NEW YORK — The upcoming month was already going to be tough for the Dodgers.
A rainy Friday night in Queens made it that much tougher.
In the fourth game of a 29-game stretch against playoff-contending teams, the Dodgers beat the New York Mets in a marathon contest at Citi Field, overcoming a three-run ninth-inning blown save from closer Tanner Scott by prevailing 7-5 in the 13th inning.
But, their already shorthanded pitching staff endured more unexpected obstacles in the process. A one-hour, 38-minute rain delay in the top of the third limited starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw to just two innings. A seemingly never-ending game forced their overworked bullpen to combine for 11 more innings in which every reliever was used except one.
Navigating this difficult portion of the schedule — which began in earnest with a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks this week — will be a test for a Dodgers pitching staff missing three of its five opening-day rotation members and many other important arms in the bullpen.
Because of that, manager Dave Roberts has emphasized in recent days the need to push his starters to take down as many innings as possible.
On Friday, Kershaw seemed to be on his way to a decent start, pitching two scoreless innings in which his only baserunner reached via a walk that was quickly erased by a double play.
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw delivers in the second inning Friday against the Mets.
(Pamela Smith / Associated Press)
But then, with the Dodgers mounting a rally in the top of the third, the New York skies opened up for a late May downpour. For the next 98 minutes, fans scattered for shelter and watched the Knicks’ playoff game on the stadium scoreboard. Back in the visiting clubhouse, Roberts watched the clock tick and tick and tick, eventually to the point where keeping Kershaw in was no longer a viable option.
By the end of the night, that was the least of the Dodgers’ problems.
Despite holding a 5-2 lead after getting three innings of two-run ball from Matt Sauer, and three scoreless innings from Ben Casparius, Scott couldn’t get the game across the finish line.
Starling Marte led with a single. Pete Alonso drew a one-out walk. Jeff McNeil got them both home on a triple hit just high enough to evade a leaping Freddie Freeman at first base. Tyrone Taylor then completed Scott’s fourth blown save in 14 opportunities with an RBI single to left.
Somehow, the Dodgers (32-19) still managed to prevail.
Alex Vesia got the game to extras, stranding two runners aboard to end the ninth. Both teams then traded wasted opportunities from there, failing to score their automatic runners in the 10th (when the Dodgers had the bases loaded with no outs), the 11th (when Anthony Banda and Luis García combined to escape a bases-loaded threat) and the 12th (when the Dodgers turned an inning-ending double play while employing a five-man infield).
Finally, Teoscar Hernández put the Dodgers back in front in the 13th, hitting a leadoff RBI double before scoring on Andy Pages’ sacrifice fly.
García closed it out in the bottom half of the inning, completing a 2 ⅓ scoreless inning appearance just minutes shy of 1 a.m. local time.
It was a hard-fought win, but one that could come with future consequences for a pitching staff that was already running on fumes.
Grounds crew members cover the field during a rain delay at Citi Field on Friday night.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. One day it’s hot, the next day it’s cold. I think the Earth might have the flu.
Newsletter
Are you a true-blue fan?
Get our Dodgers Dugout newsletter for insights, news and much more.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
Let’s face it, the Dodgers haven’t been playing all that brilliantly lately. They are 10-9 in May and had a four-game losing streak at one point. The fault for this is mainly the pitching, which has been in shambles lately. What’s gone wrong, and how can the Dodgers, uh, deshambleize?
One of the best things about baseball is they keep track of every conceivable stat. So let’s take a look at some numbers.
Most runs given up in the first inning this season:
If you are near the lead in giving up runs at the beginning and end of games, then you are fortunate to be 31-19. It’s not sustainable, but it seems unlikely the Dodgers’ pitching will be like this all season, particularly when guys start making their way off the IL. And let’s look at the IL for pitchers again:
Dodger pitchers on the IL and when they are expected to return:
Tyler Glasnow, shoulder (before All-Star break) Brusdar Graterol, shoulder surgery (September) Michael Grove, shoulder surgery (2026) Edgardo Henriquez, broken foot (June) Kyle Hurt, Tommy John surgery (2026) Michael Kopech, shoulder impingement (later this month) Evan Phillips, elbow (unknown) River Ryan, Tommy John surgery (2026) Roki Sasaki, shoulder (unknown) Emmet Sheehan, Tommy John surgery (around the All-Star break) Blake Snell, shoulder (before All-Star break) Gavin Stone, shoulder surgery (2026) Blake Treinen, forearm (July) Kirby Yates, strained hamstring (early June)
Shohei Ohtani is expected back as a pitcher soon after the All-Star break.
Three members of the season-opening rotation are on the IL. Three members of the season-opening bullpen are on the IL. Not a recipe for success.
Glasnow and Snell have begun throwing, so they could be back before the break. Kopech is close to a return. Phillips had a setback in his recovery, but all signs are positive for everyone else.
“It still doesn’t feel like last year, but we’re in May, so not gonna jinx it and get into any comparisons,” Andrew Friedman, president of baseball operations, told reporters. “For the most part, the things that we’ve gone through are shorter-term. Last year, they were significant and resulted in surgery. In some ways, maybe we’re over-indexing some and just being a little bit more cautious and trying to make sure it doesn’t get to that point.
“But I said this a lot, and I think anyone who doesn’t say it is not being honest, there’s a lot we don’t know about injury stuff, and I think it’s important not to pretend like we have all the answers. There’s a lot to it that is really challenging, and we’re hoping to continue to grow and learn from experiences and just try to make the smartest, best move we can, knowing we’re going to make mistakes. … It’s by far the No. 1 thing that keeps me up at night.”
