LOS ANGELES — For a game that was only 1-0 into the sixth inning, it’s hard to fathom how quickly things unraveled for the Dodgers, who suffered their worst home shutout loss in the 142-year history of the franchise.
Miguel Rojas pitched the final two of those innings, and didn’t give up a run in the eighth inning, but did allow five in the ninth, to put the finishing touches on a stinker. But Rojas was imitating several pitching teammates while on the mound, something he said he learned from playing behind a lot of pitchers during his 12 major league seasons.
Rojas impersonated the delivery and mound presence of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Landon Knack, Clayton Kershaw, as well as Roki Sasaki, who pitched the first five innings on Saturday.
“Let me tell you something. Roki, it’s really uncomfortable to pitch like that. I don’t know how I can bring the leg up like that,” Rojas said after the game. “I think it was a bad decision. I should have stuck with the Yamamoto and Landon Knack combo.”
“I guess a little bit of levity in a game like that is certainly helpful,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It just shows he watches the games. But he gave us — to be able to throw two innings was huge for us, and we needed every bit of that.”
Ben Casparius was first out of the bullpen and allowed a run in the sixth, but then gave up five runs in the eighth while only getting two outs. After allowing five hits and two walks in nine scoreless innings in his first six outings this season, Casparius on Saturday allowed seven hits and a walk.
“I think tonight Ben just didn’t command the baseball,” Roberts said. “He just couldn’t make pitches tonight. He’s been great. He was great for us last year, he was great for us early on. I’m not going to put too much credence into one ugly outing.”
Alex Vesia and his wife Kayla on Saturday announced they are expecting their first child this fall.
While Saturday was the first public reveal of this news, Vesia on Saturday said he told his family of the news at Dodger Stadium after the home opener on March 27, as a surprise on the field.
“They thought it was just going to be a family picture,” Vesia said Saturday. “They were ecstatic.”
