casparius

For 2 ½ hours of a sun-splashed Wednesday afternoon, the Dodgers were playing up to — or perhaps down to — recent expectations.

Their offense consisted mainly of a Shohei Ohtani home run while the starting pitching kept them in the game, but then everything appeared to go off the rails when manager Dave Roberts went to his bullpen.

This time there was a surprise ending though, with Freddie Freeman lining a two-strike, two-out, two-run single to left field to give the Dodgers a walk-off 4-3 win over the Minnesota Twins.

The win was just the second in six games since the All-Star break. But with the team beginning a nine-game, three-city road trip, its longest of the second half, Friday in Boston, Roberts believes the comeback could provide the spark the Dodgers have been missing.

“I hope so,” he said. “How we got here today, showing the fight, willing ourselves to get Freddie at bat. Freddie [taking] probably his best swing in a month. And to win a game like that, that’s momentum building.“

Maybe. Yet there was little reason to think the Dodgers were headed in the right direction entering the ninth inning.

Ohtani had given them the lead with a solo home run in the first inning. It was his fifth straight game with a home run, a career high that equaled the franchise record, giving him 37 for the season. Royce Lewis got that run back for the Twins in the third, leading off with his fifth home run of the season just inside the left-field foul pole. The score stayed that way until the seventh, when Tommy Edman looped a single over a drawn-in infield, putting the Dodgers back in front.

Which is when the game took a turn.

Tyler Glasnow, pitching for the third time since returning from the injury list, was brilliant again, holding the Twins to a run on three hits while striking out 12 batters over seven innings. But he was out of bullets after throwing 106 pitches, so Roberts went to the bullpen — and five batters later the Dodgers trailed, with the Twins scoring twice without ever getting the ball out of the infield.

Kirby Yates was first to the mound and he walked the bases loaded, missing the plate on 12 of his 18 pitches. Alex Vesia came in next to get Willi Castro to hit into a double play, but that allowed the tying run to score.

Pinch-hitter Harrison Bader then promptly untied it with a poorly hit ball that got over the leaping Vesia before dying on the infield grass as Brooks Lee raced home from third.

It was a script the Dodgers had seen before: Over the last four weeks, the team’s bullpen ERA has ballooned to 4.43. Only six teams in the majors entered Wednesday with a higher mark.

The rotation is largely to blame because, after losing three of his projected five starters in the season’s first two months, Roberts has had to use everything short of masking tape and bailing wire to keep a starting staff together. As a result, the Dodgers have used 16 starters this season and 37 pitchers overall.

Shohei Ohtani flips the bat after hitting a 441-foot home run to left-center in the first inning against the Minnesota Twins.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

That rotation is getting healthier now that Glasnow, who has missed most of the season because of an inflamed shoulder, could soon be rejoined in the rotation by two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, The left-hander, out since April 2 with shoulder inflammation, is scheduled to make his final minor-league rehab start Saturday.

Until now the bullpen has had to shoulder much of the load of those injuries: Dodger starters have thrown a big-league low 467 3/2 innings this season, averaging less than five innings a start, while their exhausted relievers have pitched a major-league-leading 452 2/3 innings.

So perhaps it’s no coincidence that in the last two days the team has lost two relievers, with Tanner Scott going on the injured list because of elbow inflammation and Ben Casparius limping off the mound with a right calf cramp, joining 11 pitchers already on the sidelines.

Casparius underwent an MRI exam, which was negative, and is expected to be available on the road trip. He admitted Wednesday that the bullpen’s recent struggles led him to try to pitch through the soreness, likely making the injury worse.

“Going through the back of my mind [was] kind of gutting it out,” he said. “I think you can look at it a bunch of different ways, but I’m not necessarily sure I put the team in the best spot.”

If Casparius failed to pick the team up, however, Freeman didn’t miss his shot.

After leaving the bases loaded in both the seventh and eighth innings, the Dodgers were down to their last strike when the slumping Mookie Betts beat out a weakly hit ball to third. The ball didn’t travel 90 feet but it went far enough for Betts to beat the throw by a whisker for his third hit in his last 29 at-bats.

The Twins then walked Ohtani intentionally before Esteury Ruiz worked a walk of his own to bring Freeman to the plate. And after taking two strikes, he fouled off a tough 1-2 pitch, then sliced a liner to left that fell in front of diving Bader to win the game.

“We needed that one,” said Freeman, who was hitting .210 in July before collecting two hits Wednesday.

The Dodgers celebrated by heading to the airport to board their charter to Boston, where they might be without Betts for at least a game.

Roberts said “everything is OK” with his shortstop but added that “there’s some things going on personally for him. We’ll see if he’s going to be there for the Friday game.”

As for the rest of the team, there’s hope the 6,300-mile trip, which includes stops in Cincinnati and Tampa Bay, will be long enough to get the Dodgers around the corner.

“Momentum is everything,” said Casparius, echoing his manager. “Maybe getting on the road and being uncomfortable might help us out a little bit in a weird way too. It’s a tough part of the year. Everybody around the league is going through this type of stuff.

