Sports
Frustrated Dodgers fall to Reds, extend losing streak to five games
The Dodgers had to wake up early Sunday, after their 1:40 p.m. game against the Cincinnati Reds started 90 minutes early because of thunderstorms in the area.
The team’s bats, however, still looked asleep in a weather-delayed defeat at Great American Ball Park, with the Dodgers falling 4-1 to the Reds to suffer a weekend series sweep and their fifth loss in a row overall.
“It just seems like we’re running cold,” manager Dave Roberts said, peppered with a string of lineup questions that have become common in recent weeks.
“When you’re not hitting, it certainly seems lifeless,” Roberts added. “I know it’s not from care and preparation. But the bottom line is, it’s about results. And we’re not getting them right now.”
Not even close.
Instead, the Dodgers have endured their first five-game losing streak since 2019. They suffered their first series sweep since last June.
And, in what has been a recurring theme during the team’s extended two-week slide (they are 7-9 in their last 16 games), the offense remained the club’s biggest weakness, managing just five hits in a game that was delayed for an hour before the sixth inning by rain.
“It’s still a really good lineup, and we know it’s gonna flip,” second baseman Gavin Lux said. “But yeah, I think we all expect more out of ourselves. I think everyone does.”
Even before Sunday’s first pitch — which was moved up to 12:10 p.m. local time to avoid impending storms — Roberts was bemoaning his lineup’s recent slump, struggling in his pregame address with reporters to reconcile how a team so talented could look so listless at the plate.
“I think it’s lack of consistency of approach,” Roberts said. “We’re trying to cover too many parts of the zone, in my opinion, and we’re missing the fastball. I think that’s the crux.”
Indeed, the fastball has been the Dodgers’ most puzzling problem lately.
Entering Sunday, the club was batting just .197 against four-seamers since May 10 (fifth-worst in the majors during that span), had whiffed on 27% of them (second-worst in the majors) and were missing myriad opportunities where the pitch “should be moved forward,” as Roberts put it.
“They let us know,” Freeman said, noting that the team’s trouble against fastballs was a topic in hitters meetings this weekend. “So we’ll try and get on the heater tomorrow.”
The Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani stands in the dugout after grounding out during the fourth inning against the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday.
(Jeff Dean / Associated Press)
Yet, in a game that saw the Dodgers (33-22) get shut out until the ninth inning Sunday, things only got worse.
Of the 28 four-seamers Reds pitcher threw in the zone, the Dodgers took 10 for strikes, fouled nine off, whiffed on five and hit four into routine outs.
Not one was turned into a hit. Not once did they punish a mistake over the middle.
“When you get a good pitch to hit,” Roberts said, “you gotta hit them.”
Couple that issue with the absence of Max Muncy (who is continuing to battle an oblique strain), a less than 100% Shohei Ohtani (who has been nursing a hamstring bruise) and almost no consistent production from the bottom of the lineup (their Nos. 6-9 hitters have batted an MLB-worst .148 the past 16 games, and were 0 for 12 on Sunday), and the Dodgers’ juggernaut offense has suddenly looked more Jello-ish in construction.
Soft. Flimsy. And lacking much consistency.
“You can’t miss balls at the belt and chase below also,” Roberts said, noting his team’s penchant to make outs on pitches out of the strike zone, as well, in recent weeks. “Bad combo.”
The Reds (23-30) took the lead Sunday with the kind of rally that has eluded the Dodgers recently.
In the third inning, Cincinnati scored four runs off Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto on four hits and one walk. Three of the knocks came with two strikes. All four runs scored with two outs. Roberts sounded almost envious as he recounted the sequence postgame.
“The bottom line is that they found a way to fight with two strikes,” Roberts said. “When you fight, you get those breaks sometimes.”
The Dodgers, on the other hand, had no such luck.
In 28 at-bats between a first-inning single from Mookie Betts and a ninth-inning single from Ohtani, the Dodgers recorded just two hits — a pair of doubles by Teoscar Hernández in the fourth and seventh innings.
Both times, however, the team left Hernández stranded. And up until Freeman’s RBI double in the ninth, the club was not only 0 for five with runners in scoring position on Sunday (they finished one for eight), but had gone hitless in 22 straight at-bats with a runner at second or third base.
During this 16-game stretch, the Dodgers have batted just .189 with runners in scoring position in all.
