Jansen blows save, again
Dodgers pull it out in the 12th in their fourth extra-innings game of the season.
SAN DIEGO — Eyes locked on the ground, Kenley Jansen trudged toward the Dodgers dugout. Behind him his teammates trickled off the field, a chance at victory thwarted, forced to play another extra-innings affair after Jansen’s second blown save of the 2018 season. Jansen untucked his chin from his chest for a moment to scream at his glove.
It wasn’t the glove, of course, feeding belt-high cutters at lukewarm speeds to the Padres in Tuesday's ninth inning. It was Jansen, a cornerstone of the Dodgers bullpen now acting like a one-man underbelly. His earned-run average is 8.10. His reliability might be the biggest question mark on a team with a losing record and an inability to generate forward momentum as the team went into extra innings with San Diego.
The Dodgers, however, were able to overcome Jansen’s performance and beat the Padres 7-3 in 12 innings.
On Tuesday, the velocity on Jansen’s cutter was acceptable, at least after he served up a homer on a 90mph pitch for San Diego first baseman Eric Hosmer. His command was wretched, a procession of pitches hovering over the plate or missing their target. A leaping grab by Chris Taylor saved Jansen from giving up an extra-base hit to third baseman Christian Villanueva. But Jansen walked a batter, allowed a stolen base, balked and then let aging veteran Chase Headley tie the game with a double.
Little has gone right for Jansen this season. He lost in his first appearance and blew a save in his second. The drop in velocity elicited alarm. Yet before Tuesday, Jansen had begun a streak of four scoreless outings. They were not always
cleanly delivered and his cutter still hovered around 89 mph on occasion. But he was getting outs. He failed at that basic task against the Padres.
Jansen spoiled what might have been a tidy victory. Matt Kemp powered the offense with a two-run home run in the first inning and a sacrifice fly in the fifth. He stayed hot after homering the previous night at Petco Park, where he received hearty jeers in connection to his brief time as a Padre.
Alex Wood struck out seven and yielded two hits in 51⁄3 innings. He hit a speed bump in the sixth. After a leadoff double and a subsequent walk, Wood threw away a doubleplay ball. The error led to a run for San Diego and expedited Wood’s departure from the game. The duo of Tony Cingrani and J.T. Chargois stymied San Diego’s momentum to end the inning and protect Wood’s line. Pedro Baez struck out all four batters he faced.
Wood rebounded from an ugly outing last week against Oakland, when he could not complete the fourth inning. Looking wan and wilted after a meal of sushi gave him food poisoning a few days prior, Wood gave up seven runs.
The Dodgers (7-9) viewed the performance as an aberration caused by his physical infirmity.
On Tuesday, the Dodgers did not wait long to strike. Chris Taylor led off the evening with a groundball single off San Diego starting pitcher Bryan Mitchell. Kemp came up two batters later. Mitchell hung a curveball. Kemp held back and allowed the baseball to travel into the strike zone. He unleashed a swing which transported the ball beyond the fence in right-center field for a two-run, opposite-field shot.
A small bit of history occurred in the second. Mitchell pumped a 1-0 cutter on the inner half of the plate toward Dodgers veteran Chase Utley. The ball connected with Utley’s elbow and bounced away. Utley pointed toward it as he loped to first base. He had just been hit by a pitch for the 200th time in his career, solidifying his spot as eighth alltime in that category. No active player has been hit more often.
The bat boy carried the keepsake toward the Dodgers dugout. He handed it to bench coach Bob Geren, who pocketed it.
Wood rolled through San Diego’s lineup in the first three innings. He yielded a single and nothing more. But his teammates squandered a chance to ease his burden in the fourth when Cody Bellinger was left stranded after a leadoff triple.
The Dodgers had better luck in the fifth. Taylor took a leadoff walk. Corey Seager singled. Kemp scalded a ball into right field. Renfroe ran it down to prevent a hit, but Kemp still received credit for a sacrifice fly.
By that point, Wood had struck out six during his first four innings. He struck out the side in the first and repeated the feat in the fourth. He spotted his changeup and curveball for strikes while using his fastball to put away batters.
In the sixth, Wood confronted San Diego’s first real bit of resistance. He paid for an 89.2 mph fastball down the middle to second baseman Carlos Asuaje. The corresponding double by Asuaje gave the Padres their second base runner of the evening. Wood compounded the trouble by missing low with changeups to walk pinch-hitter Matt Szczur.
With two runners aboard, Wood needed to navigate through the top of the Padres’ lineup for a third time. He induced an odd groundout by outfielder Jose Pirela, who kicked the ball out of play as he broke from the box. Then shortstop Freddy Galvis chopped the ball back to the mound. Wood spun to feed Seager for a potential double play.