KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There is one lead that isn’t going to get away from the Dodgers’ bullpen – they’re pulling away from everyone in MLB when it comes to innings pitched by relievers.
The bullpen was called on early again Friday night when Dustin May was undermined by his defense and lasted just four innings. But a five-reliever bucket brigade passed a one-run lead safely along over the final five innings, getting a bases-loaded double play to narrowly end a 5-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
“That was a sweet double play,” closer Tanner Scott said of the 4-6-3 that ended the game with Freddie Freeman stretched out and sprawled on the dirt at first base.
Dodgers relievers have now pitched 362 innings this season, 31⅔ more than any other team.
Fresh off a three-game sweep of baseball’s worst team at Coors Field, the latest relief relay pushed the Dodgers just past the sinking Royals on another night when their play was not as sparkling as their record – which now features the most wins in baseball (52).
“I think right now what we’re doing is, every night it’s a different guy,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “We haven’t gotten everyone to click at the same time. But we’ve had enough guys to take over on certain nights, that we’ve been able to kind of roll through it. But I think we’re still waiting for everyone to get going at the same time.”
May is waiting impatiently for his performance to meet his own standards.
“Yeah, it wasn’t great,” May said in a harsh post-game review that included fewer words than pitches thrown (84). “Didn’t execute.
“I mean, it’s just (bad) all around. Don’t know what to say.”
By the most basic measures, May’s season has been a success. He has returned from two surgeries – one on his elbow and one in a life-threatening emergency – to give the Dodgers innings, more innings than he has ever pitched in a season.
They haven’t always been good innings, though, and his ERA is now pushing 5.00, raising questions about his status when (if?) the Dodgers starters get healthy.
“I don’t know. Tonight he could have went without giving up a run through four innings,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Personally, I don’t look at ERA too much. I do appreciate the value of being able to take the baseball, go deeper in games. There are some pitches here and there, some walks here and there, but I’m not really thinking about that right now.”
What Roberts clearly had on his mind after Friday’s game was the poor play that made things much more difficult than they should have been against a Royals team that has now lost six in a row and 15 of its past 19.
Shohei Ohtani gave the Dodgers their first lead of the night when he led off the game with a 429-foot home run into the right-field fountains. It was Ohtani’s 29th home run of the season, eighth to lead off a game.
May gave it right back in a meandering 30-pitch first inning that didn’t really get started until there were two outs. That’s when May gave up a double to Maikel Garcia, walked Vinnie Pasquantino and gave up a single to Salvador Perez. Garcia ran through a stop sign from his third-base coach and scored when left fielder Kiké Hernandez’s throw went to the backstop.
Muncy got the lead back for the Dodgers with a two-run home run in the second inning. The homer was Muncy’s fourth in the past four games and 13th in his past 49 games after hitting none in his first 28 games of the season.
But May’s second inning was just as problematic as his first – thanks in part to right fielder Teoscar Hernandez.
May walked John Rave to start the inning. He stole second base then moved to third on a ground out. No. 9 hitter Kyle Isbel drove a liner to right field that Hernandez drifted back on. It went over his head for a double, allowing Rave to score.
“Yeah, I should have had that one,” Hernandez said. “I thought I had it then, ‘Oh, (shoot).’ It kept going over my head. I should have made that play.”
Because he didn’t, May’s strikeout of Jonathan India didn’t end the inning and he had to face Bobby Witt Jr. Witt hammered a two-run home run.
May was gone by the time the Dodgers got the lead back in the fifth inning. It was the first time this season May (whose 82⅓ innings pitched are second on the team to Yoshinobu Yamamoto) failed to complete at least five innings.
“Obviously tonight Dustin wasn’t sharp,” Roberts said. “We certainly didn’t help him out defensively. Having to get four outs in a couple innings is obviously difficult especially when you don’t have your best stuff.”
Ironically, it was defense that would eventually save the day.
Kiké Hernandez drew a walk to start the fifth-inning rally and scored on a triple by Ohtani. Mookie Betts drove Ohtani in to give the Dodgers their third lead of the night.
It was the last of the Dodgers’ meager output of four hits and left the rest to their bullpen.
Luis Garcia, Lou Trivino, Anthony Banda, Alex Vesia and Scott maintained that one-run lead despite having the tying run on base in every inning. Scott outdid them all, loading the bases with one out in the ninth on a single, walk and bloop single.
But he got Jac Caglianone to ground into a game-ending double play, Freeman stretching to scoop a one-hop throw from Betts.
“Please be quick,” Scott said he was thinking as Caglianone ran down the line. “I don’t know how fast he is, but I know he’s a pretty good athlete. I was just hoping it was gonna be bang-bang.”
For Freeman, it was a bright spot during his most sustained slump as a Dodger. He went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts Friday and has just seven hits in his past 54 at-bats.
“That was a heckuva play,” Roberts said. “Freddie is going through it offensively, but to stay engaged defensively – that was a game-changing play. Tough play.”