Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — Dear Dodgers, it’s called a sacrifice fly. You know, when you have a guy on third with less than two outs? All you have to do is hit a fly ball and the runner can score! Trust me, it’s in the rule book and everything! Just ask the Guardians about it; they seem to have heard of it.
Unfortunately, the Cleveland Guardians did exactly what the Dodgers did not on Friday night. They got two sacrifice flies, one to tie the game and one to score the go-ahead run in the top of the tenth inning. And that was enough against the Dodgers in this inept stretch of baseball. The Dodgers couldn’t do the little things in this one and dropped the opener of this home series to Cleveland by a score of 2-1 in ten innings.
Clayton looked good, but still needs to zero in his command
Clayton Kershaw got the start for the Dodgers, and he continues to stretch out in his second outing since being activated from the IL. He looked good for the most part, but like in his first start, he didn’t quite have the command of his pitches that he had earlier in the year. Still, other than a double to Ahmed Rosario in the first, most of the contact off Kersh was of the weakly hit variety.
Kersh did give up one hard luck run, when Jose Ramirez beat out an infield single and moved to third on some heads-up base running on a single hit through the right side. He then came home on a flyout to left and that was the extent of the scoring against the Dodgers’ lefty in this one. Still, all in all, some positive things in this outing, but I’m sure he’d tell you himself that he needs to do a better job of staying ahead of hitters. His final line for the night: 81 pitches (56 for strikes), 5.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 4 K.
Alex Vesia, Brusdar Graterol, and Daniel Hudson finished up the regulation time, and each looked quite good, holding the Guardians at bay on no hits and just one walk.
What happened to the clutch hitting?
The problem in this one, dear friends, was not the pitching. The problem (again) was the Dodgers inability to get a hit with men on base. Other than homers, it has been a solid week since one of these hitters has come through with so much as an RBI single with a man in scoring position. Friday night was no different. They were 1-for-13 with RISP in this game, and the one hit they did get didn’t even leave the infield. So, let’s count them up, shall we. Eleven men left on the bases, waiting forlornly for a hit that would never come. Not great.
Cody Bellinger had a nice homer in the the second inning, and the Dodgers were making good contact all night, but nothing was hitting the green, nothing was finding a gap.
Dodgers squander a gift in the 9th
Still, the Dodgers were in prime position to walk this one off in the bottom of the ninth inning. After Daniel Hudson dispatched the Guardians in short order in the top of the frame, the Dodgers got off to a good start in the bottom of the inning. Cody Bellinger led off the ninth by going the other way on a 3-2 pitch for a single to left. Then, during Chris Taylor‘s at-bat, Belli swiped second to get into scoring position with nobody out.
Taylor struck out, but the next batter, pinch hitter Hanser Alberto lofted what looked like a routine fly to right field. But Cleveland outfielder Oscar Gonzalez was more worried about the speedy Belli at second than he was about catching the ball, and it clanked off his glove for an error.
Cool. Runners at the corners and only one out. Sounds like a walk-off in the making, doesn’t it? Not so fast. A new pitcher, Anthony Gose, was summoned from the pen to face Lux and Trea with the game on the line. And guess what? Lux struck out and Turner flied to right. Opportunity squandered.
Cleveland moves ’em over, and knocks ’em in
And so we got to every Dodger fan’s favorite part of the game, extra innings. And wouldn’t you know it, the Guardians did the little things in the top of the inning to get their ghost runner home. Andres Gomez led off with an infield single that allowed runner Owen Miller to take third when the ball popped out of Justin Turner‘s glove. Then two pitches later, Richie Palacios hit a sac fly and la-di-da, the Guardians were on top 2-1. Reliever Evan Phillips got out of the inning with no further damage, but it hardly mattered.
The Dodgers don’t
The tenth inning went about as well as we might have expected, given the Dodgers’ luck in extra inning games. With the fastest guy in baseball at second base and nobody out, the Dodgers still couldn’t get it done. They didn’t get a whole lot of help in the inning from home plate ump Angel Hernandez, but still, it was a pretty weak showing. Freddie Freeman struck out. Will Smith grounded to third. And then, after a Max Muncy walk, Justin Turner struck out swinging, whiffing on a nasty slider from Enyel De Los Santos. Game over. Another extra inning L for the Dodgers. Ugh.
Cans of Corn…
- Urias vs. Cal Quantrill tomorrow. Early start, game on Fox at 4:00.
- Look for Heaney to make his return from the IL on Sunday.
- Mookie scratched from the lineup, dealing with a contusion to the ribs.
- Padres lost so Dodgers remain 0.5 games behind in the NL West.
- This team is very frustrating, and unlike last year, there will be no Max Scherzer to ride in a white horse and save the day.
