When the announcement came on Wednesday morning that the Dodgers had re-acquired outfielder Trayce Thompson from the Detroit Tigers (for cash considerations), it was met with mixed feelings among Dodgers fans. A good many of those fans recalled the Trayce Thompson who was initially drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the second round in 2009 out of Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA and traded to the Dodgers in 2015, where he spent two successful seasons in their minor league system before making his major league debut with them in 2016. Others remember the Trayce Thompson who slashed a less-than-stellar .208/.288/.410/.697, with 14 home runs and 36 RBI in his previous two seasons as a Dodger.

It didn’t take long for Thompson to make his presence known with his new (old) team. In only his second at-bat against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday night, Thompson roped a two-run double to right-centerfield in the top of the eight to turn a 5-4 Dodgers lead into a 7-4 ball game in the eventual 8-4 Dodgers win.

“I know it made him feel good, and the guys on the bench were pretty excited for him,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said postgame of Thompson’s first hit as a returning Dodger.

“Just trying to make the most of each day,” Thompson told reporters after the Dodgers second straight win over the NL Central last-place Reds and eighth consecutive win going back to last season.

But Thompson’s double wasn’t the only big moment on Wednesday night. With one out in the bottom of the fifth inning and Reds second baseman Jonathan India on third base, Reds left fielder Tommy Pham hit a flyball to Dodgers left fielder Chris Taylor for the second out of the inning. India tagged up and attempted to score what would have been the (then) go-ahead run.

He did not.

Instead, Taylor threw an absolute bullet to Dodgers catcher Will Smith to complete the rare 7-2 double play to end the inning.

“He made a heck of a throw,” Roberts said. “He’s building up his arm all year. Last week I saw him make a couple throws that are more like him. Today was just a great throw, just a really good baseball play.”

On the pitching side of things, although Dodgers left-hander Tyler Anderson was going for his ninth win of the season (with no losses), the score was tied at 4-4 when Roberts replaced him in the sixth inning with fellow left-hander Alex Vesia. All Vesia did was retire the Reds in order on 17 pitches (13 strikes), with two strikeouts, including that of perennial Reds All-Star and former NL MVP first baseman Joey Votto. And because the Dodgers scored what would prove to be the winning run in the top of the seventh, Vesia was credited with the win – his first of the season. He is now 1-0 in the 27 games in which he has appeared over his combined 21.2 innings pitched.

Play Ball!

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