Dodgers waste Game 2 chances and move to the edge of another playoff collapse
Opportunity knocked and knocked and knocked Monday night.
Time after frustrating time, the Dodgers failed to answer.
In a contest the club felt like it had to have, already trailing the Arizona Diamondbacks by a game in the National League Division Series, chances repeatedly arose for the Dodgers to erase an early deficit, avoid a daunting two-game hole in the best-of-five playoff series, and drag themselves back into the October fight.
Instead, they couldn’t capitalize, suffering a 4-2 loss in Game 2 of the NLDS that leaves them clinging to precarious little postseason life.
Dodgers lose Game 2 to Diamondbacks, 4-2, to fall behind 0-2 in series
Diamondbacks 4, Dodgers 2 — FINAL
The Dodgers’ bullpen held the Diamondbacks to just one run over the final 7 1/3 innings, but it didn’t matter because the offense failed to produce again.
The Dodgers went down quietly in the ninth inning. Kiké Hernández hit a hard line drive nearly over left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s head, but it was caught. James Outman then struck out for the third time and Kolten Wong flied out to center field to end the game.
The series will now head to Phoenix for Game 3 on Wednesday. The Diamondbacks, heavy underdogs, will have three chances to become the second NL West team to eliminate the Dodgers in the NLDS in two years.
Evan Phillips escapes bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning
Diamondbacks 4, Dodgers 2 — Bottom of the ninth
The Dodgers face a two-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth inning, but the gap could’ve been worse.
Closer Evan Phillips found himself in a bases-loaded predicament after hitting a batter, intentionally walking another, and yielding an infield hit to Tommy Pham.
Christian Walker, the Diamondbacks’ clean-up hitter, had a chance to break the game open, but he struck out after fouling off three pitches.
Dodgers down to three outs to avoid 0-2 hole
Diamondbacks 4, Dodgers 2 — End of the eighth
The Dodgers will need a comeback in the ninth inning to avoid an 0-2 hole nobody expected in this NLDS.
Diamondbacks set-up man Kevin Ginkel began his outing by striking out Max Muncy on a fastball out of the strike zone. He then walked J.D. Martinez, but Chris Taylor grounded into an inning-ending double play to move Arizona within three outs of another upset at Dodger Stadium.
Freddie Freeman fouls ball off knee, stays in game
Diamondbacks 4, Dodgers 2 — End of the seventh
The Dodgers experienced a scare in the seventh inning when Freddie Freeman fouled a pitch off his right knee.
The first baseman was in considerable pain, enough to have manager Dave Roberts and a trainer jog out to check on him. After a brief chat, Freeman stayed in the game. And with Mookie Betts on first base after an infield single, Freeman grounded into a deflating double play.
Ryan Thompson then got Will Smith to strike out looking to end the inning. The Dodgers now have just six outs to avoid an 0-2 series deficit.
Torey Lovullo hands the Dodgers a gift and they don’t capitalize
Diamondbacks 4, Dodgers 2 — End of the sixth
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo undoubtedly excited the Dodgers’ dugout when he emerged to remove Zac Gallen from the game with one out in the sixth inning.
Yes, Gallen had given up back-to-back singles. Yes, he wasn’t as sharp as he had been earlier. Yes, he was going the third time through the Dodgers’ order. But the bottom of the Dodgers’ lineup was coming up and giving the ball to a reliever leads to unpredictability.
Lovullo, though, pulled his ace after 84 pitches. He gave the ball to left-hander Andrew Saalfrank, which prompted Dave Roberts to substitute Jason Heyward, a left-handed hitter, with pinch-hitter Chris Taylor, a right-handed hitter.
Taylor then worked a five-pitch walk to bring up Kiké Hernández, who was pinch-hitting for David Peralta. Hernández delivered an RBI infield single, but that was all the Dodgers mustered.
