Seager returns as skidding Dodgers host Rockies
LOS ANGELES -- Yu Darvish does not have to be a co-ace for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the club would like to see something resembling consistency when he pitches Friday against the Colorado Rockies.
Corey Seager, on the other hand, just might have to be a savior, as he returns to the starting lineup Friday for a struggling Dodgers club that has lost 12 of 13 games and a season-worst seven in a row.
Los Angeles still owns the best record in baseball at 92-48.
The Dodgers are 82-33 when Seager has started a game this season, and they are 10-15 when he has not. The shortstop hasn't started since Aug. 27 due to right elbow inflammation, going 1-for-5 strictly as a pinch hitter since.
"Corey is going to be in there (Friday), but those other seven guys still have to put forth good at-bats and find ways to get hits," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "Yeah, we're better in the lineup (with Seager), but once a guy is in the batter's box, Corey isn't in the batter's box with him. We, as an offensive unit, have to continue to grind."
A solid outing from Darvish (8-11, 4.09 ERA overall) could ease the stress on a faulty offense. The right-hander will make his sixth start for the Dodgers on Friday and will try to rebound from his worst outing with his new team, when he gave up five runs on eight hits in just three innings of a defeat at San Diego on Saturday.
Darvish will pitch opposite Colorado's German Marquez in a battle of starters who were not at their best in their last outings. Marquez (10-6, 4.26 ERA) gave up four runs on six hits over six innings to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday, although he did strike out nine. But, like Darvish's Dodgers, his team also lost.
It already has been a wild ride with the Dodgers for Darvish, who was acquired from the Texas Rangers on July 31. His final Rangers start was a 10-run nightmare against the Miami Marlins. Nine days later, he fired seven scoreless innings at the New York Mets in his Dodgers debut.
Since then, though, Darvish has slowly slipped from two earned runs allowed against the Diamondbacks on Aug. 10 to three allowed against the Chicago White Sox on Aug. 16. From there, Darvish landed on the 10-day disabled list with lower back tightness.
On Aug. 27, Darvish gave up three runs in five innings while taking the loss against the Milwaukee Brewers, then he lost again in the second game of Saturday's day-night doubleheader at San Diego.
"I told Yu just to keep his confidence," manager Dave Roberts said after Saturday's doubleheader, according to MLB.com. "He's trending the right way. I know the line score doesn't look that way. There's no wavering on our side as far as belief in him. There are no health concerns. Sometimes things go sideways, but he's had a lot of success in this league, and we know it's going to come."
Yet confidence would seem hard to come by for a pitcher who sounds a little flummoxed at the moment.
"There's a gap between what I'm thinking in my mind and what I'm actually doing on the mound," Darvish said through an interpreter. "If I fix that, I feel I can pitch much better. As an example, sometimes I crow-step too much to the third base side, but in my mind I'm stepping toward first base side. It's got me off course.
"Say you think you are walking straight, but you actually aren't and you're trying to fix it. That's frustrating, right? It's the same thing."
With that in mind, it is anybody's guess as to how he handles the Rockies as the Dodgers look for somebody to stop the bleeding. He has never faced the Rockies in his five-year big league career.
Like Darvish, Marquez has never faced his Friday night opponent. The rookie was 9-4 after a victory on July 29 at Washington, but he has won just once since and has posted a 4.69 ERA in seven starts since the start of August.
He was holding the red-hot Diamondbacks in check during his most recent start, but two home runs in the sixth inning were his undoing.
"Those are just things that are going to happen," Marquez said through an interpreter. "I just need to focus on my next start."
