MIAMI — It was as if Tyler Glasnow went to do his Saturday chores and couldn’t get the lawn mower started.
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Glasnow seemed out of sorts from the start Saturday and was gone after walking back-to-back batters to start the fifth inning. The Dodgers’ eight-game winning streak sputtered to a halt with a 4-3 loss to the Miami Marlins on Saturday afternoon.
Glasnow faced 14 batters in the first two innings, walked two of them, hit another, threw a wild pitch and gave up five hits, including a two-run home run to Graham Pauley in the second inning and three consecutive singles to produce another run that inning.
Glasnow found something in the third and fourth innings, retiring six consecutive batters – five on strikeouts.
But when he lost it again in the fifth and walked the first two batters, it drove his pitch count up to 91 and manager Dave Roberts pulled him. Jack Dreyer replaced Glasnow, hit a batter and gave up a run after Betts made an error on a potential double-play ball.
Glasnow’s first two starts after returning from a back injury that sidelined him for three months were fairly good. He gave up four runs over 12 innings, struck out 13 and walked just one.
But Saturday was his second struggle in a row. Over his past two starts, he has allowed eight runs on 11 hits and seven walks in 10 innings.
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In that same time, Glasnow has gone from luxury to necessity to concern. Plan A for the Dodgers had Shohei Ohtani in their postseason rotation with Glasnow as a fifth starter to deploy behind him in a ‘piggyback’ situation or in another bullpen role. But Ohtani’s injury issues have taken him out of the picture and thrust Glasnow into the role of a fourth starter in the postseason rotation.
His last two starts have made that a less comfortable proposition for the Dodgers.
Their offense did its own sputtering Saturday. Mookie Betts and Max Muncy sent Glasnow out with a 2-0 lead after they hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning.
But the Dodgers’ next hit didn’t come until Alex Freeland singled with two outs in the seventh inning. The Dodgers finally got on the board again with two outs in the ninth inning. Josue De Paula drew his second walk of the day, moved to second on defensive indifference and scored on Hunter Feduccia’s single. Pinch-hitter Will Smith lined out to third to end the game.
It was the Dodgers’ MLB-leading 53rd one-run game, the 12th in their past 22 games.
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More to come on this story.