Pederson’s turnaround story caps off sweep of the Mets
By Cary Osborne
When Joc Pederson collided with Yasiel Puig in right-center field at Dodger Stadium on May 23, the Dodger center fielder’s season took a sudden pause.
He took an elbow to the jaw, and his head bounced off the padding of the wall. His forehead was cut. He was concussed.
It was another gash on a season, to that point, that had been a disappointment for a young player who took a giant leap forward in 2016.
Through 35 games Pederson had two home runs and was hitting .200. And then he went on the disabled list.
Almost a month to the day of the injury, the frustration was gone and the joy was let out. His season has started anew.
As soon as Pederson hit Mets reliever Paul Sewald’s seventh-inning offering on Thursday 433 feet into a sea of fans in the Right Field Pavilion for a solo home run, he turned to the Dodger dugout and grinned and pointed. He would later round third base, leap and windmill low-five third-base coach Chris Woodward.
His foot hit home plate, giving the Dodgers the go-ahead run in their 6–3 win over the Mets at Dodger Stadium. The win completed a four-game sweep of the Mets.
Is Pederson back?
“I think he’s getting there, and the one gauge for me is seeing his plate discipline,” said Dodger manager Dave Roberts. “And over the last 10 games he’s not offering at everything moving forward. So when balls are out of the strike zone he’s doing a good job taking. And he’s getting on base at an incredible rate right now. The next piece is when he gets balls in the strike zone to do what he did tonight.”
Since returning from the disabled list on June 13, Pederson is 10-for-32 with three homers, hitting .313/.488/.688.
When Pederson began his rehab assignment in Oklahoma City on June 9, it was to be for an indefinite period of time until he found his swing and got comfortable in the batter’s box. The Dodgers needed Pederson sooner than expected, though, when Adrián González’s back forced him to the disabled list on June 13.
Now he’s making an impact on a regular basis. He entered the game in the seventh inning on a double switch. He was 2-for-2 in the game, adding a single in the eighth inning.
Collecting four-baggers
The Dodgers set the Los Angeles record for home runs in a series with 15 in these four games against the Mets.
The previous record was set in 1997 when the Dodgers hit 14 in a four-game series at Colorado from Sept. 25–28.
Three of the games against the Mets saw multi-home run efforts — Monday: Cody Bellinger with two, Tuesday: Corey Seager with three, and Wednesday: Yasmani Grandal with two.
On Thursday, Justin Turner hit a solo home run off Mets starter Steven Matz in the third inning. Two batters later, Kiké Hernández hit a two-run homer to give the Dodgers a 3–1 lead at the time.
Collecting free passes
The Dodgers walked nine times in the game.
Austin Barnes walked three times, including in the seventh with the bases loaded. That walk followed one to Pedro Baez with the bases loaded.
The pitching
Hyun-Jin Ryu gave up a leadoff home run to Curtis Granderson, but kept the Dodgers in the game with five innings of work, allowing two earned runs.
Kenley Jansen came in and earned his sixth four-out save of the season.
The Dodgers begin a three-game series with the Rockies on Friday with Alex Wood on the mound.
