Jim Cella
SEATTLE—Los Angeles fashioned a 7-game winning streak playing against nine men. They had to face 10 opponents on Wednesday and had their streak come to a halt as they fell 6-4 at Seattle. The Dodgers were done in by shaky early pitching, a wandering strike zone and some defensive miscues. Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts as well as hitting coach Robert Von Scoyoc and first baseman Max Muncy were all ejected in the sixth inning for arguing balls and strikes after their frustrations boiled over from five innings of a strike zone that changed from inning to inning. The Dodgers are now 18-8 on the year while the Mariners win for the first time in eight games and moves to 8-18.
GAME RECAP: Dodgers’ starter Julio Urías got into trouble in the very first inning and it went downhill from there. He lasted only 1.2 innings, gave up four hits and a walk but, thanks to reliever Dennis Santana, was only charged with a single run which came in the bottom of the first. The Dodgers actually led 3-1 after solo homers by Muncy, Joc Pederson and Cody Bellinger in the second and third frames but the game came unraveled in the bottom of the third. Santana allowed three runs before recording an out. The big blow was a 2-2, off-speed pitch that catcher Austin Nola deposited in the left field stands for a 3-run HR. Santana would allow the next two batters to reach before getting the first out of the inning. Dylan Floro came on in relief of Santana and put out the fire by getting a sacrifice fly and a ground out to end the inning, but the damage was done and the Dodgers trailed 5-3.
The Mariners added a sixth run in the sixth before Los Angeles tried to stage a late-game comeback in the eighth and ninth. The Dodgers had the tying run on base for seven at-bats in those two frames but couldn’t add to their MLB-leading comeback win total. LA got to within two in the eighth on a Mookie Betts leadoff double and a 1-out Justin Turner single to center. Turner was stranded on second when Bellinger flied out to left and pinch hitter Kiké Hernández to center. The Dodgers would knock on the comeback door again in the ninth. AJ Pollock legged out an infield single to start the inning. Pederson then struck out but Chris Taylor walked to put the go-ahead run at home plate. Rookie catcher Keibert Ruiz nearly missed connecting on two pitches he fouled off into the seats and wound up striking out on an 1-2 slider. Betts set the stage for a dramatic 9th-inning turnaround when he walked to load the bases but Corey Seager struck out swinging to end the game.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
NOT SERVING NO.8: The Dodgers had their chance at an 8-game win streak come to an end – and also saw their unbeaten streak against AL teams stop on Wednesday. LA is now 7-1 in interleague play in 2020. The 8-game win streak would have been the longest since the 2018 season when they won 11 straight games from July 4-19.
OBSCURE STAT OF THE NIGHT: The Dodgers are now 11-3 when they hit at least two home runs in a game. The last time they lost with two or more long balls was on Aug. 3 in a 5-4 defeat against San Diego.
STILL TOPS: The Dodgers had seven hits to go along with their three homers. LA has 49 HRs this year which is four more than the Padres. They also lead the majors in RBI (141).
TOUGH NIGHT ON THE MOUND: The 1.2-inning outing by Urías was the shortest by any Dodger starter this year. He threw 52 pitches to get the five outs as he struggled to find the plate. Urías entered the game with a 2.53 ERA with a 1.125 WHIP. He walked off the mound in the second with a 2.74 ERA and a 1.260 WHIP.
HE SAID IT: “Julio couldn’t get in sync tonight. In the last three starts it’s been the first inning that he hasn’t looked sharp. We have to be ready from pitch 1.”—Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts on the troubles of starter Julio Urías.
TOUGH NIGHT BEHIND THE PLATE: Home plate umpire Mark Ripperger was forced to throw out a pair of Dodgers’ coaches and Muncy in the sixth after Muncy struck out for the second straight time. The area of contention came from Ripperger’s inconsistency on the low strike. He rang up Muncy in the third inning on a pair of “what seemed to be” low strikes and then put Muncy in a 2-2 count with a similar low strike call. Roberts came off the bench to question the second strike and was tossed – as was Von Scoyoc. Muncy then swung and missed on the next pitch and appeared to say something to Ripperger who promptly sent him up the tunnel.
TOUGH NIGHT IN THE FIELD: The usually sure-handed Dodgers made two errors on Wednesday. It was only the second game all season that they have committed more than one miscue in a game. They are 0-2 in both of their multiple-error games in 2020.
RECALLED AND RELIEVING: The most effective relief pitcher for the Dodgers on Wednesday was lefthander Victor González. González, who was recalled from the alternate training site at USC earlier on Wednesday, went 2.0 innings and didn’t allow a hit. He struck out one and walked one in his second MLB appearance. His second outing was a welcome turn from his MLB debut on Jul. 31 when he gave up three hits and one earned run in 1.0 innings pitched at Arizona.
UNLUCKY 13: Turner waited for his final at-bat to extend his NL-Best hitting streak. His RBI base knock in the eighth upped his hit streak to 13 games. He went 1-for-4 which lowered his season average to .287. Turner’s longest career hitting streak is 16 games which he fashioned in 2017.
NO BACK-TO-BACK BAGELS: Betts’ ninth-inning double extended a different kind of hitting streak. Betts, who was 0-for-4 on Tuesday, hadn’t put up back-to-back no-hit games this year. He is now hitting .306 for the year and leads the team in doubles with seven.
SLUMP BUSTER: Bellinger was on an 0-for-13 skid before he went deep in the third inning. It was Bellinger’s fifth homer of the year which is tied for fourth on the Dodgers. He finished the game 1-for-4, only has four multiple-hit games all year and is hitting .178.
ON DECK: Los Angeles will look to win its seventh series of the year when they finish off the 4-gamer at Seattle on Thursday at 4:10 p.m. It will be the fourth Kershaw Day of the year. Clayton Kershaw is 2-1 with a 2.65 ERA in his three previous starts and is coming off his longest outing of the year when he went 7.0 innings and allowed just one hit in picking up the win against the Angels. Kershaw has only faced the Mariners three times in his career but he is 3-0 with a 2.70 ERA. Kershaw has won both his starts, and gone 7.0 innings each time, at T-Mobile Park (Safeco Field). Seattle is expected to send left Yusei Kikuchi to the mound in the finale. Kikuchi, who is in his second year in the majors, is 0-1 with a 5.28 ERA and a 1.515 WHIP in his three starts this year. He has never faced the Dodgers and is 2-9 with a 5.38 in his 17 starts at T-Mobile Park.
IN THE HOLE: The Dodgers will fly back to LA after the game on Thursday and host Colorado for a 3-game series over the weekend. The Rockies are tied for second place in the NL West with the Padres with a 13-11 mark. The Dodgers are scheduled to throw Walker Buehler, Dustin May and Ross Stripling while the Rox will counter with the righty-lefty-righty combo of Jon Gray, Kyle Freeland and Antonio Senzatela.