“Obviously, we want to score as many runs as we possibly can, and we haven’t been doing that the last few games,” Freeman said. “You never know which at-bat is gonna break it open. Hopefully that [ninth-inning RBI] was the one.”
Freeman was the latest team member to downplay the team’s recent struggles at the plate, insisting that such slumps are inevitable over a 162-game season, and that confidence in the clubhouse hasn’t wavered.
“I don’t think anybody needs to question the confidence in our lineup,” Freeman said. “It’s mid-May, we’ll be fine.”
Still, since the start of this slide on May 10, the Dodgers are now batting .210 as a team (third-worst in the majors during that span), have 14 home runs (tied for 10th-fewest) and are averaging just 3.5 runs per game (a sharp decline from the 5.5 per game they were averaging previously).
It hasn’t yet hurt their overall numbers on the year yet. They are still second in the majors in both runs and OPS, and sixth in batting average. They also remain safely in first place in the National League West, holding the second-largest division lead in MLB with a 5½ game edge over the San Francisco Giants.
Nonetheless, when Roberts was asked if the recent malaise has come as a surprise to him, given the obvious talent on his $300-million roster, the manager softly nodded his head.
“It does, it does,” Roberts said. “It’s guys needing to be better. I mean, that part of it is simple. The execution part of it is harder. But having a plan and being consistent, that’s easy. It is. It really is.”
The Dodgers’ performance lately, however, has suggested otherwise, leading to the kind of exasperating, extended lull to which their star-studded offense was supposed to be immune.
Words for Ramírez
There was an unusual sequence near the end of Sunday’s game, after Dodgers reliever Yohan Ramírez — who hit two batters in a disastrous outing Friday — plunked two more hitters during an appearance in the eighth inning.
While Roberts came to the mound after Ramírez’s second hit batter, the manager didn’t remove the veteran right-hander from the game.
Instead, Roberts put his arms around Ramírez — a journeyman right-hander already on his third team this season — and spoke into his ear for several moments. Then, he let Ramírez stay in the game and escape a bases-loaded jam with a fly out in his next at-bat.
“He’s emotional and cares, and he’s trying to impress with a new ballclub,” Roberts said. “I just tried to reassure him and give him some confidence, love on him a little bit, and try to take a little bit of pressure off.”
“You just see the player, and you kind of feel what he’s got going on in his brain, in his heart, all that stuff,” Roberts added. “Sometimes I’m sure — I’ve never thrown a major league inning — but you feel like you’re on an island. So I wanted to show that we were all behind him.”
Sports
WNBA great rips media outlets over Angel Reese coverage after flagrant foul on Caitlin Clark: 'Nasty work'
Swin Cash, a three-time WNBA champion and four-time WNBA All-Star, called out the media for its coverage of Angel Reese’s flagrant foul on Caitlin Clark during their matchup Sunday.
Cash wrote that some outlets were doing “nasty work” by only showing the Reese foul, despite it being the major talking point of the Indiana Fever’s win over the Chicago Sky.
Swin Cash participates in MLK Sports Legacy Award and a tour of the National Civil Rights Museum on Jan. 14, 2018 at the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. (Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)
“To have the only highlight of Angel be that foul is nasty work by these outlets,” Cash, who is currently an executive with the New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA, wrote on X. “U know what you’re doing while also questioning her intent is nonsense! They got it right, it was a flagrant 1 it was called by the refs & the players played on.”
Cash then offered her support for Reese and told the WNBA rookie to keep her head up.
“Smh Keep Pushin & Competing Angel,” the Basketball Hall of Famer added.
Reese swung her arm and hit Clark in the face while trying to go for a block. The Indiana Fever star fell to the ground. The referees upgraded the foul from a common foul to a flagrant-1 after a review.
The play caused a firestorm on social media.
Angel Reese, #5 of the Chicago Sky, reacts to a basket from the bench during the second half against the Indiana Fever at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on June 16, 2024 in Indianapolis. (Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
ANGEL REESE STRIKES CAITLIN CLARK IN HEAD DURING LAYUP ATTEMPT, RECEIVES FLAGRANT FOUL IN FEVER-SKY REMATCH
“I can’t control the refs, and they affected the game, obviously, a lot tonight,” Reese said after the game. “Y’all are probably going to play that clip like 20 times before Monday.”
Reese finished with 11 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. The Fever won the game, 91-83.
