With news breaking Tuesday afternoon of Andre Ethier’s tibia fracture, Carl Crawford and Trayce Thompson entered the Los Angeles Dodgers’ lineup vying for playing time in left field. Meanwhile, Alex Wood made his second start since experiencing tightness in his left forearm.
Crawford, hoping to rebound from a down 2015 season, led off the game by striking out. Chase Utley followed with a bouncer to second and Howie Kendrick struck out swinging in a quick top half of the first for Chris Young.
In the bottom half, after an Alcides Escobar groundout and a Mike Moustakas strikeout, Lorenzo Cain singled up the middle. Eric Hosmer followed with a double down the left field line to give the Royals an early scoring threat.
When Wood uncorked a wild pitch, Cain held at third while Hosmer attempted to advance, leading to a 2-1-4-5 putout to end the inning. The Dodgers led off another inning with a strikeout as Joc Pederson went down swinging.
Kiké Hernandez suffered the same result, but A.J. Ellis drew a walk to break up Young’s perfect game. Thompson swung and missed at a pitch in the dirt to give Young five strikeouts in his first two innings of work.
Wood surrendered a single to Kendrys Morales, who was left at the plate after the Royals’ baserunning gaffe the previous inning. Alex Gordon followed with a bloop single to right, once again giving the Royals a scoring chance.
Wood then balked, allowing the runners to advance to second and third with none out. Salvador Perez grounded out to short, plating the Royals’ first run. Chase Utley fielded a hard-hit ball cleanly, threatening a throw to third to prevent a run, then throwing to first base to record the second out.
Nearly out of trouble, Omar Infante blooped an RBI single into center, scoring Gordon and extending the Royals’ lead to 2-0. Wood ended the inning by striking out Escobar. Rob Segedin led off the third inning with a routine grounder to third, but Moustakas’ errant throw allowed the Dodgers their second baserunner.
CONTINUE READING: Dodgers get tying run to the plate in ninth