Sometimes, a low bullpen ERA can be misleading. Let’s say a reliever comes in with the bases loaded and one out. He gives up a bases-clearing triple, then strikes out the last two batter. The reliever’s ERA is 0.00, but did he do his job? No, so we also need to check a stat called inherited runners who scored, or IRS%. In the example given, the reliever’s IRS% is 100%. The league average this season is 32.9%.
Here are the best teams this season in IRS%:
1. Toronto, 20.8% (15 of 72 inherited runners scored) 2. Yankees, 23.1% (18 of 78) 3. Dodgers, 23.4% (11 of 47) 4. Baltimore, 24.7% (18 of 73) 5. Seattle, 27.3% (12 of 44) 30. San Francisco, 42.9% (21 of 49)
Dodgers’ ERA as a starting pitcher this season:
Ben Casparius, 0.00 (one inning) Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 1.86 (58) Blake Snell, 2.00 (9) Tony Gonsolin, 4.05 (20) Dustin May, 4.09 (50.2) Matt Sauer, 4.50 (4) Tyler Glasnow, 4.50 (18) Roki Sasaki, 4.72 (34.1) Landon Knack, 6.61 (16.1) Jack Dreyer, 6.75 (5.1) Clayton Kershaw, 11.25 (4) Justin Wrobleski, 14.40 (5) Bobby Miller, 18.00 (3)
Yamamoto has carried the rotation this season.
Finally, the Dodgers are 10-9 this month. Have they had any months where they finished .500 or worse since 2017?
Ten worst months by the Dodgers since 2017:
September, 2017: 12-17, .414 April, 2018: 11-14, .440 July, 2024: 11-13, .458 May, 2018: 14-14, .500 June, 2023: 12-12, .500 August, 2018: 14-13, .519 May, 2025: 10-9, .526 June, 2022: 14-12, .538 July, 2021: 14-12, .538 April, 2017: 14-12, .538
Note: This does not include short months (March or October) when they may have gone 0-1 or 2-3.
So, except for 2019, every full season since 2017 has included one mediocre month. Maybe the Dodgers are getting it out of the way in May this season.
This stretch of games calls for patience. The Dodgers have made moves to improve their offense this month. But there’s not a lot to do to improve the pitching except wait for guys to get healthy. It’s hard to be patient when there are four teams playing so well in the NL West, with one of the four guaranteed not to make the playoffs. Think of it this way: They say patience is a virtue, and couldn’t we all use a little virtue in our life?
Who do you want to hear from?
We’ve been doing the “Ask…. “ series for quite a few years now, where Dodgers from the past answer questions posed by readers. I have a couple lined up that I won’t reveal just yet, but what I’d like to know is: Who would you like to hear from? Is there a former Dodger for whom you have a question? Email me at [email protected] and let me know. No promises, since the person has to agree to do it, but I can try.
And before you send me this name, Sandy Koufax is off the table. I’ve asked more than once, and he just doesn’t do interviews. And I respect that. But any other former Dodger is fair game. Except the ones who are no longer with us, I guess that technically makes them a member of the Angels now.
I’m probably forgetting a few, but you get the idea. And, now you know not to ask for the people listed. Again, email me at [email protected] and let me know who you’d like to hear from.
All-time leaders
The flip side of the previous leaders: Dodgers’ all-time worst in batting average with two out and runners in scoring position, minimum 150 at-bats, excluding pitchers.
Franchise 1. Dave Anderson, .179 2. Rick Monday, .185 3. Austin Barnes, .188 4. Steve Yeager, .190 5. A.J. Ellis, .193 6. Joc Pederson, .194 7. Yasmani Grandal, .198 8. Dave Hansen, .200 9. Ollie O’Mara, .200 10. Jim Bucher, .204
Los Angeles only 1. Dave Anderson, .179 2. Rick Monday, .185 3. Austin Barnes, .188 4. Steve Yeager, .190 5. A.J. Ellis, .193 6. Joc Pederson, .194 7. Yasmani Grandal, .198 8. Dave Hansen, .200 9. Greg Brock, .209 10. Tim Wallach, .211 11. Yasiel Puig, .215 12. Frank Howard, .217 13. Max Muncy, .218 14. Cody Bellinger, .220 15. John Roseboro, .222
Scheduling note
Memorial Day is Monday, so there will be no newsletter that day as we honor those who gave their lives for this country. Dodgers Dugout will return next Friday.
Up next
Friday: Dodgers (*Clayton Kershaw, 0-0, 11.25 ERA) at New York Mets (Griffin Canning, 5-1, 2.47 ERA), 4:10 p.m., Apple TV+, AM 570, KTNQ 1020
Saturday: Dodgers (Tony Gonsolin, 2-0, 4.05 ERA) at New York Mets (*David Peterson, 2-2, 2.86 ERA), 4:10 p.m., Fox, AM 570, KTNQ 1020
Sunday: Dodgers (Landon Knack, 2-1, 6.17 ERA) at New York Mets (Kodai Senga, 4-3, 1.43 ERA), 4 p.m., ESPN, AM 570, KTNQ 1020
Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Granada Hills means business in the City Section softball playoffs that began Thursday. Beaten in the championship game the last two seasons, the Highlanders opened action with a 13-0, mercy-rule win over Banning in the Open Division.
Addison Moorman gave up no hits and struck out 11 in five innings. Lainey Brown and Elysse Diaz each had three hits. Granada Hills, seeded No. 1 in the eight-team tournament, will play host to Venice in Wednesday’s semifinals.
