The Los Angeles Dodgers had at least one baserunner in five innings but couldn’t capitalize on their opportunities and suffered a 6-2 loss to a Texas Rangers team that had dropped 10 of their last 11 games.
“I think they’re going be just hard-fought games,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said hours before first pitch. “Obviously they’re not playing great baseball but they do get Choo back, I think they get Odor back, they’re both in the lineup. So it’s a team that they were supposed to be able to pitch well and they just haven’t reached kind of where their potential is and the same thing with the hitting.
“But they’re a tough group, they’re going go out there and compete and try to beat us. And Woody is going to have these guys prepared and on any given night Mike Minor can be a handful.”
While Minor didn’t necessarily excel at keeping the Dodgers off the bases, he succeeded with preventing runs. Mookie Betts and Corey Seager opened the game with back-to-back singles, only to be stranded.
Minor later was aided by Leody Tavares making a leaping catch at the wall in center field to rob Justin Turner of a go-ahead three-run home run.
Minor wound up allowing four hits and issued three walks but navigated his way through six scoreless innings. He further highlighted the Dodgers’ struggles against left-handed pitchers — they entered the game 22nd overall with a .663 on-base plus slugging percentage.
Texas trotted out a southpaw reliever in the seventh inning, but L.A. managed to break through. Joely Rodriguez nearly worked his way out of some trouble after allowing a leadoff double to Will Smith, but he then gave up a two-out RBI double to Seager.
Turner then tied the game with an RBI single, stole second base but came up lame as he went head first into second base was removed from the game.
The Rangers quickly pulled back ahead, scoring four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to earn the win.
Mitch White made his MLB debut in the eighth, working around a single and walk to toss a scoreless inning.
Dustin May hurt by one inning
Dustin May tied his season high by going six innings and he held the Rangers to two runs in what overall was an encouraging outing.
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