The numbers tell the entire story:

Although just-turned 24-year-old (on July 14) Dodgers starting left-hander Justin Wrobleski allowed two of those seven runs in the Dodgers ugly come-from-ahead 7-6 loss to the Houston Astros on Saturday evening, he absolutely positively pitched well enough to – and deserved to – win his first career Major League game (with one loss), but was instead tagged with a no decision.

“Obviously, umm, a starting pitcher, like, I’d love to stay in the game. But at the end of the day, it’s my job is to go out there and throw the ball until Dave (Roberts) comes and takes it from me,” Wrobleski said postgame.

To be brutally honest, there isn’t anyone who didn’t see this one coming … except “Dave.” The Dodgers manager blew what was a sure Dodgers win when he did not pull an obviously ineffective Evan Phillips, who allowed two Wrobleski inherited runners plus two additional Astros runners to score on 15 total pitches (nine strikes), to turn a sure 4-0 Dodgers win into a 4-4 tie, thus trashing Wrobleski’s winnable start.

“I feel like if I do my job there, it sets us up better to finish the game in an easier manner,” Phillips told reporters following his (thus far) worst outing of the season. “Really frustrating not to get the job done in that kind of spot. Just gotta keep on chipping away and try to build back into who I can be. I need better results right now. Period.”

Ya think?

The game ended on a devastating bottom-of-the-ninth-inning walkoff home run by Astros third baseman Alex Bregman off of 36-year-old Dodgers right-hander Blake Treinen.

The good news is that even with their ugly 7-6 walk-off loss to the Astros, the Dodgers still hold a 5.5-game lead over the NL West second-place San Diego Padres, so there’s that.

Play Ball!

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