Daily Clips May 17, 2018

Transcription

1 Daily Clips May 17, 2018

2 LOS ANGELES DODGERS DAILY CLIPS THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2018 MLB.COM Kershaw ramps up intensity, keeps progressing - Glenn Sattell Grandal homers, but Dodgers drop 6th straight - Glenn Sattell LA TIMES Dodgers hopeful Rich Hill can make next start - Andy McCullough Dodgers rally but bullpen falters in 6-5 loss to Marlins - Andy McCullough OC REGISTER Former Dodgers manager Don Mattingly finds rebuilding in Miami exhilirating - Bill Plunkett A proper appreciation of Shohei Ohtani and Pat Venditte requires more than an instant - J.P. Hoornstra Dodgers offense comes to life but Pedro Baez serves up decisive home run in another loss - Bill Plunkett TRUE BLUE LA Cody Bellinger starts in center field for the first time in Eric Stephen Dodgers largest comeback isn t enough to avoid last place - Eric Stephen DODGER INSIDER Bellinger set for first outfield start of Rowan Kavner Dodgers make up four-run deficit, but can t finish off comeback - Rowan Kavner NBC LOS ANGELES Dodgers Show Some Fight in 6-5 Loss to Fish - Michael Duarte test

3 LOS ANGELES DODGERS DAILY CLIPS THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2018 MLB.COM Kershaw ramps up intensity, keeps progressing By Glenn Sattell MIAMI -- The news is positive for three Dodgers left-handed pitchers looking to get back on the mound, including ace Clayton Kershaw, who continues to cautiously progress toward a return. Rehabbing from left biceps tendinitis that put him on the 10-day disabled list on May 6, Kershaw threw from 60 feet on Tuesday and stretched it out to 90 feet before Wednesday's game against the Marlins. All signs point to continued progress. "He threw the ball really well," manager Dave Roberts said. "He ramped up the intensity. It's encouraging the progress he's made. I'm not sure what the plan is for tomorrow. He may be off tomorrow. But today was really good." Roberts also confirmed that Rich Hill will make his scheduled start on Saturday in Washington. "Rich is on for Saturday, ready to go, staying on rotation," Roberts said. Hill exited his last start early with a left middle finger blister. In addition, Tony Cingrani (left shoulder inflammation) threw a bullpen session and is expected to be reinstated from the 10-day DL on Saturday. The lefty reliever has a 5.79 ERA over 14 innings in 18 appearances. He has struck out 22 and walked four. Kershaw's return will take a little more time, however. "Obviously, we're leaving it in his hands to see how aggressive we want to be," Roberts said. "But I think this weather, with the heat, is conducive to that. I'm encouraged right now." Roberts said he expects Kershaw's progression to be from 90 feet to 120, 150 and then regular long toss, before getting him back on the mound. He added that he doesn't see Kershaw throwing off a mound this week. "It's doubtful," Roberts said. So is a rehab assignment, which Kershaw isn't a fan of.

4 "I know Clayton doesn't love the rehab, so we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Roberts said. Grandal homers, but Dodgers drop 6th straight By Glenn Sattell MIAMI -- The search for a winning formula continues. The Dodgers lost to the Marlins, 6-5, on Wednesday, as they dropped the first two games of the series at Marlins Park. The loss extended a season-high skid to six games for the Dodgers, who have lost nine of 10. They possess the same record as the rebuilding Marlins. The Dodgers are tied for last place with the Padres in the National League West. The last time they were in last place after 42 games was 2013, when they started They were seven games back, but they went on to win the division by 11 games. If there is one positive to take away in this game, it's that the Dodgers fought back to erase a 5-1 deficit with a four-run sixth inning, as the bats got starter Walker Buehler off the hook. Yasmani Grandal sparked the rally with an RBI single, plating Joc Pederson, who led off with a double. It was the first of four consecutive hits off Marlins relievers Junichi Tazawa and Drew Steckenrider, who each gave up two. Cody Bellinger followed Grandal's hit with a double, before Chris Taylor delivered an RBI single and Max Muncy followed with a game-tying two-run double. "For quite some time, we haven't been synced up," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "The silver lining is we put a couple of hits together, but the bottom line is we lost the ballgame." Buehler took a no-decision after a subpar performance. The right-hander, who entered with a 1.64 ERA, worked five innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits. He struck out seven and walked two. "I gave up too many runs for us to win the game," Buehler said. "I felt like I didn't throw the ball well. The fact that we tied it up is encouraging, and I think it's going to help us moving forward." Justin Turner went 2-for-5 in his second game since coming off the disabled list, extending his on-base streak against the Marlins to 14 games. "I thought the entire night, the way we played the game, intensity, running balls out, trying to create things, was a good step for us," Turner said. "Obviously, we didn't get the result, but if we can play like that and carry that intensity, and play that way as an offense, I think we're going to win a lot more games."

