Dodgers 4 Orioles 6: 5 Hours of Disappointment

The Dodgers drop the series finale against the Orioles in an extra inning effort.

Both teams today did not waste any time getting on the board today. Bud Norris put together a good scoreless first inning and in the bottom of the first, Chase Utley led off with a single. With one out, Justin Turner came up and sent a ball into the left field pavilion. That was Turners 12th home run all season, but his ninth home run in the past 27 games. It took Turner awhile to get hot, but he clearly is now. By the end of the first, the Dodgers were already up by two against the Orioles. The Orioles would score one in the top of the second thanks to two doubles in the inning. Norris worked his way out of trouble and the inning ended as the Orioles stranded a runner on third.

In the bottom of the second the Dodgers tried to strike again. A.J Ellis singled to center with two outs and Norris followed him up with a single. With two outs and two runners on, Utley struck out to end the inning. One of my favorite things is seeing a pitcher get a hit in their plate appearance. Pitchers who rake are the best. It just nice to see Norris come up with two outs, knowing he was not going to bunt and just swing the bat to get a hit.

Norris gave up back to back base hits to start the third inning. Then the birthday boy, Manny Machado grounded into a double play. While the Dodgers got two outs in the inning, a run still scored so the ballgame was tied at 2-2. In the top of the fourth inning the Orioles would strike again when Mark Trumbo hit a solo shot to third to give them the lead for the first time. Norris looked surprised to see the ball leave the yard when he had already worked a 0-2 count against Trumbo. Sadly, Norris would get himself in some more trouble in the inning. He allowed two more walks, but allowed the Orioles just one run in the inning. Through four Norris had already thrown over 80 pitches. Since Clayton Kershaw went on the DL, no Dodger starter has gone deeper than seven innings. Either way the Orioles now lead by a score of 3-2.

The Dodgers would regain the lead in the bottom of the fifth thanks to an Utley double, Corey Seager walk and a single by Adrian Gonzalez. Since there were two outs, the runners were already going which allowed both Utley and Seager to score on the single. The Dodgers at this point led by a score of 4-3. That would do it for Norris. He went five innings, allowed three runs, struck out five and walked two. However, once again a Dodger starter cannot seem to go deeper than five frames.

The last one was a two run single and an advance to second on the throw, but still the fact that Gonzo continues to be the butter and eggs man is really impressive.

Casey Fien came in for the top of the sixth to relieve Norris. On the first pitch he allowed a solo home run to Trumbo. So, the Dodgers lead lasted all of about one pitch. The clubs were again locked in a 4-4 tie.

Things got interesting again in the bottom of the seventh inning and Utley led off with a single and Seager followed him up with a double! That was his first hit of the day and extends his hitting streak to 19 consecutive games. Seager now leads the NL with the longest hitting streak. Seager also now has the second longest hitting streak by a Dodgers rookie. Tommy Davis had the longest streak as a Dodgers rookie with a 20 games.  With no outs, his double also put two men in scoring position. Turner struck out so the Orioles decided to intentionally walk Gonzo and take their chances against Trayce Thompson with the bases loaded. Thompson struck out and Howie Kendrick was called out on what looked like a ball. Bases loaded, but the Dodgers still come up empty.

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In the bottom of the eighth the Dodgers again got a little rally going. Ellis walked and then Dave Roberts put in Kenta Maeda to run for Ellis. Utley hit a double to right with two outs and the Orioles intentionally walked Seager. With the bases loaded, two outs and a tie game, Turner came up to the plate. Turner in a 2-0 count popped up to end the inning. Once again the Dodgers have a great opportunity to take the lead and fall short. They left six men on in the last two innings and 11 total men left on base through eight frames.

Things did not get much better as the Dodgers could not get ahead in the ninth so off to extras they went. Things remained tied until the top of the 14th inning when Chris Hatcher gave up three hits and a double from Jonathan Schoop brought home two runs for the Orioles to put them ahead. Schoop got the game winning hit with two outs. Thompson tried to make a diving attempt, but missed the ball and the runs scored.

The Dodgers kept fighting and ended up getting the bases loaded in the bottom of the 14th. With one out Gonzalez doubled, Thompson walked, Kendrick grounded into a fielder’s choice which allowed the runners to advance. In Kendrick’s at bat, Roberts did not agree with a called strike. He exchanged words with the home plate umpire and was ejected from the game. Yasmani Grandal was intentionally walked so Hatcher had to come up to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded. He hit a ground ball back to the pitcher and the game was over. Hatcher was stuck in that position since the Dodgers had literally run out of players.

Today’s game was a marathon to say the least. It lasted five hours and 26 minutes all together. In that time frame Utley became the first player to have a six-hit game since Shawn Green on May 23, 2002. Utley went 6 for 7 at the plate today. The Dodgers also used 23 players in today’s game which is their most in a non-expanded roster since June 3, 1989. Today’s game was full of strikeouts. There were 25 strikeouts combined from both bullpen’s in relief and 36 strikeouts through all 14 innings of work. The 36 strikeouts in one game set a new record at Dodger Stadium. The previous record was set in 1996 and it was 32  K’s.

The Dodgers had plenty of opportunities with runners in scoring position, but they could not manage to get the W today. Tomorrow they start a new four game series with the Padres at home leading up to the All-Star break.