LOS ANGELES — Lance Lynn is a large man, listed at 6-foot-5 and 270 pounds, But he doesn’t seem large enough to fill the gaping hole in the Dodgers’ starting rotation.
While pitchers Max Scherzer and Jordan Montgomery were changing teams and the New York Mets were looking for somewhere to offload Justin Verlander and his hefty contract, the Dodgers’ glaring need was on full display once again.
Rookie right-hander Michael Grove gave up three runs in the first inning, three home runs in the next two innings and the Dodgers lost to the Cincinnati Reds 9-0 Sunday afternoon.
The trade deadline (3 p.m. PT Tuesday afternoon) will have passed by the time the Dodgers take the field again Tuesday night. So far, they have nibbled at the edges of their roster, acquiring Kike’ Hernandez and Amed Rosario to help the offense against left-handed pitching, Joe Kelly to bolster the bullpen and Lynn to help a rotation that looks far from October-ready.
The Dodgers have lost five of their past seven games (four of six on this homestand), giving up 46 runs in the seven games and trailing by multiple runs at some point in six of the seven.
Grove was left in to take his lumps on behalf of the pitching staff for six innings, allowing eight runs on 10 hits in that time — while setting career-highs in pitches thrown (96) and strikeouts (10). That brought July to a close for a starting rotation that posted a 6.18 ERA in 23 games during the month.
In other lump news – Will Smith left Sunday’s game early after being hit in the left elbow by a pitch. And J.D. Martinez was removed for a pinch-hitter before his first at-bat Sunday, still struggling with a left hamstring issue.
An offense that averaged 5.8 runs per game during July was unproductive without three of its four All-Stars – Mookie Betts missed his second consecutive game with an injured ankle. The Dodgers had just five hits against Reds starter Graham Ashcraft and didn’t get a runner past second base after the fourth inning.
It didn’t matter by then.
The first four Reds batters reached base against Grove. Three of them scored, putting the Dodgers in a quick 3-0 hole. Elly De La Cruz took Grove very deep (418 feet) in the second inning. Matt McLain and Joey Votto hit home runs in the third.
Votto would have had a two-homer day but center fielder James Outman leapt up and reached over the wall to rob him in the fifth inning.
