Dodgers defense let down Gavin Stone

Jul 10, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Gavin Stone (35) reacts after allowing a home run against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Dodgers lost to the Philadelphia Phillies for the second consecutive day, but this time it was due to poor offense and defense, rather than an implosion from their starting pitching.

The box score didn’t show an error for the Dodgers, but it could be argued that shouldn’t have been the case. Multiple defensive mishaps led to a few runs scoring in their 4-3 loss, and the offense just wasn’t able to make up for those miscues.

Gavin Stone was on the mound, and he’s a pitcher that relies on getting soft contact rather than posting high strikeout numbers, and because of that, the defensive play left Dodgers manager Dave Roberts wanting more from his club, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:

“That’s a frustrating one,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

“I think that with him (Stone), he needs his defense. That’s just the way it is. He’s not going to go out there and punch a bunch every single time out and tonight he had I think three strikeouts. There was a lot of balls in play, not a lot of swing and miss. So you look back at some of the plays that we just couldn’t come up with, those plays, that changes the game. It seemed like today the ball had eyes, and that’s baseball.”

The Phillies’ first run came on a solo homer from Kyle Schwarber, but from there it was all on the Dodgers’ defense.

In the second inning, a misplayed ball by Miguel Vargas in left field led to a Brandon Marsh double before he came around to score.

In the fifth inning, Andy Pages lost a routine fly ball in the sky, and it ended up being a leadoff triple for Whit Merrifield:

“It’s the twilight and sometimes when it gets up there in the sky you just lose it,” Roberts said. “(Pages) has been doing a nice job out there in center field and there’s just nothing he could’ve done right there. Just turned into a triple.”

With two outs and Merrifield still on third base, a ground ball was hit to Miguel Rojas at shortstop, and he was unable to field it cleanly. It would have been a tough play regardless for Rojas, but he didn’t give himself a chance to make the out:

“Yeah. Even though I was playing in the hole, he hit it up the middle, broke his bat whatever. I feel I had a chance if I put the glove on the ball and make a play,” Rojas said. “I’ve made that play before and I feel like if I catch it I have a pretty good chance with my arm to get him out. I have to make sure I catch that ball.”

That led to the go-ahed run, and furthermore, the game-winning run for teh Phillies. After Turner’s two-out infield single, Alex Bohm doubled him over to third base.

Anthony Banda entered the game to face the left-handed hitting Bryson Stott, who hit a weak ground ball to second, but the Dodgers were unable to get the out at first, allowing a fourth run to score.

Banda finished out the inning, closing the line on Stone, who was charged with four earned runs allowed in 4.2 innings pitched.

Dodgers struggles continue to build

Stone has proven to be one of the Dodgers’ most effective pitchers this season, but even he is having a bit of a slump during this current stretch.

The Dodgers have now lost seven of their past 11 games, and things are getting worse with Tyler Glasnow on the 15-day injured list and Bobby Miller sent to Triple-A to work on things amid his poor season.

L.A. is now looking to avoid a sweep on Thursday before they head to Detroit for a three-game set leading into the All-Star break, which could prove to be some much needed time off for the club.

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