They missed excessive, huge and, in some of the confounding performs you’ll see on a serious league diamond, even on a comparatively routine throw to first base.
The Dodgers know this isn’t the bullpen they anticipated to have in the meanwhile. They’ve been resigned to taking part in the lengthy recreation, attempting to climate key accidents and prolonged absences with a revolving door of minor-league call-ups.
However in a 10-7 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday evening, even they couldn’t have foreseen the shockingly sloppy pitching that doomed them late.
Within the sixth and seventh innings at Dodger Stadium, the Twins scored six runs with out hardly even needing to swing. Over the 2 innings, Minnesota managed solely two hits. However on an evening that one Dodger reliever after the following struggled to seek out the strike zone, a parade of walks stored them circling across the bases, turning what had been a tie rating into one of many Dodgers’ most dismal defeats of the season.
The nightmare began with Ben Casparius, who changed Yoshinobu Yamamoto after a laborious five-inning, three-run (one earned) begin.
Immediately, Casparius’ command seemed off. He walked one batter on 5 pitches, then one other after a Ty France double to load the bases. Up subsequent got here Royce Lewis, who took a first-pitch cutter inside earlier than watching every of Casparius’ subsequent three throws sail properly above the zone. It was a four-pitch stroll that pressured in a go-ahead run. And as Lewis trotted to first, Casparius grabbed at his proper leg and known as for a coach.
That might be the tip of his outing — the workforce later stated he had a calf cramp — however solely the beginning of the Dodgers’ bullpen meltdown.
Alexis Diaz, the previous All-Star Cincinnati Reds nearer who was making his first look for the Dodgers since being acquired in a minor-league commerce earlier this season, couldn’t escape the jam he inherited unscathed. Harrison Bader drove in a run on a swinging bunt up the third bottom line. Christian Vázquez added one other with an RBI single to left.
And although the Dodgers answered again with two runs within the backside half of the inning, trimming the deficit to 6-5 on a two-run Hyeseong Kim single, the pitching workers made certain the momentum didn’t final.
Within the seventh, hard-throwing right-hander Will Klein took over, however succumbed to the identical destiny as Casparius. After putting out Willi Castro, he walked every of his subsequent three batters on pitches that drifted progressively farther from the plate.
The ultimate indignity belonged to Edgardo Henriquez, who marked his return to the majors with a comical little bit of pitchers’ fielding observe.
After beginning Lewis, his first batter, with a wild cutter that despatched catcher Will Smith sprawling behind the plate, Henriquez executed a greater one on the surface nook to induce an excuse-me swing.
The one downside: The ball went trickling again towards Henriquez in entrance of the mound, the place he first bobbled it, then made an ill-advised choice to attempt to compensate with a rocket of a throw to first base.
It missed — horrendously — zipping previous Freddie Freeman and rolling all the best way to the wall in proper discipline whereas all three baserunners got here round to attain.
Many of the crowd groaned. Others, absolutely, couldn’t assist however quietly chuckle in pitiful distress.
In what’s shaping as much as be one of many Dodgers’ worst single-month performances in years (they’re now 6-11 in July, and have dropped 4 of 5 for the reason that All-Star break), this was a brand new nadir.
Granted, the Dodgers (59-43) upset in myriad different methods Tuesday.
There was the three-run rally they gifted the Twins (49-52) within the second inning, when Miguel Rojas misplayed a grounder at third base and Yamamoto hung a two-strike splitter that Vázquez belted for a two-run double.
There have been squandered alternatives from what stays an out-of-sync offense, which acquired an early three-run dwelling run from Andy Pages and a garbage-time two-run dwelling run from Shohei Ohtani (his fourth-straight recreation going deep), but additionally hit into three rally-killing double performs.
Nonetheless, nothing stood out greater than the woeful reduction pitching, the place a unit at the moment with out half a dozen necessary items (together with, most lately, Tanner Scott, who went on the injured record pregame with what the Dodgers hope isn’t a season-ending elbow damage) got here unraveled attempting to lean on unreliable replacements.
