LOS ANGELES - Maybe, Bruce Bochy said, the Los Angeles Dodgers had picked something up in Grant Anderson’s delivery. Maybe he was tipping pitches.
Hey, let’s go with that.
About as good as anything else he could throw out there.
The Dodgers absolutely pulped the Rangers 15-2 Tuesday to kick off a week-long road trip against the West division leaders in both leagues. Los Angeles hit five homers, four of them off Anderson in an eight-batter span in the sixth inning. It was only the second time since stat tracking began in 1974 that a Rangers pitcher allowed four homers in an inning. The last guy to do it ended up raising a three-time Super Bowl winning quarterback. See, there’s always a bright side.
Pat Mahomes Sr. allowed four Toronto homers in a five-batter span in 2001. Amazingly, he made another 16 outings for the Rangers after that. Likewise, sloppy as Rangers pitchers were on Tuesday, it’s unlikely that it means the end of the road for anybody. Bochy said it was unlikely the Rangers will make any moves for Wednesday.
“The bullpen is fine,” he said, referring to the availability of arms and not necessarily effectiveness. “They may have had something on Anderson. We need to check on that. It seemed like they were on everything.”
Perhaps. Another possibility: They were simply poorly-executed pitches in the heart of the zone to a pair of elite hitters and the hottest hitter in baseball right now. Three of the homers were on below-average fastballs between 90.8 and 92.2 mph. Shohei Othani hit the first of them, driving a ball 114.4 mph that landed 433 feet away for a two-run homer that extended a Dodgers lead to 9-1. On the bright side (hey, we’re trying over here): It wasn’t the hardest homer Ohtani has ever hit against the Rangers. Hit one that launched at 116 mph once.
Freddie Freeman followed with a homer on a 3-1 center-of-the-zone 91.5 mph fastball and Teoscar Hernandez, who hit four homers in his previous four games, hit another two-run shot on an 0-1 slider. Two batters later Jason Heyward clubbed a 90.8 mph fastball for the fourth homer of the inning and the end of Anderson’s day.
Ugly as Anderson’s outing was, the other pitchers who toiled for the Rangers struggled, too. Starter Dane Dunning gave up a three-run homer in the first to put the Rangers in a 3-0 hole. The biggest deficit they’ve rallied from this year: Three runs. It was not a good indicator.
In the fourth, rather than let Dunning face the top of the lineup a third time, Bochy went to Jonathan Hernández with the bases loaded against Mookie Betts. Hernández threw two pitches that weren’t close to the strike zone, then left a 97 mph fastball in the center of the zone. A bases-clearing double. While Hernández had been effective in the last two weeks, the first batter of appearances has continued to vex him, which is an issue for a pitcher who regularly comes in with runners on base. The first batter has reached against him six times in 14 plate appearances.
After Anderson, the Rangers turned to Jesús Tinoco to mop up. He loaded the bases on a hit batter and two walks in the seventh before Bochy had to go and get him. He was followed to the mound by backup catcher Andrew Knizner, who ended up being the most effective Rangers pitcher of the night. He got the last four outs of the evening, lobbing up softballs at 55 mph or less.
“I don’t like using position players,” Bochy said. “I’ve never been a fan of it. But we’ve got to keep the bullpen in order. It was the first game of a road trip. I thanked Andrew for what he did.”
No telling if he asked if he was good to go on back-to-back nights.
Let’s hope not.
Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Click or tap here to sign up for our Rangers newsletter.
"low" - Google News
June 12, 2024 at 12:59PM
https://ift.tt/SJ4d3K9
Another low point: Dodgers unload on Rangers, blast five home runs - The Dallas Morning News
"low" - Google News
https://ift.tt/qUOvu1w
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Another low point: Dodgers unload on Rangers, blast five home runs - The Dallas Morning News"
Post a Comment