LOS ANGELES — This is not what they paid for.
The Dodgers committed over $740 million to seven free agent pitchers over the past two offseasons. Only two of them – Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tanner Scott – are currently on the active roster. Fourteen pitchers in all are on the Injured List, an egalitarian group that features the old (Kirby Yates) and the young (Roki Sasaki), the homegrown and the imported.
Stitching together a pitching staff from the available parts has been “not fun” – Andrew Friedman’s description for watching his best-laid pitching plans dissolve over the first two months of the season.
The same two-word assessment applied for watching the pitching struggles continue in a 9-5 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks Monday night.
The loss was the Dodgers’ fourth in a row, their longest losing streak this season, during which their pitchers have given up 32 runs.
It’s not just this (very) long weekend, though. Over their past 15 games (6-9), they have a staff ERA of 5.37 with 27 home runs allowed in the 15 games. For the season, all of the Dodgers’ investments in pitching have produced a 4.41 ERA that ranks 24th in the majors.
In Plan A, Jack Dreyer and Landon Knack would have been bit players on the margins of the Dodgers’ pitching staff. But they were sent out – Dreyer to open, Knack for bulk – in the series opener against the NL West rival Diamondbacks. It didn’t go well.
The defense let Dreyer down in the first inning. Hyeseong Kim lost a fly ball in the dusky sky for a double that led to two runs. In the second inning, Dreyer’s wild pitch helped set up another run.
Knack took over in the third inning, and the Diamondbacks teed off. Five of the first six batters he faced reached base and four scored on a pair of two-run home runs by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno. That put the Dodgers down 7-0 before many fans could bite into their first Dodger dog.
Meanwhile, Brandon Pfaadt was reprising some of the themes from his Arizona start against the Dodgers.
During their four-game series at Chase Field on Mother’s Day weekend, Pfaadt held the Dodgers scoreless into the seventh inning. The Dodgers hit seven balls with exit velocities of 100 mph or higher against Pfaadt. None of them were base hits, either going right at fielders or within the extensive range of the Diamondbacks’ outfielders.
Monday, Pfaadt retired the first 10 Dodgers in order and again gave up plenty of hard contact – eight balls with exit velocities of 100 mph or higher in his six innings – while not getting a single swing-and-miss on any of his 95 pitches.
This time, three of the high-speed hits by the Dodgers did manage to avoid any Diamondbacks gloves. Solo home runs by Mookie Betts in the fourth inning and Shohei Ohtani and Betts in the sixth were the Dodgers’ only hits off of Pfaadt.
It was Ohtani’s 17th home run of the season, the most in the majors, and the first back-to-back home runs by the Dodgers this season.
The Diamondbacks’ third two-run homer of the night, by Geraldo Perdomo off of Matt Sauer in the eighth inning, put the game out of reach – though the Dodgers scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to close the gap.
Related Articles
Dodgers’ outfield depth grows with returns of Teoscar Hernandez, Tommy Edman Angels complete Freeway Series sweep of Dodgers Dodgers release versatile veteran Chris Taylor Alexander: For Dodgers, Clayton Kershaw’s return goes as expected Angels hold off Dodgers in seesaw Freeway Series win Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Dodgers’ pitching struggles continue in loss to Diamondbacks as losing streak reaches 4 )
Also on site :
- Country Legend Dolly Parton Sees Her 'Little Girl Dreams Come True'
- WIN SOURCE Earns Industry Recognition Again, Demonstrates Strength in Global Supply Chain Services
- '90 Day Fiance' Star Dead at 55