James Outman struck out and Kolten Wong, pinch-hitting for Miguel Rojas after right-hander Ryan Thompson was put in the game, grounded out to leave the bases loaded. The Dodgers are now one for six with runners in scoring position tonight.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. — Yuli’s brother — homers to give Arizona 4-1 lead
Diamondbacks 4, Dodgers 1 — Bottom of the sixth
The Diamondbacks didn’t waste any time tacking on a run after the Dodgers’ missed opportunity in the fourth inning.
With two outs and two strikes, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. reached down out of the strike zone to hook a slider from Ryan Brasier for a home run. It was Arizona’s first run since tallying three off Bobby Miller in the first inning.
Gurriel has received boos from the crowd in each of his at-bats — no doubt because he is former Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel’s brother. The reaction didn’t bother him there.
Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman fumble huge opportunities
Diamondbacks 3, Dodgers 1 — End of the fifth
The Dodgers’ fate in October will be tied to whether Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman produce big hits. Both had shots to deliver one with two runners on base in the fifth inning against Zac Gallen. Neither did.
Betts swung at the first pitch of his at-bat to hit a ground ball to the shortstop Geraldo Perdomo, who got the out at second base. Freeman then struck out looking at a curveball with the count full.
Betts is now three for 33 in the postseason going back to the 2021 playoffs. For all the attention on the Dodgers’ starting pitching troubles, the offense has produced just three runs in 14 innings. As a club, the Dodgers are just seven for 49 at the plate in the series.
Gallen is now through five innings on 75 pitches.
Dave Roberts hears boos from Dodger Stadium crowd; J.D. Martinez puts the Dodgers on the board
Diamondbacks 3, Dodgers 1 — End of the fourth
Brusdar Graterol was exactly what the Dodgers needed after another rough start.
The right-hander, who entered the game with two outs in the first inning to relieve Bobby Miller, retired the first six Diamondbacks he faced until walking Geraldo Perdomo with two outs in the fourth inning.
That prompted manager Dave Roberts to remove Graterol from the game after throwing 23 pitches. The decision wasn’t well-received by the crowd. Roberts was booed as he walked to the mound and again when he walked back to the dugout after putting Ryan Brasier in the game.
Graterol threw more than 23 pitches in a game in just four of his 68 appearances during the regular season. The decision worked out: Perdomo was caught stealing to end the inning.
Bottom of the fourth: J.D. Martinez woke up Dodger Stadium in the fourth inning with a solo home run on a 3-2 pitch just beyond Corbin Carroll’s outstretched glove at the wall in right field.
The homer cut the Diamondbacks’ lead to 3-1.
Zac Gallen keeps the Dodgers scoreless
Diamondbacks 3, Dodgers 0 — End of the third
Neither team had a runner reach base in the third inning.
Brusdar Graterol needed just six pitches to register his three outs. Meanwhile, Zac Gallen breezed through Miguel Rojas, Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts. He’s thrown 43 pitches through three innings.
The question now becomes how long will Dave Roberts let Graterol go. The hard-throwing right-hander will start the fourth inning on the mound after needing just nine pitches in 1 1/3 innings. Another inning here would be crucial for the Dodgers as they try to piece together this bullpen game.
Bobby Miller pulled in second inning after 52 pitches
Manager Dave Roberts pulled Bobby Miller and turned to his bullpen with two outs in the second inning, which is both a disaster and progress for the Dodgers.
Roberts took the ball from Clayton Kershaw after one out and 35 pitches in Game 1. Miller recorded five outs and threw 52 pitches before Brusdar Graterol was summoned from the bullpen Monday with two runners on base and the Dodgers trailing 3-0.
Graterol quickly got Tommy Pham to groundout to keep the Diamondbacks off the board in the inning.
But the Dodgers bullpen needs to cover another 21 outs after covering 26 on Saturday. Luckily for them, their best relievers are fresh after a five-day layoff before the series, not pitching in Game 1, and another day off Sunday. But it’s an uphill battle nonetheless.
Bottom of the second: Zac Gallen retired the side in order with two strikeouts. He’s thrown 28 pitches through two innings, putting him on pace to give Arizona the length the Dodgers are desperate for.
