Dodgers Stat of the Day: May 2021
MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Dodgers this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.
May 31: Dodgers 9, Cardinals 4 -- Taylor's game-winning at-bat
Chris Taylor put together the at-bat of the season so far for the Dodgers in the sixth inning. Taylor saw 14 pitches from left-hander Génesis Cabrera before delivering a go-ahead bases-clearing double. The 14-pitch at-bat was the longest in Taylor's career and the longest by a Dodgers hitter since Justin Turner on Aug. 30, 2019, vs. Arizona.
May 30: Giants 5, Dodgers 4 -- Giants get to Kershaw
Clayton Kershaw made his 50th career start against the Giants on Sunday, but it didn't go as the left-hander would've liked. Kershaw allowed five runs over six innings. The five runs tied the most Kershaw has allowed in a start against the Giants in his career. The only other time that happened was Sept. 29, 2018, in San Francisco.
May 29: Giants 11, Dodgers 6 -- Pujols ties Ruth
With a two-run homer in the Dodgers' loss to the Giants on Saturday, Albert Pujols tied Babe Ruth for fourth-most extra-base hits in Major League history with 1,356. The homer was also No. 669 in Pujols' career.
May 28: Giants 8, Dodgers 5 (10) -- Buehler's fastball
Dodgers starter Walker Buehler threw 39 four-seam fastballs in the loss to the Giants, but he didn't record a single swing and miss on the pitch. It was the first time since his Major League debut -- and first as a starter -- that Buehler didn't record a whiff on the fastball.
May 27: Dodgers 4, Giants 3 -- Angry Kenley
In the Dodgers' win over the Giants on Thursday, Kenley Jansen threw a 95.7 mph cutter to strike out Buster Posey in the ninth. It was the fastest cutter thrown by Jansen since the 2018 postseason.
May 26: Astros 5, Dodgers 2 -- Rare night for Bauer
Dodgers starter Trevor Bauer recorded a season-low three strikeouts and walked four in the finale at Minute Maid Park. It was the first time since May 16, 2019, against the Orioles that Bauer walked more batters than he punched out.
May 25: Dodgers 9, Astros 2 -- Slow pitch, big homer
Justin Turner's two-run home run in the fourth inning came on a 68.1 mph eephus from Zack Greinke. It was the slowest pitch Turner has homered off in his career. The previous slowest was 74.5 mph, which came on April 15 against the Rockies' Austin Gomber.
May 23: Dodgers 11, Giants 5 -- Urías helps himself out
In addition to striking out 10 batters over six innings, Julio Urías had two hits and three RBIs in Sunday's win over the Giants. It was Urías' first multihit and multi-RBI game of his career.
May 22: Dodgers 6, Giants 3 -- Get it out of the ocean ... again
With his third career homer into San Francisco's McCovey Cove, Max Muncy joined Carlos Delgado and Adam LaRoche in a three-way tie for the most Splash Hits by an opposing player.
May 21: Dodgers 2, Giants 1 -- Streaking Dodgers
After their win over the Giants on Friday at Oracle Park, the Dodgers have now won five in a row and nine of their last 10. The Dodgers' pitching staff has held opposing teams to three or fewer runs in eight of their last 10 games.
May 20: Dodgers 3, D-backs 2 -- Pujols passes Murray
With his two-run homer in the second inning of the Dodgers' win over the D-backs, Albert Pujols moved up to 13th on the all-time hits list with 3,256. He passed former Dodger Eddie Murray, who finished his career with 3,255 hits. Pujols needs 27 more hits to tie Willie Mays (3,283) for 12th all-time.
May 19: Dodgers 4, D-backs 2 -- Quality Kershaw
Clayton Kershaw allowed two runs over six innings of work in the Dodgers' win over the D-backs. It was the sixth quality start of the season for the future Hall of Famer. Kershaw is already racking up the strikeouts, with eight or more K's in five starts this season.
May 18: Dodgers 9, D-backs 1 -- A heat wave in LA
After a forgettable three-week span in which the Dodgers weren't playing their best baseball, the team is starting to find ways to win again. The Dodgers pulled away from the D-backs to improve to 6-1 on their nine-game homestand.
