Roger Arrieta
LOS ANGELES—The books inside the bookends were a good read, but the bookends were rickety and didn’t hold up in the Dodgers’ game against Oakland on Tuesday. Los Angeles outscored the A’s 4-1 in the middle seven innings of the second game in the series but were outscored 5-0 in the first and ninth frames and lost 6-4.
The Dodgers watched a game-tying, pinch-hit home run by Edwin Ríos in the bottom of the eighth get erased by a 2-run HR in the top of the ninth as LA dropped the decision a night after clinching its eighth consecutive NL West championship.
The loss is only the second in the last seven games for the Dodgers who miss the chance to become the first MLB team to win 40 games in 2020. LA is now 39-17. Oakland avoids its second 3-game losing streak of the season and ups its mark to 34-21. The A’s continue to hold on to the No.2 seed in the American League.
GAME RECAP: Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts decided to go with Joe Kelly as an opener on Wednesday and move Julio Urías back to the bullpen in a possible audition for the postseason. The move paid off on the Urías angle, but backfired with Kelly. Kelly, throwing almost all breaking balls, allowed three runs on two hits and walked one in the first inning.
Like the division-clinching win on Tuesday, Max Muncy came through with a 2-run homer after an Oakland defensive miscue to get LA back in the game. Justin Turner, starting at third base for the first time since Aug. 28, hit a ground ball to shortstop that should have been an inning-ending double play but first baseman Mark Canha bobbled the throw to first. The error allowed Turner to extend his on-base streak and set the stage for Muncy’s second long ball in as many games. Muncy got underneath a letters-high fastball and uncorked a rain maker into the right field bullpen. The ball, which went 389 feet, had a launch angle of 41 degrees.
The score remained at 3-2 until the teams traded runs in the seventh. Oakland finally got to Urías when he allowed the first two batters of the inning to reach base and then gave up a 1-out single to No.8 hitter Ramon Laureano which scored Canha from second base. The Dodgers matched the “stick” in the bottom when Cody Bellinger mashed a solo home run that went halfway up the advertising tarps in right field.
Los Angeles tied the game on when Ríos who clouted an improbable 2-out, game-tying HR off of reliever Jake Diekman. Diekman entered the game having not allowed a run in his first 18 appearances of the season. Ríos sent the LA bench into full cheer mode when he connected on a 3-1 fastball for his sixth tater of the year.
The positivity and momentum wouldn’t carry over into the ninth for the Dodgers as the second bookend crumbled under the weight of the pressure. Former Oakland reliever Blake Treinen entered the game in the high-leverage situation and gave up a 2-out, 2-run blast to the light-hitting Laureano.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY: The playoffs start next Wednesday but if they started after play on Wednesday night, Los Angeles would be hosting the Cincinnati Reds in the best-of-3 series in the opening round. The Reds beat the Brewers and are now 29-28. The Giants, by virtue of their 7-2 win over Colorado, have jumped into the No.7 seed. They are tied with the Reds with a .509 winning percentage but own the tie breaker.
OBSCURE STATS OF THE NIGHT: Bellinger batted in the No.7 spot in the batting order for the first time all season. He became the 11th player to be penned into the 7-hole this season which is the most of any spot in the order. The Dodgers have used nine different players in each of the No.6 and No.8 spots in the order. Chris Taylor has been the most frequent occupant of the No.7 spot and LA is 8-5 when he bats in that spot. Los Angeles has now used 53 different lineups this season.
STYMIED BY THE SOUTHPAW: The Dodgers struggled against another left-handed starter on Wednesday. LA is now 11-5 on the year against lefty starters as compared to 28-12 vs. right-handers. The Dodgers are only hitting .244 against leftys in 2020 which is 16th in MLB. They are also 17th in slugging percentage (.413) and tied for 12th in homers (21) against southpaws.
JUST PUT JULIO IN: Urías doesn’t care when he gets the ball, he just wants to help the Dodgers win. He was pushed back into the bullpen on Wednesday but ate up 6.0 innings and continued his recent trend of quality outings. Urías has now put together a string of 17.2 innings in his last three starts where he has only allowed 4 runs and 8 hits and has struck out 10. He has a 2.04 ERA and a 0.792 WHIP. The Dodgers will need him to keep trending upward if they want to make a long run in the playoffs.
