{"id":441625,"date":"2026-08-24T01:26:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T01:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/441625\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T01:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T01:26:12","slug":"blake-snell-and-dodgers-sweep-pirates-for-their-sixth-consecutive-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/441625\/","title":{"rendered":"Blake Snell and Dodgers sweep Pirates for their sixth consecutive win"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On a steamy Sunday when everyone in the Dodger Stadium seats was using programs to fan themselves, Blake Snell<\/a> was fanning Pittsburgh Pirates \u2014 six strikeouts in six innings of work \u2014 and the bottom of the order played like the top of the lineup, providing ample offensive spark for a 4-0 victory<\/a> that stretched the Dodgers<\/a>\u2019 winning streak to six games.<\/p>\n

What a weekend for Dodger pitchers \u2014 Yoshinobu Yamamoto<\/a> followed by Tarik Skubal<\/a> followed by Snell, with Tyler Glasnow<\/a> on deck and Shohei Ohtani<\/a> getting healthier by the day and scheduled to throw a bullpen session during the upcoming series in Atlanta.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s daunting,\u201d said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts<\/a>, barely suppressing a smile. \u201cAs an offense \u2014 an opposing offense \u2014 to look at the probables you see Glasnow, Yamamoto, Snell, [Roki] Sasaki, and then potentially Shohei. It gets daunting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Come October, Dodger Stadium could be a daunted house.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, the team is coming off back-to-back sweeps of the Colorado Rockies<\/a> and Pirates (63-69), who mustered two hits Sunday after a combined 14 in the first two games of the series.<\/p>\n

For his part, Snell was happy but not thrilled about his performance, which included three walks and one hit batter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were a couple innings there where, you know, get two quick outs and then full-count walk, full-count walk,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not acceptable. Especially with, I feel good, I know I can command the ball. Honestly, it\u2019s lazy. It\u2019s me trying to get strikeouts instead of, you know, trying to go seven, eight, nine. So I definitely got to clean that up. But I know I\u2019m going to do that, and just continue to get better, and learn, and grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yamamoto, Skubal and Snell combined for 26 strikeouts, five walks and five earned runs in 19 innings.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a lot of good competition within the starting rotation,\u201d Snell said. \u201cI\u2019m really excited about it. I mean, being able to watch some of the best pitchers in the game and learn from them \u2014 their mentality, the way they attack \u2014 having those conversations are very big. I\u2019m definitely grateful to be on the same team, but a lot to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

At the plate, the Dodgers (80-51) got some welcome help from the bottom of the order. Center fielder Alek Thomas<\/a> and catcher Hunter Feduccia<\/a> \u2014 replacements for injured All-Stars Andy Pages and Will Smith \u2014 drove in runs with consecutive singles in the fourth. That turned a familiar one-run game, of which the Dodgers have had a lot lately, into a leisurely Sunday stroll.<\/p>\n

Before the game, Roberts expressed some concern that while Thomas could handle all the defensive responsibilities of Pages, there might be a drop-off in hitting. But that hasn\u2019t been a worry so far, as Thomas had key hits on both Saturday and Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely feels good,\u201d said Thomas, formerly of the Arizona Diamondbacks. \u201cComing here, I played against the Dodgers my whole career, grew up not really liking the team, whatever. And coming over here, it feels good to be on a side that wins a lot and has fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

No need to remind Kyle Tucker<\/a>. The huge-money outfielder has been one of the more compelling stories this season. He came into the weekend hitting .189 at Dodger Stadium, and he had gone 0 for 19 in his last homestand. That futility was starting to spill over to his defense, too, as he dropped a routine foul ball in front of a crowd whose patience had long since worn thin.<\/p>\n

\"Dodgers <\/p>\n

Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia celebrates with catcher Hunter Feduccia after the final out of a 4-0 win over the Pirates on Sunday.<\/p>\n

(Robert Gauthier \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

But on Friday night, there was a concerted effort by Dodgers fans to cheer him loudly every time he stepped to the plate, in hopes of lifting him out of the ditch. Three years ago, fans of the Philadelphia Phillies famously buoyed the spirits of underperforming shortstop Trea Turner by giving him the same kind of standing ovation.<\/p>\n

Did it work for Tucker? He had the winning hit Saturday, a two-run single in the fifth, and Sunday had a hit and scored a run.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel good this weekend, just the contribution in this game,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was great, we got a sweep so can\u2019t complain too much about that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had some good at-bats, a couple barrels. Even [Saturday], a couple balls hit harder, they just didn\u2019t find good spots. But that happens sometimes. Just trying to put together good at-bats, get guys over, man.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohtani\u2019s pitching timeline \"Dodgers <\/p>\n

Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, right, beats the tag of Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Jared Triolo to steal second base in the first inning Sunday.<\/p>\n

(Robert Gauthier \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Ohtani is on the mend from a left knee injury and could be ready to return to the pitching rotation soon.<\/p>\n

Ohtani threw 30 pitches in a live batting-practice session Saturday at Dodger Stadium, marking his first time facing hitters since his last start on July 3. Roberts said that outing puts him in position to return to action soon.<\/p>\n

The right-hander is scheduled to throw a bullpen session during the upcoming series at Atlanta, and the Dodgers will then decide whether he\u2019s ready to rejoin the rotation or needs to throw more live batting practice. Roberts said there\u2019s a possibility Ohtani could return as soon as the first week of September.<\/p>\n

Last year, when Ohtani was returning from a second career Tommy John surgery, the Dodgers eased him into pitching slowly, starting with one inning and then adding an inning each appearance. Apparently, the team won\u2019t be quite as cautious this time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say it\u2019d be a little bit more aggressive,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n

Asked if that could mean, theoretically, the Ohtani could build up to five innings by the end of the season, the manager said: \u201cIn theory, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On a steamy Sunday when everyone in the Dodger Stadium seats was using programs to fan themselves, Blake…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441626,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[48,52,51,47,50,49],"class_list":["post-441625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}