Kevin Kiermaier and Michael Kopech finding new life with Dodgers
ST. LOUIS — Kevin Kiermaier’s Toronto Blue Jays were 14 games back in the American League East, and Michael Kopech’s Chicago White Sox were 39½ games back in the American League Central at the July 30 trade deadline, the two veterans having little to play for in dead-end seasons.
But both took the express elevator up in the standings when they were traded to the Dodgers, and the scenic view from the top of the National League West has pumped new life and adrenaline into the center fielder and reliever, as they showed in Friday night’s 7-6 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in Busch Stadium.
Kiermaier capped a two-run second inning with a run-scoring single and a five-run sixth inning with a three-run home run, and he raced to the warning track to make a leaping catch of a Victor Scott II drive with two on to end the sixth.
Kopech, pitching in back-to-back games for the first time with his new team, struck out two of three in the ninth for the save, an outing that included the fastest pitch of his five-year career, a 102.6-mph four-seamer to Scott.
Dodgers starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow was placed on the 15-day injured list because of tendinitis in his right elbow.
Gavin Lux also hit a solo homer in the second, Mookie Betts hit a solo homer in the sixth, and Miguel Rojas doubled and scored in the second and added an RBI single in the sixth, as the Dodgers snapped a two-game losing streak.
With the red-hot Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres losing on the same day for the first time since July 28, the Dodgers pushed their lead in the division to three games over both teams.
“Players want to play, but players want to win,” manager Dave Roberts said of Kiermaier and Kopech. “You put those two guys in a winning environment, and they’re ready when called upon, and teammates feed off their gratitude for being here. They come with a vengeance and we need that edginess where we are in the calendar and standings.”
Kiermaier, 34, has already announced that he will retire after this season, his body battered and beaten from playing 12 seasons on the artificial turf at Tampa Bay and Toronto.
Though the several superb defensive plays he’s made and clutch hits he’s delivered in 11 games with the Dodgers haven’t changed his mind about retiring, he does feel invigorated by his new surroundings.
“Yeah, they’ve pumped life into me,” Kiermaier said. “Playoff atmosphere, a team that plays in October every year, this is what I want. My situation earlier in the year in Toronto was … I love the guys over there, but when you’re not winning, life is not as fun.
“Coming here, being first place in the division and going to battle with these guys each day is an absolute blast. I just want to do my part each and every day.”
Kopech went 2-8 with a 4.74 ERA in 43 games for the White Sox, but he has been so dominant with the Dodgers, allowing one hit to the 27 batters he has faced in 8 ⅓ innings of eight games, with 13 strikeouts and one walk, that he is “making a strong case” to replace Daniel Hudson as the team’s closer, Roberts said.
“This is a special ballclub here, and to be able to be a part of it means the world to me,” Kopech said. “I’m just trying to do my part to help the team win. Today, it happened to be in the ninth inning.”
The Dodgers were trailing 4-2 when they rallied for five runs in the sixth. Betts led off with a homer to left and Lux, Will Smith and Rojas hitting two-out singles ahead of Kiermaier’s 415-foot, three-run blast to right-center field off reliever Andrew Kittredge, which gave the Dodgers a 7-4 lead.
“They brought me here for my defense, but anything I can do offensively is a bonus,” Kiermaier said. “We’ve got a lot of really talented players on this team. I’m just laying down there in the weeds in the seven, eight or nine hole. The other team probably doesn’t think a whole lot about me. That’s OK. I try to do damage when I can.”
Dodgers rookie left-hander Justin Wrobleski gave up four runs and four hits, including a Paul Goldschmidt two-run homer in the second, a Masyn Winn solo shot in the third and Pedro Pages’ solo shot that traveled 462 feet to left center in the fifth, in five innings of a spot start.
Relievers Michael Grove and Anthony Banda combined to give up two runs in the sixth, as the Cardinals trimmed the deficit to 7-6, but Evan Phillips threw a scoreless seventh, and Joe Kelly, who was tagged for five runs and three homers in 3 ⅔ innings of his first five August games, threw a scoreless eighth.
That set the stage for Kopech, who struck out Scott with a 100-mph fastball, got Winn to ground out to third and struck out Willson Contreras with a nasty 90-mph cut-fastball to end the game on a steamy 86-degree evening.
Michael Kopech brought a 100-mph fastball to the Dodgers bullpen and could end up the team’s closer soon.
“He’s got electric stuff,” Lux said of Kopech. “It’s a really special fastball, and the cutter, the hard slider, is good too. He’s a guy you want on your side late in the game to come in and shut the door. He’s been really impressive, and I think we get him next year, too, so that’s a really good get.”
The left-handed-hitting Kiermaier, a four-time Gold Glove Award winner, was more of an under-the-radar addition compared to Kopech and Jack Flaherty, the starter the Dodgers acquired from the Detroit Tigers. But his presence has definitely been felt.
“Man, he’s a professional,” Lux said. “You know he’s gonna go out there and compete every day. He’s got great energy and brings a great vibe into the clubhouse. Everybody knows how good of a center fielder he is, but he’s put together a lot of really good at bats, and he’s been working his ass off in the cage. He’s been a lot of fun to be around.”
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