Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — After the wild and wacky opening day, it was a pretty quiet night at the Ravine for Game 2 of the series between the Dodgers and the Twinkies. It ended up in a 5-1 loss for the Dodgers, but all things considered it was kind of inevitable given the state of the things at the moment. With that loss, the Dodgers’ winning streak ends at six, the home winning streak ends at ten, and the winning streak against Minnesota ends at eleven.
The game felt kind of hinky right out of the gate. Clayton Kershaw was pitching, and given the fact that he was trying to power through after the death of his mom, one would forgive him if he wasn’t 100 % locked in on this one. Anyway, it wasn’t like the Twins were ripping the cover off the ball. That was on Monday. On Tuesday, it was more like a series seeing-eye grounders, doinks and dribblers that were plaguing the Dodgers’ lefty. He did what he could, but it ended up elevating his pitch count in a hurry, and forcing him to leave the game after just four innings. He only gave up two earned runs, but that was enough to hang him with his first loss at Dodger Stadium in over two years.
“I just felt that he was more agitated, not in rhythm and you can see his frustration even with that,” said manager Dave Roberts after the game. “I think there’s an intensity with him every time he takes the mound. But I think that agitation isn’t kind of typical for him.”
After Kershaw’s early exit, it was up to the overtaxed bullpen to cover five innings, which proved one inning too much. Shelby Miller pitched two innings, but got dinged for one run on a squeeze bunt that scored Byron Buxton from third. Still, the Dodgers were heading into the 9th inning still within striking distance, trailing only 3-1 thanks to plating a run in the 5th on a Freddy Freeman single. However, Justin Bruihl ended up surrendering a two-run jack to former Dodger Kyle Farmer in the top of the 9th to put the game on ice for the visitors.
A disappointing loss, to be sure, but considering the bullpen only used three pieces last night, it could have been a lot worse.
After the game, Kershaw was reluctant to speak about the death of his mom, but did have a message to Dodgers’ fans:
“It’s been humbling to see how many people have reached out, and [I’m] thankful for that,” Kershaw said. “She was a great lady. Just thank you to everybody that’s reached out. It’s really nice.”
The series wraps up with a matinee at 12:10 on Wednesday, and then it’s off to St. Louis to start a ten-day road trip featuring some quality opponents, perhaps the most challenging stretch of the season so far.
