Justin Wrobleski, Dodgers offense continue struggles in another loss
· Yahoo Sports
Unfortunately for the Dodgers there isn’t much you can do when good players don’t play well. Justin Wrobleski was an All-Star this season but of late has been nowhere close to that. The left-hander couldn’t finish the fourth inning in a 4-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday at Chase Field in Phoenix.
Wrobleski wasn’t the only culprit in the Dodgers’ demise on Sunday. The offense scratched and clawed all weekend, never scoring more than once in an inning, and plated only seven runs in 28 innings over the weekend. Despite the bad offense, the Dodgers nearly won the first two games after good starting pitching, but blew two ninth-inning leads and had to settle for a split.
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On Sunday the Dodgers simply removed the good start portion of their weekend calculus, and played from behind all day.
Ketel Marte hit a two-run home run in the first inning of Wrobleski, the ninth home run surrendered by the left-hander over his last three starts and 13 2/3 innings, after eight total home runs in Wrobleski’s first 106 2/3 frames this year. Marte hit a four-seam fastball, the pitch from Wrobleski that has served up six of the nine home runs over his last three starts.
Wrobleski has allowed 17 runs over his last three outings, including four on Sunday, the two runs in the second inning exacerbated by his own throwing error. But that hasn’t been his only wildness of late.
Home runs have been the glaring weakness for Wrobleski of late, but he’s also walked three batters two starts in a row, after walking no more than two in his previous 13 appearances and entered Sunday with a 5.1-percent walk rate, third best in the majors and leading the National League.
Wrobleski’s last two outings — 4 1/3 innings last Monday at Wrigley Field and 3 1/3 innings on Sunday in Phoenix — are his two shortest starts of the season.
On the other side, Eduardo Rodríguez struck out a season-best nine, two more than he had in any of his first 23 starts. He left after seven innings and two runs against him, and in four starts against the Dodgers this season the veteran left-hander has allowed five total runs, four earned, in 23 innings for a 1.57 ERA with 22 strikeouts and six walks.
Arizona has won the last three of those Rodríguez starts.
The Dodgers in the last five games have scored five total runs in 30 1/3 innings against opposing starting pitchers, which is no way to live.
Dodgers relievers — Edgardo Henriquez, Evan Phillips, Kyle Hurt, and Jonathan Hernández retired all 14 batters they faced after Wrobleski exited. But the damage was already done, and the Dodgers have now lost four series in a row after winning their previous four.
Sunday particularsHome run: Ketel Marte (20)
WP — Eduardo Rodríguez (11-4): 7 IP, 5 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 9 strikeouts
LP — Justin Wrobleski (11-4): 3 1/3 IP, 6 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), 3 walks, 3 strikeouts
Sv — Kevin Ginkel (1): 1 IP, 2 strikeouts
Up nextThe Dodgers are back home to face the Kansas City Royals on Monday (7:10 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA), with Tarik Skubal making his first Dodger Stadium start since joining the team. Left-hander Noah Cameron starts for Kansas City.