“Obviously, the results weren’t there” - Dave Roberts addresses Dodgers’ offensive struggles in opening game shutout loss to Pirates
Tuesday’s game was a shutout loss for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. The Dodgers' bats went quiet, failing to score any runs and leading to their 1-0 defeat to the Pirates.
Their offense recorded five hits on 31 at-bats along with four walks. Mookie Betts didn’t get a hit at three at-bats and Shohei Ohtani only got one hit in four at-bats while being struck out two times.
In a recent SportsNet interview, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts talked about the team’s terrible offensive performance.
“Tonight was one of those things where he didn’t really have great command,” Roberts said. “Obviously the results weren’t there. I thought there are some good swings in there but yeah, I think it comes down to when we did have the opportunities we just couldn’t get that hit.”
Pirates rookie pitcher Jared Jones had a strong performance against the Dodgers offense. He pitched for six innings, recording a career high of 100 pitches.
In the first inning, Jones threw his first three pitches around 100 mph, with one reaching 101 mph, which struck out Shohei Ohtani.
Dave Roberts pleased with Tyler Glasnow’s performance
The Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow pitched for six innings, allowing one run and two walks while striking out nine. He threw 97 pitches, with 61 of them being strikes.
Talking about his performance, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said (via MLB.com):
“From Tyler, I thought he threw the ball great. His pitch mix was great and he went deep again. [Glasnow] made a good pitch on Suwinski, [but] he was hunting the heater and put a good swing on it.”
“As I’ve gotten to spend more time with Tyler, (I’ve found that) he’s very worldly. I think he’s very well-rounded, very intellectual, obviously a very good competitor. I do remember the young Tyler Glasnow, Pittsburgh, big arm.”
In the fifth inning, Tyler Glasnow got his fifth strikeout of the game, making him the first pitcher this season to reach 100 strikeouts. He became the first Dodgers pitcher to achieve this since Clayton Kershaw did it in 2016.
The Los Angeles Dodgers currently lead the NL West with a record of 38-wins and 24 losses. They will face the Pittsburgh Pirates again in the second game of their three-game series.