As much as it pained Kyle Snyder to see Tyler Glasnow traded from Tampa Bay toward Dodgers Last December, the Rays’ pitching coach predicted the move would benefit the 6-foot-8 right-hander from Santa Clarita.
“I truly believe his best days are ahead of him,” Snyder said in February. “It’s healthy. The injury that arose in 2019 was finally resolved (with Tommy John surgery) in 2021. I would expect him to have his best years in the short term and be as good a starter as he is in the National League, without a doubt. .”
The Dodgers’ new ace has made his old coach look prophetic, Glasnow made his third straight dominant start (this time with seven innings, two runs, five hits, 10 strikeouts and a walk) in a 11-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves in front of 44,474 at Dodger Stadium on Saturday night.
Max Muncy provided most of the power in a 16-hit attack with the first three-homer game of his career (a two-run shot in the second inning and solo shots in the seventh and eighth innings) and the first by a player from the Dodgers since Trayce Thompson hit. three home runs against the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 1, 2023.
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Glasnow’s third 10-hit game in eight starts pushed the Dodgers to their 10th victory in 12 games, a stretch in which their starting pitchers have allowed just 16 earned runs in 68⅔ innings for a 2.10 ERA.
“It’s fun to watch, it really is.” manager dave roberts saying. “You see the energy on the bench, the intensity on the field and in the batter’s box, you see the focus. “Then putting all that together with a lot of talent is winning baseball.”
Glasnow improved to 7-1 with a 2.70 ERA on the season and has allowed just two earned runs on 14 hits in 21 innings, striking out 29 and walking four, in his last three starts: wins over the New York Mets, Toronto Blue. Blue Jays and Braves. He threw 61 of his 96 pitches for strikes and induced 11 swinging strikes and 12 called strikes.
“He continues to support us and be the high-level guy we expect him to be,” Roberts said. “For him to attack the zone, be efficient and get through that seventh inning was huge. He was on the attack all night against a team that hit very well.”
Glasnow retired the first nine batters, three on strikeout, in the first three innings, launching a knee-high 98 mph fastball into the inside corner to hit Travis d’Arnaud who was looking to end the second and drop an 85 mph curve. the inside corner to sniff Jarred Kelenic looking to finish the third.
Glasnow allowed his second run in the seventh when d’Arnaud led off with a double, took third on a groundout and scored on Orlando Arcia’s groundout.
“Honestly, it was probably after the fourth inning that I felt pretty good,” said Glasnow, who leads the major leagues in strikeouts (63) and innings (50). “The speed and everything was there when I wanted them to be further forward in the at-bats. And as the game went on, I felt better and better.”
The offense gave Glasnow plenty of cushion, with Muncy hitting a two-run homer off Braves starter Bryce Elder 412 feet to center field for a 2-0 lead in the second and Shohei Ohtani hit a solo home run to right field, his eighth of the season to surpass Roberts and lead the franchise in home runs by a Japanese-born player, to take a 3–0 lead in the third.
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Andy Pages He sparked a four-run quarter with a leadoff home run to left-center field, giving the rookie outfielder four home runs in 16 games since his promotion to the major leagues in mid-April and extending his hitting streak to 10 games.
The Dodgers continued to bat in the fourth, Ohtani hit an opposite field RBI single to left for a 5-1 lead and RBI singles by Freddie Freeman and Will Smith pushed the lead to 7-1.
Muncy unleashed a three-run seventh with a 404-foot homer to right field off left-hander Tyler Matzek, and sent his eighth home run of the season 371 feet to left-center field off right-hander Jackson Stephens in the eighth, giving gave him eight home runs in the season.
“It was a really cool moment for me, first time doing that,” Muncy said of his three-homer game. “I’ve felt good at the plate the last two weeks. I know the results aren’t always there, but I feel like I’ve gotten some decent at-bats. Sometimes you get tough pitches. Tonight I was able to get the barrel a little better to the ball.”
Muncy’s third home run barely cleared the wall, but Roberts thought the opposite-field throw was telling for the left-handed slugger.
“We haven’t seen that home run from behind in a long time,” said Roberts, whose Dodgers have outscored their opponents 78-24 in the last 12 games. “When you can go the other direction, you’re spinning the ball in the right direction and it goes out of the park instead of a swing that cuts it. So your swing is in a very good place. … I think he’s becoming a better hitter again and not just a one-dimensional slugger.”
Roberts said reliever Blake Treinen, whose return from shoulder surgery was delayed by an early March line drive that fractured several of the veteran right-hander’s ribs, will likely be activated for Sunday’s series finale against the Braves.
Treinen, who sat out most of the 2022 and 2023 seasons due to shoulder injuries, completed a five-game minor league rehab stint with scoreless innings for triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday and Thursday nights.
He was 6-5 with a 1.99 ERA in 72 games in his last full season in 2021, striking out 85 and walking 25 in 72 ⅓ innings as setup man for closer Kenley Jansen.
Most relievers would take on a more influential role after being out so long, but Roberts said he won’t hesitate to use Treinen, 35, to hold narrow leads or keep the score tied in the late innings.
“I think in my case… I don’t want to just leave him in a situation where we have to ease him in,” Roberts said. “I think a softer landing would be nice, but if the game requires a leverage situation, I have no problem going to it.”
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This story originally appeared on Los Angeles Times.
