June 12th, 2024
Kennedi Landry
@kennlandryLOS ANGELES -- It felt like the inning wouldn’t end. Batter after batter, Rangers reliever Grant Anderson just couldn’t put anybody away. Then, an already bad inning devolved into the worst at the snap of a finger as four Dodgers would ultimately go yard: Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernández and Jason Heyward.
“They may have something on him,” said manager Bruce Bochy, indicating Anderson might have been tipping his pitches. “We’ll have to get with him and check it out, because they were on everything. You're going to have nights like that, but it’s something we gotta check.”
The Rangers would end up losing, 15-2, to open the long West Coast road trip on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.
Anderson became the 45th pitcher in the last 50 years to give up four homers in an inning. He was just the eighth reliever to do so. The only other Rangers pitcher to do it was Pat Mahomes Sr. on Aug. 17, 2001, against the Blue Jays.
That sixth inning was perhaps the worst single frame in recent Ranger history.
But it wouldn’t matter in the grand scheme of another Rangers loss, as the offense scored just two runs on five hits. The game was theoretically over well before that inning, but that was an encapsulation of this season for Texas.
In the top of the sixth, right before the Dodgers exploded, Robbie Grossman, Adolis García and Jonah Heim went down in order. It was the third time that happened to the Rangers offense on the night. It would happen one more time, in the ninth inning.
Even if Anderson hadn’t surrendered those four homers, the Rangers' offense was unable to get anything going, as has been the story for much of a month and a half now.
The difference in Tuesday's loss, though, is that the Rangers’ pitching staff has done its job lately. Entering the day, starters had allowed three or fewer runs in 21 straight games, the second-longest such streak in franchise history. The bullpen was similarly steady and was scoreless in six of the last eight games, good for a 1.42 ERA during that time.
Instead, Rangers starter Dane Dunning tossed 3 2/3 innings, giving up four hits, six runs and three walks. He allowed a three-run homer to Will Smith in the first inning and the rest was really history.
“I just wasn't really putting away guys,” Dunning said. “I got ahead on a lot of hitters and just kind of wasn't able to finish them off and just wasn't executing. I got a good amount of guys 0-2 and just wasn't putting them away. … Just a lot of missed opportunities with certain pitch sequencing. I didn't do a good job of mixing. Ultimately, giving up three runs in the first inning is not a good start, especially the way our team’s been going. I didn’t do my job, especially in the first inning.”
But well after Dunning’s day was finished, the Rangers turned to catcher Andrew Knizner on the mound. He was the only Texas “pitcher” to not allow an earned run, though he did walk one batter and gave up a sacrifice fly in his 1 2/3 innings of work.
“I hate using the position player,” Bochy said. “I've never been a fan. But we've got to keep the bullpen in order, because it’s the first game of the road trip. So once you get down as much as we did, well, I was trying to get [Jesus] Tinoco through the eighth, but he was approaching 30 pitches. Knizner has done it. He was all for it. And I thanked him for it, because I don't like doing it.”
The fact that Bochy used a position player at all shows where the Rangers are right now and what this loss was like. It’s been a long, injury-riddled struggle of a season for the reigning World Series champs at this point.
But 15 runs is the most the Rangers have given up this season. The 13-run margin of defeat was also their largest of the year. The Dodgers are no doubt one of the best teams in baseball, but Texas needs to get back to being the team it can be.
“We just struggled,” Bochy said. “It’s something we haven't seen. These games aren't fun, no getting around it. But we have to put it behind us. This is a tough team [the Dodgers]. You get behind and they’ll make you pay for it.”