Venice 2, El Camino Real 1: In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Gondoliers won it when Abigail Acensio got a walk-off single with the bases loaded. Violet Acensio struck out four with no walks in nine innings. Sophomore Remy Glassman of El Camino Real struck out 12.
San Pedro 6, Kennedy 1: Caroline Baker scattered nine hits, while striking out eight with no walks, for the Pirates, who will have a rematch with Marine League rival Carson in the semifinals on Wednesday. Jenna Ortega had two hits and two RBIs.
Carson 16, Birmingham 5: The Colts picked up a mercy-rule win in the sixth inning. Rylee Gardner hit two home run and drove in six.
WEST SACRAMENTO — Taylor Ward hit a two-run homer, Nolan Schanuel also went deep and the Angels beat the skidding Athletics 4-3 on Monday night in the opener of a four-game series.
Kenley Jansen struck out Tyler Soderstrom for the final out with a runner on second. Coming off a surprising three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium, the Angels (21-25) have won four in a row to start a seven-game trip.
The Athletics (22-26) have lost six straight and 10 of 12, falling to 8-14 at Sutter Health Park.
Schanuel, who had three hits and scored twice, connected off J.T. Ginn for his third homer this season to give the Angels the lead two batters into the game. Ginn was activated to make his fourth start of the year and first since April 24, when elbow inflammation landed him on the 10-day injured list.
Lawrence Butler’s double, a walk and a hit batter loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the first against Angels starter José Soriano. Butler scored when Brent Rooker grounded into a double play, and Shea Langeliers’ infield single made it 2-1.
Zach Neto singled and Schanuel doubled to start the third. Yoán Moncada had an RBI groundout before Ward hit his 13th homer for a 4-2 lead.
Soderstrom doubled with two outs in the fifth and scored on Rooker’s single to make it 4-3.
Soriano (3-4) went six innings, giving up three runs on six hits and four walks. Jansen gave up a two-out single to Jacob Wilson in the ninth before pinch-runner Max Schuemann stole second. Jansen fanned Soderstrom on three pitches for his ninth save in nine opportunities.
Ginn (1-2) left after four innings and 79 pitches, yielding four runs and six hits with seven strikeouts.
Key moment: Soriano loaded the bases with one out in the third before striking out Langeliers and Nick Kurtz swinging to escape unscathed.
Key stat: Rooker has a 15-game hitting streak against the Angels. Bill North set the club record in the series at 17 games spanning the 1974 and ’75 seasons.
Up next: RHP Kyle Hendricks (1-5, 5.18 ERA) pitches Tuesday for the Angels against RHP Gunnar Hoglund (1-1, 3.78), who makes his fourth career start.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Let’s hope the Dodgers don’t have to face the Angels in the postseason.
Newsletter
Are you a true-blue fan?
Get our Dodgers Dugout newsletter for insights, news and much more.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
Last week, the Dodgers designated longtime backup catcher Austin Barnes for assignment to make room for Dalton Rushing. The other shoe dropped Sunday when the Dodgers released Chris Taylor to make way for a returning Tommy Edman.
Taylor is a longtime fan favorite whose last good season at the plate was 2021. After that season, he signed a four-year, $60-million contract. He also had elbow surgery that offseason, and was never the same after that. Still good-to-great defensively, but on offense, well, the numbers speak for themselves:
Taylor had only 35 at-bats spread over 28 games this season. When Hyeseong Kim came up from the minors and played so well, there was no reason to keep Taylor when Edman came off the IL. It would have been really hard to justify sending Kim down.
But, showing that it’s possible for two conflicting thoughts to be true at the same time, while it was the best thing for the Dodgers to release him, it’s still hard to see him go.
“This has been a very emotional week for all of us,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told reporters before Sunday’s game. “Barnsey and CT have been in the middle of some huge moments for this organization. Both guys have left an indelible mark on our culture and where we’re at at this point. So the decisions were incredibly difficult. The conversations were tough. But with where we are, the division race, the composition of roster, everything. We felt like this was in the Dodgers’ best interest in terms of how to win as many games and put us in a position to best win the World Series this year.”
Taylor, who went to Virginia, was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the fifth round of the 2012 draft. He reached the majors in 2014 with the Mariners and was considered a disappointment at the time after hitting only .240/.296/.296 in 86 games with the Mariners. The Dodgers acquired him on June 19, 2016 for one-time top prospect Zach Lee. Not much attention was given to the deal, and the attention it was given was for the Dodgers giving up on Lee.
A few years later, Jerry DiPoto, who was GM of the Mariners for the trade, called it the worst deal he ever made.
Taylor hit .207 in limited playing time with the Dodgers over the rest of the 2016 season, before the Dodgers, or Taylor, or both, unlocked something offensively. He hit .288/.354/.496 with 34 doubles, 21 homers, 72 RBIs and 17 stolen bases in 2017 while playing five different positions and was a key player on the team that reached the World Series before losing to the Houston Astros*. Taylor hit two homers during the NLCS and one during the World Series. He was named co-MVP of the NLCS with Justin Turner. Little-known fact: He didn’t make the team out of spring training. He was brought up for the minors on April 19, 2017 when Logan Forsythe suffered a broken toe when hit by a pitch. How would Dodger, and Chris Taylor’s, fortunes have changed if Forsythe wasn’t hit by that pitch?
in 2018 he hit .254/.331/.444, with 35 doubles and 17 homers, .262/.333/.462 with 29 doubles and 12 homers in 2019 and .270/.366/.476 during the COVID-shortened 2020 season. He made his first and only All-Star team in 2021. And then the wheels started falling off.
