Saturday night’s ugly 15-0 shutout loss to the San Francisco Giants in front of a Dodger Stadium crowd of 51,388 ranks right up there as not only one of the ugliest losses in recent memory, but among the ugliest losses in Dodgers franchise history. Check this out:

• Saturday night’s loss was the biggest shutout loss by the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium ever. The previous biggest was a 14-0 loss to the Houston Astros on August 4, 2018.
• It was the most lopsided loss since 2013 and the most lopsided shutout loss since the Dodgers were shutout 18-0 by the Cincinnati Reds in 1965.
• It was the largest home shutout loss since the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 15-0 in 1898.
• Dodgers left-hander Alex Vesia has now allowed at least one earned run in 11 of his 22 appearances this season, including four in a row. His 2023 ERA is now 8.00.

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But Saturday’s historic loss wasn’t all doom and gloom. There was one bright spot on the night; two, actually.

In the bottom of the third inning and the score at a then optimistic 0-0, Dodgers third baseman Michael Busch hit a leadoff double to center field with (ugh) Austin Barnes, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Will Smith due to follow. I mean, this is as sure of a run as there could possibly be, right?

Wrong.

As expected, Barnes struck out (for the 23rd time this season), Betts struck out swinging on a foul tip, Freeman was hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second, and Smith popped out harmlessly to second.

And then, with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning, Busch singled to left, bringing (ugh) Barnes back up to the plate. But when the Dodgers absolutely needed Barnes to strike out (for a change), he grounded into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play. The less-than-popular and horrifically-struggling Dodgers catcher is now batting a pathetic .107 on the season. Busch, on the other hand, had two of the Dodgers six hits on the night.

As for that Alex Vesia thing, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had this to say about his struggling lefty:

“I think if you look at the stuff as a whole, it’s pretty comparable to where it’s been the last couple years. But certainly the results aren’t… it’s not from lack of compete or preparation, Alex is one of the hardest workers.”

Vesia gave up a grand slam home run to Giants pinch hitter J.D. Davis in the top of the sixth inning on Saturday night to give San Francisco a (then) 9-0 lead.

With all due respect, Doc, Vesia has been horrible this season.

…DFA-worthy horrible.

Play Ball!

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