The Los Angeles Dodgers dropped a pivotal opening matchup in a three-game set against the San Diego Padres on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.
Landon Knack was tabbed with the start, making his 12th of the regular season. The 27-year-old made his fourth start since early September, once he was needed to fill into a rotation void of their front-end arms due to injury.
Knack allowed four earned runs over four innings of work, but he believes his outing got off to the right foot before allowing his temperament to get the best of his performance.
“I think I came out of the gates well,” Knack said. “The throw was feeling good early on. I mean, second inning, hung the changeup to Cronenworth that I obviously need to make a better pitch there. But early on, things felt very dialed in, and then got to the fourth inning.
“I think I’m somebody who needs to throw angry when I throw, and I think that inning, I let a little bit too much of it out, instead of keeping it in to hone that stuff a little bit, just to keep making everything a little sharper. I was in the zone, but just couldn’t quite make the pitches where I needed to. And so it just kind of spiraled on me there.”
Knack noting his angry side is a big part of how he’ll perform on the mound, adding that it’ll be how he approaches each outing when the calendar turns to October.
“I mean, I’m somebody who needs to throw that with that anger and just using that in the right way,” Knack continued. “I think early on, I was using that in the right way, and then I just kind of let it out a little bit too much, instead of just continuing to hone it. And I think learning from that, as I continue to hone that in and just hold that, then it’ll really help me a lot move forward.”
Knack had one inning that went south after giving up a two-run home run to Jake Cronenworth early on. The Dodgers’ bullpen carried the load after that, keeping the Padres at bay.
The Dodgers view Knack as a possible piece to their postseason equation, but remain unsure if he’ll be a starter or factor into a bullpen role with long relief. The coaching staff maintains that they saw the positive notes in his start, aside from being unable to go farther than four innings.
Dave Roberts trusts Landon Knack
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts liked what he saw from Knack overall, saying he did enough to keep the Dodgers in the game while the offense was unable to pick him up.
“I thought he was good,” Roberts said. “I thought he competed well. I think tonight, the story was they got the two out hits. They got the big hits when they needed. All four of their runs came with two outs. And when we needed to make a pitch, we just couldn’t.”
After the outing, Roberts still expressed that he views Knack as a quality option in the postseason.
“I’d say probably the same,” Roberts said on his confidence in Knack. “I think that this environment tonight I thought was good for him. My confidence hasn’t changed with him pitching in big ball games.”
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