Here’s a guy who has been with the team since 2016, and what do we know about him? Not much. He never sought the spotlight, just did his job every day to the best of his abilities.
“He is the consummate pro, the way he did a trust fall when he got here,” Friedman said. “He came in hungry and wanting to get better, and dove in with our hitting guys, with our position coaches. … He was a huge part of so much success that we’ve enjoyed. Can’t say enough about the human, the worker, the teammate, the player.”
If you dig a little deeper about Taylor, you discover he quietly helped families who were hurt by the devastating wildfires earlier this year. His CT3 Foundation raised millions of dollars for organization in L.A. and his hometown Virginia Beach, including Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Variety Boys and Girls Club, The Friendship Foundation, Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, Children’s Hospital of the Kings Daughters, and Roc Solid Foundation.
He was just shy of reaching 10 seasons in the majors. Once a player reaches 10 years of service, they are eligible for up to $265,000 per year if they wait until age 62 to activate their pension. Seasons are counted as 172 days on the 26-man roster, so if you are bounced up and down from the minors, only your time in the majors counts. That’s how Taylor can be listed as “12 seasons” in the majors on most stat sites, but really be shy of 10 seasons. He needed to be on the Dodgers until early August to make it. If some other team signs him, then his time there will also count toward his 10 seasons. Taylor is at 9.037 seasons. He has also been paid almost $74 million in his career, so he should be fine. He just beats me out by about…. $73,500,000. Austin Barnes was at 8.098 seasons of service. He has been paid $18 million in his career.
Taylor’s first career home run was a grand slam with the Dodgers. His 100th career home run was a grand slam with the Dodgers, making him the only player in history whose first and 100th home runs were grand slams.
He appeared in 80 postseason games with L.A., hitting .247/.351/.441 with 13 doubles, nine homers and 26 RBIs. The most important homer may have been his walk-off homer in the 2021 wild-card game against St. Louis. You can watch that here.
Taylor was a part of two World Series winning teams. There aren’t a lot of players who can say that. It seems likely some other team will pick him up and see if he can recapture some of his old magic. We wish him well and thank him for some great memories.
*-The Astros cheated during that season and postseason.
First outing
Clayton Kershaw had his first outing of the season Saturday and the results were…. mixed. He gave up three runs in the first inning and looked bad. Then he settled a bit before seeming to tire. His line: Four innings pitched, five hits, five runs, three walks, two strikeouts.
We can draw no conclusions from this. We couldn’t if he had thrown five hitless innings. It’s going to take a couple more starts to figure out just how Kershaw is.
“I love getting back out there. It’s a special thing to get to go back and pitch at Dodger Stadium,” Kershaw told reporters after Saturday’s game. “Obviously, I wanted to pitch better. I need to pitch better going forward. But I think there’s some glimpses of some of my stuff being there, which is good. The problem tonight was just command.”
Dave Roberts on Kershaw to reporters after the game: “The stuff overall, I was impressed with. The velocity was more than it’s been in quite some time. At times the slider was good. At times the curveball was good. He mixed in a lot of change-ups, which was good. The command just wasn’t consistent. He got to a lot of two-strike counts and couldn’t put hitters away, where typically that’s his hallmark.”
Pete Rose poll
We asked readers of our Sports Report and Dodgers Dugout newsletters, “Should Pete Rose and Joe Jackson be in the Baseball Hall of Fame?” After 19,803 responses
Pete Rose Yes, 46.6% No, 53.4%
Joe Jackson Yes, 55.4% No, 44.6%
All-time leaders
The Dodgers’ all-time leaders in batting average with two out and runners in scoring position, minimum 150 at-bats.
Los Angeles only 1. Freddie Freeman, .343 2. Corey Seager, .327 3. Mike Piazza, .318 4. Mookie Betts, .317 5. Lou Johnson, .313 6. Paul Lo Duca, .311 7. Jeff Kent, .304 8. Steve Garvey, .295 9. Ron Fairly, .293 10. Adrián González, .287
Is there a top 10 Dodgers list you’d like to see Email me at [email protected] and let me know.
These names seem familiar
A look at how some prominent Dodgers from the last few seasons are doing with their new team (through Sunday). Click on the player name to be taken to the baseball-reference page with all their stats.
Chris Taylor hits a walk-off homer to win the 2021 wild-card game. Watch and listen here. Chris Taylor makes an incredible catch to preserve a 2018 NLCS Game 7 lead over Milwaukee. Watch and listen here.
Until next time…
Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Clayton Kershaw paused halfway up the dugout steps Saturday and bowed his head. The jog he was about to make to the mound at Dodger Stadium would be the first steps of what is likely the final chapter of his spectacular career.
A moment of silent reflection was in order.
“I don’t like the word emotional, but there’s definitely some thoughts. It’s just special,” Kershaw said of his first outing of the season, an uneven four-inning stint in the Dodgers’ 11-9 loss to the Angels. “You get a little bit older, you just learn to appreciate that more. It was different.”
Kershaw threw his last pitch in August at Phoenix’s Chase Field; Corbin Carroll hit it over the right-field wall. Kershaw then walked off the mound and was put on the injured list with a bone spur on his left big toe.
The first pitch of his latest comeback came at 6:10 p.m. Saturday, a high fastball that Zach Neto took for a ball. The rest of the inning went downhill from there, with Kershaw giving up three runs on three hits and two walks in the first inning.
He recovered nicely, though, yielding two runs and two hits over the next three innings while striking out two over four innings in a wild game the Angels won behind a career-high five RBIs from catcher Logan O’Hoppe.
