Dodgers Rookie Matches Ugly Team Record for Futility In Loss

Maren Angus-Coombs | Sep 3, 2024

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Dodgers pulled out all of the stops to win the first two games of a four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

With a spot starter and an exhausted bullpen, Sunday afternoon quickly turned into a trainwreck.

Justin Wrobleski got the nod on the bump and turned in a scoreless first inning. The second inning is when the train went off the rails. The D-backs knocked the lefty around for eight runs on seven hits and steamrolled the Dodgers 14-3.

Wrobleski had to wear it. The Dodgers' hole was so deep that it didn't make sense for manager Dave Roberts to try and salvage anything. His bullpen was taxed after throwing 12 innings in the first two games combined.

Justin Wrobleski has not settled down

A Randal Grichuk homer makes it an eight-run second inning https://t.co/3GQXgkHv7H

— Jack Harris (@ByJackHarris) September 1, 2024

The Dodgers No. 6 prospect needed to give Roberts some length, and that's what he did. He finished with a career-high 99 pitches and allowed 10 runs on 10 hits across 5.1 innings.

Wrobleski's 10 runs matched the Dodgers record for most runs allowed in a start.

“I’m sensitive to guys’ performance and not [having them stay] out there and essentially wearing it, but where we’re at — in a playoff race, giving us our best chance going forward — it was the only option,” Roberts said. “And to Justin’s credit, he hung in there and got us into the sixth inning.”

Wrobleski wanted to get through the sixth inning too, but merely getting through the fifth was a huge help to the Dodgers' pitching staff.

“That’s where you show people what you’re made of,” Wrobleski said. “I tried to grit my teeth and get through as many as I could. I would have loved to get through six [innings] there and save the ‘pen a little bit more.”

As for the lineup, Roberts began pulling his starters even before they all had a chance to bat twice.

“I think for me, as I’ve always felt, and still do feel, the player’s health is most important, and if that could be compromised at all, I will go with another option,” Roberts said pregame. “I just feel that kind of mindset overall is most beneficial for the player, the team. So I don’t think that the win-loss, the standings, will have any deciding factor on who I use today.”

The Dodgers salvaged their trip to Phoenix with a win on Monday. The Dodgers' 11-6 win maintained their five-game lead over San Diego and increased the Diamondbacks' deficit in the National League West to six.