As losses go this one was fabulous

Phil Gurnee ♦ April 3, 2018 ♦ 3 Comments

Much like game five of the World Series, the Dodgers blew two huge leads but this time the leads were only six runs combined instead of seven, and they didn’t have the best pitcher in baseball on the mound, only the best closer.

The Dodgers staked Ryu to a three-run lead but even with the humidor that lead seemed tenuous and it didn’t take long before the Dbacks tied up the game with single runs in the first, third, and fourth.

The Dodger bullpen entered in the bottom of the 4th and shut the door while the team built back up a three-run lead. Leading 6 – 3, hand the ball to Kenley Jansen and get ready for game two with a nice three game winning streak.

Didn’t happen.

Everyone was watching Kenley’s velocity and while it did seem to tick up, his impeccable command was gone. He got two outs but walked the next two hitters and threw a cookie to Owens who tied the game with a dramatic three-run home run on as straight a pitch as you’ve ever seen Kenley throw.

When Kenley is right he is the best closer in baseball but right now he is not right. The velocity is off, the command is off, and he is looking more like Fernando Rodney. When a three-run lead isn’t safe, you have closer issues.

The rest of the bullpen has been fantastic. Until Wilmer Font gave up a run in the 15th inning the bullpen sans Jansen had yet to give up a run in twenty innings.

Wilmer Font saved the team for as long as he could but in the end, not even Wilmer Font could keep the Dodgers from losing this game.

Roberts blew through his relief pitchers so fast he made Gabe Kapler look like the white boy in a 100-yard dash set in Jamaica. Roberts has an eight-man bullpen to work with and by the 10th inning he had already used seven of them leaving Font to carry the load for as long as he could.   Of course, when you have a lead and Jansen you feel comfortable using everyone to protect the lead until you hand the ball to Jansen. With Jansen not being able to secure those leads, that thinking may need to be re-visited.

If Font had options left he’d be sent down to AAA for a fresh arm but they Dodgers don’t have that luxury.

Even though we lost, I loved the game.
Puig showed why I think he is our Roberto Clemente

Puiggy pic.twitter.com/8gLdaKUniN

— Phil Gurnee (@meercatjohn) April 3, 2018

Matt Kemp made a fantastic catch

Great catch by Matt Kemp pic.twitter.com/Iz9UrtNlRW

— Joseph Kim (@blackwings2011) April 3, 2018

Grandal got on base the first five times he was up. Where was this guy last October. What a difference maker that would have been. Joc Pederson showed up and played a nice CF while getting the offense off to a nice start Chase Utley had the big go-ahead hit, for half an inning scoring Cody Bellinger who needed every bit of his speed to score that run. Don’t normally like a headfirst slide into home but this time I jumped up and down when his hands hit the plate.

Chase pic.twitter.com/xHrjRpXZwX

— Phil Gurnee (@meercatjohn) April 3, 2018

J.T Chargois looks like a steal.

And finally Wilmer Font. What a performance, spitting right in the face of his roomful of detractors who felt he had no business being on the 25-man roster. I’ll have more on that later.