With their eyes on October the Los Angeles Dodgers again changed course Wednesday and used an opener, which the Tampa Bay Rays of course revolutionized. The Dodgers this time weren’t able to ride the strategy to victory, as Kenley Jansen blew a save in an 8-7 loss in 11 innings.
Like with Ross Stripling the night prior, the change stemmed from the Dodgers wanting to see Tony Gonsolin in a role he may fill come the postseason. Casey Sadler being pressed into starting duty was still expected to result in Gonsolin pitching around four innings.
However, he entered in the fourth and only went two frames. Gonsolin’s first inning of work saw him retire the side in order, but a pair of walks in the fifth led to two runs on Tommy Pham’s game-tying double.
Tampa Bay then took the lead on Jesus Aguilar’s pinch-hit RBI single off Joe Kelly in the sixth inning.
The Dodgers had taken a 3-1 lead in the second inning behind Max Muncy’s two-run double and Will Smith’s sacrifice fly. The extra-base hit was Muncy’s first in five games since returning from a fractured right wrist.
With runners at the corners and one out in the bottom of the sixth inning, Joc Pederson went the other way to beat the shift with a pinch-hit RBI single that pulled the Dodgers even. A cross-up between Nick Anderson and Travis d’Arnaud resulted in a passed ball that allowed a go-ahead run to score.
Cody Bellinger hit a solo home run in the eighth inning, giving him 45 on the season. It also snapped a 12-game drought without a home run. While it appeared to be insurance, the run wound up preventing the Dodgers from facing a deficit.
After using six pitches to get through six innings, the Dodgers turned to Dustin May and Kenley Jansen to preserve their lead and finish out the game. May worked out of a jam in the seventh inning and received help from Will Smith on a caught stealing after allowing a leadoff single in eighth.
Jansen also faced some stress as a single and walk put the tying runs on with one out. A borderline pitch for strike three didn’t go in Jansen’s favor, and an RBI single and sacrifice fly followed to tie the game. The blown save soured what had been an encouraging stretch.
Josh Sborz worked a scoreless 10th inning but surrendered a game-winning home run to Austin Meadows to start the 11th. A sacrifice fly provided insurance for the Rays in their comeback win that prevented the New York Yankees from clinching the American League East.
The Dodgers did have an opportunity in the bottom half of the inning, putting the tying runs on base with one out. Edwin Rios kept them alive with an RBI single but Russell Martin couldn’t follow suit.
