The Los Angeles Dodgers seemingly played through a carryover of celebrating their clinching of a seventh consecutive National League West title as they erased an early deficit but suffered a 7-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.
Since beginning their current streak of NL West titles in 2013, the Dodgers fell to 2-5 (including Game 1 of the 2018 NL Division Series) in the ensuing game after clinching the division.
Much of their trouble Wednesday night stemmed from a lack of baserunners. David Freese hit a single in the first inning but was stranded, and Austin Barnes was left on base after drawing a walk in the third.
It wasn’t until Barnes’ leadoff double in the sixth inning that the Dodgers got on the board as it was followed by A.J. Pollock’s go-ahead, two-run homer. Pollock has now 11 of his 14 home runs after the All-Star break this season.
Up to that point John Means was working on his first scoreless outing in 24 starts this year. Instead he settled for a quality start and no-decision.
Albeit in a loss, the Dodgers received encouraging pitching performances themselves from Ross Stripling and Dustin May. Stripling’s outing was his third game (second start) since returning from the 10-day injured list on Sept. 1.
He gave up back-to-back doubles in the second inning, which allowed the Orioles to take a 1-0 lead. Stripling minimized the damage in part by covering third base when the throw got away. Dwight Smith Jr. was thrown out on his attempt to take an extra base, and Stripling retired the next two batters.
May entered in the fourth and turned in two scoreless innings. He faced trouble in the fifth after allowing a two-out double and issuing a walk, but escaped the jam to keep the Dodgers’ deficit at 1-0.
The relief appearance was May’s third of his career, though one ended prematurely as he was struck in the head by a line drive. He continues to audition for a potential role on the Dodgers’ postseason staff.
That does not apply to Joe Kelly, but he is sorting through some injury concern. The lower-body issue may have contributed to Kelly not having the crispness that’s come to be expected.
A leadoff walk in the bottom of the sixth came back to cost Kelly because of a wild pitch. He struck out two consecutive batters — and three in the inning — but allowed a game-tying RBI single to Smith.
The Orioles then took the lead on Jonathan Villar’s three-run homer off Caleb Ferguson in the eighth inning. Villar, the Orioles and Dodgers were part of history as it marked the 6,106th home run hit this season, which set a new MLB record.
Pedro Severino provided Baltimore with insurance by clubbing a two-run home run against Adam Kolarek. The Dodgers finished on a high note with a run in the ninth on an RBI single by Matt Beaty, but it wasn’t enough to avoid defeat.
