Dodgers beat Rays behind Miguel Rojas pinch-hit blast, improved bullpen

Miguel Rojas gave the Dodgers a late lead Monday night.And this time, the Dodgers bullpen didn’t squander it.In a 4-3 win over the Rays at Dodger Stadium, the team overcame an early three-run deficit on a Kyle Tucker home run, took their first lead of the night on Rojas’ go-ahead, pinch-hit blast to left field in the seventh, then hung behind three scoreless innings from their previously scuffling bullpen, bouncing back from their first series loss in a month this past weekend with a narrow victory to open this six-game homestand.Rojas’ home run was the difference, with the veteran utilityman taking Rays left-hander Steven Matz deep with a swing that was –– aesthetically, at least –– reminiscent of his heroic Game 7 homer in last year’s World Series.But the bullpen offered the most encouraging signs.Entering Monday, the unit had a 7.51 ERA this month, good for the worst mark in the majors in June.But after a six-inning, three-run start from Eric Lauer that was aided heavily by the Dodgers’ defense, the club got scoreless frames from Kyle Hurt in the seventh (who worked around a two-out single), Will Klein and Alex Vesia (who stranded a runner at third in the eighth) and Tanner Scott (who picked up his eighth save in the ninth).After dropping two of three to the White Sox to end their recent road trip, the Dodgers (46-27) got back in the win column Monday to improve to 8-6 in June and 22-9 since May 13.They also got a leg up in this series over the Rays (41-28), who have cooled since a red-hot May and slipped to second in the American League East.In the National League West, the Dodgers are back to eight games up on the San Diego Padres.Clearly, Dodgers fans are still lukewarm on Tucker –– evidenced by him getting half the All-Star votes of Andy Pages, and 100,000 less than the currently injured Teoscar Hernández.On Monday, however, he finally showed more of the all-around skill set that prompted the Dodgers to give him a $240 million contract....

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Publisher: New York Post

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