Roger Arrieta
ARLINGTON—Los Angeles had plenty of traffic on the base paths in their series opener at Texas but couldn’t come up with a clutch hit and lost 6-2. The Dodgers, who went 2-for-12 (.167) with runners in scoring position, lost for only the third time in the last 16 games. LA was able to tie the game in the seventh but Texas responded with four unanswered runs in the bottom of the inning to earn the 4-run victory.
The Dodgers fall to 24-10 on the season while the Rangers win for only the second time in the last 12 games and move to 12-19.
JACKIE ROBINSON DAY: Friday’s game was the annual Jackie Robinson Day celebration. The game, which is normally played on Apr. 15 and honors Robinson’s first game in the majors when he broke the color barrier was moved to Aug. 28 this year to commemorate Robinson’s signing of his first pro contract. Jackie Robinson Day started in MLB in 2004 but became more of a league-wide celebration in 2009 when all MLB players, managers, coaches and umpires started wearing No.42 in honor of Robinson. Friday’s game was only the second time since 2009 that the Dodgers had played on the road for Jackie Robinson Day. Los Angeles is now 8-4 in games on Jackie Robinson Day where all the on-field personnel wear No. 42.
GAME RECAP: Saturday’s headline at the top of the sports section in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram better read: The Minor was a Major. The powerful Los Angeles offense was handcuffed for six innings by a pitcher who owned the second worst ERA in the American League. Texas righthander Mike Minor entered the game with a 6.75 ERA and was 0-5 on the year. Of course, he proceeded to pitch the game of the year and record his victory of 2020. He kept the Dodgers’ hitters off-balance with an off-speed mentality as his pitches rarely topped the 90-mph mark. Minor pulled off the scoreless six innings with his best David Blaine impersonation as he escaped from trouble in four of the six frames. The tone was set for the game in the first inning when Mookie Betts led off with an infield single and Corey Seager followed with a single to center field. Betts and Seager were stranded at second and third after a strikeout and a pair of ground outs. The Dodgers also had runners on first and second with one out in the third and fourth innings, and put the leadoff hitter on base in the sixth, but Minor was able to wriggle free and kept LA off the scoreboard.
Dodgers’ starter Dustin May was able to keep the game tied at 0-0 until the third when he gave up a trio of weak contact, 1-out hits. No.9 hitter Leody Taveras legged out an infield single to start the 2-run rally. Shin-Soo Choo then poked an inside-out, flailing double down the left field line which plated Tavares. Choo moved to third when May botched the throw on an attempted pickoff play. He scored on Nick Solak’s bloop single into right field.
Los Angeles finally got on the board after Texas manager, and former Dodger third base coach, Chris Woodward, removed Minor to start the seventh. Will Smith led off the inning, turned on the sixth pitch of the at-bat and doubled down the left field line. It looked like LA would be stuck in the same, game-long theme as the next two batters didn’t get the ball out of the infield and Smith was stuck at second. Seager finally came up with a clutch, 2-out hit when he hit a laser over the head of centerfielder Taveras. The ball screamed to the wall and went into the scorebook as an RBI double. Justin Turner followed the double with a solid base knock to left which scored Seager and tied the game at 2-2. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, Turner would leave the game with a leg injury after he stole second base.
The Rangers won the game in the bottom of the seventh against reliever Jake McGee. No.6 hitter Derek Dietrich started the inning with a home run off an 0-1 fastball. Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Scott Heineman reached with singles to right field and then the ageless Choo singled to shallow center to score Kiner-Falefa. McGee was able to strikeout Taveras which triggered Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts to bring in Dylan Floro for the righty-righty match-up with Solak. The move didn’t pay off and Solak drove a double into the right-center gap on a 1-2 off-speed pitch. Solak’s 2-bagger sent Choo to third and he would score on the very next at-bat on a sacrifice fly to right field. Choo was almost thrown out by Betts, but the replay showed that Smith barely missed applying the sweep tag from the third base side of home plate.
The Dodgers couldn’t muster up a late-game rally. They were retired in order in both the eighth and ninth innings and had to settle for only their third loss in the last 16 games.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
MOMENTUM MOMENT: The key play of the game on Friday came in the top of the third inning when Turner was robbed of a home run for the second straight game. With Kiké Hernández and Seager on first and second after back-to-back walks, Turner tore into an 0-1 fastball and hammered it to center field. Taveras, the Ranger’s center fielder, got a great break on the ball and sprinted to the wall where he pulled off a Ken Griffey Jr.-special and went high up over the wall to pull back the certain 3-run homer. Instead of being staked to a 3-0 lead – where they have a 15-5 record when they score first – the Dodgers were held off the board and then gave up the first two runs in the bottom of the third.
DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN: It was the second straight game that Turner had been pilfered of a certain home run. On Thursday, it was Giants’ center fielder Mike Yastrzemski who reached over the fence to pull back a certain JT homer.
INJURY UPDATE: “He felt something in his hamstring. We’re thinking more cramp than mild strain. He’ll be down tomorrow and we’ll reassess on Sunday.”—Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts on the status of Turner who left the game in the seventh inning.
OBSCURE STAT OF THE NIGHT: The first games of a series haven’t treated the Dodgers well this year. Of the team’s 10 losses on the year, five have come in Game 1 of a series. LA is now 7-5 in series openers in 2020. The Dodgers have dropped two straight series openers.
OBSCURE STATS OF THE DAY 2: The Dodgers are now 9-5 when their opponent scores first and 4-8 when they allow four or more runs in a game.
HE MAY KEEP THE STREAK GOING: May only allowed two earned runs in the game which extended his streak of not allowing more than two runs in a game to eight. It is a streak that dates back to his last start of the 2019 season. May has allowed two earned runs in five of his seven starts this year and his season ERA is 2.83 with a 1.17 WHIP. May also put up another 6.0-inning start. He has now gone exactly 6.0 innings in three of his last five starts.
HE SAID IT: “Dustin was good. With the cutter and his 2-seamer, he didn’t have the control he has had in the past but he really competed.”—Roberts on the outing by Dustin May.
HE SAID IT 2: “It was an awesome feeling. Being back in my home state of Texas and playing against the team I grew up rooting for was a pretty awesome feeling.”—May, who grew up in Justin, Tex., on pitching in his home state for the first time in his MLB career.
A RARE SEVENTH-INNING LETDOWN: The four runs allowed by the Dodgers in the seventh inning equals the total number that LA had allowed in the seventh inning all season long. The Dodgers entered the game having outscored their opponents by a combined total of 23-4 in the seventh frame in the first 33 games of the year.
POWER OUTAGE: Thanks to the highway robbery by Taveras, the Dodgers were held without a home run for only the fifth time in the entire month of August. LA has seven losses in August and three have been when they failed to hit a long ball.
AUGUST HEAT: The fact that the Dodgers didn’t hit an HR in a game is news because they lead MLB in long balls (63) and have hit 52 in the month of August. The Dodgers need five homers over the next two games to break the NL record for home runs in a single month. The record of 56 dingers was set by Atlanta in June of last season.
SEAGER STUFF: Seager continued to barrel up the ball in the opener in Texas. He was the only LA player with more than one hit as he went 2-for-3 with a double, RBI and run scored. Seager has now hit safely in four straight games and in 12 of the last 13 he has played. He has reached base safely in all 13 of those games and now leads the team in hitting with a .312 average. Seager is also tied for the team lead in doubles (7) and is second in RBI (23). The Dodgers are 11-3 when he bats in the No.2 spot in the batting order.
ON DECK: The Dodgers will have to try and even the series against one of the top starters in the AL. Los Angeles will battle Lance Lynn on Saturday at 4:05 p.m. Lynn is 4-0 with a 1.59 ERA and a 0.860 WHIP in his seven starts this year. He is second in the AL in both ERA and WHIP among starters who have at least five starts this year. Lynn is also at the top of the list of potential trade targets for starting pitching as the Aug. 31 trade deadline draws near. Lynn, who started his career by pitching for St. Louis for six seasons, is 3-1 with a 3.69 ERA and a 1.308 WHIP in his seven career starts and 39.0 innings pitched against LA. Dodger fans might remember Lynn from the postseason in 2013 and 2014. Lynn was 1-0 in his two starts in the playoffs vs. LA and had a 2.70 ERA. The Dodgers will counter Lynn with another starting pitcher with Texas ties. Ross Stripling, who went to college at Texas A&M, will be looking to turn the ship around after a tough 4-start stretch in August. In his four starts in the month, Stripling has a 7.27 ERA with a 1.850 WHIP. Surprisingly, the Dodgers are 3-1 in his four starts in August. Stripling has never faced the Rangers in his 5-year career.
