Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — Holes. The Dodgers were digging out of holes seemingly all night on Friday against the Cincinnati Reds. But they never quite could get fully out of any of them. They dropped the opening game of the weekend series to the upstart Reds team by a score of 6-5
Hole Number One: Bobby Miller gave up three runs in the top of the first. Miller ended up having a decent outing (5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER 0 BB, 6 K), but that opening frame was nasty for the rookie righthander. Elly De La Cruz led off with a triple, and things sort of got worse from there, capped off by a two-run home run by right fielder Jake Fraley. It was not great.
But the Dodgers scored single runs in the first and fourth, so by the time Miller exited the game, the score was a perfectly manageable 3-2. However, it felt like the Dodgers were leaving a lot of meat on the bone as they had a ton of base runners through the first six innings. Unfortunately, three double plays put an end to budding rallies and the Dodgers had to go into the later innings chasing that one run deficit.
Hole Number Two: Ryan Brasier pitched a perfect sixth inning and Yency Almonte came on to face the Reds in the seventh. Almonte, who had gone fifteen straight outings without giving up an earned run, had basically erased all memories of his early season struggles with a strong summer that saw him shave nearly four points off his ERA. However, things were not nearly so pleasant on Friday. After retiring the first hitter he faced, Almonte gave up a solo home run to Spencer Steer. Okay. One bad pitch. It happens.
However, thing disintegrated pretty quickly after that. Almonte gave up a single to Tyler Stephenson. Then, a walk. Then a wild pitch to move the runners over. Then an intentional walk to De La Cruz to load up the bases. Then a hit batsman to score a run. Then a walk to score another. And that was the end of Almonte’s night. An inning that had started as a tight game was now looking like a blowout in the making. If not for a great defensive play by Freddie Freeman and a bit of good pitching from Phil Bickford, it could have been a lot worse.
But as the Dodgers have shown time and time again, they have some fight in them that previous iterations of the team did not. They got to work in the seventh inning and scored three runs of their own. After a righthanded reliever came in, Dave Roberts went to his lefties on the bench and they came through for him. David Peralta led off with a double. James Outman walked. Mookie Betts walked as well and the bases were loaded with nobody out. Freddie Freeman got a clutch two-run single to start the comeback. A couple of hitters later, new Dodger Amed Rosario made a good first impression with a two-out knock to score a third Dodger run in the inning to make it 6-5. Rosario, obtained in a trade with the Cleveland Guardians had a good first day in Dodger Blue: 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.
However, that was as close as the Dodgers would get it this one. Reds All-Star closer Alexis Diaz came in in the eighth to get the final out of the inning and put the Dodgers down in the ninth with a solid inning, mowing through Freeman, Smith and Martinez on just seven pitches.
So after that great road trip, the Dodgers have lost three of four at home. Not ideal. However, neither the Giants nor the D-backs seem to be in any mood to make a run just now so the Dodgers still remain atop the NL West, with a three-game lead going into action on Saturday. Emmet Sheehan will try to get back to his earlier winning ways when he takes the mound. The Dodger hitters will be facing Luke Weaver, who is struggling this season (2-2 7.20 ERA). Given the pitching matchup, it seems safe to say that there might be a few runs scored in this one. Game time is 6:10 pm. Let’s get back on track, boys!
