LOS ANGELES – It seemed like the right place for the Dodgers to continue building the momentum they regained at the end of a six-game road trip.
Put Walker Buehler on the mound against the Colorado Rockies, an opponent they’ve owned at home in recent years, and start their brief three-game homestand off on the right foot before hitting the road again.
So much for that.
Buehler allowed three earned runs, the Dodgers’ bats struggled most of the night and they limped to a 4-1 loss Friday.
“You want to come home from a road trip and build momentum, and I did kind of the opposite,” Buehler said. “So the results are whatever they are, but that’s what’s most frustrating.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts wanted better command from Buehler in his fifth start since undergoing a second Tommy John surgery in August 2022, but it became apparent early on that could be a problem. Buehler gave up singles to the first two batters he faced before issuing a one-out walk to load the bases.
Although Buehler responded by striking out Kris Bryant and Brendan Rodgers to get on the scoreboard unscathed, damage was done by making him use a large number of pitches.
Buehler didn’t fare as well when he saw Bryant and Rodgers with runners in scoring position again in the third. Bryant hit a single to left to open the scoring, and Rodgers hit a two-run single to make it 3-0 after Andy Pages misjudged the ball bouncing in the outfield.
Things got worse in the fourth when Ezequiel Tovar scored Buehler for a 410-foot solo home run into center field for a 4-0 lead.
Buehler (1-3) went six innings, allowing six hits and four walks while striking out seven. He has allowed three earned runs in four of his five outings this season.
“Physically, I’m probably above what I thought I would be, but performance-wise, you know, I feel like (cussing),” Buehler said. “I think about my expectations of myself, I think I’m not anywhere near where I want to be. When you accept a layoff like that you’ll have the same expectations you’ve always had, but you start counting the departures, I think it’s kind of time to calm down or shut up, at least mentally.
It didn’t help matters that the Dodgers struggled to create against Dakota Hudson, who came in with a 1-7 record but allowed one run and four hits in seven-plus innings.
“He keeps everything in the zone and did a good job with that,” second baseman Gavin Lux said. “I mean, he just threw a good game. We didn’t really do much, and when we did, he did a good job limiting the damage. He made pitches when he needed to.
The offense, which failed to get past first base in seven innings, was disrupted by Hudson’s effective use of a sinker.
“The sinker ball is kind of like an outlier in baseball,” Roberts said. “And it was like he put the ball on the ground, rolling us, missing the cannon.”
The eighth was a somewhat different story, starting with Lux’s double. The Dodgers loaded the bases with no outs for the top of their order, pushing in their only run when Mookie Betts threw a double play. Freddie Freeman struck out to end the threat.
“The third time, I thought we put some balls in the air and just missed some swings,” Roberts said. “But other than that, our guys couldn’t really handle much.”
Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freeman went 0 for 11 with one walk.
Will Smith was the only hit by the Dodgers’ top six hitters in 22 at-bats, but he grounded out to start a soft ninth. Teoscar Hernández then struck out looking, and Kiké Hernández lined up to end what Lux could only sum up as one of those matches.
“We have four of the best hitters on the planet, one through four,” Lux said. “Tonight was baseball, that’s how it goes. But if we can continue to do that, get on base and set the table for them, we’re going to score a lot of runs.
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