The Los Angeles Dodgers looked to get back on track against the Oakland Athletics as they conclude their road trip, but the result ended up being another disappointing 6-5 loss. Their losing streak has now reached three games.
The Dodgers continued a somewhat recent trend of scoring early in the game to take the lead. In the first inning, Gavin Lux singled and Teoscar Hernández blasted his 23rd home run of the season to make it a 2-0 ballgame.
But from there, the Dodgers offense struggled the rest of the way, including a stretch of 15 straight batters failing to reach base until that was broken up in the sixth inning by a walk from Will Smith.
Lux also followed with a walk to give the Dodgers some life, but Hernández struck out to end the sixth inning.
The Dodgers also put together somewhat of a rally in the seventh when Amed Rosario pinch-hit with a leadoff double, and with one out, Kiké Hernández drew a walk to put two on with one out, and James Outman ended up being hit by a pitch to load the bases for Shohei Ohtani with two outs,
While Ohtani tying the game would have been an easy moment to envision, he failed to come through as he grounded out to first base. Ohtani was 0-for-15 in his last 15 at-bats following that.
In the ninth, the Dodgers rallied a bit and put two on for Ohtani, who blasted a three-run homer to make it a one-run game. However, their rally attempt fell short.
Gavin Stone dealt with traffic early in the game, escaping jams with two on in the first and third innings, but he still managed to escape without allowing a run.
That changed in the fourth inning when Shea Langeliers started the A’s off with a solo home run. One batter later, Seth Brown tied the game with a solo shot of his own.
Things really fell apart in the fifth for Stone and the Dodgers’ pitching staff. Lawrence Butler took a leadoff walk and scored on a triple from Miguel Andujar to put the A’s up 3-2.
A double from JJ Bleday made it 4-2 Oakland. Joe Kelly was called on to replace Stone, and he was immediately greeted by a two-run homer from Brent Rookier, putting the A’s up 6-2.
That closed the line on Stone, who pitched 4+ innings, allowing five runs on eight hits with five strikeouts to one walk. Kelly was charged with the sixth run.
Evan Phillips throws impressive inning for Dodgers
One of the lone bright spots for the Dodgers was Evan Phillips pitching the sixth inning. The right-hander has been dealing with struggles that caused him to lose his closer role, but the Dodgers have been working to get him back on track.
Phillips started his night with a strikeout, and then allowed a single before striking out the next two hitters. If the Dodgers can get Phillips back on track, it would go a long way for their bullpen.
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