The Dodgers’ injury-ravaged bullpen had been lurking like a land mine in recent weeks. On Friday, the shorthanded group finally imploded. In the kind of meltdown the team has dreaded of late — with key relievers Evan Phillips, Brusdar Graterol, Ryan Brasier and Joe Kelly all on the injured list — the Dodgers’ relief corps came unglued in the fifth inning Friday night, giving up four runs (plus an inherited runner) in the decisive sequence of a 9-6 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.
Entering Friday’s fateful frame, the Dodgers appeared to be rolling toward a win in the opener of a six-game road trip. They led by two runs. Their starting pitcher, James Paxton, had appeared to find a rhythm.
And their recently slumping bats had awoken at hitter-friendly Great American Ballpark. But then, in a nightmarish turn of events that saw three pitchers take the mound in an eight-batter sequence, everything changed. Paxton gave up a leadoff home run to Stuart Fairchild before issuing a two-out walk to Spencer Steer.
It was the fourth free pass Paxton had allowed, with the veteran left-hander again battling the command issues that dogged him earlier this year. It was also Paxton’s last pitch of the night, prompting manager Dave Roberts to come to get him after 95 pitches. That’s when the inning went off the rails.
Needing to dip into the underbelly of his bullpen, Roberts called upon Yohan Ramírez, a right-handed veteran with decent stuff but a history of command issues (he has av.
