Raise the alarm? Dodgers get their ‘butt kicked’ in worrying blowout to Cubs
Cubs #Cubs
Drew Smyly was on the verge of perfection.
The struggling Dodgers couldn’t have been further from it.
For their first 21 at-bats Friday against the Chicago Cubs left-hander, the Dodgers failed to record a hit, a baserunner or any semblance of functional offense.
They weren’t just losing by double-digits, en route to a 13-0 defeat at Wrigley Field, but were on the verge of falling victim to the most unexpected of perfect games, stymied by a 33-year-old journeyman with a 4.11 career ERA who they’d just faced last week.
By the start of the eighth inning, the Dodgers had struck out nine times. They’d hit just six balls out of the infield. They were already waving the white flag, too, removing Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy from the game early.
The only reason they avoided infamous history: Cubs catcher Yan Gomes collided with Smyly while trying to field a tapper to lead off the eighth — resulting in a three-foot, 33-mph dribbling infield single that proved to be the Dodgers only hit of the day.
“A loss is a loss,” manager Dave Roberts said. “But it never feels good to get your butt kicked like this.”
While the worst-case scenario might have been avoided, the Dodgers early-season frustration still reached a new peak.
The team had lost plenty over the season’s opening three weeks, with a 10-10 record that marked their worst 20-game start since 2018.
In most of those defeats, however, the Dodgers had at least been competitive, right in games until the offense squandered a crucial opportunity or the bullpen failed to protect a late lead.
Friday was something far different, serving as one of the first true alarm bells of 2023.
Staff ace and opening day starter Julio Urías was rocked, giving up five runs (and, for the second time in a week, back-to-back homers) in less than four innings.
The underbelly of an already inconsistent relief corps was torn to shreds, yielding a seven-spot in a train wreck of a fifth inning.
The Dodgers lineup, meanwhile, went down in order in each of their first seven trips to the plate.
Between the first and third, they struck out in six consecutive at-bats against Smyly, who dominated the Dodgers throwing just two pitches, a sinker and curveball.
In the fourth, a deep flyout from Betts was registered as the team’s only “hard hit” ball (95+ mph off the bat) against Smyly all day.
“We just haven’t put all the facets of the game together,” Betts said of a Dodgers offense that, despite entering the day fifth in the majors in overall scoring, has failed to score more than three runs in nine games (eight of them defeats).
“I think each game it’s a different reason,” added Roberts. “[Today] we couldn’t get anything. There was no hard contact all day.”
At various points during their recent 5-9 skid, in which the Dodgers have failed to win any back-to-back games, moments of promise have snuck through.
There was a series win in San Francisco. A walk-off victory against the Cubs last week. And a dramatic ninth-inning rally on Thursday to kick off this weekend’s series.
But in the aftermath of each occasion, the Dodgers have continued to give the momentum away.
Friday’s blowout defeat simply served as a blunt encapsulation.
“I felt good last night after the win,” Roberts said. “And to come out today and get beat up doesn’t feel good.”
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.