The Dodgers are one of the worst if not the worst clutch performers in the majors in 2018 and they showed why on Thursday evening during their latest disaster, losing to the Dbacks 3-1 in the series opener. The Dodgers entered the contest winners of their last five in a row but that was against the two worst teams in the majors (Padres, Rangers) so my expectations were quite low as they began what really is the most pivotal series of the season. In the end it was a botched double play that doomed the Dodgers. A wide throw from a player (Justin Turner) who rarely if ever makes mistakes led to the Snakes plating three unanswered runs.
Arizona left hander Robbie Ray shut the Dodgers down again, striking out nine over 5.1 innings allowing one earned run on four hits. For the record the Dodgers have never been able to hit Ray. He was previously undefeated against the Dodgers in his last five decisions. The southpaw was 6-3 with a 2.69 ERA and 105 punch-outs in 13 career starts versus the Dodgers. Even with Ray struggling over his last ten starts (5.19 ERA coming into tonight’s game) he still mowed the Dodgers down with minimal effort.
Dbacks 3 10 1
Dodgers 1 8 0
WP-Ray-4-2
LP-Hill-6-5
SV-Boxberger-31
HR-Peralta-26-Machado-33
While the Dodger bats did little to nothing all night, the management did not put them in a position to succeed. Once again instead of starting the hot bats (Cody Bellinger, Max Muncy) the Dodgers played match-ups, using an all right handed lineup with the ice cold Matt Kemp batting cleanup. Enrique Hernandez was playing first base and the worst hitter in MLB Austin Barnes was batting eighth behind the dish. Why in the world the Dodgers keep starting Barnes is beyond my comprehension. He should have been sent down to the minors weeks ago.
With the Dodgers putting all of their weakest hitters against Ray, it was no surprise to anybody that they were unable to gain any traction offensively. The situational hitting is not there this year and there’s little chance of anything changing this late in the season. Yet playing your hottest hitters is something that always helps. The Dodgers had eight hits and were 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position. The lone run to cross then plate was on a Manny Machado solo home run in the bottom of the sixth.
Meanwhile Dodger starter and fellow southpaw Rich Hill did his best to keep the Dodgers in the game. Hill pitched well enough, but ran out of gas in the top of the fifth. Hill’s pitch count mounted during the fifth frame as Arizona scored three on a three-run home run from David Peralta. The Home run should never have happened, because the Dodgers made a glaring mistake that eventually cost them the game. The inning began with consecutive singles from Ray and Steven Souza Jr. AJ Pollack’s ground ball to third looked like an easy double play but Turner’s throw pulled Dozier away from the bag. Somehow Dozier kept his foot on second base long enough to get a force out, but that extended the inning. After a big out on Paul Goldschmidt, Peralta smashed a towering drive into the right field pavilions. That was the game changer and the end of the evening for the Dodgers.
Of course it’s not like the Dodgers didn’t have any chances. The Dodgers had two on in the fourth after singles from Kemp and Hernandez, but Chris Taylor whiffed and Yasiel Puig grounded out weakly. In the bottom of the sixth, Machado bombed one out to cut the Arizona lead to 3-1. Ray was quickly hooked for Brad Ziegler. The Dodgers had another opportunity later in the inning when Kemp singled into center and Cody Bellinger (pinch-hitting) lined a bullet, but it was right at Goldschmidt who stepped on first for the double play.
Perhaps their best chance came in the bottom of the eighth. With one out, Turner singled and Machado singled over the third base bag sending Turner flying all the way around into third. However Kemp immediately grounded into an inning ending and game killing double play. All three Dodgers (Bellinger, Taylor, and Puig) struck out in the bottom of the ninth.
The loss drops the Dodgers back to two games behind in the NL West, and 2.5 games behind in the wild card race. If there is any kind of urgency we are seeing none of it. You would think the Dodgers would show some kind of life, but unless they’re playing the Padres or another bottom dweller they simply roll over like a dog in heat. Nothing is changing folks. The series will move forward Friday night as the Dodgers look to tie the series. Turncoat Zack Greinke will take the mound for the Snakes as the Dodgers counter with Hyun-jin Ryu.
It is often said that winning competitions is based on the mistakes that are made by one or the other side. Every game is usually decided this way. In close scoring games, it is usually easier to spot the mistakes. But this doesn’t really tell the story of individual and collective efforts of many of the players.
Puig, one of the worst decision makers I’ve ever seen when running on base continues to make stupid, elementary mistakes that cost the team chances.
Taylor, who continues to whiff at an astonishing pace, chases balls your grandmother wouldn’t swing at. He’s either not paying attention or something is wrong with his eyesight. He should not be playing, imo.
Grandal, who has many clutch situations to be productive in, doesn’t deliver many times in these situations. We can’t sit him because his backup doesn’t produce at all. Bring in Farmer. At least give him a fighting chance to make something happen.
Without Turner producing in a game, our chances dwindle significantly. He’s usually at ground zero in innings with a number of runs. If he’s quiet, all bets are off.
Kemp, Kike, and Barnes, all of whom have been criticized by many, were able to get on base. I’m not saying the criticism is not valid, but even with them getting on base, nothing transpired!! The logic is wrong, somehow.
Hill made his mistake with Peralta and that was enough to lose the game. The bats did not produce any runs save for Manny. Manny has 88rbi’s. He is doing his job. The problem is that this is a team sport. Changes need to be made, but the FO are too scared to show themselves as WRONG as far as putting a team together. The Dodgers don’t work at optimal running speed. You need to swap out parts, re-build or replace sluggish, habitually challenged players. Puig will bring value back in a trade. He is not championship material. He is not helping this team. Same with Grandal, Barnes, and Taylor. They don’t play optimally. Joc and Kike are utility players, not starters. Teams need players like this, but when you have a starting RFielder who can’t hit lefties, you have an unproductive player who needs to be replaced.
