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Gavin Stone pitches seven strong innings to give Dodgers their 14th win in 16 games

Mike DiGiovanna, Los Angeles Times on

Published in Baseball

LOS ANGELES — Dave Roberts has seen his share of hot streaks during his nine years as Dodgers manager — you don't win 100 games or more in five of the last seven seasons without going on a few tears.

But he's not sure he's seen the Dodgers string together as many complete games, combining starting pitching, relief pitching, offense and defense, as they have during this current run, which continued with Wednesday's 3-1 victory over the Miami Marlins before 40,702 in Chavez Ravine.

Teoscar Hernández drove in all three Dodgers runs on an RBI single in the first inning and a tie-breaking two-run homer in the sixth, and Gavin Stone threw seven superb innings, giving up one run and six hits, striking out four and walking none, as the Dodgers won for the 14th time in 16 games and extended their win streak to seven.

In 16 games since April 21, the Dodgers have outscored opponents 100-31 and hit .286 with 28 homers, 35 doubles, 73 walks and only 99 strikeouts. Their pitchers have combined for a 1.74 ERA, yielding 28 earned runs and 12 homers in 145 innings.

The Dodgers entered the day with 23 defensive runs saved, according to Fangraphs, the third-best team total in the league, and Wednesday's errorless game ended with second baseman Miguel Rojas charging a slow Jesus Sanchez roller and making a quick and accurate off-balance throw to first for the final out.

Dodgers starting pitchers have notched 11 quality starts and allowed 23 earned runs in 94 1/3 innings in the 16 games, good for a 2.19 ERA.

 

The bullpen — after Michael Grove's scoreless eighth inning and Daniel Hudson's scoreless ninth — has allowed five earned runs over 50 2/3 innings during the stretch, good for an 0.89 ERA. And that's despite losing closer Evan Phillips and setup men Joe Kelly and Ryan Brasier to injuries during the stretch.

"We've played some great baseball at times over the years, but this [stretch], from all facets of the game, is as good as I've seen," Roberts said. "It's hard to beat what we've done."

The Dodgers didn't pound the ball on Wednesday, mustering six hits against hard-throwing Marlins left-hander Ryan Weathers and two relievers in the 1-hour, 55-minute matinee, the shortest Dodgers game since 2003. But when you pitch as well as they did — the Dodgers did not walk a batter — you don't have to.

"I think you win with pitching and defense, like everyone says, and our offense is the best in the league," Rojas said. "The starters have been doing their part, and the bullpen has been amazing. Everything is clicking right now for us, and we have to kind of continue to ride the wave."

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