“I think we went up really strong a lot of times and didn’t get a lot of calls,” Reese added. “Going back and looking, I’ve seen a lot of calls that weren’t made, I guess some people get a special whistle.”
Clark downplayed the incident after the game.
Angel Reese, #5 of the Chicago Sky, reacts after fouling Caitlin Clark, #22 of the Indiana Fever, during the second half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on June 16, 2024 in Indianapolis. (Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
“It is what it is, you know, she’s trying to make a play on the ball and get the block,” said Clark, who finished with 23 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. “I mean it happens and then those free throws when you have to shoot with nobody at the line are kind of hard. So I was just focusing on making those free throws.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Sports
Hernández: Mookie Betts and Yoshinobu Yamamoto injuries create a Dodgers trade deadline dilemma
They were both learning to do something they’d never done before, Mookie Betts playing shortstop full-time and Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitching in the major leagues.
Their respective educations were suddenly paused on Sunday.
Betts broke his left hand when he was struck by a 98-mph fastball during the Dodgers’ 3-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals. Yamamoto was placed on the injured list with a strained rotator cuff.
Manager Dave Roberts said he expected the two players to return this season, but what he neglected to mention was how unlikely they were to come back as the players the Dodgers were hoping they would be.
How can the Dodgers count on Betts to play shortstop at a championship level in October after missing the next several weeks?
How can they rely on Yamamoto to be their No. 2 starter in the playoffs after he broke down just two months into the season?
In both cases, they can’t.
This shouldn’t cost the Dodgers the National League West — they lead the division by eight games — but if they’re serious about contending for a World Series, they’ll have to strike a couple of deals between now and the July 30 trade deadline.
Here’s the problem: There might not be any deals for them to strike.
Willy Adames?
The Brewers are in first place and are unlikely to trade their shortstop, even though he will be a free agent this winter.
Bo Bichette?
The two-time All-Star is having the worst season of his career and the Toronto Blue Jays might only want to move him if they have a fire sale.
The pitching market is equally, if not more, uninspiring.
Corbin Burnes and Dylan Cease, the two best pitchers who were expected to be part of the market, were already traded. Burnes went from the Brewers to the Baltimore Orioles and Cease from the White Sox to the San Diego Padres.
Luis Severino of the New York Mets and Tyler Anderson of the Angels figure to be moved in the coming months, but neither of them is considered better than the pitchers the Dodgers already have.
The Dodgers shouldn’t be looking for quantity, of which they already have plenty. They should be looking for quality.
Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws against the Royals on Saturday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Their lack of high-end pitching cost them in recent postseasons, and the $500-plus million they invested in Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow was an indirect acknowledgment of that. Yamamoto and Glasnow, however, came with major risks.
Glasnow has never made more than 21 starts in a season or pitched more than 120 innings. He made his 15th start of the season when he pitched seven scoreless innings on Sunday, the most starts he’d ever made consecutively without sustaining an injury.
There were also questions about the durability of Yamamoto, who is listed at 5-foot-10 and pitched only once a week in Japan. Yamamoto rarely threw his slider in his home country, as he believed it led to discomfort in his elbow. He didn’t throw a single slider in any of his first six starts with the Dodgers, but the higher level of competition forced him to adjust.
Yamamoto threw the pitch a season-high 13 times during a recent start against the New York Yankees in which he registered seven scoreless innings. He pushed back his next start by three days. When he finally returned to the mound on Saturday, his fastball velocity was down and he lasted only two innings.
Was the slider responsible for his injury?
“That’s a fair question,” Roberts said.
Does he need the pitch to be effective at this level?
Considering Yamamoto relies heavily on a four-seam fastball, splitter and curveball, Roberts said, “to have something that’s hard and turns to the left, it’s certainly another weapon.”
“But there’s a balance of, if that’s something that causes discomfort, then you gotta think long and hard about it,” Roberts said.
Yamamoto will refrain from throwing for the next couple of weeks, according to Roberts.
“We’ll kind of see where we go from there,” Roberts said.
The timeline for Betts’ return was also undefined, though Betts said he should have a better idea after a scheduled visit on Monday with hand specialist Steven Shin.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulls down his cap after Blake Treinen walks a Kansas City Royals batter in a Dodgers loss on Saturday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Shohei Ohtani said in Japanese of watching Betts crumple to the floor after he was struck by a heater delivered by Royals right-hander Dan Altavilla: “I think it was a tough moment for the team as a whole. I think he’s an indispensable player.”
