It has been a season of bad luck for the Los Angeles Dodgers, as they’ve put 26 different players on the disabled list, which is a National League record and one away from tying the Major League record.
The starting rotation in particular has been hit hard by the injury bug, with every starter except Kenta Maeda and Scott Kazmir spending time on the DL. While Kazmir has avoided injury, he’s endured an up-and-down season on the field.
That was again the case for the southpaw in his start Wednesday afternoon against the Philadelphia Phillies at Dodger Stadium.
Kazmir allowed at least one baserunner in four of his six innings, but kept the Phillies off the board. He returned to the mound in the seventh with the Dodgers leading, 1-0, but didn’t record an out.
A broken-bat leadoff single and subsequent walk led to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts lifting Kazmir in favor of Grant Dayton. After a strikeout, Dayton gave up a three-run homer, which gave the Phillies the lead and ultimately resulted in a loss for Kazmir.
The hit and earned run allowed were both a first for Dayton in his four Major League appearances. As for Kazmir, he expressed the continued feeling of frustration that’s set in, via Mark Whicker of the OC Register:
“It’s been pure frustration, the last couple of months,” he said. “You make quite a few good pitches, you make one mistake, you feel like you might get the benefit of the doubt and you don’t. That’s baseball. That happens to a lot of guys.”
In 23 starts this season Kazmir is 9-6 with a 4.44 ERA, 4.34 FIP and 1.28 WHIP. He has 132 strikeouts and 46 walks over 127.2 innings. The majority of his trouble has come in the first inning, when Kazmir has a 7.43 ERA.
After going 6-0 in 11 starts made from May 25 to July 24, the 32-year-old is 0-3 with a 5.00 ERA in his past three outings.
