Dodgers left-hander Justin Wrobleski had a chance to slam the door shut on the Braves’ second-inning rally. He fielded Sean Murphy’s comebacker, and set his feet to start a would-be inning-ending double play at second base.
Angled up the mound, however, he sailed the throw, which second baseman Alex Freeland wrangled to at least salvage an out.
The way the Dodgers’ offense has been scuffling, however, their 7-2 loss hinged on that four-run second inning.
“It’s just,one half-inning of being pissed off about it, and then you’ve got to keep going back out there and doing your thing,” said Wrobleski, who was charged with seven runs but gutted out a career-high 8⅔ innings. “So yeah, it’s frustrating. It’s annoying because now I look back at it and, yeah, that’s what cost me from having a good outing.”
With the Dodgers’ rubber-match loss, the Braves took sole possession of the best record in the majors. The Dodgers (24-16) dropped the series to the Braves (28-13) after scoring three or fewer runs in each game.
“I thought we turned the corner in Houston,” manager Dave Roberts said. “We kind of got back down a little bit this series. … It’s hard to articulate. There’s some empty at-bats, there’s some early outs that are not just quality outs. There’s the passing the baton to the next guy — and sometimes it just doesn’t happen.”
After Wrobleski cruised through the first inning in just six pitches — first-pitch flyout, four-pitch strikeout, first-pitch groundout — he had an uncharacteristically long second inning.
After striking out Matt Olson, Wrobleski gave up three straight singles for the Braves’ first run. Michael Harris II bunted into the open space on the third-base side to reach base. The other two hits came from Austin Riley and Eli White, both of whom registered exit velocities of over 108 mph, according to Statcast.
Then came Wrobleski’s high throw.
Wrobleski walked the next batter he faced, No. 9 hitter Jorge Mateo, in four pitches, prompting a visit from pitching coach Mark Prior.
Dodgers pitcher Justin Wrobleski pitched 8⅔ innings against the Braves on Sunday.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
With the bases loaded and facing Mauricio Dubón, Wrobleski hung an inside slider belt high. Dubón roped a grounder down the left-field line for a bases-clearing double.
The four runs Wrobleski gave up in the second were twice as many as he had allowed in his five previous starts combined.
Then he turned the outing around.
“Just bouncing back after that inning there, and just continuing to attack the zone and do what I do,” Wrobleski said. “I play this game with a long-term view and mindset of, in the long run, what works out, and what I know works. And just continue to do that and see how deep I can get into the game each time out.”
Wrobleski retired 16 straight to get through the seventh inning without further damage. Then in the eighth, he gave up a solo homer to reigning NL Rookie of the Year Drake Baldwin.
Wrobleski was back on the mound again in the ninth, a career first, but he gave up another solo homer, this time to Olson.
Wrobleski exited when his pitch count reached 100, drilling Mike Yastrzemski in the helmet with his final pitch. Wrobleski’s seven strikeouts tied his career high.
Dodgers pitcher Justin Wrobleski reacts after giving up a home run to Atlanta’s Drake Baldwin in the eighth inning Sunday.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
“For him again to go eight-plus was huge as we look out and have 10 in a row coming,” Roberts said.
The Dodgers’ offense again sputtered. In the sixth, they were handed a gift in the form of three straight two-out walks from starting pitcher Bryce Elder, before he was replaced by reliever Robert Suarez.
Max Muncy then drove a deep fly drive to right. But Braves right fielder Eli White caught it, and held on to it as he slammed into the wall, ending the frame.
“‘Who do I gotta pay off at this point?’” Muncy joked, noting the amount of hard contact he has had lately without results. “Next at-bat, I went up there and just said, ‘I’m going to swing straight up. But if I get in the air, they can’t catch it.’ And it kind of worked.”
More than kind of. Muncy put the Dodgers on the board with a two-run home run in the eighth. But it was too little too late.
“I think everyone’s trying to do a little bit more right now,” Muncy said. “We all know as a group that we’re struggling, and that’s just something that everyone’s trying to take on their own shoulder instead of just passing the baton — myself included. Once we get back to everyone just having really good team at-bats, I think things will start clicking for guys without even thinking about it.
“Just a rough stretch, and we’ve got to get through it.”
Betts on track
Mookie Betts celebrates after hitting a double for the Dodgers against the Cleveland Guardians at Dodger Stadium on March 30.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
Shortstop Mookie Betts (strained right oblique) is expected to be activated and in the lineup Monday, and the Dodgers will have to open a roster spot for him.
Betts’ injury created an opportunity for Hyeseong Kim, who began the season in triple-A. He entered Monday hitting .301 in 28 games, and in a shortstop platoon with Miguel Rojas, he’s shown off his glove.
“I think that he’s done a much better job of controlling the strike zone,” Roberts said. “He’s got the ability to put the bat on the ball, get hits, steal bases, play good defense. And I think he’s done all that.”
Freeland beat Kim in spring training for an opening day roster spot, but even though he has improved at the plate of late, Freeland entered Sunday with a .672 OPS. The Dodgers also have utility player Santiago Espinal, who has logged 34 plate appearances this season.
“Obviously we’ve got a tough decision,” Roberts said. “All of the options potentially for the corresponding move, these guys have done a great job and served a very good purpose for our club. It’s a good problem in the sense of where we’re at. But it’s a potentially tough conversation.”
Roster move
In order to add bullpen help, the Dodgers called up right-hander Wyatt Mills. Mills was a non-roster invitee in spring training, after signing a minor-league deal with the Dodgers last August. Mills, who underwent Tommy John surgery in July 2023, last pitched in the majors in 2022.
He was the only Dodgers reliever who pitched in Sunday’s game, allowing two hits.
In a corresponding move, the Dodgers optioned Paul Gervase, who threw three innings Saturday in the Dodgers’ 7-2 loss to the Braves, to triple-A Oklahoma City. And they transferred closer Edwin Díaz (elbow surgery) from the 15-day IL to the 60-day in a procedural move. Díaz isn’t expected to return from the IL until after the All-Star break.