“I think we’re going to turn a corner.”

Notes: Reliever Blake Treinen was scheduled to make back-to-back appearances for triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday and Thursday, and if things go well, he could re-join the Dodgers on the road trip. Treinen went on the injured list April 19 with forearm tightness. … Third baseman Max Muncy is scheduled to face live pitching at the Dodgers’ Arizona complex Thursday and could begin a minor-league rehab assignment next week, far sooner than expect. Muncy was the Dodgers’ hottest hitter when he sustained a bone bruise in his left knee three weeks ago. It was anticipated he would miss a month and half.

They are two longtime Dodger villains, hated for two vastly different reasons.

As the last remaining position player from the Houston Astros’ trash-can-banging, and (in the eyes of most Dodgers fans) World Series-stealing 2017 championship team, Jose Altuve always receives a rude welcome from the fans at Chavez Ravine.

As one of the most productive visiting players in Dodger Stadium history, Christian Walker often shuts them up.

In the Houston Astros’ 18-1 Independence Day rout on Friday, both added another tortured chapter to the Dodgers’ history against the team. Altuve went three for three with a double, two home runs, two walks and five RBIs. Walker went four for five with one long ball and four RBIs.

The Houston Astros’ Jose Altuve celebrates with Christian Walker after hitting a two-run homer against Dodgers in the third inning at Dodger Stadium on Friday.

(Kevork Djansezian/Los Angeles Times)

On a day starting pitcher Ben Casparius once again struggled (giving up six runs in three innings), reliever Noah Davis gave up 10 runs in the sixth inning alone (the most the Dodgers had surrendered in one inning since 1999), and most of a sold-out crowd stuck around for every painful minute (waiting in somber silence for a postgame fireworks show), that was plenty to lift the surging Astros to most lopsided defeat the Dodgers have ever suffered at Dodger Stadium.

Six weeks ago, the retooled Astros were one game above .500 and 3 ½ games out of first place in the American League West; seemingly missing the other 2017 stars who have departed the franchise since their sign-stealing scandal came to light five years ago.

But now, they have won 27 of their last 37, own the second-best record in the AL, and are suddenly looking like unlikely title contenders; even after turning over almost the entirety of the roster from that infamous 2017 season.

“Certainly, there’s been some history with our organizations,” manager Dave Roberts said pregame when asked if any lingering feelings remained from the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal. “But if you look at it in reality, most of those guys are gone. So it certainly doesn’t have any bearing on this series this weekend.”

Instead, in their most lopsided loss of the season, the Dodgers had bigger concerns to worry about Friday, with Altuve and Walker at the top of the list.

Altuve received his typical reception from the Dodgers faithful, serenaded with booming boos and loud chants of “cheater” during each of his at-bats. However, he followed Isaac Paredes’ leadoff homer in the first with a double off the wall. He took Casparius deep for a two-run home run on a curveball in the third. He added an exclamation point with a three-run homer in the Astros’ 10-run sixth — the most runs the Dodgers (56-33) had allowed in one inning since Fernando Tatis’ historic two-grand-slam inning in April 1999 with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Walker was every bit as dangerous.

A 34-year-old slugger who dominated the Dodgers (and, most confoundingly, Clayton Kershaw in particular) during an eight-year career with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Walker was already emerging from an early-season slump in his first year with the Astros (53-35) entering this weekend’s series.

Then, back in the friendly confines of Dodger Stadium, he orchestrated a monster performance of his own from the five-spot of the Houston order.

In his first at-bat, Walker plated Altuve with a single the other way. Then, two batters after Altuve’s big fly in the third, Casparius left a fastball down the middle that Walker whacked for his 28th career home run against the Dodgers — and 20th at Dodger Stadium.

Only nine other players have hit that many home runs as visitors at the ballpark during their careers, a list that includes Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Mike Schmidt and Willie Stargell, as well as Barry Bonds.

Walker also made a contribution in the sixth-inning onslaught.

After Davis gave up one run on two singles and two walks, the recently called-up right-hander plunked Walker with the bases loaded to force in another score, losing his grip on an 0-and-2 sweeper that left him visibly rattled on the mound.

Sensing Davis’ frustration, Roberts came to the bump for a motivational pep talk; eliciting memories of the mid-game hug he delivered to journeyman reliever Yohan Ramirez last season in Cincinnati.

This time, however, the mound visit had little effect. In the next at-bat, Davis threw a hanging sweeper that Victor Caratini belted for a grand slam. What was already a laugher became a full-fledged Fourth of July disaster.

Twelve weeks into the season, the Dodgers are already turning to a 12th different starting pitcher in their revolving door of a rotation.

For Ben Casparius, it’s an opportunity he’s patiently waited for all season.

Though Casparius is technically still a rookie, the 26-year-old right-hander has seen a lot in his young MLB career. Last year, he went from starting the season as an overlooked double-A prospect (one who didn’t even get an invite to big-league spring training) to finishing it pitching key innings in four postseason games, including as an opener in Game 4 of the World Series.

