After three quick feel-good games, the Dodgers bullpen fell right back into its old familiar bad habits on Tuesday night when it squandered a comfortable 4-1 eighth-inning lead and eventually lost 5-4 in 10 innings to the AL West last place Oakland A’s at O.CO Coliseum in Oakland.

Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw pitched seven strong innings in which he allowed only one run on five hits with seven strikeouts and two walks. Unfortunately for the defending 2014 NL MVP and Cy Young award-winner, he completed the seventh inning having made 116 pitches (76 for strikes) – the second-most he has thrown this season.

In what can only be described as a weird game, the 27-year-old left-hander became visibly angry when home plate umpire Todd Tichenor pinched him on several extremely close pitches, none more so than on a 1-2 curveball that appeared to catch the outside corner to A’s third baseman Danny Valencia. After the pitch, Kershaw barked something to Tichenor, which the four-year veteran umpire ignored. On the next pitch, Valencia hit a comebacker that deflected off of Kershaw’s glove and by the time Kershaw recovered the ball, Valencia had reached first base safely.

In an extremely rare outburst of anger (at Tichenor for the questionable calls) and frustration (at himself for not cleanly fielding the ball), Kershaw slammed to ball into the infield grass, picked it up and then fired it into the Dodgers dugout. To his credit, Tichenor kept his head down at the time and again ignored Kershaw’s actions when he would have been perfectly justified in ejecting Clayton. Play then resumed without any further outbursts from the Dodgers ace.

Although Kershaw has always been known as an extremely fierce competitor, his outburst on Tuesday night was way out of character for the Dodgers ace.
(Click on image to view video – courtesy of SportsNet LA)

Kershaw’s battery mate A.J. Ellis didn’t let his best friend stew very long, however. With two outs in the top of the eighth inning, Ellis launched a Fernando Rodriguez fastball over the center field wall for a three-run home run to give Kershaw and the Dodgers a commanding 4-1 lead.

But the euphoria (and Dodgers lead) didn’t last long when Dodgers right-hander Pedro Baez gave up three consecutive hits (including back-to-back doubles) to leadoff the bottom of the eighth inning to make it a 4-3 ball game. After inducing a ground out, Baez was lifted with the tying run at third base and only one out. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly brought in J.P. Howell to face A’s left-handed hitting right fielder Josh Reddick who laced a grounder that Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner was unable to handle for an infield single. Turner was, however, able to hold the runner at third base. But  still with one out and runners now at the corners, Howell gave up a single to left to A’s shortstop Marcus Semien to tie up the game 4-4 and deny Kershaw his 11th win. Howell then got A’s second baseman Eric Sogard to ground out to first baseman Adrian Gonzales and newcomer Jim Johnson struck out Billy Burns to end the disastrous inning.

After several recent great outings, Dodgers right-hander Pedro Baez had an all-to-familiar meltdown on Tuesday night in Oakland. (Photo credit – Mark J. Rebilas)

After pitching a scoreless bottom of the ninth inning, Mattingly sent right-hander Yimi Garcia back out to pitch the bottom of the 10th instead of bringing in Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen, who was warming in the Dodgers bullpen. Garcia immediately gave up a leadoff double to A’s first baseman Mark Canha followed by a game-winning walk-off single to designated hitter Billy Butler for the 5-4 A’s win to snap their seven-game losing streak.

Although Garcia suffered the loss, it was Pedro Baez’s complete ineffectiveness (and blown save) and J.P. Howell’s inability to get out left-hander Josh Reddick and right-hander Marcus Semien that created the perfect storm for the loss.

When asked about yet another failure by his struggling bullpen, which for a brief time appeared to be back on track, Mattingly said pretty much what you would expect him to say.

“It was good for a few days at home there. I thought we were starting to get things kind of in order,” Mattingly told reporters after the game. “Then, tonight happens, so obviously we’re going to have to find ways to get the ball from our starters to Kenley [Jansen]. We’ve got guys who can do that and I trust that we’re going to do that.”

The Dodgers didn’t only lose the game on Tuesday night, they also lost right fielder Yasiel Puig to a “tight” right hamstring suffered when he (successfully) ran out an infield single that extended the Dodgers half of the eighth inning leading to the Ellis home run. Puig will have an MRI on his hamstring later this morning. Worthy of note, this is not the same hamstring that caused the 24-year-old Cienfuegos, Cuba native to miss 39 games earlier this season.

“It’s been a tough year,” Puig told USA Today’s Jorge L. Ortiz. “After I recovered from the [left] hamstring injury I had the blister, and now that I’m getting my timing back, this happens. But that’s life. We’re putting it all on the line in the field.”

Puig will have an MRI on his right hamstring later this morning.
(Photo credit – Ezra Shaw)

Unfortunately, what Puig and the rest of the Dodgers offense giveth, their beleaguered bullpen seems to regularly taketh away. This is not exactly a recipe for success with a precarious two-game lead over their division rival Giants.