The main reason the Los Angeles Dodgers re-signed Chase Utley this past offseason was because of his veteran savvy both on and off the field and his ability to essentially serve as a de facto player-coach for the team.
That was not on display in the Dodgers’ 16-6 blowout loss to the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday night though, as Utley made a crucial error that cost his team runs.
With the Dodgers trailing, 3-1, and with one out and a runner on first base in the top of the fourth inning, Athletics catcher Jonathan Lucroy hit a slow chopper to Utley. Utley had no chance of getting the lead runner at second base, but he got greedy and tried to go for the double play instead of just throwing to first base to get an out.
His flip to Corey Seager at the bag was not only late, but it got past Seager so everybody was safe. Alex Wood struck out the next batter for the second out, although he would have been out of the inning if it were not for the error.
Things got a bit crazy from there, as Wood gave up two straight hits, chasing him from the game, and then reliever J.T. Chargois came in and gave up another hit that allowed Oakland to extend their lead to 7-1.
After the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts expressed some surprise in regards to Utley not making the correct decision, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“He was trying to do too much. Very uncharacteristic of Chase,” Roberts said. “He was trying to get the lead runner. But obviously in hindsight he’ll be the first to tell you he should have gone to first base on that play.”
The Dodgers gave up 16 runs and 21 hits in the game, so they likely still would have lost even if Utley did not make that error. But if they escaped that fourth inning trailing 3-1 as opposed to 7-1, it could have been a completely different ballgame.
