High-leverage arms stumble as Dodgers fall short of sweep

LOS ANGELES -- When the Dodgers have a slim lead, late in the game, who can manager Dave Roberts trust to hold the line? That has not been an easy question to answer at times this year.

The Dodgers assembled a high-octane bullpen this past offseason, only for several of their leverage relievers to miss significant time due to injury. With the majority of those arms slated to return by season's end, they opted not to add a bona fide closer ahead of the July 31 Trade Deadline.

In two critical spots in the late innings in Sunday afternoon's finale against the Blue Jays, the Dodgers turned to two of their top back-end arms, but neither was able to pitch a clean inning. Blake Treinen gave up a pair of runs in the eighth, and Alex Vesia surrendered the game-winning homer in the ninth as L.A. fell short of a sweep with a 5-4 loss.

"I just felt there's no way we should lose this game today," Roberts said. "Getting the pitching performance that we got from [Tyler Glasnow]. They expended everyone in the 'pen. We had them on the ropes numerous times. For us not to win today, it's a frustrating one."

With Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates and Michael Kopech all on the injured list -- and expected back by the end of August -- Treinen and Vesia are the Dodgers' top leverage options. But Treinen has not looked sharp since returning from the IL, and Vesia has taken a loss in back-to-back appearances, a blip in an otherwise strong season for the lefty.

The team was depending on Treinen, who missed more than three months with a right forearm sprain, to help solidify the late-inning picture. He wasn't able to protect a one-run lead, serving up back-to-back homers to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Addison Barger.

"Sometimes you get away with making bad locations turn into outs," Treinen said. "They made me pay for it and it cost us the game."

In five games since returning from the IL, Treinen has allowed three runs on eight hits and four walks in 3 2/3 innings. The walks have been a source of frustration, but aside from Sunday, he's generally felt that he's been executing pitches to his satisfaction.

Treinen has exclusively pitched in the eighth and ninth since returning, but there's been stress in almost every outing, save for his scoreless inning on Friday. While getting a breather in a lower-leverage spot could be beneficial, he is still the go-to option in the late innings.

"He's the guy. But yeah, we've got other guys, too," Roberts said. "You've got to look at sort of the options and who pitched prior and kind of then make decisions. … But we still need him to be good, yeah."

Vesia entered for the top of the ninth, but the lefty surrendered a go-ahead homer to Ernie Clement on the first pitch he threw. Vesia has been the Dodgers' steadiest leverage reliever all season, but he also stumbled in his previous outing, giving up two runs (one earned) and taking the loss on Wednesday against the Cardinals.

"Threw a slider and it was down in the zone, and he kind of got it," Vesia said. "Other than that, I felt good and whatnot. Just one bad pitch."

Adding to the exasperation was that the Dodgers put themselves in a good position to rally for the lead both times they fell behind late. They reknotted the game at 4 when Freddie Freeman drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the eighth, but pinch-hitter Michael Conforto popped out to the catcher to end the inning.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Dodgers loaded the bases with one out for Shohei Ohtani, who had already gotten one big hit for the Dodgers early on, a leadoff blast for his 41st homer of the season. But he struck out, and Mookie Betts followed with a game-ending grounder.

The Dodgers drew seven walks in the final two innings, five of which came against Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman. But they didn't get the big hit, and ended the game having stranded a season-high 16 runners.

Even so, Vesia felt that what the offense was able to accomplish should have been enough to cap the homestand with a win.

"We take a lot of pride in the bullpen,” said Vesia, “and for us not to get it done today sucks."