Los Angeles Dodgers defeat Pittsburgh Pirates 15-1 – MLB Update
James Loney pounded the Pittsburgh Pirates defence with five hits and three RBI’s on Sunday, September 19 to help the Los Angeles Dodgers to a convincing 15-1 victory at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles to sweep the three game series.
"Every time you face adversity, you've got to pick yourself up and do the best you can," Loney said. "I've learned a lot this year about hitting, and I'm trying to get pitches to hit. I just think my timing mechanism has been better.”
Batting .356, Loney has had a huge improvement in his performance after the initial uncomfortable and unsatisfactory phase of .250 in June. Having now hit 24 RBIs, since August 21, he has six homers to his credit that makes his season average .283.
“I just feel more in control and my confidence is a lot better. During the course of the year, you're supposed to hit certain pitches in certain areas, and I wasn't doing that early on,” Loney said. “At times maybe I was trying too hard and swinging too
hard."
Chad Billingsley provided a good start to the Los Angeles Dodgers with a shut-out first while Jamey Carroll had a single, Matt Kemp homered and Jerry Sands singled to centre to give the Dodgers a decent 3-0 lead by the end of the first inning.
Matt Kemp had another single against Brand Lincoln, James Loney had his two-run double and Jerry Sands had a huge three-run homer in the second to take the Dodgers to 9-1 against the straining Pirates’ defence.
Juan Rivera had a two-run single in the third, while A.J. Ellis had a single in the fifth to put the Pirates comfortably in charge of the game with a 12-1 lead after Xavier Paul had the only run for the Pirates at the top of the inning.
Rivera had a two-run double in the sixth against Daniel McCutchen while James Loney had a single to right to give the team a 15-1 lead as the Pirates’ defence failed to live up to expectations. Billingsley of the Dodgers allowed one run in his five innings
while Lincoln of the Pirates gave up six runs in 1.2 innings.
None of the Pirates’ pitchers could get control over the game as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ offence went against every pitcher to take the lead to 15-1. With the lead favouring the Dodgers, Ramon Troncoso pitched a shut-out ninth to end the game with a 15-1
victory for the Dodgers to sweep the series 3-1.
The Dodgers put in a tremendous performance as they fought hard and got a convincing win over the struggling Pirates. Pittsburgh will be looking to improve their efforts before their next match-up.
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