On offense, certainly.
However, on defense, Betts remains a below average shortstop. He last played the position regularly in high school and didn’t move there this year until shortly before opening day. Betts has tried to make up for his experience by taking grounders before almost every game.
Every game Betts misses will cost him a chance to make up the ground he lost while playing right field and second base during the previous 10 years of his major league career.
“While praying for his return,” Ohtani said, “I’d like for us to cover for him as a team.”
Ohtani didn’t say this, but the responsibility to do so isn’t exclusive to the players. Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and the small army of assistants who make up the front office share the burden. They’ll have to find players in a down market.
Sports
Phillies manager Rob Thomson's screaming match with umpire leads to ejection in bizarre scene
Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson and umpire Mike Estabrook got into a wild screaming match that resulted in an ejection on Father’s Day against the Baltimore Orioles.
The Phillies weren’t doing well in the top of the sixth inning as the O’s held an 8-2 lead at their home, Camden Yards, and it didn’t help matters when Estabrook reversed a call initially ruled a hit-by-pitch on the Phillies’ Garrett Stubbs. He did so after conversing with his fellow umpires on the field.
Before Estabrook reversed the call and brought Stubbs back to home plate, Thomson was already fuming about his strike zone behind home plate on the day.
Home plate umpire Mike Estabrook ejects Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson during the sixth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. (Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports)
When Thomson emerged from the dugout and wanted an explanation from Estabrook, that’s when things got heated. The tipping point came when Thomson, who was clearly barking at Estabrook, pointed his finger at him and just missed poking him in the chest as he yelled.
VIEW THE MOMENT ON X
That resulted in Estabrook turning around fast and tossing Thomson from the game, which sent the veteran manager into a frenzy.
But what we normally see in these moments is the manager letting off steam and the umpire simply taking it. Estabrook thought differently as he started to give it right back to Thomson in a wild scene.
Home plate umpire Mike Estabrook ejects Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson during the sixth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. (Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports)
Umpire Laz Diaz let the argument unfold a bit before stepping in and sending Thomson to the clubhouse.
After things settled down, the play was brought to a replay review, and Estabrook bringing Stubbs back to hit was the right call because the ball did not hit him.
The Phillies went on to lose, 8-3, which marked their fourth loss in the last six games.
Home plate umpire Mike Estabrook argues with Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson during the sixth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. (Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports)
Still, the Phillies own the best record in the National League even with the loss. They’re 47-24 on the season, though they’ve been worse on the road than at home, owning a 20-14 record in away games.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Metro Detroit air quality bad for sensitive groups: What that means
'Biden has failed': Dems sound off after handling of border crisis fractures their own party
Fugitive operation leads to 57 arrests, narcotics bust in SF’s Tenderloin District
Boston Common Frog Pond spray pool opens June 25 – Caught In Dot
Oregon Football’s Bo Nix Impresses Denver Wide Receiver
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
At least 2 dead as tornadoes hit Alabama, damage homes across Southeast
Biden campaign targets 'convicted felon' Trump with $50M media buy ahead of 1st debate
Russia sets date for closed-door trial of US journalist
Russia will hold Evan Gershkovich’s espionage trial behind closed doors, state media reports | CNN
Trump resurrects Biden's 'devastating' 1994 crime bill as he courts Black Detroit voters: ‘Super predators'
Protesters in Brussels march against right-wing ideology
-
News1 week agoWould President Biden’s asylum restrictions work? It’s a short-term fix, analysts say
-
World1 week agoDozens killed near Sudan’s capital as UN warns of soaring displacement
-
News1 week agoRead Justice Clarence Thomas’s Financial Disclosures for 2023
-
Politics1 week agoNewson, Dem leaders try to negotiate Prop 47 reform off California ballots, as GOP wants to let voters decide
-
World1 week ago‘Bloody policies’: Bodies of 11 refugees and migrants recovered off Libya
-
Politics1 week agoGun group vows to 'defend' Trump's concealed carry license after conviction
-
Politics1 week agoShould Trump have confidence in his lawyers? Legal experts weigh in
-
Politics6 days agoGOP releases Jan. 6 clip of Pelosi saying 'I take responsibility' as she discussed National Guard absence