Pujols RBI in First Dodger Game – 5/17/21

Pujols RBI in First Dodger Game

Pujols RBI in First Dodger Game – Recap – 5/17/21

Dodgers continued their homestand, beginning a four-game series tonight against the Diamondbacks. The Dodgers had yet to face them this year, so it was their first look at their NL West opponent for the season. Walker Buehler started against the very familiar Madison Bumgarner. The Dodgers came off a loss against the Marlins, so moving right back in the win column kept the good feeling from the last week going. Oh, and some dude named Albert Pujols knocked in an RBI in his first game as a Dodger.

Pujols First Dodger RBI

The offense gave Buehler an early lead when Smith led off the 2nd inning with his fourth home run of the season. His first home run of May gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. They added another run in the 3rd when Mookie and Turner both drew walks in the inning. With two outs and runners on the corners, Albert Pujols had his chance for his first Dodger moment. After flying out his first time up, Pujols came through with an RBI base hit  in his first Dodger game for a 2-0 lead! In his first game with the team, he was already making an impact with his bat. Yes, future Hall of Famer, Albert Pujols, drove home future Hall of Famer, Mookie Betts, for the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Buehler Gets Out of a Jam

Buehler has never lost a game to the Diamondbacks over his career.  He wasn’t about to let that change tonight. Buehler got through the first three innings with relative ease, only allowing two base runners. He found himself in a bit of trouble in the top of the 4th. With one out Buehler walked three straight hitters. Coming into this game, Buehler had only walked three batters all season, and now he had loaded the bases with three consecutive walks. Buehler buckled down and struck out Ahmed for a big second out, and Locastro flew out to end the inning. After this shaky inning from Buehler, he retired the next nine batters he faced. 

With another start under his belt, Buehler has now gone at least six innings in every start this year. The bullpen game yesterday made it that much more important for the Dodgers to get some length from Buehler tonight. That 4th inning really had me thinking it might be a quick night for him, but he did his thing and locked in to go a few more. His 98 pitches tonight were the second most he had thrown this season. After giving up four earned runs in his last outing, it was great to see Buehler come back out this start and go seven scoreless.

Lux Comes Up Short at Short

González took over for Buehler on the mound in the 8th inning and retired the first hitter on two pitches. He then walked Smith and gave up an infield base hit to short. The next batter hit the ball in almost the same exact spot, and Lux once again tried to make a sliding grab, but this time he can’t stop the ball. It rolls into left, and the D-backs are on the board. González gets the ground ball the next batter, but Lux can only get the lead runner at second. With the tying run 90 feet away and two outs, Roberts decided to bring in Jansen for a four-out save. He got the ground ball, and Turner made a nice play to his left in the hole to throw the runner out and end the inning.

Lux Comes in Clutch in the Box

The Dodgers were ahead, but wanted some insurance.  They got it thanks to Smith and Lux. Smith picked up his second hit of the game when he doubled with one out. Beaty moved him over to third on a ground out, and Lux gave the Dodgers a 3-1 lead with a base hit. Before that base hit, Lux was batting .357 with RISP and two outs. He finds a way to get it done with two outs this season in big moments.  He more than made up for his bobbles at short stop with his bat this game.

Jansen found himself in a bit of trouble in the 9th, but with two on and one out, he got the double play to end the inning! He picks up his eighth save of the season, and the Dodgers have now won six of their last eight.

They’ll try to keep it rolling with Urías on the mound tomorrow night at 7:10 PM PDT.

For yesterday’s game recap, click here.

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