“I love getting back out there. It’s a special thing to get to go back and pitch at Dodger Stadium,” Kershaw said. “Obviously, I wanted to pitch better. I need to pitch better going forward. But I think there’s some glimpses of some of my stuff being there, which is good. The problem tonight was just command.
“But, you know, first one back and just to be back out here at Dodger Stadium was special for me, regardless of the outcome.”
Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw wipes his face during the third inning of an 11-9 loss to the Angels on Saturday night.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
A three-time Cy Young Award winner, Kershaw, 37, is the Dodgers’ all-time leader in strikeouts and is 30 shy of becoming the 20th pitcher in big-league history to reach 3,000. His 212 career wins are second in franchise history behind only Don Sutton’s 233 and his 2.50 ERA ranks third. He also ranks third in starts (430).
But he’s spent almost as much time on the injured list as he has in the Dodgers’ rotation over the last five seasons and the list of injuries includes so many body parts, it reads like a page out of “Gray’s Anatomy”. There’s the toe, which kept him off the opening day roster. Last season it was knee, toe and shoulder injuries. In 2023, it was his left shoulder. The year before that, his back and pelvis and before that it was his forearm, elbow and back again.
Last season was clearly the most painful, though. Kershaw made seven starts and pitched just 30 innings, both career lows, and missed the World Series. Days after the team’s victory parade, he underwent surgery for a torn meniscus in his left knee and another on his left foot that left him on crutches and in a walking boot for two months.
“The superstar players that I have been around, there’s always something that fuels them and they need that,” Roberts said. “Him not being a part of that last year, I know that that’s fueling him.”
Logan O’Hoppe hits a three-run home run off Dodgers reliever Kirby Yates in the seventh inning Saturday.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
With Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, Kershaw’s high school teammate, looking on, Kershaw struggled through a 38-pitch first inning, giving up a bases-loaded single to O’Hoppe and an RBI double to Matthew Lugo. But the Dodgers needed just four batters to match that with Andy Pages belting a three-run homer, his ninth of the season, to dead center in the bottom of the inning.
After Kershaw retired the side in order in the second, Taylor Ward put the Angels (19-25) back in front in the third, hitting his 11th home run. A walk, a double and a sacrifice fly from Neto extended the lead in the fourth before Kiké Hernández pulled a run back for the Dodgers with a lead-off homer, his seventh, in the bottom of the fourth.
Kershaw was done by then, having thrown 83 pitches, nearly half of them in the first inning.
“The stuff overall, I was impressed with,” Roberts said. “The velocity was more than it’s been in quite some time. At times the slider was good. At times the curveball was good. He mixed in a lot of change-ups, which was good.
“The command just wasn’t consistent. He got to a lot of two-strike counts and couldn’t put hitters away, where typically that’s his hallmark.”
The Dodgers went in front for the first time in the sixth, turning three walks, two hits, a stolen base, a wild pitch and a ground-ball double play into three runs and 7-5 lead that O’Hoppe erased with his 10th homer, highlighting a five-run Angel seventh inning.
Five players — O’Hoppe, Luis Rengifo, Lugo, Nolan Schanuel and Kevin Newman — had two hits each for the Angels, who will try to sweep the three-game series Sunday afternoon.
For the Dodgers, Freddie Freeman matched a season high with four hits and is batting .407 in May, raising his league-leading average to .375. Pages, Hernández and catcher Dalton Rushing each had two hits.
Notes:Shohei Ohtani, who went hitless in six at-bats for the first time since 2019, threw 50 pitches in his most extensive bullpen session since undergoing a second surgery on his right elbow in 2023. The up-and-down session, in which Ohtani simulated a break between innings, was his second in a week. … To make room for Kershaw on the 26-man roster the Dodgers optioned right-hander Ryan Loutos to the minors. To create space on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers moved Snell to the 60-day injured list.
The crack of the ball off Jordan Woolery’s bat in the first inning sent a sharp, resounding message — the Bruins weren’t going to let their opponent dictate the tone this time.
Woolery, UCLA’s RBI leader, went two for three with a three-run homer, a triple and five RBIs to lead the Bruins to a 10-0, six-inning shutout over San Diego State in Game 2 of the Los Angeles Regional on Saturday afternoon.
The No. 9 Bruins (51-10) cruised into Game 6 of the regional, where they’ll have a chance to clinch a spot in the Super Regionals with one more win. Their opponent has yet to be determined for Sunday’s 4:30 p.m. PDT first pitch.
It was a complete role reversal. Just a day after UCLA’s bats stayed quiet through the first four innings in an eventual victory over UC Santa Barbara, the Bruins opened their second regional matchup with intent.
On the first pitch, Jessica Clements ripped a leadoff double. One pitch later, Savannah Pola dropped down a bunt and, spotting an uncovered second base, the speedy second baseman turned it into a heads-up double.
With runners in scoring position, Jordan Woolery did what’s become second nature — she brought them home, and did so with a bang.
Staying patient in the box, Woolery worked the count full, waiting for a pitch she could drive. She then clobbered a high fly ball that just cleared the glove of San Diego State center fielder Julie Holcomb, sailing over the wall for a three-run homer.
A candidate for national player of the year, Woolery is one of UCLA’s most consistent threats near the top of the lineup. She entered the regional ranked fifth in the nation with 75 RBIs — the second-highest single-season mark in program history.
Woolery added another RBI later, legging out a triple after a diving attempt by the Aztecs’ right fielder missed and the ball skipped past, allowing Clements to score. The hit brought her total to six RBIs for the weekend.
