The Los Angeles Dodgers spent Monday traveling to Atlanta, which gave closer Kenley Jansen an opportunity to visit the TNT studios so he could meet a childhood hero. While the three-game series with the Atlanta Braves began Tuesday, the Dodgers were sluggish.
Alex Wood’s homecoming and start against his former team didn’t pan out as expected, with the Dodgers suffering an 8-1 loss. In just four innings pitched, the southpaw allowed seven hits and six runs (three earned).
Wood battled through a lack of command, as he issued three walks during his outing while only collecting one strikeout. One of the walks came with the bases loaded in the third inning.
The Dodgers didn’t do Wood any favors as the usually steady defense committed three errors; two by Justin Turner on tricky choppers to third base. Wood, a graduate from the University of Georgia, understandably was looking forward to his first start back at Turner Field and left tickets for several family members and friends.
He lamented his fastball command and naturally said he wasn’t pleased with the results from his outing, according to ESPN’s Doug Padilla:
“That was not really the way I pictured coming back here for the first time,” said Wood. “Fastball command was the most frustrating thing. I don’t even know if I’ve walked in a run before in my professional career. The walks were pretty frustrating. It was a tough one to swallow, but I have another one in five days.”
Wood wasn’t sure whether having family and friends in attendance had a negative impact on his start:
“It’s hard to speculate on anything like that,” Wood stated to reporters. “I was pretty amped up to come in here and hopefully have a good start. I had family in here and all that stuff, but that’s not the way it went. But sometimes that’s the way it goes.”
On the season, Wood is 1-2 with a 5.06 ERA, 4.87 FIP and 1.75 WHIP. He was coming off a start in which he allowed just one run to the Arizona Diamondbacks in seven innings of work. Overall since being traded to the Dodgers in 2015, Wood is 6-8 with a 4.48 ERA, 4.24 FIP and 1.35 WHIP in 15 starts.
