2017 Los Angeles Dodgers season
[21] With most of the positions in the lineup locked in before camp, the major battle was for the last couple of spots in the starting rotation behind Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill and Kenta Maeda.
In the mix were veterans Brandon McCarthy, Scott Kazmir and Hyun-jin Ryu, all of whom were coming back from injuries as well as Alex Wood, Ross Stripling, Julio Urias and Brock Stewart.
[38] The Dodgers were unable to get much offense against Taijuan Walker and Rich Hill left his second start of the season with a flare up of his recurring blister problem as the team lost 3–1.
A two-run homer by Christian Arroyo in the seventh and a solo shot by Michael Morse in the eighth tied the game and the Giants won 4–3 on a walk-off sacrifice fly by Hunter Pence in the tenth inning.
Kenta Maeda's two run RBI single in the fourth put the Dodgers ahead for good and Hyun-Jin Ryu pitched four scoreless innings out of the bullpen to earn his first major league save.
With the win and the Rockies loss earlier in the day, the Dodgers moved into sole possession of first place in the National League West Division for the first time all season.
[89] Justin Turner came off the disabled list to hit a two-run home run in his first at-bat as the Dodgers won the opener of a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds, 7–2.
[94] However, the Dodgers winning streak came to an end on June 15 when the Indians scored seven runs off Rich Hill in four innings and Lonnie Chisenhall clubbed a three-run homer off of reliever Ross Stripling en route to a 12–5 Cleveland victory.
[95] Joc Pederson homered and Alex Wood allowed only one run in eight innings pitched as the Dodgers won 3–1 over the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park the next day.
[108] Clayton Kershaw struck out 12 batters in seven innings while the Dodgers hit three home runs en route to a 6–2 win and a split of the series with the Angels.
[112] The Dodgers returned home on Independence Day to begin a six-game homestand, starting with a three-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks, who had the second best record in the division coming into the game.
Clayton Kershaw pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out 11 batters while Justin Turner and Yasmani Grandal drove in two runs each and the Dodgers won 4–3.
[113] In the next game, Alex Wood pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out 10 batters while Grandal provided the only offense with an RBI double in the 1–0 win.
[128] On July 23, Kershaw left the game after two innings because of lower back tightness and Kenley Jansen blew his first save of the season when Matt Adams hit a three-run homer off him in the ninth.
[131] In the next game, Brock Stewart made his first start of the season and gave up five unearned runs in 3+2⁄3 innings but the Dodgers battled back and eventually won 6–5 on a walk-off hit by Justin Turner to complete the sweep of the Twins.
[141] Hyun-jin Ryu struck out eight and allowed only one baserunner (a single by Travis d'Arnaud) in seven innings of work as the Dodgers completed the sweep of the Mets with an 8–0 victory.
Justin Turner hit two home runs to stake the Dodgers to an early lead, but a grand slam homer by Jake Lamb off reliever Tony Watson in the seventh inning gave the Diamondbacks a come from behind 6–3 win.
[155] The following day, spot starter Brock Stewart struggled, allowing five runs in the third inning without recording an out but the Dodgers bullpen prevented more damage and the offense picked up the clack.
[159] In the next game, Zach Davies shut out the Dodgers over seven innings with seven strikeouts and the bullpen finished the job as the Brewers won 3–0 with a two-run homer by Orlando Arcia being the main offense.
Padres pitcher Dinelson Lamet was also good, striking out 10 in six innings but the Dodgers managed to score a run in the sixth en route to a 1–0 victory to snap the longest losing streak of the season.
[167] In the final game of the road trip, Cody Bellinger hit his 36th home run of the season, breaking Mike Piazza's franchise rookie record.
J. D. Martinez tied a major league record by hitting four home runs in the game and Robbie Ray struck out 14 in 7+2⁄3 innings as the Diamondbacks routed the Dodgers 13–0.
[171] The Colorado Rockies came to town for the next series and in the opener got to Kershaw early, as he allowed a three-run homer to Nolan Arenado in the first inning en route to a 9–1 shellacking.
In the opener, Alex Wood struck out eight and only allowed three hits in six shutout innings and the Dodgers homered three times, including a three-run blast by Corey Seager.
[180] In the final game of the series, Ryan Zimmerman hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning off of reliever Ross Stripling and the Nationals went ahead to a 7–1 win to avoid the sweep.
Cody Bellinger hit his 39th homer, a three-run blast, to set a new NL rookie record, Rich Hill struck out nine in six innings, Kenley Jansen picked up his 40th save and the Dodgers beat the Giants 4–2.
[198] In the opener of the series, the Cubs took the early lead when Albert Almora hit a two-run homer off of Clayton Kershaw in the fourth inning but the Dodgers fought back, tying the game on a RBI double by Yasiel Puig and a sacrifice fly by Seager's replacement Charlie Culberson in the fifth.
Solo homers by Chris Taylor and Puig and an RBI hit by Justin Turner gave the Dodgers enough runs to win 5–2 as the bullpen shut the Cubs down over the last four innings of the game.
Carlos Correa drove in the Astros second run of the game on a single in the eighth, ending the Dodgers bullpen's streak of 28 consecutive scoreless innings in the postseason.
Bregman scored on a double by Altuve to put the Astros ahead for the first time in the game, and then Correa hit a two-run home run to extend the lead.
