The Los Angeles Dodgers squandered a quality start from Julio Urías that saw him set a season high with 10 strikeouts en route to taking a tough-luck loss against the San Francisco Giants that dropped him to 3-6.
Urías’ afternoon got off to a shaky beginning as he allowed solo home runs to Austin Slater and Mike Yastrzemski in the bottom of the first inning. However, he proceeded to retire 16 batters in a row before Darin Ruf’s two-out double in the sixth inning.
Those were the only hits Urías allowed over his six innings of work in the Dodgers’ shutout loss.
Following the game, he alluded to making an adjustment due to familiarity with the Giants, via SportsNet LA:
“Just tried to change my plan. They’ve seen me a lot, I’ve seen them a lot, so kind of went out there and changed the plan. Stayed aggressive like I have been in the last start.”
Along with facing the Giants several times over the course of his career, Urías saw them just last month at Dodger Stadium. That was another strong performance by the left-hander as he went six scoreless innings.
Urías allowed four hits and only had four strikeouts before being removed at an economical 65 pitches. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts explained that night he believed the Giants were beginning to make hard contact and he preferred to be proactive with Urías.
Dodgers prioritized rest with Urías
Prior to learning of Walker Buehler’s strained right flexor tendon, the Dodgers made a change within their rotation to provide Urías with an extra day of rest heading into his start on Sunday.
Pushing Urías back to the series finale at Oracle Park also kept Clayton Kershaw on a regular routine, which Roberts saw as an added benefit.
The Dodgers have off days Monday, Thursday and June 20, then play 20 games in a row. They recently completed a stretch of 31 games in 30 days.
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