Shohei Sets the Tone on the Mound in a Combined Shutout!

Man, today was Dodgers baseball from start to finish

First off — Shohei, Shohei, Shohei. Today wasn't bat-Shohei, it was mound-Shohei. When I saw he wasn't in the lineup I went "huh?" — turns out it was his two-way pitching day. He faced 26 batters, gave up just 4 hits, walked 2, and racked up 8 strikeouts. Topped out at 101 mph (about 162 km/h) and averaged 91 mph — that's straight-up ace work, no question. He shut down the Giants lineup cold and I was straight up yelling "Thanks Shohei!" at the TV.

Bottom 3rd — Espinal of all people opens the scoring

This is where it got electric. Espinal crushed one to left-center. Exit velo 100.8 mph, launch angle 32°, traveled 383 feet (about 116 m). "Whoaaa! Espinal?!" — totally out of nowhere, and we're on the board.

Then right after, here comes Betts! Also to the left-center bleachers. 104.1 mph, 28° launch angle, 414 feet (about 126 m) — even bigger than the last one. "YES! THIS! This is the Betts bomb I wanted to see!" — I was fist-pumping all by myself. Back-to-back jacks in the 3rd locked in the mood right there. Huge.

Bottom 4th — small ball for insurance, momentum perfect

The 4th kept rolling too. T. Hernández lined a timely single down the right-field line. The exit velo was only 68 mph, nothing crazy, but the placement was perfect and brought the runner home no problem.

Then Kolè lifted a sac fly — 81 mph at a 48° angle, plenty of hang time, traveled 240 feet to right and the runner trotted home from third easy. 4-0. It's not just the homers — being able to manufacture runs like this is what makes the current Dodgers so tough.

Combined shutout, walked off feeling great

Riding Shohei's gem, the bullpen slammed the door with zeros and we took it 4-0 for the shutout. Shutting out the Giants at home — does it get any better than that?

Even on a day Shohei doesn't bat, if he gives us this on the mound, no complaints here. Next time go off at the plate too, buddy! For now, this beer tastes amazing.