by Megan Garcia
The Dodgers fell to the Rays 9–8 in extra innings on Saturday at Dodger Stadium as the offense couldn’t match Tampa Bay’s 15 hits, eight for extra-bases.
Los Angeles pulled its way out of an early four-run deficit, but timely knocks from the Rays helped them prevail.
Dodger reliever Joe Kelly was tagged for the loss after he surrendered a two-run home run to Rays №8 hitter José Caballero in the top of the 10th inning, breaking a 7–7 tie.
The Dodgers flashed a sign of resurgence in the bottom of the 10th when Mookie Betts plated Miguel Rojas with a sacrifice fly to cut the Rays’ lead to one run, but they came up short in the next at-bat that ended the game with a Freddie Freeman ground out.
The Dodgers held a one-run lead entering the ninth with reliever Evan Phillips in a save opportunity until Junior Caminero crushed a home run to lead off the inning to tie the game at 7.
https://medium.com/media/4c502eb14b04d1ac86b597589866b03e/href
Before then, the Dodgers had rallied to overcome the Rays’ four-run first inning. Caminero, Christopher Morel and Jonny DeLuca put the Rays ahead with a trio of singles against Clayton Kershaw. He bounced back by retiring 11 of the next 14 batters — five via strikeout — after DeLuca’s RBI single.
Mookie Betts (RBI double) and Teoscar Hernández (two-run homer) put the Dodgers on the board in the fourth inning with three runs.
Kershaw surrendered a fifth run in his fifth and final inning, marking the most earned runs he has allowed in a regular-season game since June 28, 2022, when he gave up six. The lefty gave up nine hits and two walks and recorded five strikeouts. He landed 62 strikes among his 88 pitches.
https://medium.com/media/b5dc5ec21a07dc4c44ed4c72ce71306e/href
In the bottom of the fifth, Miguel Rojas singled in Max Muncy to put the Dodgers within striking distance. Then, one night after his game-winning 40th homer of the season, Shohei Ohtani provided a go-ahead, two-run homer to give the Dodgers a 6–5 lead.
Rojas extended the Dodgers’ lead to two runs when he hit a solo homer to left field in the seventh inning with an exit velocity of 104.2 MPH, but single runs against Michael Kopech (the first he has allowed as a Dodger) and Phillips forced the game into the fateful 10th.
Where They Stand
The Dodgers (77–53) will send Gavin Stone for the series finale against the Rays (65–64) on Sunday. The Diamondbacks beat the Red Sox in Boston, reducing the Dodgers’ divisional lead to three games in the National League West.
Dodgers fall to the Rays in extra innings was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.