Diamondbacks jump out to 3-0 lead in first inning
Diamondbacks 3, Dodgers 0 — End of the first inning
The Diamondbacks jumped out to another good start in Game 2 — not as good as in Game 1, when they knocked Clayton Kershaw out of the game after one out, but good enough to take a 3-0 lead. Coupled with Game 1’s debacle, it was the first time the Dodgers have given up at least three runs in the first inning in consecutive games in 2023. Not a good time for that.
It started with Corbin Carroll, the National League Rookie of the Year favorite, working a walk to lead off the game against Bobby Miller. Ketel Marte then dropped a savvy bunt down the third base line for an infield hit. Tommy Pham followed with a jamshot single to load the bases.
Christian Walker then lined a ball to center field where James Outman, whose blunder to start Game 1 cost the Dodgers an out, made a difficult catch jumping into the wall. The Diamondbacks scored the game’s first run on the play — a sacrifice fly — but it could’ve been much worse for the Dodgers.
Arizona finished the scoring with an RBI groundout from Gabriel Moreno and a Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s RBI single.
Miller escaped the inning — unlike Kershaw in Game 1 — but he needed 32 pitches. Before the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Miller’s ceiling was at about 95 pitches. At this pace, he won’t last past the third inning.
Bottom of the first: The Dodgers put runners on first and second against Arizona ace Zac Gallen after Freddie Freeman beat out an infield single and Max Muncy drew a two-out walk, but J.D. Martinez struck out to end the threat.
Rust never sleeps, even for top-seeded playoff teams
The four top-seeded teams that earned first-round byes lost five of six games entering Monday, raising more questions about whether the current playoff format, which gives top seeds four or five days off before the division series, might be more of a detriment than a benefit to those clubs.
Max Muncy thinks not.
“The best team on paper doesn’t win in this game,” the Dodgers third baseman said.
Lance Lynn set to start Game 3 of NLDS for Dodgers
Roberts said it’s a “pretty safe bet” that veteran right-hander Lance Lynn, who went 7-2 with a 4.36 ERA in 11 starts after being acquired from the Chicago White Sox in late July, will start Game 3 in Phoenix on Wednesday night.
“I think for us it’s a guy who’s been there before and trusting the fact he’s going to pitch well,” Roberts said of Lynn, who gave up a major league-high 44 homers this season. “I feel very confident. That’s why we got him, to pitch big innings for us.”
Evan Longoria sees a lot of 2008 Rays in young Diamondbacks
If this playoff run by the young and hungry Arizona Diamondbacks has a familiar ring to Evan Longoria, it’s because the former St. John Bosco High and Long Beach State star has experienced it before.
Longoria was a 22-year-old American League rookie of the year on a 2008 Tampa Bay team that included 22-year-old pitching phenom David Price, up-and-coming outfielders B.J. Upton (23) and Carl Crawford (26) and an entire rotation of 26-and-under pitchers.
Those Rays won the first division title in franchise history, beat the Chicago White Sox in the AL Division Series and upset the Boston Red Sox in a seven-game AL Championship Series before losing to the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series.
Ominous start puts Dodgers’ vulnerabilities on full display in Game 1 loss
Would the Dodgers’ fate have been different Saturday if rookie outfielder James Outman had held on to Ketel Marte’s leadoff line drive in Game 1 of the NL Division Series, instead of letting it get past him to crack open the door to a six-run first inning in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ eventual 11-2 romp over the stunned Dodgers?
Maybe it wouldn’t have made a difference if Outman had caught the ball instead of letting it bounce off the heel of his glove. Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw, who had been given extra rest throughout the season and was carefully built up and positioned for this moment, clearly struggled with location and velocity. He gave up five hits and five runs before he recorded an out, leaving after giving up six runs in one-third of an inning. That’s an earned-run average of 162.00 for the game.
Emotional control: How Bobby Miller’s rookie growth earned Dodgers’ playoff trust
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1. Dodgers starting pitcher Bobby Miller throws against the San Francisco Giants on Oct. 1. (John Hefti / Associated Press) 2. Bobby Miller walks to the dugout during a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Aug. 9. (Matt York / Associated Press) 3. Bobby Miller delivers against the San Diego Padres on Aug. 4. (Gregory Bull / Associated Press)
Dave Roberts delivered the initial message.
