Dodgers stranded – Los Angeles left two runners stranded through key scoring chances, including an Andy Pages double that nearly got robbed in center field and a Miguel Rojas infield single that loaded the bases—yet the inning ended without a run. Even with the Dodgers leading 1
By the time the Dodgers were still clinging to a 1-0 lead into the sixth inning. it felt like the kind of night where the smallest swing could decide everything. Los Angeles had already done something unsettling: it had hits with runners in scoring position. but it couldn’t turn those moments into runs.
In eight at-bats with runners in scoring position, Los Angeles produced two hits—and neither one drove in a run. Shohei Ohtani didn’t score from second base on the Andy Pages double in the third inning. mostly because the ball was nearly caught in center field. The Dodgers still scored their only run of the game in that inning, though, on a ground out.
The other missed opportunity came earlier. In the second inning, Miguel Rojas delivered an infield single that moved two runners up 90 feet and loaded the bases. No run followed.
What makes it sting is how common it has been for this Dodgers offense. Believe it or not. 22 of the Dodgers’ 137 hits (16.1 percent) with runners in scoring position failed to score a run this season. That number is in line with MLB as a whole (16.4 percent). but it still doesn’t soften the frustration when the bases are loaded and the scoreboard stays still.
The damage concentrated early. All eight of those at-bats with runners in scoring position came in the first three innings, with nary a threat over the final six innings. The game looked like it might hold to a narrow margin—until it didn’t.
Home runs in three consecutive innings spoiled the Dodgers’ hope. Arizona was hitless in two at-bats with runners in scoring position, both in the first inning. Instead, the Diamondbacks found a different path, and it was the long ball that did the work.
Los Angeles has struggled this way before: the Dodgers have allowed three home runs in a game five times this season. never more than that to date. One of those contests was last Tuesday’s blowout of the Colorado Rockies that saw Rojas give up two of the three home runs in an inning he entered with a 14-run lead.
The outcomes with three homers allowed aren’t all grim. The Dodgers have won three of the five games in which they allowed three home runs. and they are 12-0 when hitting at least three home runs. with four of those games coming in the last week. Across MLB. teams have a .238 win percentage when allowing at least three home runs. including .279 when allowing exactly three home runs.
On the mound in Tuesday’s matchup. Eric Lauer allowed one home run—a solo shot for the only run he allowed in his Dodgers debut last Tuesday. the same blowout of the Rockies. Lauer entered that stretch after leading the American League with 11 home runs allowed at the time the Toronto Blue Jays traded him to Los Angeles.
His counterpart, right-hander Michael Soroka, has been taking his own hits. He has allowed four home runs in his 11 starts this season. Only two of those home runs were hit in his 34 1/3 innings at Chase Field, during which he has a 1.57 ERA.
Dodgers vs Diamondbacks runners in scoring position Shohei Ohtani Andy Pages Miguel Rojas Eric Lauer Michael Soroka three consecutive innings home runs baseball analysis