Roger Arrieta
PHOENIX—It was only fitting that another bizarre game capped off the entirely strange series for the Dodgers in Arizona. After a pair of 10-inning games to start the series, the finale saw a starting pitcher go 1.0 innings, a relief pitcher – who is a starter and hadn’t given up two earned runs all season – go 5.0 innings and allow three earned runs, a couple of base-running blunders that squelched a rally, a video replay on a walk call and the first 4-hit game from a Dodger’s catcher since 2016. Oh, and Mookie Betts started at second base for the first time since his rookie season in 2014.
All those weird circumstances added up to a 5-2 loss for the Dodgers against the Diamondbacks. It was only the second loss for LA against Arizona in 10 games this season and only the third overall loss in the last 12 games for Los Angeles. The Dodgers are still an MLB-best 32-13 on the year and own a 3.5 game lead over San Diego in the NL West. The D-Backs win for just the second time in the past 21 games and are an abysmal 17-29.
GAME RECAP: It might not be a bad idea for Dustin May to put it into his next contract that he won’t pitch at Chase Field. Last year he got drilled in the head on a line drive after facing five batters and had to be removed from the game. On Thursday, he got pegged in the left ankle by a line drive and left the game after facing five batters. The good news for May is that he didn’t allow a run in his 1.0 innings of work in the finale. He was drilled in the very first at-bat against Josh Rojas and then battled through four more batters before being taken out of the game after he tried to warm up for the second inning.
Los Angeles took their only lead of the night in the third inning when Corey Seager and A.J. Pollock hit back-to-back homers off of back-to-back pitches from Madison Bumgarner. Much to the dismay of Bumgarner, Seager’s “oppo” pop barely cleared the wall in left field. Pollock made sure Mad-Bum wouldn’t feel cheated on the next pitch as he belted a no-doubter that landed halfway up the section of seats in left center. Unfortunately for the Dodgers they would only have four more hits in the final six innings of play.
Arizona tied the game in the bottom of the third on a Christian Walker double to left field. They won the game in the sixth with three runs on three hits off of “reliever” Tony Gonsolin. Gonsolin entered the game in the fourth inning and got out of a first-and-second jam with one out. He then retired the D-Backs in order in the fifth before having the wheels come off the cart in the sixth. He gave up a 1-out single to Nick Ahmed and then No.8 hitter Daulton Varsho tripled over the head of Kiké Hernández in right field. Walker, who was batting ninth in the order added the insurance runs when he cranked an 0-1 fastball over the left-field fence.
The game could have turned in a different direction in the top of the sixth, before Arizona plated their three runs, as the Dodgers had a chance to put up a crooked number but ran themselves out of the inning with a pair of base-running mistakes. Hernández walked to lead off the sixth. Will Smith followed with a single to center which allowed Hernández to reach third base. Smith, expecting the throw from center field to go through for a possible play at third base, rounded first and went halfway to second base. Varsho’s throw was cutoff in the infield and Ahmed’s throw from shortstop beat Smith back to the bag for the first out of the inning. Austin Barnes walked to set up a first-and-third situation and then LA tried to pull off the double steal. Barnes broke for second and Arizona actually threw the ball all the way down to the bag. Hernández got a late break on the back end of the double steal and second baseman Josh VanMeter was able to throw home and get Hernández at the plate. LA also had runners on first and second with one out in the eighth but a strikeout and a fly out put an end to the would-be rally.
HE SAID IT: “Today was just a game that didn’t have any rhythm. It just wasn’t a crisp, clean game by us. We lost a baseball game, won the series and have a day off tomorrow. It just wasn’t a crisp game.”—Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts on the loss in the series finale.
THE STRANGEST OF THE STRANGE or 1-2-3-4-3: Just when you think you’ve seen it all in a MLB game, the umpire goes and checks video replay to see how many balls there are on a batter. The weird scenario played out in the fifth after Hernández was thrown out on the back end of the double steal. Home plate umpire Doug Eddings apparently forgot to ring up the ball on the pitch that was thrown before the play at the plate. Betts then took a fourth ball but wasn’t allowed to go to first on the walk. He then fouled off a pitch before much debate ensued. Eddings finally went to the replay and it confirmed that there were already four balls in Betts’ at bat.
