The Los Angeles Dodgers fell 7-2 to the Kansas City Royals on Saturday in a game where Yoshinobu Yamamoto left early due to injury and Blake Treinen struggled with his command.
The right-hander entered in the sixth inning with the Dodgers holding a 2-1 lead. Treinen began his appearance by getting Bobby Witt Jr. to fly out before issuing three consecutive walks to load the bases.
After a mound visit from manager Dave Roberts, Treinen bounced back to strike out Adam Frazier. He stayed in the game to face the left-handed MJ Melendez, but lost a 12-pitch battle by allowing a go-ahead grand slam that put the Royals on top.
Melendez unloaded on a 93 mph cutter that caught too much of the plate. “It was probably the pitch I had the most feel for tonight,” Treinen explained.
“But it also handcuffed me because I can’t keep throwing anybody in this league the same pitch over and over again. The biggest thing is just with the walks. I mean, I don’t walk people, and when I walk people, this league makes you pay.
“It doesn’t matter who the hitter is in the league. You can live with solo shots, you can live with a couple knocks, but when you give them free bases, it never bodes well. So it’s a frustrating one from that perspective.”
Treinen acknowledged that he felt handcuffed with his pitches due to a combination of poor command and Melendez fouling several off in his at-bat. “Yeah, I mean, with (Vinny) Pasquantino, we tried a two-seamer away in a full count, it was way off, uncompetitive,” Treinen began.
“So it kind of takes away that opportunity against Melendez. I threw him a good slider the pitch before, he was on it, it was a good slider down. The one before it that I tried to go back foot, he spit on. You just start trying to figure out how you’re going to get weak contact.
“And any one of those pitches he popped up could’ve been a fly out down the line, could’ve stayed in play for (Austin) Barnes, but they just carried. And he won the battle, it’s unfortunate for us.
“It’s never fun being the guy who gives up the grand slam, it kind of takes the wind out of the sails for the team.”
When asked if long battles are more tiring from a mental or physical perspective, Treinen noted his only focus is getting outs. “I don’t know. I’ve been very blessed to play for a long time. You don’t think about those things. You just try to compete and get an out,” he said.
Dave Roberts: Blake Treinen grand slam ‘uncharacteristic’
Roberts admitted that he was surprised by Treinen’s three walks and grand slam. “I think from Blake, certainly the three walks is very uncharacteristic. And to Melendez, he went to the same spot 12 times,” Roberts said.
“If you change eye levels, potentially get a ground ball. And after the three pitch punch to the prior hitter, Frazier, he’s been our best reliever, and I’m going to go with him. I didn’t expect a 12 pitch at-bat, and at some point you got to kind of change how you attack a player in an at-bat.”
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