Steve Webb
Game 72, 6/15/2024: Dodgers 2, Royals 7
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — That wasn’t very much fun at all, now was it? After a nice comeback gave the Dodgers the lead on Saturday, the roof fell in. Yoshinobu Yamamoto had to leave the game, and the usually reliable Blake Treinen lost the lead in the worst way possible, as the Dodgers fell to the Royals 7-2.
Yamamoto was coming off probably his best (and longest) outing of the year, that masterpiece that he threw in Yankee Stadium last Friday night. But in a somewhat troubling move, his start was moved back and a bullpen game was inserted to fill the gap (Thursday’s loss to the Rangers). Now we know why.
After throwing two scoreless innings, he was removed (removed himself?) from the game. In his time on the mound, he didn’t give up much, but his command seemed a bit off, and his velocity was down. And when Michael Grove started to throw in the pen and there was a hubbub inside the Dodger dugout, it was clear that something was off. Indeed, later in the game, it was announced that Yamamoto had been experiencing “triceps tightness” and had to be pulled from the game in mid-start.
“I was feeling it a couple days ago, but today, that tightness was gone, and during the game, my triceps tightened up,” Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda.
After the game, we learned that the hurler had been experiencing some discomfort ever since the start in New York, but didn’t think it rose to the level of missing a start. Instead, he was pushed back in the hopes that he would be back to his old self by Saturday night. It never happened. So, with the early exit, the Dodgers had to scramble, calling on an already taxed bullpen to get through one more game.
It turned out that it was a big ask. Michael Grove was first out of the pen, and while he did give up a run on RBI groundout, he got through the third and the fourth without much incident. Then, Gavin Lux came up with a clutch hit in the bottom of the fourth, giving the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. When Yohan Ramirez pitched a scoreless fifth, it gave the Dodgers an even bigger boost. It looked like the pen might just pull it off.
Then came the top of the sixth. A total disaster. Blake Treinen came in for his third appearance in four days, and the dude just didn’t have it. It was apparent from the first out of the inning, a long flyout from Bobby Witt, Jr. that drove Teoscar Hernandez to the wall in left. Then, Treinen’s command abandoned him. Although he had walked only two batters all year, he proceeded to walk three straight Royals to load up the bases with just one out. Many of his pitches were balls out of hand and just didn’t get the chase that we are used to seeing from Treinen’s usual nasty stuff.
After the third walk, Anthony Banda started to warm in the pen, and manager Dave Roberts made a visit to the mound. He stuck with Treinen, and for a hot minute, it looked like the strategy might work–Treinen struck out pinch hitter Adam Frazier on just three pitches. However, no one in the stadium was prepared for the battle that would follow as outfielder M.J. Melendez stepped into the box.
Treinen got ahead quickly 1-2, but then Melendez went to war. At one point in the at-bat, he fouled off six straight pitches before working the count full. Then, the pitched that changed the game, On the twelfth pitch of the at-bat, Treinen went back to the cutter, the only pitch that he was able to get into the zone consistently. However, Melendez had already seen the pitch a half a dozen times, and this one wasn’t quite where Treinen wanted it. WHACK! Melendez walloped the pitch, sending it flying into the LA night. Nearly 400 feet later, Treinen’s 0.00 ERA and the Dodgers’ lead were a thing of the past.
Beaten by three walks and a grand slam from a dude hitting .168. Ugh. Things didn’t get any better in the next inning when Anthony Banda gave up two more runs, getting the game to the final 7-2 score.
In the grand scheme of things, one loss because of an overtaxed bullpen is not that big a deal. Treinen will surely be back to form after a few days off. However, the bigger concern at the end of the game was the condition of the team’s high-priced free agent starter.
“The last outing was not directly related to this tightness, it’s more during the recovery process this week,” Yamamoto said. “I think I will do a little more examination, but the actual feeling I’m having is not that bad.”
Let’s hope so.
