Dodgers begin grueling stretch with soggy marathon win over Mets despite undermanned pitching staff

NEW YORK — On Friday night, the Dodgers emerged victorious, technically speaking. The defending champions outlasted the Mets 7-5 in an ugly, delirious, rain-soaked, 13-inning slopfest. The game started at 7:10 p.m. ET. It ended just before 1 a.m.

There will be bleary-eyed ballplayers on Saturday.

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Even though L.A. won the battle, the night that would not end has created something of a conundrum. Ahead of the Dodgers: a grueling month-long stretch, 26 consecutive games against teams with winning records. To commence that imposing slice of the schedule, this club would have loved a simple, painless opening act. One that might have allowed its overtaxed pitching staff a breather.

That’s not what happened.

Instead, a combo of rain and extra innings forced Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts to use nearly every arm in his already exhausted bullpen. It was a pyrrhic victory of epic proportions.

When Luis García, the eighth pitcher of the night, recorded the final out of the game on a lineout in the bottom of the 13th, the Dodgers poured out onto the Citi Field dirt for a high-five line.

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But it’s hard to describe the night as a “win.”

Before the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was adamant about needing more length from his starting pitchers. No team in baseball has gotten less length from its rotation. That has left Los Angeles’ bullpen often overworked and undermanned.

Starter Clayton Kershaw lasted just two frames, not because the Mets bludgeoned him into an early exit, but because the heavens opened up. A torrential downpour in the top of the third innings paused the proceedings for over an hour, forcing Kershaw and Mets starter Griffin Canning from the contest.

Eventually, the rain stopped, the game resumed and, of course, the Dodgers leapt to a 5-2 lead. That’s what this team does; ride a high-powered lineup to overcome its rotation shortcomings.

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Except, this time, things went sideways. Its over-taxed bullpen faltered. Its best reliever coughed up three runs in the ninth. Its offense sputtered into neutral, failing to score across the first three extra innings. The end — a Teoscar Hernández RBI double in the top of the 13th — barely justified the means.

The defending champs are the only team in baseball whose starters have averaged fewer than 14 outs recorded per start. Despite a sensational first two months from Cy Young frontrunner Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1.86 ERA in 10 starts), Los Angeles’ 4.26 rotation ERA currently ranks 22nd in baseball.

“We've been working behind hitters way too often,” Roberts opined before Friday’s game, “Not being efficient with our pitches, giving up a lot more slug than we're used to.”

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That underperformance has a lot to do with the injury bug. Los Angeles has been decimated by it, forcing the Dodgers to dig deep down the depth chart for replacements. The Dodgers weathered a similar dynamic late in the regular season last year and into their October title run. But this ailment avalanche has appeared at a particularly inopportune time for the defending champs.

That’s because these Dodgers are now one night into a gauntlet, one that may come to define their season. Awaiting them at Citi Field on Friday: 26 games in 28 days, all against teams with winning records. They began the stretch with a win, but it won’t get easier from here.

Rough stretch includes Guardians, Yankees, more Mets and Padres

After completing this series in Queens, the Dodgers will head to Cleveland for three against the 28-22 Cleveland Guardians, a team that was three wins away from the Fall Classic a season ago. Next, the defending champions return home for a World Series rematch against the AL East leading New York Yankees. After that highly-charged showdown, the Mets come to town for a four-game set.

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Then, without an off-day mixed in, L.A. heads to St. Louis for three against a surprising Cardinals club and then to San Diego for a set against a division rival. To finish the gauntlet, four at home against the second-place San Francisco Giants and three more with the Padres.

Asked if the upcoming schedule carries any additional heft, Roberts didn’t mince words.

“It does. It does," the two-time World Series winning skipper said. "Obviously playing teams that are talented, that are playing well, we're going to be forced to play really good baseball consistently. But this is going to be a good test for us, and we can't run away from the fact that we're playing some good teams.”

It’s an imposing stretch. Nobody in baseball will play even the smallest violin for the Dodgers and their impending tribulations. Every team in MLB faces a tough scheduling patch at some point during the 162-game marathon. That’s a fact of life.

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“I think that obviously, this stretch, you know, could be defining," Roberts said. "But I do think that with all that said, you've got to focus on each day at hand. That's what we've been very good at doing, and we have to continue to do [it]. So I'm not going to worry too much more after this conversation about the 26 games.”

There are, at present, 14 pitchers on Los Angeles’ injured list, seven of which are starters. Notably, that includes Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Roki Sasaki, all of whom were in the club’s Opening Day rotation. Four high-leverage relief arms — Evan Phillips, Michael Kopech, Blake Treinen and Kirby Yates — are also on the shelf.

This reality has pushed multiple hurlers into positions and situations that would have seemed inconceivable back in spring training. Matt Sauer, who had a 7.71 ERA for the Kansas City Royals last season, hurled three solid in relief against the Mets. He is currently 11th on the team in innings. Jack Dreyer, a 26-year-old rookie who ranked 18th on FanGraphs Dodgers prospect list, is fifth. García, a 38-year-old journeyman, is tied for second on the team in appearances.

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“We have to have confidence in those guys.” Roberts said pregame on Friday. “There's some guys that I certainly didn't expect on our roster right now pitching, but I'm throwing them out there and leverage and giving them an opportunity.”

There aren’t any obvious reinforcements coming any time soon. Glasnow threw a bullpen in Los Angeles on Saturday, but there still isn’t a timetable on his return. For Snell and Sasaki, things are even cloudier. And then of course, there’s Shohei Ohtani.

Saturday will be a big day for the reigning NL MVP. He’s set to face live hitters for the first time since his September 2023 Tommy John surgery. His simulated game Saturday will be fascinating, though how it goes likely won’t move the needle on his return date. The overwhelming expectation is that Ohtani won’t be back on a big league mound before the All-Star break. The rationale: L.A. could use Ohtani’s arm, but they absolutely cannot afford to lose his bat.

And so, this rickety golden colossus will trudge forward with what it has. So far, that’s been enough. But considering what’s ahead of the Dodgers, we’ll know a lot more about them in a month’s time.