In an encore to her heroics at the plate and dominance in relief the night before, Kaitlyn Terry took the mound with poise and command. The left-hander turned in a smooth outing, giving up only two hits and one walk while striking out five.
Her only trouble came in the bottom of the third. A walk, an infield single and a fielding error loaded the bases, giving San Diego State a prime chance to take the lead. But Terry stayed composed.
After recording two outs, Terry dug in for a seven-pitch battle with Angie Yellen — and won, inducing a routine groundout to end the inning and preserve the Bruins’ lead.
From there, she settled in and found her rhythm, retiring nine straight batters and striking out three, earning the complete-game shutout victory.
A six-run rally in the sixth inning sealed the game via the run rule. Kaniya Bragg opened the onslaught with a two-run double, followed by an RBI single to right field from Terry. Then, just like the night before, Megan Grant delivered the finishing blow — a two-run triple that slammed high off the center-field wall, narrowly missing a three-run homer.
With the win, the Bruins notched back-to-back mercy-rule victories — their 27th of the season, extending a program record.
Quentin Young of Oaks Christian is in his final days of high school baseball, giving pro scouts one final chance to evaluate his immense skills.
Fans have already decided his entertainment value is off the charts. He hit his 14th home run on Friday in the opening round of the Southern Section Division 2 playoffs — a three-run blast — that helped send the Lions to a 9-2 victory over Redlands East Valley.
Young finished with two hits and four RBIs. Joshua Brown and James Latshaw also hit home runs. Ty Hanley threw a complete game.
Triton Baseball shuts out Westlake 8-0 behind Mike Erspamer’s masterful 7k/1hit complete game in CIF-SS Playoffs 1st Rd! Kaden Raymond got things going early with a 2 Run HR & Tritons get 12 hits & play excellent defense throughout.👍@ocvarsity @latsondheimerpic.twitter.com/Ckn2iTYdo3
San Clemente 8, Westlake 0: Stanford commit Mike Erspamer threw a one-hit shutout with seven strikeouts and one walk. Kaden Raymond had a two-run home run.
Servite 1, Riverside Prep 0: Toby Kwon gave up two hits and no walks in the complete game.
Mater Dei 3, South Hills 0: Brandon Thomas struck out seven, walked none and gave up four hits in a Division 2 playoff opener. Ezekiel Lara had two RBIs.
West Ranch 4, Palm Desert 3: Hunter Manning had three hits and three RBIs and also threw six innings with six strikeouts to lead West Ranch to a road victory in Division 2. Mikey Murr got the save with a scoreless seventh.
Simi Valley 3, Ventura 0: Kyle Casey struck out four and walked none in a complete game for No. 2-seeded Simi Valley in Division 2.
Crean Lutheran 6, La Habra 1: Ben Keller had three hits and three RBIs as Crean Lutheran toppled top-seeded La Habra in Division 2.
Etiwanda 11, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 5: Angel Mejia and LJ Roellig hit home runs for Etiwanda, which had a six-run fifth inning.
Gahr 10, La Salle 0: Andres Gonzalez and Adrien Ramirez each had three RBIs and Jake Ourique struck out eight in six innings.
Trabuco Hills 4, Bonita 3: Ryan Luce had two doubles for Trabuco Hills.
Fountain Valley 4, El Segundo 2: A three-run fifth inning helped Fountain Valley come back from a 2-1 deficit.
Anaheim Canyon 10, Maranatha 6: Cooper Stevenson had a two-run double in the first inning to ignite the Comanches. Camden Goetz had a home run.
Foothill 6, Long Beach Millikan 4: Gavin Lauridsen threw 6 1/3 innings, striking out seven.
Torrance 5, Chino Hills 1: Hector Chavez hit a two-run home run for Torrance.
Murrieta Mesa 6, Santa Monica 0: Tanner Blackmon struck out seven and gave up three hits in the Division 4 victory.
Valencia 4, Northview 1: Lincoln Hunt had three hits for the Vikings.
Saugus 22, Wise Da Vinci 3: Zach Seeley hit two home runs and finished with nine RBIs.
Rosemary Coogan is surrounded by a team of people pushing, pulling, squishing and squeezing her into a spacesuit.
It takes about 45 minutes to get all her gear on before a helmet is carefully lowered over her head.
The British astronaut is about to undergo her toughest challenge yet – assessing whether she is ready for a spacewalk. The test will take place in one of the largest pools in the world: Nasa’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
The pool – which is 12m deep (40ft) – contains a life-sized replica of the International Space Station (ISS), and a “spacewalk” here is as close as it gets to mimicking weightlessness on Earth.
Kevin Church/BBC
Dr Rosemary Coogan graduated as a European Space Agency astronaut in 2024
“It’s a big day,” Rosemary says before the dive, which is going to last more than six hours. “It’s very physically intense – and it’s very psychologically intense.”
But Rosemary doesn’t seem too fazed. She smiles and waves as the platform she’s standing on is slowly lowered into the water.
Being an astronaut was Dr Rosemary Coogan’s dream from a young age, she says. But it was a dream that seemed out of reach.
“At the careers day at school, you don’t tend to meet astronauts,” Rosemary says. “You don’t get to meet people who’ve done it, you don’t really get to hear their stories.”
So she decided to study the stars instead, opting for a career in astrophysics. But when the European Space Agency (ESA) announced it was looking for new recruits to go to space, Rosemary applied and was chosen from more than 22,000 people.
Kevin Church/BBC
Kevin Church/BBC
The Neutral Buoyancy Lab pool is filled with 23 million litres of water
ESA aims to get Rosemary to the International Space Station (ISS) by 2030. She’ll be following in the footsteps of Britons Helen Sharman, who visited the Soviet’s Mir Space Station in 1991, and Tim Peake who launched to the ISS in 2015.
