Yu Darvish unravels, Dodgers' search for momentum continues

LOS ANGELES >> The Dodgers had a 100 percent chance of qualifying for the postseason on Aug. 25, according to the website FanGraphs.com. Their odds are still 100 percent today. On paper, the last two weeks have changed nothing.

Yet to anyone scrutinizing the Dodgers with their hearts, everything has changed. They began the season 91-36. They are 1-13 since. They are a team that continues to live on the extremes.

In a 5-4 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Friday, starting pitcher Yu Darvish was very good for four innings, then couldn’t record an out. The Dodgers scored at will against their rookie opponent in the first inning, then couldn’t score against anyone. Pitcher Pedro Baez was booed onto the field in the sixth inning, struck out the side, and was cheered on his way to the dugout.

The first couple weeks when I joined the team the team was playing really good baseball,” Darvish said through an interpreter. “I was actually surprised that everything we did was working. Right now it’s on the opposite side. The team is not playing well, but the guys are working hard. It amazes me how hard they are working to win. That’s just showing me that we’re a good team.”

Reality, as always, lies somewhere in the middle.

To that end the Dodgers offered signs of progress Friday, flickers of light at the end of a long tunnel. Sidelined by inflammation in his elbow, shortstop Corey Seager returned to the lineup for the first time since Aug. 27. He doubled in the fifth inning but did not factor into the scoring.

His elbow?

“All good,” Seager said as he left the ballpark.

Given a two-day reprieve to correct his struggling command, Baez returned to the mound in the sixth inning. He walked the first batter he faced then struck out the next three.

Manager Dave Roberts reacted to the boos with candor.

“I absolutely think it’s ridiculous,” he said. “I think that, you know, as passionate as our fans are, as knowledgeable, I think it’s ridiculous that this guy who grew up a Dodger and who does nothing but competes, continues to grow, and he’s got a two-and-a-half (earned-run average, actually 2.53) – gets booed at home. That’s something that really pissed me off tonight.

“This guy’s grinding, trying to find his way through things, and has done a lot of good things for us,” Roberts continued. “He’s pitched big innings. And these are our fans that come here and welcome him with boos? It’s ridiculous. The way he responded was outstanding. Every fan has a right to do what they want to do, but a guy that’s grinding and is having a great season, gets booed at home? But to Pedro’s credit, to go out there and punch the side out, good for him.”

The reviews on Darvish (2-3) were justifiably mixed. The right-hander allowed a solo home run to the game’s third batter, Carlos Gonzalez, but didn’t allow another hit until the fifth inning.

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Then, after getting a quick out to start the inning, Darvish allowed four doubles sandwiched around a walk. A 4-1 Dodger lead was a 5-4 deficit by the time Tony Watson took over.

“The last couple outings when I was pitching I was constantly thinking about my mechanics,” Darvish said through his interpreter. “Today I wasn’t thinking about it. I was just going out there and throwing it. The fifth inning was more me getting behind in the count.”

When he was acquired from the Texas Rangers at the Aug. 1 deadline, the Dodgers’ front office believed Darvish to be nearing the end of his post-Tommy John surgery rebirth. A four-time All-Star, the hope was that Darvish needed a little time to polish his pitching mechanics.

Friday was bittersweet. While Darvish might have regained his focus, his ERA continued to swell – from 3.81 after his first start as a Dodger to 4.09 today. He was charged with five earned runs in 4⅓ innings. He walked two batters and struck out six.

After Gonzalez’s home run, the Dodgers didn’t trail for long. They sent nine men to the plate in the bottom of the first inning and scored four runs.

Curtis Granderson led off with a single against rookie right-hander German Marquez. With one out, Justin Turner hit his 19th home run of the season, a rainbow that found the bleacher seats in left field. For just the second time in 37 innings during this homestand, the Dodgers had a lead.

Austin Barnes came to the plate with two outs and runners on second and third base. He worked the count full, then sent an 0-and-2 fastball into right field for a single. Cody Bellinger and Joc Pederson scored, giving the Dodgers a 4-1 lead.

That was the low point for Marquez, who stranded a runner on base in each of the next two innings. In the fourth inning, Granderson walked and went to third base on a double by Seager – his first extra-base hit since Aug. 15. Marquez came back to strike out Turner on a 96-mph fastball at the letters, before Bellinger flied out to end the inning.

Then, in the top of the fifth inning, Darvish unraveled. The offense had no response, and finished 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position.

The Dodgers’ eight-game losing streak is their longest since 2013. They hadn’t lost seven consecutive home games since 1993.

Their nearest competitors in the National League West, the Arizona Diamondbacks, lost earlier in the day to end their 13-game winning streak. The hemorrhaging of the Dodgers’ lead in the division, once a commanding 21 games, was granted a temporary pause.

The Dodgers were guaranteed to end the day with the best record in baseball, a perch they’ve enjoyed all summer. But they were not guaranteed another win despite Roberts’ promise earlier in the week that his team would win the division.