HE SAID IT: “I thought this one was one of his best outings. The entire pitch mix was good and there’s a lot of good to take out of tonight…We view him as a starter but tonight was really good from the outset. I just really love the way Julio has embraced whatever we have asked him to do.”—Dodgers manager Dave Roberts on Urías outing and his role on the team.
HE SAID IT 2: “Yesterday they told me it was a possibility. As long as I am healthy I am willing to do anything they need me to do…Despite the two walks to the same better I thought my secondary pitches were working well so I am going to focus on the positive.”— Urías on when he was told he might be moved to the bullpen for Wednesday’s game and the 6.0 innings of work he had against Oakland.
MAXIMUM SPEED or A 100 MPH BAZOOKA: Brusdar Graterol made his 21st appearance in Dodger Blue on Wednesday and pitched a 1-2-3 second inning. He was clocked at 100 mph on several occasions and continues to lead MLB in 100 mph pitches. He has hit triple digits on 44 pitches this year which is 12 better than the next pitcher.
MAXIMUM POWER or 41 DEGREES OF SEPERATION: Muncy’s long ball launch angle of 41 degrees was the highest in MLB on Wednesday and one of only 34 homers in MLB this season with a launch angle higher than 40 degrees. The good news for Dodgers’ fans is that Muncy is starting to climb out of his season-long hitting funk. He has hit safely in six of his last nine games and has homers in his last two.
BARRELS ARE DEFINITELY NOT OVERRATED: Make it two pitches seen, two hits and two barreled balls that both left the bat at over 100 mph. Corey Seager wasted little time in collecting his MLB-leading 23rd multiple-hit game of the year as he had rocket singles to right field on the first pitch in each of his first two at-bats of the game. Seager finished the night by going 2-for-4 and is now hitting a team-best .325 on the year. Seager leads all of MLB in hard hit balls and the number of barrels hit this year. He has pounded 91 pitches with an exit velocity of more than 95mph and is putting the barrel on the ball in 12.8% of his plate appearances.
TRENDING UP: Like Muncy, Bellinger has also started to put together a nice string of plate appearances. He connected on his 12th long ball of the year on Wednesday and has fashioned together an 8-game hitting streak. During Bellinger’s 8-game streak he is hitting .393 and has a .714 slugging percentage with 7 RBI, 2 HR.
TRENDING DOWN: A.J Pollock went 0-for-4 and struck out twice on Wednesday. He is only hitting .176 in his last nine games. He has only drawn one walk during that span and has three extra-base hits. The saving grace is that those three extra-base hits have all beenhomers.
TRENDING DOWN 2: Unfortunately, Treinen has been struggling as of late. He has allowed nine earned runs in his last eight appearances and owns a 12.79 ERA in his last 6.1 innings pitched. His season ERA is now 4.18 and he is one of only three Dodgers’ relievers with an ERA over 4.00 (Dennis Santana – 5.29, Alex Wood – 6.35).
ON DECK: The Dodgers will try and win the series between the two West division champions when they face the A’s in the rubber game on Thursday at 6:40 p.m. Walker Buehler returns to the starting lineup for LA since going on the IL on Sept. 10 due to a blister on his pitching hand. Buehler is 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP this season. The good news for LA is that he owns an 11-4 record with a 2.52 ERA and a 0.876 WHIP in his 186.0 innings pitched at Dodger Stadium. Los Angeles will attempt to win the series against righty (woo hoo!) Mike Fiers. Fiers is 6-2 with a 4.67 ERA and a 1.389 WHIP in his 10th major league season. The bad news for LA is that he is 4-1 with a 2.00 ERA and a 0.778 WHIP in his 36.0 innings pitched against the Dodgers in his career. The last time he faced LA was in 2018 in his very first game in an A’s uniform.
THE LAST WORD: “Our hope is for him to take a regular start. We will be mindful of the blister. 6 (innings) and 90 (pitches) would be the goal to get him ready for the postseason.”—Roberts on the goals for Buehler in his start on Thursday.
