The Dodgers broke even on the road last week, taking two of three games against the Pirates in Pittsburgh before losing two of three to the first-place White Sox in Chicago.
The offense was more productive than usual on the road trip, averaging over six runs per game, but the big inning has been the bane of the pitching staff of late. After allowing six runs in an inning in a home loss to the Angels on June 7, the Dodgers on the road allowed three runs and five runs in consecutive innings Wednesday
in Pittsburgh, gave up a four-run inning on Thursday at PNC Park, then allowed a seven-run inning Friday and six runs in one frame on Sunday in the two losses in Chicago.
It’s been over a month since the Dodgers last lost consecutive games, but the shaky pitching of late has also prevented them from going on any sort of big run. They’ve alternated wins and losses over their last eight games.
Batter of the week
We’ll go with Max Muncy narrowly over Shohei Ohtani, though in reality either player could have won. Muncy batted two more times than Ohtani, and reached base two more times than Ohtani, giving him the razor-thin edge. Muncy, an excellent candidate to make his third All-Star team, leads National League third basemen in several categories, and his two home runs on Saturday gave him 225 with the Dodgers, three shy of tying Ron Cey for fifth-most in franchise history.
Pitcher of the week
Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the rock of the pitching staff, a reliable and durable ace who has turned in two gems in a row. He took a perfect game into the eighth inning on Saturday in Chicago, and took a no-hitter into the ninth in a blowout win over the White Sox.
Yamamoto leads the Dodgers with six starts of at least seven innings, including four times in his last five outings.
Week 12 results
3-3 record
41 runs scored (6.83 per game)
33 runs allowed (5.50 per game)
.598 pythagorean win percentage
Year to date
45-27 record
386 runs scored (5.36 per game)
245 runs allowed (3.40 per game)
.697 pythagorean win percentage (50-22)
Miscellany
Milestone watch: On Tuesday in Pittsburgh, Freddie Freeman had two hits, and his seventh-inning RBI single off Brandan Bidois was his 2,500th career hit. Freeman is the 102nd player in major league history with 2,500 career hits, and the first new member of the club since Robinson Canó in 2019. The next big milestone within range for Freeman — besides passing a few more folks on the all-time doubles list — is 1,000 extra-base hits, an exclusive group that currently includes only 39 members. Freeman through Sunday has 976 career extra-base hits. He has 24 extra-base hits over his last 60 games, to give a rough idea of a possible timeline to get to 1,000.
Shortest possible distance to Petit: Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s flirtation with perfection saw him retire his first 23 batters faced on Saturday in Chicago, which came directly after the right-hander retired his final 22 batters faced in a gem against the Angels on June 6 at Dodger Stadium. Yamamoto’s 45 consecutive batters retired tied Mark Buehrle (July 18-28, 2009) for the second-longest streak in major league history, just one behind Yusmeiro Petit from July 22-August 28, 2014. The error by shortstop Mookie Betts in the eighth inning on Saturday would have been the record-tying 46th straight out for Yamamoto.
Congraduations: Dave Roberts was away from the team on Sunday in Chicago, to be with his daughter Emmerson as she graduated from Stanford. That put bench coach Danny Lehmann in charge for Sunday’s loss to the White Sox. This is the third time Lehmann, who was promoted to bench coach in 2023, has served as interim manager. Lehmann was also at the helm for a 2-1 road win over the San Diego Padres on May 6, 2023 while Roberts was at his son Cole’s graduation from Loyola Marymount, and also for a 6-5 home win over the Washington Nationals last June 20 while Roberts was suspended for a game for a benches-clearing incident the night before against the Padres.
Transactions
Wednesday: When the Dodgers needed a right-handed multi-position infielder after the Hernándezes got injured on consecutive days in May, they chose to bring back the previously-dispatched Santiago Espinal. The writing on the wall was there for Tyler Fitzgerald, who started at five positions for Oklahoma City after getting acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays on April 28. So it wasn’t all too surprising that Fitzgerald was released last week.
Thursday: Five days after initially getting scratched from the lineup, catcher Will Smith was placed on the injured list with neck inflammation. The open 40-man-roster spot courtesy of Fitzgerald’s release was filled by the call up of veteran backstop Chuckie Robinson, playing for a second straight season with the Dodgers.
Game results
- Tuesday: Dodgers 12, Pirates 3
- Wednesday: Pirates 9, Dodgers 8
- Thursday: Dodgers 8, Pirates 6
- Friday: White Sox 8, Dodgers 2
- Saturday: Dodgers 7, White Sox 1
- Sunday: White Sox 6, Dodgers 4
Previous reviews: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11
Up next
The Dodgers are back home for the middle portion of their 12 straight games against American League teams, running the Danny Clyburn gauntlet against the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles at Dodger Stadium. Monday night is an exclusive ESPN telecast.
