Dodgers Bullpen Falters Late in Loss to Guardians

The Los Angeles Dodgers faced off against the Cleveland Guardians, looking to complete the sweep of one of the top American League teams. The Dodgers took game one of the series in convincing fashion while dominating Game Two, 9-5. The starters for Game Three could not have been more different in terms of their career. Both pitchers were lefties; for the Dodgers, it was future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw and Kolby Allard for the Guardians, who has struggled throughout his career with a 5.71 ERA in seven seasons. In a game that looked to surely complete a sweep turned wrong in the end with the Dodgers dropping this one, 7-4. 

This first inning started as complete opposites, with Kershaw struggling mightily and Allard setting the Dodgers down in order. It didn’t take long for the Guardians to get on the board, with José Ramírez continuing his early success in his career against Kershaw. Luckily for Kershaw, Ramírez was thrown out at second base to stop the bleeding just a bit. The Guardians put two more runners on base, but Kershaw was able to limit the damage, allowing just the one run. 

Kershaw and Allard settled in for the next few innings. After throwing 26 pitches in the first inning, Kershaw averaged right around 10 pitches per inning throughout the rest of his start. Heading into the fourth inning, the Dodgers offense needed a spark, having just one hit. Teoscar Hernández got things started with a one-out double before Will Smith came up and nailed his second hit of the day with an RBI double, tying the ball game up. Smith has been a man on a mission at the plate over the last 15 games, boasting a batting average of .391 coming into today’s game. 

Before the fourth inning ended, Andy Pages came up huge for Los Angeles, punching an RBI single to the right side of the field, putting the Dodgers up 2-1. Fast forward to the bottom of the fifth, and Kershaw officially shut down the Guardians with a one-two-three inning in his final inning of work. He pitched to the tune of five innings, allowing six hits and one run, striking out three and walking two batters. The Dodgers’ offense surely had to separate itself if it wanted to get Kershaw his first win in over a year. 

Once the top of the sixth and seventh came around, Los Angeles added two big insurance runs. Freddie Freeman came through like he has all year long, lacing an RBI single, giving him 36 RBIs on the year. Then, in the following inning, the run was earned through hustle from Kiké Hernández on a wild pitch, just beating the tag at home to give the Dodgers a 4-1 lead. Cleveland was not gonna go down without a fight, responding immediately in the seventh inning, cutting into the lead to make it 4-2. 

Tanner Scott relieved Lou Trivino and shut the door on any further damage. It was not until the bottom of the eighth came around that Scott allowed the floodgates to open. Scott has struggled immensely, even losing his closer role. He has blown three of his last five save opportunities while allowing seven earned runs. After Cleveland tied the ball game up 4-4, Alex Vesia replaced Scott. On Vesia’s third pitch of his appearance, he allowed a three-run shot to Ángel Martínez, giving the Guardians their second lead of the game and putting the final nail in the coffin for the Dodgers. Los Angeles carried a 28-2 record on the season when leading after seven innings. You could now add a third loss to that record as the Dodgers were set down in order in their final chance of the game. 

This loss surely stings and would have been positive momentum for Los Angeles heading into their World Series rematch with the New York Yankees starting this Friday. Tony Gonsolin gets the ball for the first matchup, while the Yankees will throw out Max Fried. Gonoslin will face the Yankees for the first time in six years, while the Dodgers will face Fried for the 11th time in the regular season. Fried carries a 3-4 record with an ERA of 3.18 and 70 strikeouts in 10 appearances against the Dodgers in his career.