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By Jackson Roberts
Contributing Sports Writer
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There are a lot of ways to lose a baseball game, but few could be more painful than the loss the Los Angeles Dodgers experienced on Saturday night.
Not only did the Dodgers lead 3-0 entering the bottom of the ninth inning against the Baltimore Orioles, but starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto was working on a possible no-hitter. But with two outs, Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday broke up Yamamoto's no-hit bid with a solo home run that barely snuck over the ledge atop the right-field wall.
That stung, but the Dodgers still led by two, only needing one final out to secure a win and stop their four-game losing streak. Instead, reliever Blake Treinen imploded.
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Treinen came in for Yamamoto, allowing a double, a hit-by-pitch, a wild pitch, and two walks, forcing manager Dave Roberts to remove him in favor of struggling lefty Tanner Scott. The first batter Scott faced was Emmanuel Rivera, who hit a walk-off single to center field.
It's hard to imagine a more gut-wrenching loss in early September, and Treinen, who was charged with three earned runs, was extremely contrite about his role in the meltdown.
"There's really no words," Treinen said, per Ian Quillen of MLB.com. "You're paid to be a professional and at least throw strikes, and I didn't do that, and cost one of the better outings I've ever seen in my career with Yama. He deserved better than that."
Treinen, 37, saw his ERA jump from 2.84 to 4.26 in just one outing. (He's thrown only 19 innings on the season.) The Dodgers were counting on the veteran righty to be a staple of their October bullpen, as he was last year, so they're hoping it truly was one dud outing and not an indicator of a larger concerning trend.
"Blake Treinen has been in some of the toughest spots that any relief pitcher can imagine," Roberts said, per Quillen. "So I have a hard time believing that any spot or moment is too big for him. It just came down to Blake had a bad night."
The Dodgers could have the division salted away, but instead, they're impeding themselves. Entering play on Sunday, they led the San Diego Padres by just one game, and even the resurgent San Francisco Giants were still in the picture at six games back.
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