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“Just a bad pitch on an 0 and 2 count. Center cut”

(Former Dodgers outfielder and current AM 570 broadcaster Rick Monday)

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When it was announced on Tuesday that the Dodgers had recalled 26-year-old right-hander Ryan Pepiot from Triple-A Oklahoma City and that he would start the final game of the three-game set between the NL West first-place Dodgers and the NL West fourth-place San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night, most Dodgers fans said “All right!”

…but not all of them.

Although the extreme popular Indianapolis, IN native and Dodgers third round draft pick in 2019 out of Butler University in Indianapolis had allowed only two earned runs in his previous 9.0 innings pitched for a Cy-Young-ish 2.00 ERA, he also had a bit of a reputation missing pitches, some of which occasionally left the yard.

To be fair, Pepiot had allowed only one home run this season heading into Wednesday night’s contest.

Had.

After striking out the first two Padres batters he faced it the top of the first inning, and on his 14th pitch of the game, Padres left fielder Juan Soto crushed, absolutely crushed Pepiot’s 0-2 95-MPH four-seam fastball that was “center cut,” to give San Diego a 1-0 lead before the seats were even warm.

And then, on Pepiot’s fourth pitch to Luis Campusano to lead off the top of the fourth inning, the Padres catcher crushed, absolutely crushed Pepiot’s 0-2 83.9-MPH changeup, sending it 381 feet into the Dodgers bullpen for a (gulp) three-run home run, to make it 4-0 San Diego.

“The one to Soto missed over the plate. I tried to get it up and in, and it leaked over the middle. The one to Campusano was down but it wasn’t down enough,” Pepiot told reporters postgame.

“I thought Ryan, a couple pitches he’d like to have back,” echoed Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “But yeah, they caught a lead, we couldn’t really threaten, and once it got to the ‘pen, we really didn’t muster anything up.

“Stayed away from guys out of the ‘pen getting ready for Seattle. We’ve got an off-day (on Thursday), which is welcome for our guys, and you gotta move on,” the Dodgers skipper added.

As for that “Stayed away from guys out of the ‘pen” thing, that was one of those good news/bad news things.

The good news is that it saw the return of extremely popular Dodgers right-hander Joe Kelly, who missed 29 games with right forearm inflammation.

The bad news is that the 35-year-old Anaheim, CA native and third-round draft pick by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2009 out of UC Riverside served up a two-run single to Padres All-Star (and much-hated by Dodgers fans) right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr., to put the game out of reach for Roberts’ team at 6-0.

Prior to his return on Wednesday night, Kelly made two rehab appearances with the Dodgers Low-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, where he tossing 1.2 innings and recorded a win.

Also prior to Wednesday’s game, Kelly appeared in four games after being reacquired by the Dodgers from the Chicago White Sox on July 28, 2023 along with right-hander Lance Lynn in exchange for outfielder Trayce Thompson and minor leaguers Jordan Leasure and Nick Nastrini. In those four games, Kelly was a combined 2-5 with a 4.41 ERA (16 ER/32.2 IP), with a combined 48 strikeouts in his 35 games with Chicago and four with the Dodgers.

Make that a combined 2-5 with a 4.89 ERA.

On the other side of the coin, 30-year-old Padres right-hander and Cy Young hopeful Blake Snell was nothing short of sensational on Wednesday, allowing no runs and only one hit to the normally powerful Dodgers offense. Ironically, that one hit was a single to left by Dodgers future Hall of Famer Mookie Betts, the first batter Snell faced on the night. He did not allow another hit to any of the next 19 batters he faced, while striking out eight and walking one.

“We’ve faced him quite a bit. I thought tonight, I mean, he’s always had success against us, I thought tonight was the best he’s looked,” said Dodgers utility infielder/outfielder Chris Taylor of Snell. Taylor went 0-for-3 against Snell and was among those eight strikeout victims.

Any way you slice it (medium rare please), Pepiot and the rest of the Dodgers pitching staff had best avoid that “center cut” thing down the stretch if they hope to play in the final series of the 2023 season.

The World Series.

Play Ball!

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