DETROIT — When Ricky Vanasco took the mound to start the ninth inning Saturday, it marked his first appearance in a game in 10 days — a span that took him from the minors to a spot as the rare fresh arm in a Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen that has logged the fifth-most innings in baseball.
That was enough to earn the rookie the assignment of retaining a five-run lead and securing a Dodgers series victory over a competitive Detroit Tigers club before limping into the All-Star break. A bullpen game loomed the next day, so if Vanasco could save an arm, that might be enough for Sunday, too.
Yet closer Evan Phillips got up as Vanasco jogged in. The sequence that followed showed why.
The inning quickly spiraled into a debacle, as Vanasco surrendered hits to all three batters he faced. And though Phillips got within one out of an escape, Colt Keith turned on a cutter for a score-tying two-run home run, capping a five-run comeback and highlighting a Dodgers bullpen worn out as the starting rotation has thinned.
The damage had already been done by the time Yohan Ramírez — the seventh Dodgers pitcher of the afternoon — entered in the 10th and served up a two-run walk-off homer. The 11-9 extra-inning loss served as the latest, most dramatic blow in what has been a miserable stretch for the Dodgers and a byproduct of the issues that compounded before it.
“We had a five-run lead,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “There’s just no excuse for us losing that game.”
Homer No. 200 for Shohei Ohtani. pic.twitter.com/XNLuxAJr0t
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 13, 2024
Over the last month, a stretch that largely coincides with the start of their rotation woes — Yoshinobu Yamamoto went on the injured list June 16 — only the San Francisco Giants have logged more innings from their bullpen than the Dodgers’ 115.
“We just had to close that game sooner,” a shell-shocked Austin Barnes said. “Shouldn’t have been in that situation.”
The situation itself was harmless on its face — a five-run lead for one of the only fresh arms the Dodgers had. Instead, it marked just the seventh time in franchise history that the Dodgers had at least a five-run lead through eighth innings and managed to lose.
Vanasco exited as quickly as he entered. Yet Roberts “felt great” as Phillips retired the first two batters he faced and still had a two-run lead to work with after Carson Kelly’s run-scoring single.
Phillips has been one of the best relievers in the sport and has acclimated well to closing out games since being installed in the role. But his overall line — a 2.20 ERA in his first 30 appearances — had masked some vulnerabilities. Left-handed hitters had performed well against Phillips to the tune of an .870 OPS. His arsenal has been pared down often by platoon split, meaning that 73 percent of the pitches he’d thrown to lefties this year had been either a four-seam fastball or a cutter — and especially the cutter.
As he prepared to face Phillips, Keith consulted with Tigers hitting coach Michael Brdar. Phillips’ cutter was an effective weapon to lefties when he first introduced it in 2022, but the two years since have seen a regression as he’s thrown it more and more.
Phillips had thrown first-pitch cutters to lefties 44.9 percent of the time. Keith knew it. Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich hit a homer in this situation just a week ago.
“I said, ‘I’m gonna pull it,’” Keith recounted telling Brdar. He did just that.
The first-pitch cutter wasn’t exactly in a poor location — up and in, just a little off the plate. Phillips said he thought the pitch might have even jammed Keith. It still flew into the seats to tie the score.
“At the end of the day, I’m going to trust what I do the most,” Phillips said. “Maybe it’s time to look at doing something else to keep those guys a little honest if they’re going to expect what I’m anticipating throwing.”
Barnes suggested after that he could have changed up the sequence. Roberts said there’s “some predictability” that he could notice from the ferocity of Keith’s swing. As much as the Dodgers have noted the trend in Phillips’ arsenal, it’s a pitch that’s effective enough to still be part of the game plan.
“Guys start to hunt it, hunt the zone, and even if it’s a good pitch, they have a better chance if that’s what they’re hunting, the pitch and the location,” Roberts said.
One well-placed cutter did not blow a five-run lead on its own. But it punctuated an inning that shouldn’t have come together, even more than Gio Urshela’s walk-off home run over a helpless five-man infield an inning later. The Dodgers’ pitching staff is worn thin. Its best starter in the first half (Tyler Glasnow) is on the injured list. Same with its most expensive one (Yamamoto). Walker Buehler’s return was unsuccessful, and Bobby Miller is sorting through his woes in the minors. A pitching staff seen as a potential strength now has a 5.04 ERA over the last month — the fourth-worst mark in the majors in that stretch.
It’s no coincidence the club’s production has suffered as a result.
Stability will have to wait until after the All-Star break. The Dodgers don’t have a real starter for Sunday as they seek to avoid their fifth loss in six games. Rather, they will bring in a couple of arms and try to “piecemeal” it together, Roberts said. One of the arms is Brent Honeywell, a 29-year-old the Pittsburgh Pirates designated for assignment last week; the Dodgers claimed the right-hander off waivers Saturday, according to a team source with knowledge of the situation.
The shuffling won’t stop there.
“We’re going to find out which guys are standing tomorrow,” Roberts said, “and try to get through tomorrow and get through that break.”
(Photo of Evan Phillips after blowing a save Saturday: Duane Burleson / Getty Images)
