While the Los Angeles Dodgers have dealt with an array of injuries since Spring Training, they’ve been hit particularly hard in the starting rotation over recent weeks. As a result, Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill, Kenta Maeda and Hyun-Jin Ryu all find themselves on the 10-day disabled list.
For Hill and Kershaw it’s a second DL stint this season, while Maeda is working toward a return, and Ryu isn’t expected back until after the All-Star break. Although still part of the active roster, Alex Wood isn’t quite 100 percent.
He battled a hamstring cramp in recent starts, which prompted the Dodgers to push back his outing against the Colorado Rockies to Sunday’s series finale. The additional rest did nothing for Wood, as he allowed five runs in just two innings.
Pulling a starter after just two innings at Coors Field isn’t a desirable decision but manager Dave Roberts felt Wood didn’t leave him much choice, and the Dodgers bullpen inspired confidence, per Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“He just didn’t have it,” said Roberts. “You have to make the decision if you want to bet on him and he was laboring, or go to the bullpen, and they were the star of the series.”
Erik Goeddel was first out of the bullpen, and all he did was strike out the side in the third inning. The relief appearance was Goeddel’s second of the series and 13th overall for the Dodgers. He’s recorded 18 strikeouts and allowed just one run across 15 innings pitched.
Yimi Garcia (1.2 innings) and Josh Fields (0.1) combined to get through the fourth and fifth innings, and Stewart worked a scoreless sixth before allowing the Rockies to tie the game in the seventh. He hurt his efforts with an errant pickoff throw but did induce a routine grounder that should’ve ended the inning.
Instead, Logan Forsythe’s misplay allowed the tying run to score. Tony Cingrani turned in 1.1 scoreless innings, and after the Dodgers rallied for three runs in the ninth, Kenley Jansen entered for his 14th save of the season.
Dodgers relievers allowed a combined eight runs in Friday’s series opener, with Dennis Santana wearing most of that (five runs) in his MLB debut. The group of relievers then limited the Rockies to just one unearned run on five hits and collected 13 strikeouts in 11 innings over the next two games.
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