Core:Turner, Seager, Manny. Dozier, and Bellinger. Muncy must stay. Kemp will stay one more year because of his contract and a very low chance of moving him because of it. The whole OF needs an injection of Red Bull, a complete overhaul. Whether that means Verdugo and/or Toles, I don’t know. We just need a different set of contributors that complement our stellar infield.
Stop the press! Babe Ruth not human!
Jonah
I remember my dad when he talked about Ruth, he made it a point to me to tell me he was also a great pitcher, not just a great hitter.
And like I was saying about stealing home, the lead and the jump a runner gets, is almost as important, as how fast a runner is.
Babe Ruth had a career record of 94-46 and his ERA was 2.28. His strikeout to walk ratio was not very good since he struck out only 488 batters in over 1200 innings and walked 441. He won 23 games in 1916 and 24 in 1917, the last year he was a full time pitcher. Because of his bat, the Sox started playing him in the outfield. He was 3-0 in World Series play and for years held the Series record for the longest scoreless innings streak at 29 1/3. He pitched in 5 games as a Yankee and won all of them despite having an ERA over 5. Of course, the way those teams hit 5 runs was nothing.
I was not surprised the back of our line up of rightie hitters, didn’t do much against Ray.
Because after all, these rightie hitters haven’t done much against lefties all year, and Puig hasn’t hit lefties, for the last couple years.
As much as Kiké hits against lefties, he is not a hitter, that delivers when runners are in scoring position, so I would have put him lower in this line up, too.
Like Jeff said, either Cody or Muncy should have been in this line up, or both should have been in this line up
Muncy is hitting against lefties better then most on this team, and doing it, with power too.
I thought Roberts wasted Muncy’s at bat, by having him come up so early in this game.
I would have had Joc hit that early not Muncy, but Joc is another player that can only hit pitchers from only the right side, so he probably wouldn’t be much help, either.
But Muncy and Cody, should have been in this game from the start!
Also, although Dozier did get one hit in this game, he has not hit lefties since he was brought to this team, so he has not been any help against lefties, either.
I thought it said a lot, after the Dbacks took Ray out, they had a leftie reliever still pitch to the bottom of our line up, because I guess they realize that these righties hitters are not doing much against lefties too.
One mistake in your story Scott. Ray was beaten the last time he faced the Dodgers which was in the playoffs last year. He had not pitched against them since then. This Ray is a beatable pitcher. They helped him out by swinging at some very bad balls. The Golden Sombrero once again for our daunted hero from last year, Chris Taylor. That boy is swinging at pitches he could not hit with 2 bats. And, riddle me this, why was Muncy on the bench? He hits lefty’s better than he does righty’s and he has pretty good power against them. Bellinger, a much better defender than Kike, is hitting for a higher average against lefty’s than Taylor, who should have been on the bench. He contributed nothing. Same with Puig. I would have checked those stats if I was FAZ or Doc before I made out a lineup that was just going to FLAIL once again. 9th inning was pitiful….3 K’s and your out. Help on the way, but is it going to be too late? It sure is smelling that way. D-backs have beaten the Dodgers 9 of 13 games. Can’t beat the teams in your own division, you deserve to lose. There is a rumor that the Dodgers are chasing a bat, but who? No one seems to know. And Puig made a base running blunder, but this is not all on him. He still plays stellar defense. The entire team as a whole is pretty bad against lefty’s even though they managed to beat a couple on this last stretch. They get Greinke tonight,
Dodgers acquired David Freese from the Pirates. This must be the bat you were referring to. He doesn’t seem like he is needed in this lineup as he is a 3B. PHitter, maybe? Giving Turner a break? Turner needs to play every game, imo. He is by far the most important Dodger.
Dave Roberts said David Freese will play (1B & 3B) against LHP, and be a bat off the bench against RHP.
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Guess they could go Cody in center full time and reduce Kemp/CT3 to more part-time roles.
Yes, agreed Bluto. It’s a good strategic move.
Right before Hill pitched to Peralta after he had just got Goldy out, I said to myself, I hope Hill doesn’t have a let down after getting Goldy out, because we were not over that inning yet, and then the first pitch was hit out!
And I hope every Dodger noticed, that Peralta didn’t have to swing out of his shoes, to get that ball out!
It was a nice easy swing, unlike some of our players.
And although we have hit Greinke pretty well, I would not under estimate Greinke tonight, he still has the second higher era on the Dbacks, and we know Greinke knows how to pitch, especially at Dodger Stadium.
Dodgers have acquired Ryan Madson , but not sure who we gave up yet
Andrew Istler. We’re paying his remaining salary, $1.24 MM
https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=istler000and&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-
Dodgers traded minor league pitcher Andrew Istler for Madson. Jamie Jarrin to be inducted into the ring of honor.
OKC beat Iowa 4-2 last night. McAllister had a decent 2 inning relief stint. Toles hit his 7th HR, a 2 runs shot, and Verdugo did not play. Schlitter got his 21st save..Locastro had 2 hits.
Well,
Kemp out again, this does not help Kemp get out of a slump. He had 2 hits last night and Dummy pulls him. Kemp’s slump is supported by Dummy’s inability to maintain a consistant lineup. This hurts a player.