5 The Marlins quickly regained the lead, 6-5, for good on a solo home run by J.T. Realmuto with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning off reliever Pedro Baez (1-2). "Pedro made a mistake to Realmuto. Had him 1-2, gave up the homer, and that's the difference in the game," Roberts said. "Pedro had three days off, he was rested. In that situation, I loved who he was matched up against. And it just unfortunately didn't work out for us." Grandal got the Dodgers on the scoreboard in the fourth, cutting the Marlins' lead to 2-1, with a prodigious solo home run. He hit a 3-2 four-seam fastball, measured by Statcast at 90.5 mph, from Marlins starter Elieser Hernandez. Grandal's seventh home run of the season -- all against right-handed pitchers -- traveled 408 feet with an exit velocity of 107 mph and a 33-degree launch angle. MOMENT THAT MATTERED Marlins extend lead: With the Marlins holding a 2-1 lead in the fifth, Justin Bour hit a two-run homer to start a three-run inning that extended their lead to 5-1. "That ball that Bour hit, I don't know if there's another human that can hit that ball out of the ballpark," Buehler said. "He's just a gigantic, really, really strong human." SOUND SMART According to Elias Sports, the Dodgers' record ties the fastest a team has gone 10 games under.500 after winning 100-plus games the year before, equaling the 1986 Cardinals, who finished HE SAID IT "I remember him coming around the clubhouse when I was playing with his dad. It's great to see the success that he's had. I remember watching him when he was in the Little League World Series. Time flies." -- Marlins chief executive officer Derek Jeter, on Dodgers center fielder Cody Bellinger UP NEXT One of the last things a team needs when struggling is to face a pitcher it's never seen before. But that's the Dodgers' dilemma when they close out a three-game series with the Marlins at 9:10 a.m. PT on Thursday. Left-hander Caleb Smith, whose start was pushed back a day, will make his first career start against the Dodgers, who send right-hander Kenta Maeda to the mound. LA TIMES Dodgers hopeful Rich Hill can make next start By Andy McCullough The Dodgers plan to reincorporate a pair of left-handed pitchers into their roster on Saturday against Washington, with Rich Hill scheduled to make his start despite a blister issue and

6 reliever Tony Cingrani expected to leave the disabled list where he has been recovering from shoulder inflammation. Hill completed a bullpen session on Wednesday at Marlins Park. He was removed in the sixth inning of his last outing when the blister flared up on his left middle finger. This was the same digit which suffered a cracked fingernail and subsequent infection in April. Manager Dave Roberts was still confident Hill could pitch this weekend. "Rich is on for Saturday," Roberts said. "Ready to go." Cingrani has not pitched since May 8. He experienced fatigue during his outing in San Francisco on April 27. Cingrani termed this "dead arm," but the symptoms continued after that appearance. The Dodgers could face weather-related complications this weekend. The forecast calls for significant rain in Washington on Friday and Saturday. The Dodgers do not have a day off on Monday, with a series scheduled to start against the Rockies at Dodger Stadium. KERSHAW MAKES PROGRESS Clayton Kershaw expanded his throwing program to play catch from a distance of 90 feet on Wednesday. Kershaw has been playing catch regularly since landing on the disabled list on May 6 with biceps tendonitis. He is eligible to come off the 10-day disabled list this week, but is not expected to throw off a mound during this road trip. "I'm not sure what the plan is tomorrow," Roberts said. "He may be off tomorrow. I'm not sure. But today was good. It was really good." PROSPECT SANTANA BOUND FOR OKC The Dodgers promoted pitching prospect Dennis Santana to triple-a Oklahoma City. Santana, a 22-year-old right-hander, posted a 3.96 earned-run average in eight starts for double-a Tulsa. He struck out 11.9 batters per nine innings. After Walker Buehler, Santana might be the most promising young pitcher in the Dodgers organization. Dodgers rally but bullpen falters in 6-5 loss to Marlins By Andy McCullough Miracles only last so long. The sixth inning of the sixth Dodgers loss in a row proved that. In the top of the inning, as if possessed by a ghost from seasons past, the offense arose for a four-run, game-tying rally. In the bottom of the frame, the reverie ended when Pedro Baez served up a game-deciding home run to send the Dodgers toward a 6-5 defeat. For the 2018 Dodgers, joy is fleeting and heartache feels endless.