Rosemary has spent the last six months training at the Johnson Space Center. As well as exploring the outside of the submerged ISS, she can head inside the orbiting lab in another life-sized mock-up located in a huge hangar.
She takes us on a tour of the lab’s interconnected modules. It feels very cramped, especially considering astronauts usually spend many months on board. But Rosemary reminds us about the spectacular views.
“It is an isolated environment, but I think this helps to give that kind of connection to being outside – to alleviate that sense of claustrophobia.”
Kevin Church/BBC
Kevin Church/BBC
Water is a such valuable resource in space that urine is recycled into drinkable water
Rosemary’s training here covers every aspect of going to space – including learning how to use the onboard toilet.
“The lower part is where you put your solid waste,” she says, pointing to a loo in a small cubicle that looks like something you might find at a very old campsite. “And this funnel here is actually attached to an air suction system, and that is where you put your liquid waste.”
Female astronauts have the option of suppressing their periods using drugs, Rosemary says, but can also opt not to.
“There’s essentially a filter that you put on top of the cone in which you urinate and it’s to stop any particles, any blood, from going into the urine system.”
Urine needs to be kept separate because it’s purified and treated to be re-used as drinking water, she explains.
Kevin Church/BBC
Weightlessness is simulated by manipulating astronauts’ buoyancy in the pool
Back in the pool, divers are constantly adjusting Rosemary’s buoyancy in the water to make the experience as close as possible to microgravity.
She moves around painstakingly, making sure she’s always attached to the submerged structure using two hooks.
Every hand-hold is carefully chosen along the bars on the outside of each module. They’re in exactly the same positions as the ones on the real thing, vital muscle memory if she gets to carry out a spacewalk 200 miles (322km) above the Earth.
It’s slow and difficult work, requiring plenty of upper body strength and physical effort in the hot, bulky spacesuit.
“You do a lot of mental preparation – you really think through every single movement,” Rosemary explains. “You have to be really efficient with your energy. You don’t want to do something and realise it wasn’t quite right and have to do it again.”
Kevin Church/BBC
The team in the control room watch a live video feed of Rosemary to monitor everything that’s happening underwater
Kevin Church/BBC
Rosemary is working alongside another astronaut to complete a list of space station repairs and maintenance for the test. Her every move is monitored by a team in a control room overlooking the pool. They’re in constant communication with her as she works through her tasks.
Former space station commander Aki Hoshide, from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, is on hand for advice. He has completed four spacewalks and says it’s a steep learning curve for new astronauts.
“When we first start out, there’s so much information thrown at you, so many skills that you have to learn and show and demonstrate,” he says. “It is baby steps, but they are moving forward – and I can see their excitement every time they come here and jump in the pool.”
Rosemary takes us to see a Saturn V – the rocket that took the Apollo astronauts to the Moon in 1969. More than 50 years on, Nasa is planning an imminent return to the lunar surface with its Artemis programme. European astronauts will join later missions. With an expected 35-year space career ahead, Rosemary may one day get the chance to become the first Briton to walk on the Moon.
“It’s incredibly exciting that we, as humanity, are going back to the Moon, and of course, any way that I could be a part of that, I would be absolutely delighted. I think it’s absolutely thrilling,” she says.
After six gruelling hours underwater, Rosemary is nearing the end of her spacewalk test – but then she’s thrown a curve ball.
In the control room, we hear her call out for a comms check with her astronaut partner who’s working on another part of the space station. But she’s met with silence.
On a video screen, we can see he’s motionless. Rosemary doesn’t know it, but he’s been asked to pretend to lose consciousness. Rosemary’s job is to reach him, check his condition – and tow him back to the airlock.
After so long under water, we can see how exhausted she is – but working slowly and steadily, she gets him safely to the airlock.
“Rosemary has the endurance of a champion. She crushed it today,” says Jenna Hanson, one of Nasa’s spacewalk instructors who’s been assessing Rosemary. “We’re really happy with where she’s at – she’s doing awesome.”
Kevin Church/BBC
Dr Rosemary Coogan has dreamed of being an astronaut since she was a child
The spacewalk is finally over. Rosemary’s platform is hoisted out of the pool and the support team help her out of her suit. As her helmet is removed, we can see she’s clearly very tired, but still smiling.
“It was a challenging one, it really was, and a challenging rescue,” she tells us, “But yeah, it was a really enjoyable day.”
Rosemary’s hard work is bringing her ever closer to her dream of getting to space.
“It’s amazing,” Rosemary says, “If I could do that for the real space station – where you can look out and see the stars and see the Earth at the same time – that would just be the cherry on top.”
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. A belated Happy Mother’s Day to all you mothers out there.
Newsletter
Are you a true-blue fan?
Get our Dodgers Dugout newsletter for insights, news and much more.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
Sometimes it appears a dark cloud is constantly following a player, sort of like Joe Btfsplk or is just hapless where nothing ever seems to go right, like Charlie Brown. or there’s just doom and gloom whenever they are around, like Eeyore.
The first time I remember it is during the 1988 season, when it seemed for a couple of months that this would happen in every at-bat by Jeff Hamilton: fastball down the middle, taken for strike one; fastball down the middle, takes for strike two; curveball in the dirt, swung on and missed, strike three.
This season, that player for the Dodgers is Michael Conforto.
We haven’t talked much about Conforto, so let’s do a little background on him.
