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Bullpen can’t hold up as Dodgers fall to Marlins in 10 innings

May 7, 2025

The Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman hits a home run during the sixth inning of their game against the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

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The Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman hits a home run during the sixth inning of their game against the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

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MIAMI — Seven relievers used Monday night (including Ben Casparius in a “bulk” role), five more Tuesday and a “bullpen game” planned for Wednesday – the Dodgers are really padding their MLB lead in relief innings.

They suffered from exposure Tuesday night, losing in 10 innings when a fresh arm – J.P. Feyereisen, called up from Triple-A for the day and sent back without recording an out – gave up an RBI single to Jesus Sanchez in the 10th and the Miami Marlins walked off with a 5-4 victory over the Dodgers.

“We had a few guys that were down (from usage),” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “That’s kind of the cost of … using your ’pen and starters that haven’t gone as deep, or pitch counts go up and you can’t get into the sixth, seventh inning. That’s just kind of the cost of it.”

It’s a business model that is “absolutely not” sustainable, Roberts acknowledged. But injuries to Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell and the decision to delay Shohei Ohtani’s return to pitching have the Dodgers in a familiar position, leaning heavily on their bullpen.

“It just seems like certain guys – and I could go back on each starter – but you’re still trying to manage their health and … [be] mindful of the innings that the bullpen is taking on and trying to stagger as much you can, and manage leverage and all that stuff,” he said.

“Absolutely not, we (don’t) want to lead the league in bullpen innings.”

After failing to even advance their free runner in the top of the 10th, the Dodgers were 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position in the game.

With Feyereisen on the mound in the bottom of the 10th – the 14th pitcher to make a relief appearance for the Dodgers this season (not including Miguel Rojas and Kiké Hernandez) – the Dodgers opted to intentionally walk Kyle Stowers. A single loaded the bases with no outs and the Dodgers tried to stave off defeat by going with a five-man infield. Sanchez slapped a single through the middle of it to drive in the winning run.

“I can’t speak for everybody, but I think from what we talk about and how we communicate, I think everybody’s on the same page and understanding what’s going on,” lefty reliever Anthony Banda said. “We just got to do our job and continue going. Try to get the right treatment, recovery and stuff like that to basically be available every day. That’s part of the job, and that’s what we do well here.

“We understand coming into this (stretch of 10 games between off days), it could turn real fast. So we’re all ready for it. We’re all mentally prepared for it. … Anytime the phone rings, it could be anybody at any point. So just got to get ready and just do your job.”

The Dodgers’ defense did its job to keep the game close.

In his second start since returning from Tommy John surgery, right-hander Tony Gonsolin held the Marlins scoreless for the first four innings on Tuesday – with significant help from Andy Pages.

Moved to right field with Teoscar Hernandez sidelined by injury, Pages stole a home run from Marlins catcher Liam Hicks in the third inning, came down on the warning track and fired a 98.5 mph bullet to double Dane Myers off first base and end the inning.

“That was sweet. He got to that ball,” Gonsolin said. “I looked up and it said 91 (mph) off the bat and I thought, ‘That can’t be a homer.’ But Andy going up against the wall and grabbing it, throwing a really good throw to first and getting that double play was huge.”

Two innings later, there was nothing Pages could do when Hicks lined a two-run home run over his head and into the seats.

That gave the Marlins a 2-1 lead. But not for long.

Ohtani hit the first pitch of the sixth inning 403 feet into the upper deck in right field for his 10th home run of the season. Ohtani is the first player in MLB this year to reach double figures in home runs and stolen bases.

Freddie Freeman drove in the Dodgers’ first run with an RBI single in the first inning. Two batters after Ohtani’s home run, he got the lead back for the Dodgers with a solo home run of his own.

It was Freeman’s 42nd home run against the Marlins, breaking a tie with Ryan Howard and Ryan Zimmerman for the most by any player against the Marlins’ franchise.

Freeman also has an 11-game hitting streak after another multi-hit game Tuesday. During the streak, he is batting .452 (19 for 42) with three doubles, four home runs and 13 RBIs.

After five innings and 82 pitches from Gonsolin, Roberts called on the most heavily-worked bullpen in MLB (157 innings and counting) yet again. Before going to any of his high-leverage relievers – Alex Vesia, Evan Phillips, Kirby Yates or Tanner Scott – on Tuesday, Roberts tried to get a bridge inning from Luis Garcia.

“As the pitch count crept up, I thought he was getting a little fatigued,” Roberts said. “There wasn’t as much miss. But he gave us all he had.”

A non-roster invitee this spring after flopping as a trade-deadline pickup for the Boston Red Sox last season, Garcia has been one of the most frequent responders on the other end of the calls to the bullpen, one of four relievers to appear in at least half of the Dodgers’ first 36 games. He allowed three hits that led to two runs and the Marlins took a 4-3 lead.

For the second inning in a row, Ohtani re-tied the score.

With Hyeseong Kim on first base and one out in the seventh, Ohtani fell behind 0-and-2 but worked the count back full – thanks in part to one fastball on the outside corner that was called a ball by home plate umpire Erich Bacchus.

The seventh pitch of the at-bat was a cutter off the inside corner. Ohtani lined it into right field for a double, Kim flying around to score from first base.

The defense stepped up again in the eighth to keep the score tied.

The Marlins were primed to regain the lead when they loaded the bases for Myers. During last week’s series at Dodger Stadium, Myers came up with the bases loaded against Banda and hit a pinch-hit grand slam. This time, Banda got him to bounce to Max Muncy, who started a third-to-home-to-first double play.

“I don’t look at it as redemption. It’s just, you know, that’s baseball,” Banda said of the rematch with Myers. “They’re playing, we’re playing. And it’s all about making quality pitches, trying to get the out. Back in L.A., I didn’t make very good quality pitches, and allowed him to get a little bit more comfortable in the box. This time it was same scenario, but I’m really happy that we came on the other side of that outcome.”

But the Dodgers didn’t have another hit after Ohtani’s double and Will Smith bounced into a double to strand him as the free runner in the 10th.

“If we added a little more runs here and there, I think things would have turned out more favorably for us,” Ohtani said through his interpreter of the missed scoring opportunities that left the Dodgers short.

Bullpen can’t hold up as Dodgers fall to Marlins in 10 innings Orange County Register

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Bullpen can’t hold up as Dodgers fall to Marlins in 10 innings

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