7 The evening revealed the desperation of the Dodgers situation. Even if their offense improves, the rest of the roster remains porous. The team's starting rotation lacks the ability to last deep into games. And the bullpen features too many landmines for any manager to traverse. Every button manager Dave Roberts presses causes a conflagration: On Tuesday, it was Adam Liberatore and J.T. Chargois. On Wednesday, it was Baez, who hung a lifeless changeup to Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto and watched the pitch disappear beyond the clutches of The Clevelander nightclub in left field. "I feel bad for Pedro, because I know he's wearing it right now, feeling bad," Roberts said. "I feel bad for our ball club." Wednesday followed a script created from the dilemma choking the Dodgers (16-26). Walker Buehler gave up a season-high five runs in five innings. He allowed his first homer of the season, a two-run blast by Marlins first baseman Justin Bour in the fifth inning. The Dodgers bailed Buehler out with a sixth-inning rally. Baez erased all momentum soon after. The loss gave the Dodgers the same record as the Marlins. Both teams are on pace for 100 losses. It should be noted that only one of these two teams considered playoff contention in 2018 a possibility when the season began. Miami tanked their chances by trading all three members of their starting outfield during the offseason. The Dodgers are tanking in less efficient, more excruciating fashion. "Right now for quite some time, to be honest we haven't been synced up," Roberts said. As he pondered the fate of his team on Wednesday afternoon, Roberts reached across the pond and through time. He brought up a quote from Winston Churchill. "When you're going through hell," Roberts as Churchill said, "keep going." It was also Churchill who said "success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." That encapsulates Roberts these days. He has revealed frustration for this group on only a few occasions this season when Cody Bellinger did not hustle to the manager's standard in San Francisco, when the offense rolled over last week against Cincinnati but usually projects calm. A hint of exhaustion colored Roberts' voice as he outlined his explanation for deploying Baez in the sixth inning on Wednesday. Because Buehler lasted only five, Roberts needed to string together 12 outs from his relievers. Chargois was unavailable. Roberts intended to distribute the workload between Baez, Josh Fields and Daniel Hudson. "Someone's going to have to pitch," Roberts said.

8 So he went to Baez. Realmuto crushed a belt-high changeup for a two-out solo shot. Baez may be the most loathed member of the team a subject of scorn and ridicule from fans, a Dodger jeered at Dodger Stadium but he still owns a lower earned-run average than fellow relievers Hudson, Chargois, Scott Alexander and Tony Cingrani. "We have to make the adjustments in the bullpen, and try to contribute as well," Baez said through his interpreter, Jesus Quinonez. After roaring in the sixth, the Dodgers whimpered through the final three innings. The offense returned to the slumbering state they had experienced against Marlins starter Elieser Hernandez, a 23-year-old chosen in the Rule 5 draft by Miami last winter. Hernandez was making the first start of his big league career. Hernandez kept the Dodgers quiet through the first three innings. The offense squandered an opportunity in the second. After a leadoff walk by Bellinger and a single by Chris Taylor, Max Muncy stared at strike three, Yasiel Puig flied out and Buehler grounded out. In the fourth, the Dodgers broke through with a solo home run from catcher Yasmani Grandal. By that point, though, the team was already trailing. Buehler permitted a run in the first inning on a pair of hits wrapped around a walk. Two innings later, Buehler could not erase a runner created by a leadoff error from Taylor, who fumbled a grounder hit by Marlins third baseman Martin Prado. Prado scored on a single by second baseman Starlin Castro. "I gave up too many runs for us to win the game," Buehler said. In the fifth, Castro bothered Buehler again. Castro laced a single into center field to set the stage for Bour. The count ran full. Buehler fired a 96-mph fastball toward the outer edge of the plate. Bour displayed enough power to drive the baseball the other way for a two-run shot. Miami would add another run with a sacrifice fly from former Dodger Miguel Rojas, but Buehler ended his night stunned by Bour's power. "Just a gigantic, really, really strong human, man," Buehler said. "I don't really know what else to say." Hernandez departed after five innings. The offense of the Dodgers responded in uncharacteristic fashion: It awakened. Joc Pederson doubled off Marlins reliever Junichi Tazawa. Grandal provided an RBI single. Bellinger doubled. As the Dodgers faced another situation with runners in scoring position, Marlins manager Don Mattingly inserted a new reliever, Drew Steckenrider. Taylor greeted him with an RBI single. Muncy tied the game in the next at-bat, hammering a 93-mph fastball for a two-run double. It was a rare sight: A string of hits with men on base, an electric dugout, a chance at victory. It felt like a miracle. It didn't last long.