Conforto was born March 1, 1993 in Seattle. He was a star at Oregon State and was taken by the New York Mets in the first round (10th overall pick) of the 2014 draft. He reached the majors quickly, appearing in 56 games with the Mets in 2015. The Mets lost in the World Series that season, but Conforto became only the third player to play in the Little League World Series, College World Series and Major League World Series (the other two: Ed Vosberg and Jason Varitek). His breakthrough season was 2017, when he hit .279/.384/.555 with 20 doubles and 27 homers in 444 plate appearances and made the All-Star team. His power numbers began to dip a bit, but were still solid (28 homers in 638 plate appearances in 2018, 33 in 648 plate appearances in 2019), but he was a solid major leaguer. Let’s take a look at his OPS+ each season:
You’ll notice 2022 is not represented. Before the 2021 season, Conforto turned down a $100-million contract extension. That turned out not to be wise. Conforto had an off year by his standards, hitting .232/.344/.384 with 14 homers in 479 plate apperances. He became a free agent after the season and signed with… no one. His agent, Scott Boras, said Conforto injured his shoulder while working out in January, 2022, had surgery and would not play at all that year.
In January 2023, Conforto signed a two-year, $36-million deal with the Giants. He hit .239/.334/.384 in 2023 with 14 doubles and 15 homers in 470 plate appearances and .237/.309/.450 last season with 27 doubles and 20 homers in 488 plate appearances. The Dodgers signed him for one-year, $17-million, and he started off well. After his first six games, he was hitting .368 with four doubles and a homer. Then, the roof caved in.
From April 4-May 9, Conforto was eight for 93, good for an .086 batting average. And he struck out 34 times. Because he also walked 15 times in that span, he scored 12 runs, which may be a record for a guy who went eight for 93.
Last week, Conforto talked to our Jack Harris and said, “This game will kick you down. It will kick you when you’re down. It can be cruel. So sometimes, you just have to lean on what you know you are as a player, and all the support you have around you … and keep going straight ahead, keep working. … I think we’re right on the edge of getting things back. There’s just been a few of them where, you hit it [well], you look up and there’s somebody there. It just seems to happen more when you’re not going right.”
Dave Roberts: “It’s still easy to bet on him because the head is still there, the work is still there. “He’s just got to keep taking good at-bats, and they’ll fall. A guy that’s been around for so long, I think he can handle this five weeks of adversity.”
The luxury of the Dodgers having such a good team is they can afford to give someone like Conforto a longer chance than most other teams could. James Outman could have taken some playing time from him, but Outman is one for 15 since returning from the minors, while Kiké Hernández and Chris Taylor haven’t exactly been candidates for the Silver Slugger this year either. Conforto has three hits in his last six at-bats. Not a sign that the slump is over, but a step in the right direction.
The Dodgers play the long game, which can be frustrating for fans. The Dodgers are very patient with players and have been for quite a while now. It should come as no surprise that they will give Conforto ample time to rediscover his offense. They have the best record in baseball and can afford to be patient.
By the way, Conforto’s mother, is Tracie Ruiz Conforto, who won gold medal in the solo and duet synchronized swimming event at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics.
Good news…
Clayton Kershaw made what is hoped to be his final rehab start, pitching four innings while giving up two runs, two hits, two walks and striking out two for triple-A Oklahoma City. If all goes well, he will come off the IL and start against the Angels on Sunday at Dodger Stadium.
Tyler Glasnow has started playing catch again as he tries to return from shoulder inflammation.
… Bad news
Blake Snell was supposed to start throwing again Sunday, but did not because of discomfort in his pitching shoulder. Glasnow and Snell will be checked by doctors on Monday, but this isn’t a good sign for Snell.
Ouch!
Just imagine being a Rockies fan. They haven’t made the postseason since 2018 (when they were swept in the first round) and haven’t won a postseason game since 2009. They lost to the Padres on Saturday, 21-0. And Sunday they fired their manager, Bud Black, before they beat the Padres 9-3. That “improved” their record to 7-33, before they lost Monday to drop to 7-34, which means they are on pace to finish 28-134, which I’m guessing would not be a good enough record to sneak into the postseason as a wild-card team. Their GM, Bill Schmidt, blames a lot of it on injuries. But it can’t be too fun to be a fan of the Rockies lately.
Also, just as a reminder that the Dodgers aren’t the only team that struggles at times, the Padres bullpen has given up 29 runs in its last 16 innings, including six runs in the ninth inning at home against the Angels on Monday.
All-time leaders
The Dodgers’ all-time leaders in OPS+, minimum 1,000 plate appearances
Franchise 1. Dan Brouthers, 172 2. Gary Sheffield, 160 2. Mike Piazza, 160 4. Freddie Freeman, 157 4. Jack Fournier, 157 6. Reggie Smith, 152 7. Pedro Guerrero, 149 8. Lefty O’Doul, 145 9. Babe Herman, 144 9. Hanley Ramirez, 144 9. Jim Wynn, 144
Los Angeles only 1. Gary Sheffield, 160 1. Mike Piazza, 160 3. Freddie Freeman, 157 4. Reggie Smith, 152 5. Pedro Guerrero, 149 6 Hanley Ramirez, 144 6. Jim Wynn, 144 8. Mookie Betts, 143 9. Duke Snider, 136 10. Justin Turner, 133
Is there a top 10 Dodgers list you’d like to see Email me at [email protected] and let me know.
These names seem familiar
A look at how some prominent Dodgers from the last few seasons are doing with their new team (through Sunday). Click on the player name to be taken to the baseball-reference page with all their stats.
From 1929, all-time Dodgers great Dazzy Vance talks pitching. Watch and listen here.
Until next time…
Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
