Dodgers manage without Roberts
MLB suspends L.A. manager for one game but club hardly misses him in rout of Padres.
DODGERS 8 SAN DIEGO 0
SAN DIEGO — At 7:10 p.m. Saturday, around the time Padres pitcher Dillon Overton threw an 88-mph fastball over the plate, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was no longer welcome at Petco Park. He was already driving toward his home in Cardiff-By-the-Sea, about 25 miles to the north, according to a team official.
Suspended for one game after his confrontation with San Diego manager Andy Green on Friday, Roberts was barred from attending his team’s 8-0 victory over their hapless hosts. He missed pitcher Rich Hill’s first hit in a regular-season game since 2009 — and the first two-hit game of his career. He missed Corey Seager and Justin Turner’s back-to-back home runs in the fifth. He missed Chris Taylor’s third grand slam of the season. He missed his team’s third victory in a row, and another brick in Hill’s rebuilding effort, complete with 11 strikeouts.
Hill (5-4, 4.00 earned-run average) blanked the Padres for seven innings and limited them to four hits. Unable to pitch beyond the fifth inning in his first nine starts, Hill has now reached the seventh in his last two. He has benefited from a modified delivery, using mechanics similar to the stretch position. The Dodgers (55-28) would be delighted if Hill can continue his climb back toward the form he showed in 2016.
Major League Baseball announced Roberts’ suspension on Saturday afternoon. The incident occurred Friday night after Green criticized Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood in front of Roberts. The umpires heard Wood threaten to hit Padres outfielder Jose Pirela, who he thought was stealing signs at second base. Roberts, Green and Wood all were fined. Roberts did not protest his suspension.
“It’s what Major League Baseball felt was the right course of action,” Roberts said. “So I support it.”
Roberts said Saturday he had not spoken to Green. He did not intend to do so, either. He also explained he did not seek Green out after the ejections Friday. The jostling between the two prompted both benches to clear. Roberts could be seen shouting at Green “You and me!” as the teams formed a scrum near the plate.
“I just didn’t appreciate some of the comments made toward our pitcher,” Roberts said. “That’s all.”
With Roberts away from the scene Saturday, control of the game belonged to bench coach Bob Geren. Roberts met with Geren and pitching coach Rick Honeycutt before the game to form an outline for the evening’s strategy. This did not fall far outside the norm — both Geren and Honeycutt already play significant roles in the team’s planning.
“Outside of that, I’m just going to leave it to Bob and to Rick to navigate the game,” Roberts said.
Geren exchanged lineup cards with Padres bench coach Mark McGwire before the game, then returned to his dugout to watch his club secure a first-inning lead.
The pitching matchup underscored the disparity between the two clubs. The Dodgers signed Hill to a $48million contract over the winter. Seattle cut Overton loose a couple weeks ago, because he was not capable of holding a spot in their bullpen. San Diego claimed him off waivers and brought him up for his first outing as a Padre on Saturday.
The Dodgers squeezed a run out of Overton in the first on Logan Forsythe’s bases-loaded infield hit.
Three innings later, Hill came through at the plate. Hitting has never been his specialty. He came up as a Cub, but he moved to the American League when Baltimore acquired him in 2009. From 2010 to 2015, he did not take an at-bat in the majors. He went 0 for 12 in 2016.
The drought ended Saturday. There were two outs and runners at the corners. The Padres had intentionally walked outfielder Trayce Thompson to face Hill. It was the statistically obvious decision — only Hill refused to cooperate.
Down in an 0-2 count, Hill whacked an 88-mph fastball back up the middle. The grounder rolled past shortstop Erick Aybar and trickled into the outfield. Hill sprinted through first base on the RBI single. He would flare another single into left in the sixth inning.
By that point, the Dodgers’ lead had grown to four. Seager and Turner feasted on Overton in the fifth. Seager unloaded on an 88-mph fastball and deposited a solo homer a dozen rows beyond the fence in right. Two pitches later, Turner lashed another tepid fastball into left. The ball smashed off the Western Metal Supply Co. building for his sixth homer since returning from the disabled list on June 9.
Hill made the four-run lead feel insurmountable. Taylor made it overkill in the seventh when he destroyed a 92-mph fastball from Padres reliever Craig Stammen.