9 "It's the same story," Roberts said. "We just didn't get it done." OC REGISTER Former Dodgers manager Don Mattingly finds rebuilding in Miami exhilirating By Bill Plunkett MIAMI For most of his baseball life whether it was in New York as a Yankee or in Los Angeles as the Dodgers manager for five seasons Don Mattingly lived in the heat of high expectations. Now he lives in baseball s land of no expectations. The Miami Marlins stripped down to the studs over the winter, trading away almost everything of value except the gaudy home run sculpture in center field at Marlins Park. It doesn t get activated as often these days with reigning National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton gone. The face of new ownership, Mattingly s fellow former Yankee Derek Jeter, is unpopular in many parts of South Florida despite an ongoing charm campaign and fans have spoken loudly by staying away. The Marlins are averaging just over 10,000 fans per game and fell well short of that in the opener of this week s series with the Dodgers. Wednesday, Jeter announced the hiring of a new vice president of ticket sales and gave him a simple directive to Get more people in here. And Mattingly finds all of this exhilarating? This is about what we re building. It s actually one of the most exhilarating things I ve done, Mattingly said before Wednesday s game. You know, to me, Derek has created a situation where he s tied the organization together from top to bottom. It s about what we re going to do and how we re going to do it. This whole thing is about what we re trying to build and the challenges of that. The toughest challenge is the times you re not playing well. We ll go through a stretch where we win three, four series in a row. You see growth. You see young kids getting better. You see young pitchers pitching better. Then you go through a little downstretch. Those are tougher. But I think you always know where you re going. It feels great to be a part of it. The reality, though, is that the Marlins are outgunned almost nightly. They lost 82 and 85 games in Mattingly s first two years as manager here. They will almost certainly lose well north of those totals this season. It s a far cry from the annual division titles and World Series talk in Los Angeles where the Dodgers averaged 89 wins per season under Mattingly. But he insists he is enjoying it. Absolutely. Yes, he said. It s different. Obviously, it s different. The other side is a challenge too. High expectations are a challenge.

10 The low expectations, mounting losses and depressing crowds are not dulling his competitive edge, Mattingly insists. Absolutely not, he said. Derek and I talk about it and I tell my players we never go into a game thinking we re going to lose. Never ever. I don t care if it s Kershaw vs. Richards out there in L.A. (a game the Marlins won to take the series in L.A.). I know that s a tough matchup. But I know any night if my guy goes out and throws zeroes for six, goes five and gives up one we re in a game. We ve just got to stay in the game. That s what we ve found out. These guys are buying in to what we re trying to do and if we get pitching, we re pretty good. Just like everybody else. THROWING PROGRAMS Left-hander Rich Hill threw a bullpen session Wednesday afternoon and had no problem with the finger blister that cropped up during his start on Sunday. He is scheduled to start Saturday in Washington. Lefty reliever Tony Cingrani threw a 40-pitch bullpen session and is on track to come off the DL on Saturday. Cingrani has been out since May 9 with shoulder inflammation. Sign up for our Inside the Dodgers newsletter. Be the best Dodger fan you can be by getting daily intel on your favorite team. Subscribe here. Left-hander Clayton Kershaw continued his flat-ground throwing program Wednesday, stretching out to 90 feet. Left-hander Julio Urias has begun throwing off a pitcher s mound at the team s training complex in Arizona. Urias is projected to return sometime during the second half of the season from shoulder surgery performed last June. UP NEXT Dodgers (RHP Kenta Maeda, 2-3, 4.75 ERA) at Marlins (LHP Caleb Smith, 2-4, 3.63 ERA), Thursday, 9:10 a.m., MLB Network (out of market only), SportsNet LA (where available) A proper appreciation of Shohei Ohtani and Pat Venditte requires more than an instant By J.P. Hoornstra During the down time between innings at Dodger Stadium, the video boards sometimes display a segment called A Time Before Tweets. Imagine how the real-time reaction to Rick Monday saving the American flag from conflagration would play out on Twitter; you get the idea. The segment naively assumes that previous generations would rather use social media to celebrate humanity s great accomplishments than bring each other down. The time before Twitter had its innocent perks, but human nature did not descend into cynicism overnight.

