One at-bat turns tables on Weathers' strong outing

LOS ANGELES -- The reactions from left-hander Ryan Weathers, manager Skip Schumaker and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. said it all moments after the Dodgers’ decisive two-run homer in the sixth inning of the Marlins’ 3-1 loss on Wednesday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.

Teoscar Hernández’s swing spoiled an otherwise stellar start from Weathers, who completed six frames in consecutive starts for the first time in his career. Until the sixth, he had limited MLB’s most potent lineup to three hits -- all singles -- and just one walk.

“It's tough to win with one run,” Schumaker said. “Ryan did really well today. I'll take that version of Ryan Weathers any day of the week.”

The 24-year-old southpaw retired Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani for the first two outs of the sixth, holding them hitless in six total matchups. He even became the fourth pitcher this season to strike out Ohtani twice in a game, joining MacKenzie Gore, Steven Matz and Yu Darvish.

“He’s good,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I like Weathers. It’s sort of a crossfire a little bit. The fastball plays up, it’s 97-98 [mph] with some rise. There’s a sweeper in there, which he got Ohtani on in one at-bat, and then the changeup. He works quick and sort of gets you on your heels a little bit. He’s off to a good start. I like him.”

But Marlins nemesis Freddie Freeman started his second two-out rally of the game with a two-strike double on a 96 mph four-seamer. With first base open, Schumaker had Stottlemyre take a mound visit to discuss the plan of attack.

Hernández entered the day with a 129 OPS+, compared to on-deck batter Kiké Hernández’s 56 OPS+. Teoscar Hernández, who drove in Freeman for a first-inning run, would go on to lift a wind-aided ball over the left-center-field wall.

“At the end of the day, that's on me,” Schumaker said. “I should've just taken the [bat] out of his hands and taken that situation out of the hands of Ryan and just had him face Kiké. So that situation was on me. I thought there was a chance that [Weathers] would kind of pitch around him a little bit where he could chase -- and if worst-case scenario he puts him on -- then he has Kiké behind him and go attack Kiké. It got to the 3-2 count and put [the changeup] in more the heart of the plate. We wanted him to expand a little bit, but that one's on me, 100 percent.”

Added Weathers: “I'm obviously just trying to go edge there down below. Just in that situation in that whole entire lineup, he's probably the hottest guy in that lineup. Just got to make a better pitch there. The whole AB we went edges, and then I just left one over the middle. Just got to take it and move on.”

Overall, Weathers had his entire arsenal working. Schumaker credited the southpaw’s sweeper, which didn’t permit a hit and tallied three whiffs. Weathers liked his two-seamer’s effectiveness, which induced four balls in play -- all outs -- and two fouls.

Still, when Weathers returned to the dugout after recording the final out of the sixth -- a Kiké Hernández grounder to second -- he appeared somewhat dejected with a towel over his head. His outing was done at 97 pitches.

“Now that I'm consistently getting into the sixth, I kind of want a taste for the seventh inning,” said Weathers, who made his MLB debut against the Dodgers in Game 1 of the 2020 National League Division Series as a member of the Padres. “If I finish Freddie in that AB before, I have a shot at going back out again. I thought I threw a good pitch, but he's a really good hitter and made a really good swing.”

Miami, whose only run came on a Bryan De La Cruz homer in the fourth, now returns home after a 1-5 California road trip that also saw two-time reigning batting champion Luis Arraez dealt. The series finale concluded a stretch of 13 consecutive days with a game, during which the club went 4-9.

“About Luis, it's a decision that they do inside,” De La Cruz said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “Nothing we can do about it. We're going to continue working hard out there. Day off, going back home, we'll try to do our best to get back to our performance. We're not doing as well right now, but we're going to continue to try to get back to something better.”