MIAMI –– Tanner Scott got the Dodgers out of a jam in the bottom of the eighth on Sunday afternoon in Miami.
But, when he returned to the mound for the ninth, things went sideways in the team’s 6-4 walk-off loss to the Marlins.
Instead of protecting a two-run lead, Scott squandered it in the space of just three batters. Xavier Edwards reached on an infield single (which was aided by Scott failing to cover the first-base bag). Jakob Marsee dropped down a perfect bunt that he beat out at first for a hit. Then, Javier Sonoja tied the score on a two-run double down the left-field line.
That would chase Scott from the game, dashing his bid for a four-out save after he had emerged from the bullpen to strand two runners with a strikeout to end the eighth.
It would also set the Dodgers up for a gut-punch final blow in the rubber-match defeat at loanDepot Park, with Brock Stewart giving up a walk-off home run to Agustín Ramírez in the next at-bat.
The loss denied the Dodgers the chance to potentially clinch a playoff berth on Sunday (though they still would have needed either a Diamondbacks or Padres loss). It also wasted big days from Emmet Sheehan (who threw six scoreless innings in his start) and Josue De Paula (who mashed a monstrous three-run home run in the fourth inning for his first career hit).
More importantly, the ending raised renewed questions about the state of the Dodgers’ bullpen, with the Marlins scoring their first two runs in the eighth against another high-leverage arm in Edgardo Henriquez.
For Scott, the outing marked just his fourth blown save in 26 opportunities this season. But, it was also the sixth time in his last 11 appearances he had given up a run.