11 It so happens that two of the most amazing performances in the history of Major League Baseball are playing out in real time. Now. Right now. If the time before Twitter offers any lesson, it is that social media fails to appreciate a good thing when we have it. There is, right now, a major league pitcher who had retired 78 batters with his right hand and 81 with his left as of Tuesday. There is, right now, a major league pitcher who has a higher on-base plus slugging percentage than all but six other hitters. He bats in the middle of the Angels lineup when he does not pitch. Pat Venditte and Shohei Ohtani were figments of our imagination until recently. They are doing the work of men who latter-day sports writers would god up, to borrow a phrase from the late New York Herald-Examiner sports editor Stanley Woodward. (The Negro Leagues employed their share of switch-pitchers and two-way stars who never got the chance to infiltrate Woodward s copy.) Even if Venditte and Ohtani existed before World War II, you could almost predict the mental gymnastics required to rationalize their existence. Babe Ruth has heard these before. Yeah, but they played before integration. Yeah, but they played at a time when modern nutrition and athleticism were alien to MLB. Yeah, but no coach today would let them do it. Yeah, but. In a yeah but culture, we are all critics, skeptics or cynics. Speaking our version of truth to our impression of power is but one tweet away. This is the cultural backdrop that baseball s first switch pitcher, and its first two-way star in a century, find themselves up against. In a way, that makes Ohtani and Venditte more than sensational baseball players. They are walking advertisements for the possibilities of human achievement, an antidote to the seduction of snark. Even within the small fraternity of attempted two-way players, as recently as last summer there was doubt that an Ohtani could exist. Chris Hatcher tried: he reached the major leagues as a catcher in 2010, and as a pitcher the following year. When he still pitched for the Dodgers, I once asked Hatcher if a two-way player could ever succeed in MLB. No, he said. As an example, he held up Christian Bethancourt, the rare player who was encouraged by a coach to try both.

12 How d that work out for him? Hatcher asked rhetorically. Bethancourt threw his final major league pitch in April 2017 for the San Diego Padres. He walked one batter for every out he recorded (eight). Now Bethancourt is back in Triple-A with the Milwaukee Brewers, catching full-time. It s possible, Hatcher concluded, but to be good or excel? In the AL it might be a little different if you were a starting pitcher and a DH. Flash forward to Sunday. Minnesota Twins first baseman Logan Morrison batted three times against Ohtani, just a couple days after Ohtani hit his fifth home run of the season as the Angels designated hitter. I think he s doing something that nobody has probably ever done, Morrison said, and it might be a long time before you see it again. Venditte was 22 years old and less than a month out of college when he saw a switch hitter for the first time in a professional game in The batter was Ralph Henriquez of the Brooklyn Cyclones. Venditte was the closer for the Staten Island Yankees. It took seven minutes for the home plate umpire (also a rookie) to decide which arm Venditte could use to throw the ball, and which batter s box Henriquez would occupy. Pat McMahon, the Yankees manager that night, was not pleased with the sideshow. But he recalled being delighted by Venditte s poise. Throwing right-handed, Venditte struck out Henriquez on four pitches to end the game. I don t know that the opposing coach was prepared to see an ambidextrous pitcher and a switch hitter, McMahon said. Ohtani and Venditte caught us all off-guard because no player in the century of baseball before them could prepare us. In the eyes of the living, each man is one of one. Maybe that doesn t make for good Twitter debate. For every defender of Michael Jordan s basketball throne, another is ready to coronate LeBron James. But a switch-pitcher? The next Babe Ruth? Their place in history is harder to define against their peers because they have no peers. Real time is no place for a full appreciation of what that means. Dodgers offense comes to life but Pedro Baez serves up decisive home run in another loss By Bill Plunkett MIAMI Whatever it is that ails the Dodgers, there is reason to believe the other symptoms might improve. But the Dodgers bullpen is the persistent cough that just won t go away. Starving for clutch hitting, the Dodgers fairly gorged themselves during a four-run sixth inning that erased an early deficit. But Pedro Baez served up a solo home run to J.T. Realmuto in the

13 bottom of the inning and the Miami Marlins handed the Dodgers another loss, 6-5, Wednesday night. The Dodgers have now lost a season-high six consecutive games, nine of their past 10 and 16 of their past 21. They have fallen into last place in the National League West (percentage points behind the San Diego Padres). Only one team in the NL has fewer wins this season the Cincinnati Reds, who just swept the Dodgers in a four-game series over the weekend. Tonight, the silver lining is we put some hits together, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. But the bottom line is we lost another ballgame. The offense has been wanting during this freefall particularly situational hitting. But the return of Justin Turner gives reason to expect improvement. The starting rotation can look forward to Clayton Kershaw s eventual return and Walker Buehler s bright, bright future to fortify it. But no one is painting Tony Cingrani s return after a 10-day DL (anticipated Saturday) as the move that will set things right in a Dodgers bullpen that has Roberts playing Jenga on a nightly basis, wondering which piece will send the whole thing crashing down. Over the past 22 games, Dodgers relievers have surrendered 13 home runs and pitched to a 5.15 ERA with a 1.61 WHIP. Baez took the loss Wednesday, the sixth loss charged to a reliever during this stretch. It s one of those things right now for quite some time, to be quite honest we haven t been synced up, Roberts said. But has this bullpen ever been in sync with anything for more than a game or two here or there? I d say probably not, Roberts admitted reluctantly. Not yet. Wednesday night would have been a good time for it. The Marlins gave Buehler the roughest time of his five big-league starts. They pushed across a run in the first on a two-out RBI single by Brian Anderson then capitalized on an error by shortstop Chris Taylor for another run in the third. When Buehler gave up a two-run home run to Justin Bour in a three-run fifth inning, it was the first time Buehler had given up more than two runs in a start and the Marlins held what had passed for an insurmountable lead against the Dodgers lately.