May 17: Dodgers 3, D-backs 1 -- Jansen ties Eckersley
Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen got the final four outs to seal the win in the series opener. It was Jansen's 320th career save, tying him with Dennis Eckersley for the third-most saves with one team. That's an amazing feat, but Jansen has a ways to go to catch Hall of Famers Mariano Rivera (652, Yankees) and Trevor Hoffman (552, Padres).
May 16: Marlins 3, Dodgers 2 -- Beaty hits everywhere
Matt Beaty hit cleanup in the series finale. Why is that notable? Because the outfielder has now batted in every spot in the order at some point this season. He also continued swinging a hot bat, going 3-for-4 in the loss.
May 15: Dodgers 7, Marlins 0 -- Home sweet home for Bauer
Trevor Bauer struck out 10 and tossed seven scoreless innings in the Dodgers' win over the Marlins, continuing the right-hander's success at his new home ballpark. Bauer is now 3-0 at Dodger Stadium this season and has allowed just two earned runs over 20 combined innings.
May 14: Dodgers 9, Marlins 6 -- Kenley brings the heat
Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen struck out Corey Dickerson on a 96.8 mph pitch in the ninth inning of the win over the Marlins. That was Jansen's fastest strikeout pitch since July 16, 2017, when he struck out Justin Bour on a 97.4 mph pitch.
May 12: Dodgers 7, Mariners 1 -- Bats are alive
With the Dodgers putting up seven runs in the win over the Mariners, the team has scored six runs or more in back-to-back games for the first time since April 15-16. The series sweep against the Mariners was also the first series win for L.A. since it took two of three against the Padres from April 16-18.
May 11: Dodgers 6, Mariners 4 -- Another comeback win
With Gavin Lux hitting a three-run homer in the eighth inning to send the Dodgers past the Mariners, Los Angeles has now completed seven come-from-behind wins this season.
May 9: Angels 2, Dodgers 1 -- Unusual territory
With the Freeway Series loss, the Dodgers have now dropped five consecutive series for the first time since August-September 2017. They lost just one series total in 2020, when they went 43-17. At 18-17, they've already matched last season's loss total.
May 8: Dodgers 14, Angels 11 -- Scoreless Kershaw
Clayton Kershaw tossed five scoreless innings in the Dodgers' 14-11 win over the Angels on Saturday, his 84th career scoreless start. That's the sixth-most by any starter since 1920, behind just Nolan Ryan, Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens, Don Sutton and Tom Seaver.
May 7: Angels 9, Dodgers 2 -- Wake up the bats
The Dodgers' offensive struggles continued on Friday at Angel Stadium. Since April 18, the Dodgers have a .210 team batting average, which is 27th in the Majors. Los Angeles is 4-14 during that span and has seen its record go from 13-2 to 17-16.
May 5: Cubs 6, Dodgers 5 (11 innings) -- Swept away
With Wednesday's 6-5 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field, the Dodgers were swept for the first time since April 8-11, 2019, against the Cardinals. The Dodgers also dropped to 1-6 in extra-inning games this season.
May 4: Cubs 4, Dodgers 3 (Game 2); Cubs 7, Dodgers 1 (Game 1) -- Forgettable outing for Kersh
Clayton Kershaw allowed four runs over only one inning of work in the Dodgers' Game 1 loss on Tuesday. It was the shortest outing of the future Hall of Famer's career and just the second time he has allowed four or more runs in the first inning of a game. He threw 39 pitches in the frame, the most in a first inning in his career.
May 2: Dodgers 16, Brewers 4 -- A grand ol' time
AJ Pollock and Matt Beaty each hit grand slams, marking the fourth time that the Dodgers hit two grand slams in one game, and the first time since Shawn Green and Adrián Beltré did so on May 21, 2000, against the Marlins.
Mariano Duncan and Pedro Guerrero also did it against the Expos on Aug. 23, 1985. The first time that it happened was Sept. 23, 1901, when the club was known as the Brooklyn Superbas.
May 1: Brewers 6, Dodgers 5 (11 innings) -- Extra extra-inning anniversary
On this date in 1920, the Dodgers and Boston Braves played 26 innings, the longest game in Major League history by number of innings, with the game called tied, 1-1, due to darkness. While the Dodgers used 10 pitchers in their loss on Saturday, Leon Cadore pitched all 26 innings of that game against the Braves. The 26-inning affair took three hours and 50 minutes; by contrast, Saturday's 11-inning game lasted four hours and 48 minutes.