Dodgers Week 11: Unsustainable pitching

The Dodgers’ desperate quest to find quality innings reached a head this week, with a taxed bullpen succumbing under the weight of its own limits, dropping four of six games on the road, losing series to both the Reds and Phillies.

The Noah Syndergaard experiment was finally, mercifully put on extended hiatus after yet another non-competitive start. The Dodgers blew leads of five runs and four runs to open the week, and lost three times in walk-off fashion.

Positives included a pair of shutout wins, led by Clayton Kershaw and Bobby Miller, but the Dodgers for about a month have simply been unable to get through one rotation order with any sort of consistency.

A light at the end of the starting tunnel then flickered into darkness when Julio Urías suffered a setback in his left hamstring strain. The left-handed did not return Sunday as planned, and will likely need more time, making the Dodgers’ search for pitching stability indefinite.

This week saw the Dodgers’ first use of an opener this season — Victor González faced the first three batters on Friday before Michael Grove pitched bulk innings — and their first bullpen game, with eight pitchers covering all eight innings on Sunday. The Dodgers lost both games.

That’s no recipe for success, and not just in losing four of six games this week. The Dodgers over the last four weeks are just 11-14, and only the Rockies (6.19) have allowed more runs than Los Angeles (5.64) in the National League during that time.

Batter of the week

Freddie Freeman kept his hot streak going, hitting three home runs, leading the Dodgers in RBI, runs scored (tied), hits, and walks (tied) during the week with a 1.423 OPS.

Pitcher of the week

Asked to relieve a taxed bullpen for the umpteenth time this season, Clayton Kershaw delivered on getaway day in Cincinnati, pitching seven scoreless innings with nine strikeouts to beat the Reds. That was the third start this season for Kershaw with seven scoreless innings and nine strikeouts. Kershaw has 32 scoreless starts in his career with at least seven innings and at least nine strikeouts, good for fifth-most all-time, behind only Nolan Ryan (64), Randy Johnson (50), Roger Clemens (42), and Pedro Martínez (39).

It took that type of outing to prevent Bobby Miller and his six scoreless innings Saturday from winning his third True Blue LA pitcher of the week in his first three weeks in the majors.

Week 11 results

2-4 record
36 runs scored (6.00 per game)
29 runs allowed (4.83 per game)
.598 pythagorean win percentage

Year to date

37-29 record
367 runs scored (5.56 per game)
305 runs allowed (4.62 per game)
.584 pythagorean win percentage (39-27)

Miscellany

Double debut: On Wednesday in Cincinnati, outfielder Jonny DeLuca and pitcher Nick Robertson were the fourth and fifth Dodgers this season to make their major league debut, along with Michael Busch (April 25), Gavin Stone (May 3), and Bobby Miller (May 23). This was the 31st time in Los Angeles Dodgers history they had at least two rookies make their major league debut in the same game, so roughly once every two years or so. But DeLuca and Robertson were the first pair of Dodgers to debut in the same game since Joc Pederson and Yimi Garcia on September 1, 2014.

Walk-off woes: Before this week, the Dodgers only lost once in walk-off fashion in 30 road games. But a three-run ninth got Caleb Ferguson on Tuesday in Cincinnati, and Will Benson homered off Evan Phillips one night later to win another one for the Reds. On Friday in Philadelphia, Kyle Schwarber homered off Ferguson in the ninth inning to break a tie. The Dodgers lost three walk-offs in a four-game span for the first time since May 8-11, 1992. That team lost 99 games.

A defined role: Andre Jackson entered a 9-0 game in the seventh inning on Saturday and pitched three scoreless innings, giving him four three-inning saves in his first 14 career major league games. Jackson, who also had a three-inning save on April 1, is one of three major league pitchers this season with two saves of at least three innings, joining Bryse Wilson of the Brewers and Tucker Davidson of the Angels.

Milestone watch: Freddie Freeman ended the week with 1,992 career hits, just eight shy of becoming the 295th player in major league history with 2,000 hits. J.D. Martinez has 298 home runs, trying to become the 156th member of the 300-homer club, and the sixth to hit number 300 while with the Dodgers (joining Freeman, who did so on May 18).

Transactions

Monday: Luke Williams was claimed off waivers by Atlanta, opening up a 40-man roster spot.

Tuesday: Nick Robertson was selected from Oklahoma City, and Tayler Scott was optioned

Tuesday: Zack Burdi, who was designated for assignment on June 1, cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A.

Thursday: Noah Syndergaard landed on the injured list for a reset, and Scott was recalled.

Saturday: Shelby Miller was placed on bereavement leave, and Andre Jackson was recalled from OKC.

Sunday: Jackson got sent down after his busy Saturday, and Adam Kolarek made his way up from Triple-A.

Game results

• Tuesday: Reds 9, Dodgers 8
• Wednesday: Reds 8, Dodgers 6
• Thursday: Dodgers 6, Reds 0
• Friday: Phillies 5, Dodgers 4
• Saturday: Dodgers 9, Phillies 0
• Sunday: Phillies 7, Dodgers 3

Previous reviews: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10

The week ahead

The Dodgers return home to run the Ray Durham gauntlet, hosting the White Sox and Giants for three games each at Dodger Stadium. Wednesday against Chicago is a rare midweek exclusive ESPN telecast.