Dodgers 1 Rays 3: Ellis Carries the Offense to One Run

The Dodgers fell to the Rays thanks to the offense going quiet after the second inning.

Brandon McCarthy only went four innings this afternoon on the mound. McCarthy retired the first nine of ten batters he faced, but got into a lot of trouble in the fourth inning. Before that he was sailing through the game. He had pitched a total of 46 pitches through the first three frames, but worked in the fourth and threw 37 pitches. Dave Roberts did not send McCarthy back out for the fifth because he is still coming back from Tommy John surgery so the Dodgers have made it clear they plan on keeping his pitch count down. In those four innings he allowed three runs, walked two and struck out seven batters. It was not a bad start of McCarthy really, especially considering that two of those runs came off of a mistake he made to Evan Longoria who sent a ball yard.

The Dodgers got on the board first in the bottom of the second. After two quick outs Joc Pederson walked and then possibly the greatest thing ever happened. A.J. Ellis singled to right and Pederson took third. Ellis apparently got some momentary confidence in his wheels and decided to steal second base as McCarthy was at the plate. The steal would get the Dodgers a run thanks to a throwing error from Rays catcher Luke Maile. It also was Ellis’ first career steal.

Even Clayton Kershaw acknowledged the importance of the steal for the 35 year old veteran.

The Rays would get on the board in the top of the fourth inning. Brad Miller led off the inning with a double to right and Longoria homered to left. Just like that the Rays had taken the lead for the first time in the series. They would tack on another run against McCarthy in the fourth when Maile doubled in Steven Souza Jr. The Rays were now ahead by a score of 3-1.

Things would get interesting for the boys in blue in the bottom of the seventh inning. Pederson led off with a walk. Ellis came up to the plate and tried to be the hero again. He just missed a home run into left, but it was caught at the wall. Chase Utley who entered the game in a double switch in the fifth inning, flied out. With two outs and one runner on, the Rays pulled Matt Moore and Kevin Jepsen entered the game. Howie Kendrick, who is still swinging a hot bat he had two singles and a walk against Moore, fouled out as Logan Morrison made an amazing catch diving over the wall and into the stands down the right field line. The score remained locked at 3-1, Rays.

After putting in Louis Coleman, J.P. Howell, and Luis Avilan, Roberts called for Ross Stripling to come out of the pen in the seventh inning looking to get two/three innings out of him. Stripling allowed a single and a walk in the seventh but then got Longoria to hit into a double play which quickly got him out of the jam. Stripling was great. He pitched three scoreless innings and struck out three batters.

The Dodgers would go 1-2-3 in the ninth inning. With this afternoon’s victory, the Rays get their first win at Dodger Stadium in franchise history. Vin Scully pointed out that they came to Chavez Ravine in 2013, but were swept. The Dodgers were the only team the Rays had yet to beat on the road in the history of their existence.

Offense continues to struggle. The only run the Dodgers got today was thanks to an error. They scored three runs yesterday, but two of those came off of errors again which means in two games with the Rays, the Dodgers only scored one earned run.

A Dodger win this afternoon would have been great considering the Giants fell to the Reds, but sadly that did not happen. The boys in blue remain 2.5 back in the NL West. They have an off day tomorrow and play the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three game series this weekend at Chavez Ravine.