Doug Padilla, ESPN Staff Writer 8y

Dodgers' offense picks up bullpen and creates fireworks

LOS ANGELES -- That Los Angeles Dodgers' bullpen, which had been the cornerstone during the club’s midseason revival, not only took on water Friday, it also was hit with a 70-foot wave.

That Dodgers' offense, though, the co-conspirator in the effort to get the team back into contention for a fourth consecutive division title, brought along the proper bail out techniques.

And in the end, the bullpen found its redemption with Kenley Jansen’s four-out save that was under more pressure than usual. Jansen needed to dispatch the Arizona Diamondbacks quickly in the ninth inning in order for the planned fireworks show to go off before curfew. Jansen obliged, finishing off a wild 9-7 win before an anxious crowd of 50,966.

“I don’t care, man, I have a job to do,” Jansen said, when asked if he heard the announcement to fans that the fireworks show was in danger of being cancelled. “I don’t care about fireworks. I have to make sure I don’t get fireworks out there. I have to make sure I stop that from happening.”

They make curious bedfellows, these specialty pitchers and once-downtrodden hitters, who started the season in the shadow of a Clayton Kershaw-led starting pitching staff; but they have been there when the Dodgers were in need.

Kershaw has been out for more than a month now, and yet the Dodgers continue to rise in the National League West, no doubt helped by the San Francisco Giants’ second-half free fall.

Since June 26, the last day Kershaw threw a major league pitch, the Dodgers are 17-10. They are an even better 15-8 in July, as the Giants’ division lead has been shaved down from eight games on the night Kershaw was lost to one game now. It is the closest the Dodgers have been since May 15.

“Every one’s a big [victory], but arguably, that might be the best one of the year,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “My memory might get a little short. But yeah, we’re resilient.”

The Dodgers led 3-0 heading into the seventh inning on Friday behind starter Kenta Maeda, only to see the Diamondbacks start a rally that consisted of bloop singles, walks and infield hits. When the dust had settled, the Dodgers used five pitchers in the inning, and the Diamondbacks came away with seven runs -- three on a double by Paul Goldschmidt off Pedro Baez.

But in another example of just how charmed the bullpen has been, Baez was credited with the victory when the Dodgers’ offense rallied for five runs in its half of the seventh, as the Diamondbacks used three pitchers.

Jansen watched from beyond the left-field fence as his bullpen mates went through their seventh-inning horror show, which ended with the Diamondbacks holding a 7-3 lead.

“You can’t beat yourself up on that, man,” Jansen said. “The hitters did a great job, and the bullpen fought through it. It wasn’t like they were hitting rockets. That was just good hitting by the other team, and sometimes you just have to pick up your teammates.”

Jansen wasn’t the only one with that mindset. Joc Pederson and Chase Utley hit two-run home runs in the bottom of the seventh to get the Dodgers even. Yasmani Grandal then added an RBI single to give the Dodgers an 8-7 lead. Corey Seager added an insurance run in the eighth on an RBI double.

An offense that was carried by rookies Seager and Trayce Thompson early is now getting what it expected from everybody up and down the lineup. The Dodgers entered play Friday leading the National League in on-base percentage for July (.344) and second in batting average (.271) and hits (206). They were third in runs (101).

“It was just a matter of time,” said Grandal, who is batting .300 (18-for-60) in July. “It seems like this year we’ve come from behind more than in any other year. I don’t remember last year doing the things that we have been doing this year, so that is a good sign.

“As to the offense, we’ve been huge the last month, month and a half, and it seems like we’re just getting better, having good at-bats, taking the pitchers’ pitch counts up, making them work.”

Pederson, just eight games removed from the disabled list, is even giving the Dodgers production from the No. 8 hole in the lineup. He has multiple hits in three of his past five games, including four RBIs on Friday to match a career high.

“We weren’t playing that way a month ago,” Pederson said. “We have been coming up with a lot more clutch hits. We have a special thing going that gets us through late in games.”

Maybe it’s just the offense’s turn to lead the charge for the Dodgers. After all, the bullpen has experienced heavy use of late, as the starters have not been going deep into games. Is the heavy use finally catching up to the bullpen?

“We talk about their usage a lot, but they all feel good; and for me, I don’t think the stuff has curtailed,” a confident Roberts said.

Whether the bullpen has hit a wall or not, the offense is ready to continue the current trend. The Dodgers are starting to excel in this game of pass-the-baton. Nobody wants to let the other guy down.

“I think it’s huge; if we have that mentality, we will go far,” Grandal said. “Whatever it is we can do to help the team win, that’s what it’s about. I wasn’t able to do it my second at-bat. I just got away from my approach. In the [seventh inning], I just stayed with my approach and stayed with what I have been doing all year, I guess.”

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