The Los Angeles Dodgers called on five relievers Tuesday night against the Tampa Bay Rays after Bud Norris tossed 6.1 scoreless innings. J.P. Howell was first to emerge from the bullpen, but walked only batter he faced and was promptly removed.
Pedro Baez entered and got the Dodgers out of a small jam to keep their 2-0 lead intact. Yasmani Grandal tacked on a run with a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh, which wound up proving key as the Rays clawed back for two runs in the eighth.
Their comeback effort began on a barrage of hits against Joe Blanton, who retired only one of four batters faced. Somewhat surprisingly, Luis Avilan replaced Blanton in a crucial late-inning situation.
It was a role typically filled by Adam Liberatore and it wasn’t until after the Dodgers’ victory that it became clear why he wasn’t used.
“Lib was down [Tuesday] with the knee thing, a tweak. We had to go to other guys” Dave Roberts said. “It’s not serious. It was when he was covering the base the other day in St. Louis. There’s a little swelling.”
According to J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group, Liberatore is considered day-to-day and was scheduled to test his knee prior to the Wednesday matinee game:
Adam Liberatore is day to day. Will test his right knee on the field pregame.
— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) July 27, 2016
The southpaw thus far has more than met expectations, and lived up his claim of being the best left-handed reliever in baseball. He set a Dodgers franchise record on July 9 with a 24th consecutive scoreless appearance.
Liberatore extended it to 28 appearances in a streak that was snapped Sunday night. On the season the 29-year-old owns a 1.35 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in 43 games. Should Liberatore not pitch Wednesday, he conceivably could get at least four days of rest with an off-day Thursday.
