The Los Angeles Dodgers had their three-game winning streak snapped Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, as they were defeated 3-2 by the Miami Marlins to drop to 11-11 on the season.
The Dodgers led 2-1 going into the top of the eighth inning, but the Marlins tied it after a controversial balk call on Tony Cingrani put the tying run in scoring position. They then scored the winning run in the ninth off Pedro Baez on a single and RBI double.
With the game tied going into the top of the ninth inning, home managers typically go to their closer in that situation as there will no longer be a save opportunity in the game.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts went to Baez instead of Kenley Jansen, who was also warming up, and the decision proved to be a critical one. After the loss, Roberts took full responsibility for the decision, via SportsNet LA:
“That was my decision. I just felt that with that part of the order, I felt that I wanted to get Petey through that part of the order and get Kenley for a different part of the order, and it didn’t work out and that’s on me. For me, it’s just a decision that I made. Obviously, Kenley is our closer. To extend the game, does that give us the best chance? Absolutely. But having three guys down, having a short guy in Lib and Alexander left, to use Petey who was hot prior and burn him essentially if we don’t use him right there, I felt good going to Petey. … That’s a decision that didn’t work out and I take full responsibility for it. That was a decision I made going essentially against the book, but that was a decision I made.”
More specifically, the reasoning for going to Baez was that the Marlins had their fifth, sixth and seventh hitters coming up in the inning. With Ross Stripling, Josh Fields and J.T. Chargois all unavailable, Roberts wanted to save Jansen for the top of the Marlins lineup, had the game gone into extra innings.
Jansen presumably should be rested for Wednesday’s series finale, as he last pitched on Sunday. While the decision was a costly one, it wasn’t the only reason the Dodgers lost.
Their offense was quiet for most of the night, only managing two runs and five hits off a subpar Marlins pitching staff. The production is even more bleak when taking into account that Maeda’s leadoff single in the fifth inning was one of the team’s hits.
