Dodgers Recap: Pitching digs a hole Dodgers can’t climb out of

CHAVEZ RAVINE — Usually, a night in which Shohei Ohtani hits a homer and Mookie Betts jacks two out of the park bodes well for the Dodgers. Not, unfortunately, on Monday night at Dodger Stadium. Though the Dodgers got the long ball from their MVP stars, they got little else, dropping their fourth straight, losing to the Arizona Diamondbacks by a score of 9-5.

Jack Dreyer was the opener in this one and right away, he was beset by bad fortune. After a single, a strikeout, and a walk, Eugenio Suarez hit what looked like a lazy fly ball to centerfield. But there was some sort of weird miscommunication between centerfielder Hyeseong Kim and the newly returned Teoscar Hernandez in right. Kim lost the ball and it clanked of Hernandez’s glove. Suarez had himself a very cheap RBI double, and the D-backs were on the board.

Then, Josh Naylor drove in another with an infield groundout, and before the Dodgers hit the bat rack, they were down 0-2. It was the fifth game in a row that the Dodgers have been touched up for runs in the first inning, which is not a great way to go through life.

Things got a whole lot worse after that. Dreyer gave up another run on a sacrifice fly in the second, and then Landon Knack just got pasted in the third. A home run to Lourdes Gurriel made it 5-0 in the third. Then, Josh Naylor hit a single and it was Gabriel Moreno‘s turn to go yard, yet another two-run job, and it was 7-0 before the middle of the third inning. Yuck.

The Dodgers inched closer in the middle innings, thanks to some decent pitching from Knack and three solo home runs. Mookie sandwiched his seventh and eighth homer of the year between Shohei Ohtani’s 17th. Unfortunately, the Dodgers gave it back in the top of the eighth when Geraldo Perdomo smashed the D-backs’ third two-run jack of the night, this one off Matt Sauer. That made it a six-run lead for the Diamondbacks.

The Dodgers made a little noise in the bottom of the ninth when Freddie Freeman and Will Smith both reached to open the inning. Then, Teoscar Hernandez hit a ball to Eugenio Suarez’s right at third base for a run scoring fielder’s choice. After a Conforto walk, Tommy Edman ripped a single to right to score Hernandez. Suddenly the tying run was on deck in the person of Mr. Shohei Ohtani.

But first Hyeseong Kim came to the plate, eager to make amends for the first inning miscue. Torey Luvullo begrudingly pulled Ryan Thompson for his closer Shelby Miller. Miller blazed in two straight fastballs for strikes to put Kim in an 0-2 hole. After taking a ball, Kim hit a roller to second that he couldn’t beat out. Sorry, Shohei. Ball game.

The series rolls on with Game Two on Tuesday night, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitching against righty Ryne Nelson (1-1, 5.13 ERA, 28 K). On paper, it’s a Dodger advantage, but then again, on paper the team shouldn’t have been swept by the Angels, so who knows? Game time, as usual, is 7:10 PDT. Let’s finish this homestand strong!

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