Dodgers bullpen again falters in walk-off loss to the Astros
HOUSTON — The Dodgers have yet to make a major move ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline.
But their list of roster needs seems to keep growing by the day.
The Dodgers’ latest concern: a suddenly shaky late-game bullpen, one that cost them dearly in a 7-6 walk-off loss to the Houston Astros on Saturday.
Once ahead 5-0 behind a strong start from rookie left-hander Justin Wrobleski, the Dodgers unraveled with some of their most trusted relievers on the mound at Minute Maid Park.
Former closer Evan Phillips inherited a two-on, two-out jam in the sixth — and then promptly gave up four consecutive RBI singles, suffering the latest stumble in a monthlong slump that includes an 11.42 ERA in his last 11 outings.
Ahead 6-4 in the eighth inning, the Dodgers watched the lead evaporate for good against set-up man Daniel Hudson, who gave up two runs, three hits and a key two-out walk, ending his streak of nine scoreless outings this month.
After Gavin Stone’s hot start this season, the Dodgers ‘ de facto No. 2 pitcher needs to shake off a slump that includes a loss to Houston Friday.
The final blow came in the ninth, when Alex Bregman got an elevated sinker from Blake Treinen — who was beginning his second inning of work — and launched a walk-off home run to the train tracks high above left field.
Of all the painful losses the Dodgers (62-44) have suffered this season, Saturday ranked near the top.
And for a team that already needed a front-line starter, was looking for reinforcements at the bottom of the lineup, and had yet to strike any notable deal on a market that has heated up in recent days, the bullpen emerged as one more potential issue for the team to address before Tuesday’s deadline.
“I think we take a lot of pride in being a backbone down there,” Phillips said of the team’s bullpen at large. “We haven’t been that right now.”
Before the sixth inning, Saturday was shaping up to be an unexpected win for a short-handed Dodgers club.
They were missing Freddie Freeman (who was put on the family emergency list after flying back to Los Angeles on Friday) and Mookie Betts (who remains several weeks away from returning from a broken hand) and were starting five players with batting averages of .205 or worse.
First baseman Freddie Freeman, who had started every game this season, returned to Los Angeles to be with family after son spent time in a hospital.
Yet, they surged in front thanks to big games from not only Shohei Ohtani (two hits, including a 443-foot blast that cleared the second deck in right field), but also Cavan Biggio (two hits, including an eighth-inning homer), Gavin Lux (who reached base twice and had an RBI from the No. 3 spot in the batting order) and Kiké Hernández (whose three walks helped key a couple of early rallies).
Wrobleski, meanwhile, silenced the high-powered Astros (55-49) over the first five innings, getting quick outs with his mid-90s-mph fastball despite striking out only two batters.
“Obviously, any time you face a team like that, you’re excited to face them because they’re a good ball club,” Wrobleski said. “So just try to go out there, attack the zone and kind of play my game.”
The course of the evening changed, however, on a debatable decision from Roberts in the sixth.
With two outs and runners on the corners, Roberts decided to replace Wrobleski with Phillips, who was removed from a designated closer’s role last week. The move was defensible, with a string of right-handed batters due up during Wrobleski’s third time through the order. Given the 5-0 score, it also seemed like a low-risk maneuver, even amid Phillips’ recent struggles.
At the outset of the second half, the Dodgers’ World Series aspirations remain intact — but their route to get there is littered with question marks and uncertainties.
Instead, Phillips yielded four consecutive run-scoring singles: a line drive by Yanier Diaz, an infield single by Jeremy Peña and two shallow bloopers from Jake Meyers and Victor Caratini.
“They put good swings on what I thought were pretty good pitches,” Phillips said, bemoaning all the soft contact that found a way to drop. “That kind of spot, I can execute well until the end of the day, but I need to get guys out.”
Hudson faced similar struggles in the eighth, with the Dodgers protecting a 6-4 lead.
Diaz belted a one-out triple, before scoring on Peña’s RBI single. A two-out walk kept the inning alive, allowing Jon Singleton to tie the score on a full-count single.
The calamity was complete in the bottom of the ninth, when Bregman whacked his walk-off home run against Treinen to hand the Dodgers their seventh loss this season when leading after six innings.
When did Roberts feel the momentum change?
“As soon as I took out Wrobleski, to be quite honest,” he acknowledged.
And while Roberts tried not to second-guess his decision, the unraveling of his relievers underscored another area of concern leading up to Tuesday’s trade deadline.
Though the bullpen has been good on the whole this season (even after Saturday, their 3.65 ERA as a group ranks eighth in the majors), the unit has shown signs of decline amid a heavy workload the last couple of months. Since Yoshinobu Yamamoto was injured June 15 — the first of a wave of injuries to the Dodgers’ rotation — the bullpen has pitched a combined 145 ⅔ innings, tied for second most in the majors in that span.
Its ERA during that time: 5.00, sixth worst in the majors.
Clayton Kershaw goes four innings and strikes out six in his first start in the majors since recovering from offseason shoulder sugery as the Dodgers collect a 6-4 win.
As a result, the team has been operating with increasingly fatigued arms. Phillips’ demotion from the closer role has compounded the late-game pitching complications.
And now, in addition to their needs at the top of the rotation (where Garrett Crochet and Jack Flaherty remain options) and the bottom of the order (where everyone from Luis Robert Jr. to Tommy Pham and Jesse Winker remain available), the bullpen suddenly seems as if it could use some deadline help.
The Dodgers do have some internal depth on the way back, with Brusdar Graterol, Ryan Brasier and Michael Grove all on rehabilitation assignments with triple-A Oklahoma City.
But the trade market offers even better potential alternatives, with established closers such as Tanner Scott of the Miami Marlins (a player who has been linked in reports to the Dodgers this week) and Mason Miller of the Oakland A’s (a 25-year-old right-hander with a 100-mph fastball) available as possible options.
“The bottom line is we’re in first place and you have to win games somehow,” Roberts said of the state of his bullpen. “But the rubber does hit the road at some point. And when guys are taxed, when you’re using them, it is a cost. Absolutely.”
One the Dodgers will have to seriously contemplate addressing as they navigate an all-important trade deadline during the next three days.