Lance Lynn made sure to hammer it home.
After watching an amped-up, and at times over-hyped, Bobby Miller navigate a laborious four-inning start in San Diego in early August, both Roberts, the Dodgers’ manager, and Lynn, their veteran trade-deadline acquisition, came to the same conclusion about the team’s rookie star.
Miller had the stuff to be a viable postseason starter.
But, more than two months into his debut campaign, he needed to home in more emotional control, too.
Are the Athletics moving into Dodgers territory? Why Las Vegas feels true blue
Daniel Mendez strolled into the dim bar Saturday in a Dodgers cap and a crisp white Clayton Kershaw jersey. The same necklace Mookie Betts wears — the one with a bat and baseball on a black string — hung around his neck. He was a few minutes late for the start of the Dodgers’ postseason opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks. But what could happen in just a few minutes? A lot, it turns out.
“What?! How?! Thirty-three pitches?!” Mendez yelled out, stupefied. “How did that happen?!”
A staggering scene was unfolding on the televisions around him at La Catrina Bar and Grill: Kershaw was crumbling in the first inning of Game 1 of the National League Division Series, adding to his head-scratching list of high-profile postseason fiascoes. The future Hall of Famer was abruptly pulled after surrendering six runs, throwing 35 pitches, and recording just one out in the Dodgers’ 11-2 loss.
Dodger Stadium was left in a stunned silence. Three hundred miles away, Mendez and his group of friends couldn’t believe it either.
Dodgers Dugout: What to do about Clayton Kershaw
The Dodgers defeatists came out in droves after the Game 1 debacle, already throwing in the towel on the series. And although the Game 1 loss was frustrating and disappointing, the fact is the Dodgers are just down 1-0 in the series. They were up 1-0 in the NLDS last year and lost that series. This year’s team has faced adversity all season and bounced back, and there’s no reason they can’t do it again. The 1981 Dodgers were always on the verge of postseason elimination but won it all.
The 1959 Dodgers lost Game 1 of the World Series 11-0. They won the World Series. Magic Johnson pointed out the Lakers lost Game 1 of the 1985 NBA Finals, 148-114, and most fans were ready to give Boston the title on the spot. The Lakers won the title. And there are many other examples.
Why would the Dodgers start Clayton Kershaw again? Because they have no other choice
The decision has already been made. Clayton Kershaw will pitch again this postseason.
Kershaw insisted he can, so he will.
“He’s going to pitch Game 4,” manager Dave Roberts said.
“I’ll be ready,” Kershaw said.
Never mind that he retired just one batter in an 11-2 defeat to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night in Game 1 of their National League Division Series.
Never mind that he was charged with six runs and six hits against a team he has dominated his entire career.
Never mind every indication he was pitching with a gravely damaged shoulder, from his diminished velocity to the rockets the Diamondbacks were hitting against him.
Dodgers sticking with same lineup for Game 2 vs. Diamondbacks
The Dodgers aren’t moving pieces around just yet.
After their 11-2 loss in Game 1, the team will use the same lineup in Game 2. This time, they’ll face right-hander Zac Gallen, the Diamondbacks’ top pitcher during the regular season.
Merrill Kelly, who had previously been dreadful against the Dodgers, held Los Angeles to three hits over 6 1/3 scoreless innings in Game 1.
The Diamondbacks will counter with a lineup featuring just one change from Game 1 opposite Dodgers right-hander Bobby Miller: Corbin Carroll, not Ketel Marte, will leadoff. The two players flipped. Marte will bat second.
Dodgers could see another early winter if bats do not come alive
It sounds crazy, really. On Monday, the Dodgers could play their second and last postseason game this season at Dodger Stadium.
Two home games and out last October. Two home games and out this October?
Could be, unless the Dodgers’ bats return from another slumber party.
Clayton Kershaw did not lose this game all by himself, even if headlines here and everywhere else might sway you to believe that.