Rally in which five runs score on wild pitches lifts Dodgers to 10th straight win
Yasmani Grandal stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning on Sunday with the bases loaded, two outs, and the Dodgers trailing the Colorado Rockies by two runs.
In the span of a six-pitch at-bat that ended with Grandal striking out on an Adam Ottavino breaking ball, three runs crossed the plate, two on a single wild pitch, giving the Dodgers the lead and Grandal what might have been the most productive out in baseball history.
Folks, you can’t make this stuff up.
The Dodgers rode the unconventional rally, rookie Cody Bellinger’s sixth multi-home run game and a five-out save by Kenley Jansen to a 12-6 come-from-behind victory, giving them 10 consecutive wins and 16 in their last 17 games.
As if the seventh inning wasn’t
Brandon McCarthy’s smooth ride through the 2017 season hit a sudden patch of turbulence Sunday when the veteran right-hander appeared to suffer a brief recurrence of the “yips” that derailed his 2016 season last August.
McCarthy, who entered with a 6-3 record and 2.87 ERA in 12 starts, retired the side in order in the first but lost control of his four-seam fastball and cutter in the second, throwing three wild pitches and walking two during a three-run inning.
An error by shortstop Enrique Hernandez on a potential double-play grounder in the third paved the way for two more runs, and McCarthy was pulled after three innings in which he gave up five runs — four earned — and four hits, struck out two and walked two. Of his 64 pitches, 38 were strikes.
“It’s a very hard-to-describe feeling,” McCarthy said, when asked what was different about Sunday. “It certainly wasn’t the usual feeling. Something was going on there with my cutter and four-seamer. I was able to get the sinker back and throw some curves, which made me more competitive.”
With Colorado’s DJ LeMahieu at the plate to lead off the third, McCarthy threw a pitch that bounced about three feet outside and to the backstop. Asked whether he was concerned that last summer’s problems were creeping back, McCarthy said, “I threw a ball in the other batter’s box, so that’s pretty clear.”
McCarthy lost his ability to throw the baseball with any accuracy last August, when he issued 15 walks and hit two batters in 81⁄3 innings of three starts.
The Dodgers put him on the disabled list, citing a stiff hip, and McCarthy made a mechanical adjustment that steadied his control. He walked one in 51⁄3 innings of his only September start but was not included on the postseason roster.
Unhealthy scratch
Franklin Gutierrez was in the original lineup Sunday, but two hours before the game, the reserve outfielder was placed on the 10-day disabled list because of a rare inflammatory disease called ankylosing spondylitis, which he has dealt with since 2011.
The condition, over time, can cause some of the vertebrae in the spine to fuse. Among the other symptoms are pain and stiffness in the neck and back, pain in ligaments and tendons, fever, fatigue and a loss of appetite.
Gutierrez, who is hitting .232 with eight RBIs in a platoon role, has managed the disease with medication, an anti-inflammatory diet and extensive stretching and massage, but the discomfort worsened Sunday. Short hops
Right fielder Yasiel Puig did not start Sunday because of nagging discomfort in his right hamstring, but he was able to pinch-hit in the sixth inning, striking out. Manager Dave Roberts said the injury “is not serious” and expects Puig to play Monday night against the Angels. … Closer Kenley Jansen is batting .500, with two hits in four at-bats. “Kenley has a good stroke,” Roberts said. “He’s been lobbying for more at-bats.”