14 Just a gigantic, really, really strong human, Buehler said, marveling at Bour s ability to take a pitch off the plate and muscle it out down the line in left field. He s a Major League Baseball player and a really good hitter. The Dodgers offense wore its usual cement shoes for five innings against Rule 5 pickup Elieser Hernandez, who was making his first major-league start. But Joc Pederson led off the sixth inning with a double off Marlins reliever Junichi Tazawa, moved to third on a fly out and actually scored from there on an RBI single by Yasmani Grandal the Dodgers first hit with a runner in scoring position since Saturday. Three more hits followed in quick succession as if the dam had finally broken a double by Cody Bellinger, an RBI single by Taylor and a game-tying two-run double by Max Muncy. With Buehler done after a career-high 97 pitches in five innings, Roberts sent Baez out for the sixth. Well, someone s going to have to pitch, Roberts said when asked to explain the choice. We had (J.T.) Chargois down and you re in the sixth inning so you ve got four innings to cover. Pedro s had three days off. He was rested. Whether it was (Josh) Fields who pitched in that spot or (Daniel) Hudson or Baez one of those guys is going to have to pitch. All of those guys are going to have to pitch when you re trying to cover four innings. In that situation, I loved who he was matching up against. It just, unfortunately, didn t work out tonight. Realmuto hammered a 1-and-2 changeup from Baez that did little but roll over and ask for it. Whatever momentum-swinging potential the four-run rally had, it was topped by that pitch as the decisive moment in the game. You keep trying to put these guys in positions to have success, Roberts said of his bullpen. You re mindful of their workload. You try to put them against hitters that you feel they have a great chance to be successful against and you expect them to go out there and put up a zero. I m going to continue to do what we ve done. TRUE BLUE LA Cody Bellinger starts in center field for the first time in 2018 By Eric Stephen Cody Bellinger gets a rare center field start on Wednesday against the Marlins, his first outfield start of the season. Bellinger played eight innings in right field and two innings in left field this season, both in reserve. He made 43 outfield starts for the Dodgers in his rookie season, including three in center field. The Marlins switched things up a bit, bumping scheduled starter Caleb Smith, a left-hander, to Thursday morning. On Wednesday, right-hander Elieser Hernandez will make his first major

15 league start. Hernandez has allowed a run in three innings in his two relief appearances this season. He was a Rule 5 pick from the Astros in December. With the right-hander on the mound the Dodgers went with the left-handed Max Muncy at first base. Muncy is hitting.232/.328/.446 in 22 games this season, including.220/.316/.460 against right-handed pitchers. Counting the switch-hitting Yasmani Grandal at catcher, the Dodgers have five left-handed batters in the starting lineup against Hernandez. Matt Kemp sits after starting the Dodgers last 13 games. He has two hits in his last 22 at-bats. Kemp started 18 of the Dodgers first 26 games against right-handed pitchers this season. Kiké Hernandez also sits but that s less of a surprise since he has only started four of the last (now) 17 games against righties. He is 7-for-46 (.152/.235/.326) over his last 18 games. The Dodgers are hitting.216/.304/.357 and averaging 3.08 runs per game in May. Dodgers largest comeback isn t enough to avoid last place By Eric Stephen On a night when the Dodgers made their largest comeback of the season, it wasn t enough to avoid yet another loss, this time 6-5 to the Marlins in the second game of their three-game series in Miami. The Dodgers sixth straight loss assured them of a fourth straight series loss to a last place team, and moved Los Angeles into last place in the National League West. They are in a virtual tie with the Padres (17-27) at the bottom of the division, but the Dodgers (16-26) have the worst winning percentage in the division. Walker Buehler struck out seven in his first four innings but still trailed thanks to a pair of scratch runs driven in on ground ball singles to center field, including one cashed-in error. But Miami got to Buehler in the fifth with Justin Bour hitting an opposite field home run, and a two-run shot to boot, something the Dodgers haven t been able to do themselves since May 1. Bour s shot was the first home run allowed by Buehler this season. Two singles and a sacrifice fly followed to give the Marlins a 5-1 advantage. In the top of the sixth the Dodgers offense showed life for the first time in a week, stringing together five hits in an inning, including three doubles. Three of those hits were with runners in scoring position, which knotted the game up at 5-5. The four-run deficit is the largest erased by the Dodgers this season.

