Scott Kazmir gets a first-inning adjustment
Dodgers starter Scott Kazmir pitched six scoreless innings against the Rockies on Saturday night.
Scott Kazmir’s up-and-down season has carried one glaring theme: The first inning is his toughest obstacle.
Heading into his start against the Rockies on Saturday, Kazmir had a 9.00 ERA in the first inning of his 16 starts. Opponents were hitting a healthy .342 against him in the first. More than a third of the earned runs he’s given up on the season have come before he’s recorded three outs.
That led Kazmir and Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt to tweak the lefty’s pregame routine. After tossing his usual 25 warmup pitches in the bullpen, Kazmir threw a simulated first inning with a hitter standing in the bullpen batter’s box. He doesn’t remember who it was, but does know one thing.
It worked.
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“It’s more just seeing that guy in the box,” Kazmir said after leading the Dodgers to a 6-1 win. “On certain pitches, you get that release point on where you want to start pitches and you get a better feel when you see hitters out there. Helped me feel comfortable.”
Kazmir started his night by hitting Charlie Blackmon with a pitch, and it looked like he was heading down a familiar path. But he rebounded with back-to-back strikeouts and then settled into one of his best starts of the season. In six shutout innings, Kazmir gave up three hits, walked none and struck out 10 while improving to 7-3.
“It’s something I’ve done before, kind of went away from it a little bit,” Kazmir said. “I think I need to stay more consistent with it.”
On Monday in Pittsburgh, Kazmir gave up four first-inning runs by yielding three hits and three walks. The offense bailed him out in an eventual 5-4 win, but Saturday it was Kazmir setting the table for the bats to push ahead.
Once he got through the first, Kazmir leaned on a fastball-changeup combination to keep the Rockies off the board. His fastball consistently registered 94 mph and even touched 95. It was his fastball command that helped him strike out Nolan Arenado, one of the National League’s best hitters, three times.
After his last strikeout of Arenado, Kazmir finished his day by punching out Carlos Gonzalez looking. Gonzalez stirred around home plate, ripping off his elbow guard and stared out at the field. Kazmir dropped his head and got a head start to the dugout, finishing his day like it began.
“They made a little adjustment just to get him ready for that first,” Manager Dave Roberts said. “He was open to it and obviously it paid dividends.”
jesse.dougherty@latimes.com
Twitter: @dougherty_jesse
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