The reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer looked strong in his debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers during Friday night's game against the Colorado Rockies (LAD 10, COL 6). In his first start since signing a three-year, $102 million deal with the Dodgers this offseason, Bauer backed up the hype and threw 6 1/3 innings, giving up just three hits and striking out 10 batters. Here's his final line:
Bauer, 30, has never pitched a no-hitter in his MLB career (2012-present); he entered Friday night with two no-hit bids of 6 or more innings in his career. The closest he came was back in 2019 while with the Cleveland ball club where he threw seven no-hit innings against the Toronto Blue Jays. He was pulled from that game before allowing a hit. Bauer's six no-hit innings for L.A. was the longest no-hit bid by a Dodgers pitcher over the past two seasons.
In the seventh inning, Bauer gave up a leadoff single to shortstop Trevor Story before following that up with a Charlie Blackmon home run, a walk issued to C.J. Cron and then another two-run home run off the bat of Ryan McMahon. Mind you, this game was played at the extremely hitter-friendly Coors Field in Denver. In fact, there's only been one no-hitter since Coors Field opened in 1995 thrown by former Dodgers pitcher Hideo Nomo in 1996.
Bauer struck out Garrett Hampson in a 10-pitch at-bat before veteran lefty David Price came in to relieve while also making his debut with the Dodgers, as well. The Boston Red Sox traded Price to the Dodgers as part of the Mookie Betts trade last offseason, but Price chose to opt out of the shortened 2020 season due to concerns about the coronavirus.
Price, 35, also gave up a pair of home runs in his first Dodgers outing; solo shots to Sam Hilliard and Dom Nunez, both on the second pitch (Nunez off a 91.9 mph sinker; Hilliard off a 91.3 mph fastball) of their respective at-bats. The Dodgers 10-0 lead suddenly shrunk down to just a four-run lead, but the defending champs were able to add on another run in the eighth and hang on for their first win of the 2021 season. So, Bauer ends the day with a 5.68 ERA, but overall, he looked great. His cutter and slider accounted for seven of his ten strikeouts.
.@BauerOutage's 1st K as a Dodger was nasty. 🤢 pic.twitter.com/0PKw1Ed43M
— MLB (@MLB) April 3, 2021
Trevor Bauer, Wicked 81mph Slider. 🤢 pic.twitter.com/ETjLvOKII6
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 3, 2021
Trevor Bauer, 86mph Cutter.
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 3, 2021
And then Tapia & Bauer Staredown. 👀 pic.twitter.com/2Q2Xzlg4nB
The Rockies and Dodgers are set to continue their four-game series on Saturday with Walker Buehler and Jon Gray for the starting pitcher matchup. Colorado beat the Dodgers on Opening Day (box score) where the reigning champs looked a bit sluggish. Clayton Kershaw allowed six runs on 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings while only getting two strikeouts and a Cody Bellinger home run was negated because of a baserunning mishap from Justin Turner.
The Dodgers remain World Series favorites in 2021. SportsLine projects them to notch 111 victories and gives them a 99.9 percent chance at making the postseason. The improved San Diego Padres, seemingly the Dodgers' toughest threat in the West, are projected to win 89 games, for comparison. CBS Sports' Dayn Perry explained why you should bet on the field.
Two out of the five CBS Sports MLB writers went with the Dodgers to take home the Commissioner's Trophy this year. The last time a team has repeated as World Series champions was over two decades ago with the the 1998-2000 New York Yankees.
