Photo Credit: nbcsports.com
The Dodgers 5 game win streak was snapped on Wednesday as the team lost a nail biter in extra innings.
It was already bad enough for the Dodgers coming into this game as they didn’t have their star player in Mookie Betts in this game. It was reported that Betts was out of the lineup due to a stiff lower back, however, it appears that he will be good to go for the home opener on Friday according to Dodgers manager, Dave Roberts, when he spoke with media. This was met with an outfield consisting of Chris Taylor in Center Field, A.J. Pollock in Left Field, and Zack McKinstry in Right Field. They were also missing Cody Bellinger, who is still recovering from being clipped by the pitcher as he was trying to beat him out to first base.
It was evident that the Dodgers lineup were clearly missing their two stars out there as the team went 2-for-21 with runners in scoring position. The only run support they could muster was an RBI double from Pollock to open up the game, a greatly timed bunt from McKinstry, and an RBI double from Justin Turner. Throughout the game, it was surprisingly enough support for their starter today in Trevor Bauer, who looked as advertised on Wednesday.
Another Sufficient Start For Bauer
On the pitching side of things, Trevor Bauer looked great on the mound as he looked absolutely dominant until the fourth inning. Oakland A’s player Ramon Laureano stole both second and third as the Dodgers failed on controlling the run game with Laureano’s speed. It paid off for him as he scored on a wild pitch from Bauer that tied the game 1-1. Bauer then settled down until he gave up an unfortunate solo home run to Matt Chapman in the 7th inning. Despite the two costly mistakes from Bauer, he was still able to 6.2 innings pitched while only giving up 3 hits and recorded 10 strikeouts for a respectable start.
I now see why they felt the need to check one of his baseballs, this is unfair. 🌪 pic.twitter.com/7jgX7qEmiO
— Dodgers-LowDown (@DodgersLowDown) April 7, 2021
Jansen Blows It In The 9th
The Dodgers held a 3-2 lead going into the 9th inning and Dave Roberts decided to go with Jansen once again in a close situation. It didn’t work out for them as he allowed the tying run to score on a sacrifice fly. With being in this game, Jansen was used in back to back appearances and clearly failed to rise to the occasion to complete the sweep in Oakland. Unfortunately for Jansen, this types of failures may result in Roberts moving on from him in these one run key situations.
The Dodgers have no shortage of options when it comes to a replacement for Jansen in those types of situations as both Blake Treinen and Corey Knebel have experience and have shown recent success. If they do decide to move away from Jansen until he can figure things out, Treinen might be the go to guy as he’s been with the team longer than Knebel, either way, the Dodgers can’t go wrong with either option. Putting Jansen in low stress situations until he figures things out and is able to adjust could be the right move for him in the future.
Dodgers Homecoming
After the walk-off loss to the Athletics, the Dodgers have a travel day on Thursday and will be back on Friday for their home opener. They are excepted to have their ring ceremony for their 2020 World Series victory in front of fans and welcome various new additions to the ballpark. They’ll be greeting the Washington Nationals, who had the start of their season delayed due to COVID.
The Dodgers will send Walker Buehler to the mound for them as he allowed 2 runs over 6 innings of work with 4 strikeouts in his last start against the Colorado Rockies. The Nationals will counter with Joe Ross, who will be making his first start since 2019, he elected to not play in the 2020 season. Game time is at 1:10 pm PST.
Jacob Cisneros is a writer for Dodgers-LowDown. You can find him on Twitter and Instagram @_JacobCisneros.Â