Dodgers 3 Pirates 11: Make It Stop

The Dodgers dropped the series finale against the Pirates this afternoon and Brett Anderson could not make it to the second inning.

Make it stop. This series with the Pirates was a rough one for the Dodgers, but the DL stints seem to be never ending. Anderson makes his debut with the club in 2016 today, but leaves after the first with an apparent injury. Josh Ravin was added to the 15 day DL before today’s game and he has barely thrown the ball in the past two months since he was suspended. Brandon McCarthy was also added to the 15 day DL with right hip stiffness. To top it all off, the Dodgers only score three runs on seven hits as they committed two errors.

Dodgers Starter

To say the first inning was rough would be an understatement. Brett Anderson allowed two home runs, nine hits, five earned runs, walked two and struck out one. That was Anderson’s line for the day because he did not come out for the second inning. Dave Roberts called to the pen for Brock Stewart to get ready. I completely understand that Anderson is coming off of the 60-day DL so expecting him to be perfect was a little much, but I think I speak for everyone when I say, that going one inning is just awful. As Stewart came in for the second, Vin Scully over the broadcast said that Anderson exited the game with an “injury to his left hand”. Not quite sure how that happened, but saying your leaving a game “due to injury” always sounds much better than just not having your stuff and only getting three outs.

Dodgers Offense

Before they even got in the box, the Dodgers were trailing by five. They got on the board with one run in the bottom of the first inning. Josh Reddick hit a one out double in the first. He thought about taking third thanks to a poor throw, but held up. Then the ball went under the glove. The whole thing was pretty humorous. Reddick probably could have been standing at third had he of know about the poor fielding, but either way the Dodgers had a runner in scoring position. After Corey Seager lined out for the second out, Adrian Gonzalez singled in Reddick to get the boys in blue on the board. By the end of the first inning the Dodgers trailed by a score of 5 to 1.

In the fourth inning, the Pirates would add another run to their lead. A couple of singles and they were now leading by five runs. The Dodgers took that lead back down to four in the bottom of the fourth thanks to Joc Pederson. Pederson hit a solo shot to right.

The Pirates kept adding to their lead when a few singles and a double made the score 7 to 2 in the fifth inning. The Dodgers would not score again until the bottom of the seventh inning. Howie Kendrick led off with a walk, but took second on a wild pitch. Rob Segedin singled to move Kendrick to third. With no outs, the Dodgers had runners on first and third. Enrique Hernandez entered the game and lined out, but the Dodgers got on the board thanks to the Pirates. Kendrick scored from third on a balk from Antonio Bastardo. At this point, no one was complaining. Clearly scoring runs has been a struggle so a balk was great.

In the top of the ninth the Pirates would tack on four more runs on five hits and one error. I would list all the reasons how, but really the whole thing was painful so to relive it does not sound like fun. A solo shot from Jung Ho Kang got the rally started and things just went crazy after that. Josh Fields was charged with the runs.

Heading into the bottom of the ninth, you know it is bad when you tell yourself, “just a touchdown and a two point conversion and we are right back in this thing”. The Dodgers went down in order to end the game and that was that.

Dodgers Bullpen

Stewart ended up going three innings. He allowed two hits, one earned run, walked four batters and struck out two. Stewart struggled with his control here and there, but he was just barely missing. When the pitch tracker came up, Stewart’s pitches were just barely off the corners or a little too low. Considering the circumstances, he did a good job and being thrown in the game.

J.P. Howell relieved Stewart in the fifth inning and he allowed a run in the inning on a double and a few base hits. Jesse Chavez came in for one inning and actually got the Pirates to go down 1-2-3. Grant Dayton also put in two innings of work today. In his two innings, Dayton allowed just one hit and struck out three.

After Dayton’s shutout two innings, Josh Fields entered the game for the top of the ninth inning. The Pirates would score four more off of him. Fields only managed to get two outs before Dave Roberts had to call to the pen for Pedro Baez. Baez got the last out and it was off to the bottom of the ninth.

With today’s crazy game, the Dodgers have now used seven pitchers in each of their last two games. An off day tomorrow is much needed for the bullpen to rest up.

Other Stuff

The only saving grace is that the Giants lost today too. They were winning 7 to 1 most of the game, but the Orioles came out swinging in the top of the ninth inning with two outs and took the lead on a three run home run to eventually get the W. So after today’s madness, the Dodgers are still only one game out of first.

The Dodgers have a much needed off day tomorrow before starting a three game series with the Phillies on Tuesday as they hit the road.