16 With Buehler done after five innings and 97 pitches, the Dodgers were tasked to get 12 outs from a bullpen that has been the least reliable aspect of their team this season. Pedro Baez got the first two of those outs, in the bottom of the sixth, but then J.T. Realmuto followed with a solo home run to provide the winning margin. Rule 5 pick Elieser Hernandez made his first major league start on Wednesday, and proved Rule 1 against the Dodgers this season, that no matter who starts on the mound against them good things will happen. The Dodgers scored a single run in five innings against Hernandez, the 15th time in the last 16 games they have failed to score more than three times against a starting pitcher. Opposing starters in that span have a 2.73 ERA with 71 strikeouts and 36 walks in 82⅓ innings. Up next It s breakfast and baseball on Thursday with a 9:10 a.m. PT start on getaway day. Kenta Maeda starts for the Dodgers trying to avoid a sweep, with left-hander Caleb Smith starting for Miami. Wednesday particulars Home runs: Yasmani Grandal (7); Justin Bour (9), J.T. Realmuto (6) WP - Drew Steckenrider (2-1): 1⅔ IP, 3 hits, 1 run, 4 strikeouts LP - Pedro Baez (1-2): 1 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 1 strikeout Sv - Brad Ziegler (7): 1 IP, 1 hit DODGER INSIDER Bellinger set for first outfield start of 2018 By Rowan Kavner When Cody Bellinger was called up last year, the outfield was a constant spot early on for the top prospect, starting each of his first seven games in left field. For the first time in 2018, Bellinger will record a start in the outfield again Wednesday, occupying center field behind starter Walker Buehler. Bellinger hasn t played center field yet this season after recording 27 innings at the position last year, including three starts. This year, Bellinger has played parts of a game apiece in left field and right field, including eight innings at the latter spot after Yasiel Puig got injured April 28 running into the wall in San Francisco. But all 38 of his previous starts in 2018 have occurred at first base.

17 Manager Dave Roberts said he wanted to get the bats of Max Muncy and Chase Utley in the lineup against Marlins right-hander Elieser Hernandez. With Justin Turner now back occupying third base, Roberts has Muncy at first and Utley at second. Bellinger homered late in Tuesday s 4 2 loss and is on a four-game hitting streak but is still looking to get on track at the plate, with a.245 batting average this month. Logan Forsythe gets the day off after making his return from the disabled list Tuesday. Roberts said he also wanted to give Matt Kemp a breather. While Buehler suffered his first loss of the season in his last outing against the Reds following the combined no-hitter in Mexico, the promising rookie continues to put the Dodgers in a position to win every time on the mound. The 23-year-old hasn t allowed more than two runs in a start this season and takes a 1.64 ERA and 1.00 WHIP with 27 strikeouts in 22 innings into his Wednesday start. After two five-inning performances to start the year, he s gone six in each of his last two starts. This is the second time this year Buehler has seen the Marlins, holding them scoreless in five innings in his first career start. Quick Hits The Dodgers will stay on rotation this weekend, with Ross Stripling pitching Friday, Rich Hill pitching Saturday and Alex Wood pitching Sunday. Roberts told reporters Tony Cingrani (10-day DL, left shoulder inflammation) is on track to be activated Saturday. It also appears Dodgers top-10 prospect Dennis Santana is on his way up to Triple-A Oklahoma City after striking out 51 batters in 38 2/3 innings with a 2.56 ERA at Double-A Tulsa. Dodgers make up four-run deficit, but can t finish off comeback By Rowan Kavner Cody Bellinger raised his hands toward the air as he crossed home plate. Chris Taylor smiled in the dugout after scoring behind him, fist-bumping Kiké Hernández. Max Muncy grinned from second base, where he stood after recording the Dodgers third hit with runners in scoring position in the sixth inning alone, this one tying a game the Marlins once led by four runs. The Dodgers could loosen up with a four-run inning, getting the hits with runners in scoring position that had eluded them throughout the month. But with that issue cured at least for the moment, another reared its head soon after. After Walker Buehler went five innings and Muncy was left stranded in the sixth, it was on the Dodger bullpen to keep the game tied. In the bottom of the sixth, J.T. Realmuto put the Marlins