HE MAY BE OK: May left the game in the second and had his ankle x-rayed in the locker room. The results were inconclusive and he was set to had a CT scan take on Friday after the team returned home to LA.
HE SAID IT 2: “He wanted to stay in there and felt like he could keep going. But when you are talking about a pitcher’s career it’s a no-brainer to get him out.”—Dodgers’ manager on the conversation he had with May after May warned up before the second inning.
YOU CAN’T WIN ‘EM ALL: While the loss for the Dodgers is the third in the last five games, LA is still winning at a .711 clip. That winning percentage would equate to 115.5 wins over the course of a regular 162-game schedule. Dodger fans have to remember that the MLB record for wins in a regular season is 116 which was set by the Seattle Mariners in 2001. It also means that the Dodgers are on track to finish the year with a higher winning percentage than last year when they set the franchise record for wins in a season with 106.
OBSCURE STATS OF THE NIGHT: The loss was the first on a Thursday in 2020 for the Dodgers. LA had won seven straight Thursday games in 2020. The Dodgers are now 5-9 when they trail after six innings of play.
TONY IN TROUBLE: Gonsolin wasn’t greeeeeaaaaat on Thursday. Making his first relief appearance of the year, he went 5.0 innings and gave up three earned runs on six hits. His hit and run totals are season highs and they upped his ERA to 1.57 and his WHIP to 0.840 for the year. Gonsolin may want to join May in the “no-pitch in Arizona” clause because the only other time in his career he has allowed more than two runs in an outing came in his MLB debut in Chase Field last year when he gave up four runs on six hits. The really bad news for Gonsolin is that, after pitching lights out for five starts, he earned his first decision of the year.
HE SAID IT 3: “I knew I was going to pitch in the game. I just felt like I didn’t execute my pitches very well.”—Gonsolin on whether he knew he was going to pitch in the game and his assessment of his outing.
SECOND BETTSMAN: Betts made the start at second base for the first time since his rookie year in 2014. He finished with a pair of assists from the outfield grass and didn’t make an error. Betts has now played in 16 games at second base in his career and has made three errors in 70 chances. Unfortunately for Betts he went 0-for-3 at the plate which ended his 10-game hit streak.
SMITH STEPS UP: One of the few bright spots on the night was the offense supplied by Smith. He went 4-for-4 with a double and raised his season batting average to .279. It was the first 4-hit game by a Dodgers’ catcher since Yasmani Grandal went 4-for-4 on Sept. 22, 2016 at home against Colorado. We know, we know – Smith started the game as the DH but he still went behind the plate during the course of the game and he IS a catcher.
SEAGER STYMIES SLUMP: Seager entered the game on an 0-for-11 slide. He ended his slump with a single to center in the first and then went yard in the third. He was 2-for-5 on the night and leads the team with a .314 average. He has now recorded multiple-hit games in four of the nine contests he has played in September and has 17 multiple-hit games on the year which leads all LA players.
LONG BALL STUFF: The two homers for the Dodgers bring their season total to 85. They lead the majors in long balls. The Braves and Padres are tied for second with 80 dingers each. The two taters also give LA 25 multiple-HR games for the year.
LEAVE ‘EM BE: The Dodgers stranded a whole pile of runners on base in the 3-game series in the desert. They left 12 runners on base on Thursday and posted a double-digit LOB total in all three games. LA finished the series by leaving 37 runners on base and going a combined 8-for-33 (.242) with runners in scoring position. The 37 runners stranded is the most in a 3-game series for the Dodgers this year.
ON DECK: The Dodgers will have their first Friday without a game since April 10, 1981 (credit to Eric Stephen for the schedule fact). They will then welcome the Asterisks to Dodger Stadium for a 2-game series. Julio Urías is schedule to start the opener and the game on Sunday will most likely be a “bullpen game.” The Asterisks will go with lefty Framder Valdez on Saturday and then former Dodger Zack “Mr. 56-mph Fastball” Greinke will start Game 2.
