Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — So that was pretty bad, too. In the second game of the day, the Dodgers played even worse than the first and this time there was no unlikely come back to help them. Tyler Anderson got in his own way and made two critical errors, both of which led to unearned runs being scored in the sixth inning in Tuesday’s nightcap against the Diamondbacks. In the end, Max Muncy‘s home run was not enough to counteract the four errors and all the poor play, and the Dodgers dropped the game by a score of 5-2.
Unearned run gets Snakes on the board
After a scoreless first, Tyler Anderson and the Dodgers gave up a run that didn’t have to be. Anderson gave up a couple of singles and the D-backs had runners on first and second with two outs. It looked like TA might get out of it, though, when he induced a little broken bat grounder into the hole at short. Trea Turner came up with it in enough time to get the force at second but had trouble getting it out of his glove and spiked the throw to Gavin Lux at second. The ball bounded into the outfield, allowing the lead runner to score easily. It was the start of a very rocky night in the field for your Dodgers.
Anderson his own worst enemy in messy 6th inning
If not for the early error, it would have been a scoreless pitchers’ duel, as the Dodgers were unable to solve rookie pitcher Drey Jameson in the first five innings, either. But in the top of the 6th, the wheels really came off the trolley car for Tyler Anderson and the Dodgers. And it was ugly. On a grand total of ZERO hits, the D-backs were able to push two runs across. How did they manage such a feat, you may wonder? Well, maybe you don’t want to know. Suffice it to say that there was a lot of uncharacteristic play involved. First, Anderson hit Ketel Marte with a pitch. Then, he dropped a feed from Freddie Freeman at first. Then, he plunked Christian Walker to load up the bases. He got a strikeout to get him a little closer to out of the inning. But, the next hitter, Carson Kelly, lofted a fly ball to Mookie Betts that was deep enough to score Marte.
But oh lawdy! What happened next was straight out of Little League. Betts’s throw missed the cut-off man and Max Muncy couldn’t field it at third. Backing up the play, Anderson picked up the ball and threw wildly to Will Smith at the plate. That throw, too, missed the mark, allowing a second run to score. Ugh. Anderson was able to finish out the inning, but yeesh, what a mess.
“I just turned into a one-man ‘Bad News Bears’ there in the sixth inning,” Anderson quipped after the game, “which could have been the difference.”
He’s not too far from the mark. The Dodgers coughed up three unearned runs in this one and lost 5-2, so you do the math.
Max tightens up the score with a jack
The Dodgers got a little closer in the bottom of the inning when Max Muncy blasted a two-run shot to right field of Jameson to cut the Arizona a lead to 3-2. It was Muncy’s fifth home run in the month, and we might say that the Dodger slugger is officially “back”. The guy has an .840 OPS since the All-Star break. Those first three months were just a bad dream.
Late runs stifle Dodgers’ comeback hopes
Unfortunately, that Muncy homer was the last (only?) good moment of the game. The D-backs tacked on a couple more runs on a Ketel Marte homer off Phil Bickford and a run-scoring triple off the bat of hot prospect Corbin Carroll against Justin Bruihl. The Dodgers went quietly in the final innings, and former teammate Reyes Moronta got the save for Arizona and I think I’ll stop typing now.
D-May hooks up with a struggling Mad-Bum
With this twin-bill out of the way, we’re back to one game a day for the rest of the season. There’s an off-day next Monday, but the rest of the way, it’s a leisurely stroll to the finish line. On Wednesday night, it’s Game 4 of this five gamer with the D-backs, featuring Dustin May vs. Madison Bumgarner. May will be looking to build off his no-hit outing in San Francisco, and Bumgarner is still trying to salvage something out of what has been a pretty poor season for him. In his last seven starts, Mad-Bum has an ugly 8.35 ERA, but he always seems to get up for the Dodgers, so who knows what he’ll bring to the table. Game time is the usual 7:10 PDT.
Cans of Corn…
- What a crappy day of baseball.
- Bickford looked good. Until he didn’t.
- The Dodgers’ four errors in this one were a season high.
- Amid all the bad defense, Mookie had a pretty amazing play in right field.
- Tyler Anderson didn’t give up an earned runs in this, so his ERA actually went down. His 2.52 ERA is good for fourth in the NL, behind Urias, Alcantara, and Max Fried.
