Most of Tuesday’s game went according to plan for the Dodgers.
Tony Gonsolin produced a solid five-inning start in his second start back from Tommy John surgery, giving up just two runs.
Shohei Ohtani posted another monster stat line at loanDepot Park, hitting a tying home run in the sixth and a tying double in the seventh in what he calls “one of my favorite stadiums” to play in.
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Late in a 5-4 loss to the Miami Marlins, however, one of the Dodgers’ few early-season concerns turned into a glaringly costly problem — the game ending with journeyman reliever JP Feyereisen on the mound, giving up a walk-off single to Jesús Sanchez in the bottom of the 10th inning.
The Dodgers’ bullpen, quite simply, has been overworked through the first month-plus of the year. And in a game that came down to the final few innings, the toll of that strain became evident.
Entering the bottom of the sixth, the Dodgers were leading 3-2, having turned an early one-run deficit into a one-run lead after Ohtani and Freddie Freeman hit home runs in the top half of the inning. With Gonsolin done after 82 pitches manager Dave Roberts turned to his bullpen.
But it was not a high-leverage arm that came trotting in.
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With all of his most trusted relievers having already pitched twice this trip — including appearances from top right-handers Evan Phillips and Kirby Yates the night before — Roberts instead summoned minor league offseason signing Luis García, seemingly hoping to steal an inning with the lower-leverage right-hander.
Granted, García had been decent this year, entering the game with a 3.78 ERA in his 13th MLB season. But he had already made 17 appearances in their first 35 contests. And on Tuesday, the Marlins wasted little time jumping all over him.
Designated hitter Agustin Ramírez led off with a double. Two batters later, Connor Norby did the same, hitting a line drive to left field that just evaded a leaping effort from Michael Conforto. That tied the score. Matt Mervis’ single in the next at-bat gave Miami a 4-3 lead.
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The Dodgers (24-12) didn’t trail for long, Ohtani tying the score with a double that scored speedy Hyeseong Kim from first.
But after Alex Vesia, Anthony Banda and Tanner Scott posted zeroes to get the game to extras, Roberts was forced into another less-than-appealing pitching decision in the bottom of the 10th.
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Claimed off waivers last week from the Arizona Diamondbacks, Feyereisen (a player the Dodgers once traded for before later releasing) came into the game — Roberts once again bypassing a better option, like $13-million offseason signing Yates, out of obvious workload concerns.
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Moments later, their defeat had been sealed, with Sánchez blasting his game-winning, bases-loaded single through a five-man Dodgers infield.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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