Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
If the Dodgers were going to have any chance of making noise in the playoffs this year, they were going to have to slug their way through it. The lineup responded by putting up exactly two runs every game in this series, as the starting pitchers gave up 13 runs in 4.1 innings.
That was about it, and the 4-2 loss to the Diamondbacks tonight was more of the same.
Just a pathetic effort, if you can call it one.
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Lance Lynn is known for giving up dingers, and I think we’ve all made jokes about how that would show up in the playoffs, but to actually witness it was something special. Things also got progressively worse, as he got through the 1st on six pitches, then managed to escape a pair of two-out singles in the 2nd with an emphatic “suck it”.
Dunno where this sinker came from, but he should do this more. pic.twitter.com/ONnAqPvwNN
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) October 12, 2023
Whether he pitches well or not, Lance Lynn is hilarious, man. pic.twitter.com/XQ0hxtQd3Y
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) October 12, 2023
The 3rd went to shit extremely quickly, as Geraldo Perdomo and Ketel Marte both homered with just an out between them. Then Christian Walker also homered, and Gabriel Moreno trotted around the bases only to have his homer called back, and then he actually homered to make it back-to-back and 4-0 in a hurry. Fucking hilarious, honestly.
That was the end of Lynn’s night, and Dave Roberts made his first real mistake of the series by not having an arm ready to go or even sending Mark Prior out to stall for time.
Caleb Ferguson took over and got 1.2 scoreless innings, but issued a walk to start the 5th and was yanked. Michael Grove entered and issued two more walks to load the bases but also got three outs to escape without further damage. Alex Vesia put up a scoreless 6th, so the pen was definitely doing their job.
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Meanwhile, the Dodgers offense was busy turning rookie Brandon Pfaadt and his high-5 ERA into Don Drysdale or something, making him throw just 35 pitches through four and seeing their lone single erased immediately by a double play.
The hook was quick for Pfaadt, however, as he got a strikeout on five pitches to start the 5th and then gave up a double to Will Smith and found himself removed. To be fair, the move worked as the Dodgers didn’t score.
The 6th was also quiet for the Dodgers, but they finally started to turn things a bit in the 7th. With two outs, Max Muncy started a rally with a single the other way, and Smith followed with one of his own. Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernandez added a pair of singles themselves to plate two runs and cut the lead in half to 4-2.
David Peralta was up next but Austin Barnes pinch-hit and grounded out on a pitch out of the zone to end the rally. That was about it, honestly.
Brusdar Graterol faced the minimum in the 7th after getting a double play after a single. Evan Phillips got the 8th, giving up just a single and error on Muncy to close the D-backs out.
In the 8th for the Dodgers, Kolten Wong reached with a lead-off walk, but the heart of the order struck out twice and flied out to end the frame. During their last shot in the 9th, they did get the tying run to the plate after a Smith single with one out. However, Taylor hit a fly ball to the track in center that just missed being a homer, and Enrique just missed one himself and lined out to left to end it.
Yeah.
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I dunno, man.
Fire everybody, fire nobody, trade everybody, trade nobody, I don’t give a fuck right now.
Absolutely brutal series and more embarrassing than anything else.