18 back on top, continuing to be a thorn in the Dodgers side with a go-ahead home run off Pedro Baez. That would end up the difference in a 6 5 Dodgers loss, marking the club s sixth straight defeat. It s not on Pedey, Justin Turner said to SportsNet LA s Alanna Rizzo. He threw a backdoor changeup and just left it up just enough. Everyone s out there competing trying to win games We just have to play a little better. Yasmani Grandal started the scoring with his team-leading seventh home run of the year and also knocked in the Dodgers second run of the game with an RBI single, starting the Dodgers four-run sixth. The Dodgers entered the night with the lowest OPS in baseball in May with runners on base (.560), but the sixth inning looked like it might ve been a turning point. Bellinger increased his hitting streak to five games, while Chris Taylor also knocked in a run. Taylor had a two-hit night, as did Turner. Silver lining, we put some hits together, said manager Dave Roberts. But the bottom line is we lost the ballgame. The home run from Realmuto was a no-doubter on a 1 2 changeup that got away. It was the second Marlins homer of the night and had much more of a chance of going out than Miami s first. Buehler s stat line five innings, five runs allowed (four earned), seven strikeouts, two walks looked somewhat misleading, considering the quality of his stuff. Buehler got swinging strikes and called strikes on the four-seamer, two-seamer, curveball and slider. A couple seeing-eye grounders up the middle scored the first couple runs. In a three-run third, Justin Bour poked a two-run home run on an outside two-seamer on the outside of the zone the first home run Buehler s allowed this year. The ball that Bour hit, I don t know that there s another human that can hit that ball out of the ballpark, Buehler said. Even after Realmuto put the Marlins ahead, the Dodgers kept swinging momentum their direction. Joc Pederson threw out a runner trying to stretch a double into a triple, then came up with a diving catch in the seventh inning. The Dodgers put runners on base each of the final four innings. They just couldn t get another run across. Chase Utley got on base to start the ninth, but a flyout and a double play ended the night.

19 We all have to do our jobs to get this thing done, Roberts said. NBC LOS ANGELES Dodgers Show Some Fight in 6-5 Loss to Fish By Michael Duarte Signs of life. The Los Angeles Dodgers rallied from a four-run deficit, but their comeback ultimately fell short as they lost their sixth consecutive game, 6-5, to the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night at Marlins Park. The Dodgers trailed 5-1 entering the sixth inning, but for the first time in two weeks, they pulled themselves up off the mat and rallied to tie the game at 5-5. After a historic slump that saw Los Angeles go 21 for 133 (.158 batting average) with runners in scoring position (since April 28), the Dodgers recorded three straight hits with RISP in the rally. Joc Pederson began the comeback with a leadoff double to center field off Junichi Tazawa. Two batters later, Yasmani Grandal scored Pederson with an RBI single. Cody Bellinger followed with a double down the right field line, and after a pitching change, Chris Taylor knocked in two runs with a single and Max Muncy tied the game with an RBI double off Drew Steckenrider that leveled the game at 5-5. "We competed. Had some good at-bats and got some hits," said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. "Silver lining is we put some hits together, but the bottom line is we lost the ballgame." Taylor has now reached base safely in 11 of 12 games against the Marlins over the last two seasons. Brian Anderson belted a two-out, 0-2, single off Walker Buehler in the bottom of the first inning to start the scoring for the Marlins. Two innings later, Martin Prado reached on an error by Taylor at short and Starlin Castro knocked him in with an RBI single. Castro finished the game 4-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored. Grandal recaptured the team lead in home runs with seven, when he crushed a four-seam fastball to dead-center to lead off the fourth inning.

20 Buehler was bitten by some bad luck in the bottom of the fifth inning as he surrendered his first home run of the season on a 96MPH fastball that Justin Bour flicked into left field for the opposite field home run. "I don't know if there's another human who can hit that ball out of the ballpark to be honest with you," said Buehler of Bour's home run. "He's a Major League Baseball player and a pretty good hitter." Just 23 days after he made his first career MLB start against these same Marlins, Buehler did not factor in the decision, allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in five innings. He threw a career-high 97 pitches. "I gave up too many runs for us to win the game," said a candid Buehler he wore the loss on his sleeve. "That's my job as a starter to keep them off the board and I didn't." After the Dodgers tied the game in the top of the sixth, Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts sent relief pitcher Pedro Baez to the mound in the bottom half of the frame. After recording the first two outs of the inning, Baez hung a changeup to J.T. Realmuto for the go-ahead, game-winning home run. "Pedro made a mistake to Realmuto and gave up a homer and that was the difference in the game," said Roberts. "Someone is going to have to pitch. Unfortunately, it didn't work out for us." The Dodgers bullpen has been an even bigger weakness than the struggling offense over the last few weeks as the pen has allowed 13 home runs in its last 22 games. The Dodgers loss drops them into last place in the National League West for the first time this season The last time Los Angeles was in last place in the West this late in the season was in 1992 when the division contained the Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds and Houston Astros. The Dodgers are guaranteed to lose the seasons series to the Marlins after the loss and have now dropped 9 of their last 10 games overall. Up Next: Enjoy some baseball while you eat your breakfast as RHP Kenta Maeda will face LHP Caleb Smith in the series finale on Thursday morning at 9:10AM PST.