his 3rd and 4th RBIs of the game with another two-bagger.  Scott Alexander gave up a two-run home run to Nick Ahmed in the final stanza, but the Big Blue iron-man, Kenley Jansen, promptly came in to secure the win.

Game 2 showcased a pitchers duel. The Arizonans threw their rising star Zach Gallen and the Dodgers countered with one of their young aces, Walker Buehler. Both pitchers departed the game without allowing a single run. The Diamondbacks struck first in the 6th with the home-run by Christian Walker. The Dodgers waited until the last possible inning to tie the game. Mookie Betts put a ball over the centerfield wall to tie the game in the bottom of the 9th. Extra innings commenced and the D-Backs proceeded to load the bases and score the go-ahead run on a walk. Kenley Jansen was able to escape with only allowing one run. In the top of the 10th, C.Taylor squared around to lay a sacrifice bunt down, and a throwing error allowed the tying run to score and Taylor to move into scoring position. Following a ground-out by Joc Pederson, catcher Will Smith then gave the Dodgers a victory with a “walk-off” single to
left. In game three, the Dodgers would finish their sweep of the D-Backs behind (6) masterful shutout innings from Clayton Kershaw. Outside of the home-run hit by AJ Pollock, the Dodgers manufactured a lot of their runs and scored (5) runs on (11) hits. Reliever, Dylan Floro, gave up the lone run in the 7th, as the Dodgers went on to sweep the Diamondbacks.

After they left town, the Dodgers welcomed the Colorado Rockies to Tinseltown to open-up another three-game series.

In game 1, the baseballs were flying high and long as the Dodgers mashed (5) home-runs on their way to a series opening victory. Dustin May allowed two earned runs, both of which came from the long ball. The Rockies and Dodgers exchanged home runs in the 1st inning with Raimel Tapia for Colorado and Max Muncy for the Big Blue Crew. Colorado would take the lead in the 5th with a home-run from Sam Hilliard. The Dodgers responded by taking the lead in the 7th behind a long ball by Will Smith and a sacrifice fly by Corey Seager. The Dodgers 3-run lead was quickly erased as the newly acquired Kevin Pillar hit a Grand Slam. The Dodgers went on to homer three times in the bottom of the 8th to secure a victory in the series opener.

Game 2 of the series would belong to the Colorado Rockies as Blake Treinen would surrender three runs in the top half of the 9th causing the Dodgers to lose (5-2), despite dominant pitching performances from Tony Gonsolin and Victor Gonzalez.

The rubber-match” was a “back-and-forth” battle. Seager homered in the 1st for the Dodgers. Josh Fuentes would then give Colorado the lead with a two-run shot in the 2nd. Will Smith would tie the game back up with a home-run in the bottom of the 2nd. A brief rally in the 5th gave the Rockies a two-run lead. Corey Seager quickly erased that lead with his two-run home-run, his second 4-bagger of the night. A triple by Garrett Hampson gave the Rockies the lead again. Chris Taylor mashed an opposite field homer to give the Dodgers a (6-5) lead in the 6th inning. After no action in the 7th, former Dodger, Matt Kemp, homered to hand his former team their first series loss of the season.

In Other News: The Angels are on a bit of a hot streak and slowly making their way into playoff discussions. They are fresh off a (4) game sweep of their rival Houston Astros. The Angels should look to build on that momentum against a struggling Rangers team this week. Their pitching has slowly been able to supply some sort of support to that monster offense. Their ace, Andrew Heaney, in particular has been brilliant as of late.

About Our Correspondent: Hector Ponce, a native of Boyle Heights, is entering his final semester as a Business Management Major at California State University, Long Beach. He is a graduate of St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower. He has previous experience covering the Dodgers and Angels with Fansided and SoCal Sports Hub respectively.

Story Photo Credits: Marvin Jimenez/T.G.Sportstv1