Dodgers’ extra inning woes continue in 2-1 loss to Marlins

MIAMI — Ugh. I guess there might be worse ways to lose a game, but losing in extra innings on a wild-pitch-throwing-error combo is pretty bad. It was a sloppy ugly loss, where incompetence and stupidity were neck and neck in the race of who to blame for it all. Oh, maybe those FOURTEEN runners that were left on base had something to do with it as well! 2-1 Marlins was the final score in ten innings. The Dodgers are now 1-8 in extra innings. Ugh. Blech. Yuck.

Don’t blame Gonsolin

So the whole thing on Tuesday night was a mess, but there was a couple things worth noting during the evening. First, don’t let the muck distract you from the fact that Tony Gonsolin had a really solid start. The Cat Man probably had his best outing of the season. He got into the sixth inning on 72 pitches, and only gave up two hits and no earned runs while striking out three. If not for the Dodgers putting Tony on pitch limit tonight, there’s no telling how deep he could have gone in this fairly stress-free outing.

Dodgers get one early, but squander opportunities

The Dodgers took the lead in the top of the fourth, when they finally seemed to solve Marlins starter Pablo Lopez. Cody Bellinger led off with a solid single that right fielder Garrett Cooper managed to turn into a triple when he found himself in no-man’s land and let the ball scoot by him to the wall. Then, in a rarity on the night, the Dodgers actually came up with a clutch hit. Will Smith promptly knocked a single into left and Bellinger crossed the plate with the Dodgers’ first and only run of the evening.

Unfortunately, after the Smith knock, the Dodgers were all out of clutch for the evening. Time after time, they got men on base, and time after time, they just didn’t get the timely hit that could have broken the game open early. In all the Dodgers were 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position, and those fourteen Dodgers left on base were pretty much the difference in the game.

Lux miscue leads to tying run

Not that the Marlins did much better. They were 2-for-14 with RISP, and left ten men of their own stranded on the paths. The only time they did score in regulation play came in the bottom of the sixth. After Gonsolin was taken out of the game, new Dodger Jake Reed was greeted to the big leagues with some shoddy defense behind him. First, Starling Marte singled on a ground ball to Chris Taylor that Taylor couldn’t quite make the play on. Then, Marte promptly stole second. After Reed got a swinging K on Garrett Cooper, Jesus Aguilar ripped a hot grounder to short. Gavin Lux looked like he was in a position to make a play on the ball, but somehow it skipped under his glove into center field. The speedy Marte scampered home, and the score was deadlocked at one.

Numerous opportunities missed by both teams

Though both teams had plenty of chances late in the game, the seventh, eighth, and ninth were all scoreless on both sides of the scorebook. The bottom of the ninth was particularly dicey for the Dodgers as the Marlins had the bases loaded and only a replay-review on a two-out Starling Marte ground ball to third got the game into extras.

Tenth inning disaster

The Dodgers couldn’t push a run across in their half of the tenth, and it looked like the Marlins might suffer the same fate in theirs. With Marte placed on second due to the new Mickey Mouse extra innings rules, reliever Blake Treinen got two quick outs: a strikeout and a ground ball to the left side that didn’t let the runner advance. Miguel Rojas came to the plate for a fateful two-pitch at-bat. He took the first pitch for a called strike, and then the Dodgers decided to forget how to play baseball. First, Treinen threw a slider in the dirt. No biggie, it happens, right? Though the ball kicked just a few feet to catcher Will Smith’s right, Marte tried to advance to third.

No biggie, right? Whatever, man on third. Concentrate on the hitter with two outs. Unfortunately Will Smith didn’t see it that way. For whatever reason, he thought he had a shot to get the fleet-of-foot Marte out at third. So, he whipped the ball to Justin Tuner covering the bag. The throw short-hopped Turner and went clean through the wickets and headed for foul territory. Gavin Lux finally ran down the errant throw and hurried the ball to the plate, but it sailed wildly over Will Smith’s head as Marte crossed the plate with the game winning run.

Ugh. Blech. Yuck.