LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers’ starting pitcher had no problems on Saturday afternoon.
It was the bulk guy who followed him who ran into issues.
In a 6-4 loss to the Houston Astros at Dodger Stadium, Shohei Ohtani showed more encouraging signs as a pitcher, throwing two scoreless innings that included a double-play in the first and a strikeout of the side in the second.
But, in a reminder of the still-tenuous pitching depth the Dodgers have relied on for much of this first half, long man Justin Wrobleski came back down to earth in a five-run, 4 2/3-inning outing thereafter, sending the team to a defeat that clinched a series loss to the Astros.
In the big picture, this weekend has offered hope for the Dodgers’ long-term pitching plans.
On Friday, manager Dave Roberts said injured $136.5 million right-hander Tyler Glasnow is on track to return from his shoulder problem during next week’s road trip.
Before Saturday’s game, injured $182 million left-hander Blake Snell threw his second live batting practice of the week, striking out four of the eight hitters he faced in what is expected to be his final simulated session before going on a minor league rehab assignment. Both he and injured reliever Blake Treinen, who also threw an inning of live batting practice Saturday, are lined up to be activated from the IL “at some point in time shortly after the All-Star break,” per Roberts.
Then there was Ohtani, who despite once again being limited to a short workload in his fourth pitching start of the season, was also once again dominant in a 31-pitch display.
After Isaac Paredes singled to lead off the game, Ohtani broke Cam Smith’s bat on a 96-mph fastball for a double-play grounder to second. In the second inning, Ohtani fanned Christian Walker with a slider, then Victor Caratini and Yainer Díaz on a pair of big-breaking sweepers — all while also touching 101 mph on the radar gun.
In his six total innings this year, Ohtani has given up just one run, one walk and four hits while striking out six batters on what was his 31st birthday.
And though it remains unclear exactly when he’ll be fully stretched out — or exactly how built up he will eventually get this year, coming off a second career Tommy John surgery — the Dodgers are inching steadily closer to having the rotation they envisioned this year: One with Ohtani, Snell and Glasnow joining likely All-Star Yoshinobu Yamamoto in a star-studded quartet the club has spent lavishly the last two offseasons to build.
“We can see a little squint of light,” Roberts said. “It’s taken a little longer than we’ve all expected or hoped for, as far as getting our guys together. So we haven’t gotten there yet. But we’re hopeful and excited.”
In the short term, however, the Astros have put a dent in the optimism the club had clung to among its stable of young pitching depth.
After Ben Casparius was knocked around in a historic blowout on Friday night, Wrobleski suffered a similar fate against Houston’s surging lineup. Upon entering the game at the start of the third, he quickly blew an early 2-0 Dodgers lead, giving up a leadoff single to Cooper Hummel and back-to-back two-strike doubles to Mauricio Dubón (who fouled off fastball after fastball before whacking a full-count heater the other way) and Zack Short (who got three consecutive off-speed pitches, pulling the last one down the third-base line to score two runs).
Miguel Rojas, tapped to play third base Saturday in place of the recently injured Max Muncy, made matters worse by misfiring on a tough throw to first on a soft ground ball from Smith with one out, allowing a run to score. Then Walker, an unlikely Dodgers killer over his career, lined a two-out single to right to make it a four-run inning, and a 4-2 Astros lead.
Wrobleski did eventually settle down, but not before Díaz homered at the start of the third to put the Astros up there.
That deficit proved insurmountable for the Dodgers. They made it 5-4 when Rojas homered in the fourth (he also had an RBI single in the second inning, and drew a walk in the fifth) but stranded a string of opportunities down the stretch, finishing the day 1 for 5 with runners in scoring position and with nine men left on base.
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