By Morris Phillips
OAKLAND—The Los Angeles Dodgers starting rotation is a mess.
But for the third, consecutive start, River Ryan provided the NL West leaders a neat option. The rookie right-hander pitched into the fifth inning and departed with a 3-2 lead over the A’s that would stand as the final score. In his first three major league starts, all since July 22, Ryan’s been on the winning side each time, and manager Dave Roberts has his unlikely rotation option penciled in for a fourth start Saturday after a convenient extra-day of rest.
“I thought River was good,” Roberts said. “We didn’t push him too much.”
“Warming up, I knew I wasn’t going to have my best stuff today,” Ryan said, as he took inventory of his strengths and weaknesses while warming up before the game in the bullpen.
Ryan, who started the season in the Arizona Complex League, and also pitched for Double-A Rancho Cucamonga and Triple-A Oklahoma City, wasn’t a rotation option at any point, until he was the option. With Walker Buehler slow to recover from Tommy John surgery, and flashy free agent signing Yoshinobu Yamamoto sidelined with a shoulder issue, two, critical spots opened in the rotation. In addition, the timeless Clayton Keyshawn didn’t debut until July 25. Tyler Glasgow and Gavin Stone have been the two constants, but neither are beyond getting replaced now that prized deadline acquisition Wade Flaherty has arrived and pitched well in his initial start.
Two other options, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin, are on the injured list as well. And all the uncertainty and issues brought Roberts and GM Brandon Gomes looking for Ryan.
Ryan admittedly hasn’t been fantastic, but he has been steady, allowing no home runs in 15 innings of work, the logical flip side to allowing three walks in each of his starts. Ryan’s reminder to himself ties it all together.
“If you fall behind guys, you give them a chance to do damage,” he said.
Sunday’s win gave the Dodgers their first series victory on the road in their last six opportunities, something that didn’t seem likely after Friday’s 6-5 loss. That dropped Los Angeles’ division lead to just four games, which is as close as the NL West race had been since May 30. But Roberts simply asked his club to stay focused, and put on blinders.
“You have to remain steadfast, and eliminate the noise,” Roberts said.
DODGERS-A’s SERIES NOTES: The Oakland Coliseum was made memorable in the movie “Moneyball” for being the location of the A’s record 20th win in a row in 2002. Now, the Coliseum could gain notoriety as the location of a Chicago White Sox’ record-tying 23rd loss in a row this week.
The Sox experienced another dreadful afternoon in Minneapolis on Sunday, falling behind 7-0 to the Twins after two innings, before losing 13-7. Chicago has now lost 20 straight games, the longest losing streak in MLB in the last 36 years.
The Sox play their next three games in Oakland, meaning they could be in line to tie the all-time record of 23 losses held by the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday afternoon.
The A’s won 17 of 24 games against the Dodgers at the Coliseum with the lifetime series now concluded. That success allowed the A’s to claim the best record against the Dodgers of any team all-time (24 wins, 21 losses).
Brent Rooker homered on Sunday, giving him 15 home runs and 37 RBI over his last 32 games.
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