This spring, a rash of bullpen injuries ensured he’d have a spot on the opening-day big-league roster. More injuries to top right-handed relievers pushed him into a de facto leverage role.

At every step, the former fifth-round draft pick has excelled, posting a 2.86 ERA over 44 innings this year with 46 strikeouts and only nine walks.

Along with fellow rookie reliever Jack Dreyer, Casparius has become one of the unsung heroes responsible for helping the first-place Dodgers overcome their injury-riddled start.

“We don’t win this game tonight without Ben,” is the kind of quote manager Dave Roberts has uttered more than once, and most recently after Casparius pitched 2 ⅔ scoreless innings of relief in a come-from-behind win against the New York Mets on June 3.

“He’s had to grow up really quickly for us,” Roberts added that night, “and he’s got the respect of his teammates.”

Now, however, Casparius is getting a new level of respect from the team’s decision-makers, too.

After exhausting virtually all their other starting pitching alternatives to this point — from struggling minor-league arms such as Landon Knack, Bobby Miller and Justin Wrobleski, to a bulk-inning option such as Matt Sauer — the Dodgers are finally entrusting Casparius with a starting role.

For all the value he brought in the bullpen, they simply couldn’t afford to keep him out of the rotation any longer.

“Where we were at [earlier this season], we felt that there was more value [having him come] out of the ‘pen and being kind of a versatile type reliever,” Roberts said. “But where we are at now currently, he’s certainly showing that he’s 1 of 5.”

Casparius got his first shot at a more traditional start on Wednesday in San Diego, producing four innings of one-run ball in an outing he didn’t know he was making until the night before.

In the days leading up, the Dodgers had lost Tony Gonsolin to an elbow problem — already their fourth starter to get injured just since the start of the season. They had demoted Knack to the minors, and watched Wrobleski give up four runs in six innings to the St. Louis Cardinals as his replacement. They saw Sauer get roughed up as a bulk-innings pitcher Tuesday against the Padres, and Miller implode in a 10-run outing in triple-A that same night.

Suddenly, the team was down to just three healthy starters it could trust: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dustin May and Clayton Kershaw.

Emmet Sheehan might be part of that group before long, continuing his recovery from Tommy John surgery with a third triple-A rehab start on Thursday in which he pitched 3 ⅓ innings (once he completes four innings, Roberts said, he will be a viable option for the big-league club). Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell are also making progress towards returning, though none of them are likely to be back until sometime next month.

Emmet Sheehan, left, with Ben Casparius and River Ryan during the World Series ring ceremony in March, made his third triple-A rehab start on Thursday.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

Thus, with a Wednesday rubber match against the Padres looming, the Dodgers decided to reassign Casparius from multi-inning reliever to their latest fill-in starter.

“We like this kind of transition right now,” Roberts said. “Figuring out how we get through this period before we get other guys back to health … potentially there’s a chance to continue to build him up, which right now makes sense.”

In a win over the Padres that kept the Dodgers in sole possession of first place of the NL West entering another key series this weekend against the San Francisco Giants, Casparius responded with quality production. He limited damage (with the help of an Andy Pages outfield assist) to one run during a bases-loaded jam in the second. He retired the side in order in each of the other three innings he pitched.

Most notably, he also fought to take down an inning more than initially expected — lobbying to stay in the game for the fourth despite Roberts’ pregame assertion he likely wouldn’t pitch past the third (not since May 5 had Casparius thrown more than three innings in an outing).

“He wasn’t going to come out of that game after three,” Roberts said. “He wanted to stay in for the fourth.”

It gave Casparius the chance to flash his full arsenal of starting-caliber stuff; from a big-breaking combination of sweepers and curveballs, to a late-biting cutter that can induce soft contact, to an upper-90s mph fastball that, one point, even Padres star Manny Machado outwardly endorsed, pointing to Casparius with an approving nod of his head after swinging through a 98-mph heater up in the zone for a first-inning strikeout.

“I saw that,” Casparius said. “He’s one of the best players in the game, so it’s pretty cool.”

Casparius also showcased his evolved mental approach.

During his minor-league career, Casparius started in 57 of his 79 career appearances. Moving to the bullpen full-time at the start of his major league career gave him perspective he believes will benefit him in his return to a starting role now.

“Taking that reliever mindset, pitch by pitch, inning by inning, has helped me to slow the game down in general,” Casparius said. “So I think it’s been kind of a blessing. And then whatever happens going forward, I think I can just use that to keep going.”

Eventually, Casparius could be shifted to the bullpen again. Once the Dodgers get healthier, his value as a multi-inning relief option will likely mean resuming his swingman role.

But for now, Roberts has already confirmed that “the next time he’s on the mound, it will be as a starter.”

And for a pitcher who, despite his success out of the bullpen, has continued to view himself as a starter long-term, it represents an opportunity that might have been borne of out necessity, but was also long-ago earned.

“Obviously, I’ve been doing it for the majority of my professional career, so it’s something I’m comfortable with routine-wise,” Casparius said of starting games. “I’m just looking forward to what’s going on and what’s coming up next.”