Landon Knack It has been a human lifeline for the Dodgersan under-the-radar rookie right-hander who has helped keep the rotation afloat when things get a little choppy.
With Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw and Gavin Stone On the injured listThe Dodgers called up the 27-year-old right-hander from Triple-A for the fifth time this season, and Knack did what he usually does: give his team a chance to win, this time with a six-inning, two-run, three-hit, eight-strikeout effort.
But Knack’s quality start couldn’t match that of Matthew Boyd, the Cleveland left-hander who held the Dodgers’ prolific offense to one run and three hits in six innings of the game. Guardians win 3-1 in Chavez Ravine on Friday night.
Boyd, making his fifth start back from Tommy John surgery, struck out six and walked none to improve to 2-1 with a 2.20 ERA, his only error an 89 mph sinker that Shohei Ohtani He drove 413 feet to center field for his NL-leading 45th homer and 100th RBI of the season in the sixth.
Guardians right-hander Hunter Gaddis escaped a bases-loaded jam with one out in the eighth, and closer Emmanuel Clase retired all three batters in order with a strikeout in the ninth for his 42nd save.
The Dodgers’ second straight loss — following Wednesday night’s 10-1 rout at the hands of the Angels in Anaheim — cut their NL West lead over the San Diego Padres to four games.
As if the pregame news that Stone was going on the disabled list due to shoulder inflammation wasn’t shocking enough, the Dodgers suffered another body blow in the bottom of the first inning when the cleanup hitter Teoscar Hernandez He was hit in the left foot by an 81 mph slider from Boyd and was in so much pain that he was removed from the game.
Hernandez was initially diagnosed with a bruise on his left foot. X-rays came back negative, but when asked after the game how Hernandez was doing, manager Dave Roberts said, “Not great.” Hernandez is hitting .266 with 28 homers and 87 RBIs and ranks second on the team with a .287 average with runners in scoring position.
“We’ll do some scans (on Saturday) to get more information, but it’s very stiff and he could barely move his foot,” Roberts said. “I don’t see how it’s not going to be an injury situation, but we’ll probably give it a couple of days to see how it heals.”
Knack blanked the AL Central-leading Guardians on one hit and struck out eight in five innings, allowing just one runner to reach second when Jose Ramirez singled with one out in the fourth and stole a base.
No. 9 hitter Brayan Rocchio led off the sixth with a single to right field, and Roberts elected to let Knack go a third time through the order, even though Cleveland had three left-handed hitters and a switch-hitter on the rise and the Dodgers had left-hander Anthony Banda warming up in the bullpen.
“I felt like he was pitching really well,” Roberts said of Knack. “I liked the way he was pitching.”
Knack got Steven Kwan to fly out to center, but Andres Gimenez took advantage of a first-pitch fastball that was slightly up the middle and hit a two-run homer to right for a 2-0 Cleveland lead. Knack retired Ramirez and Josh Naylor on flyouts to end the inning.
“I just threw a fastball, left it a little bit in the middle and it came at me,” Knack said of the home run pitch. “I was trying to get it away more than anything, and it just kind of leaked toward the plate.”
It was the only error in a 91-pitch effort by Knack, who is 2-3 with a 3.00 ERA in 11 games, nine of them as a starter, over five major league stints. The Dodgers are 3-6 in his starts, but Knack has given the team a chance to win in eight of those games.
“Landon was a star tonight,” Roberts said. “He did everything we expected and more. He’s done it all year for us, given his uncertain circumstances, up and down … six innings, two runs, eight strikeouts, one walk, and he gave us a good chance to win. I’m looking forward to him making his next start.”
Knack didn’t make more than three consecutive starts in his first four seasons with the Dodgers, but with the number of starters on the IL, the way Knack is pitching and the way he has handled the challenges of being shuttled between Triple-A and the big leagues, he could remain in the rotation for the final three weeks of the regular season.
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“It’s kind of taking it day by day,” Knack said. “It’s hard, as you keep going up and down, not to think about the future and where you are, but as the cliché goes, stay where you are and keep working. Every time I get an opportunity here or there, I just show what I can do and keep taking advantage of the opportunities.”
“It gives you a lot of confidence to go out there and see how your team performs against some of the best teams, some of the best players in the world. The way I’ve been able to go out here and pitch against these guys makes me know that I belong on this team.”
The Dodgers cut the deficit to 2-1 on Ohtani’s homer in the sixth inning, but Rocchio torched them again in the eighth, hitting a 1-and-0 sinker from Banda into the left-field bullpen for his eighth homer and a 3-1 Cleveland lead.
The Dodgers threatened in the bottom of the eighth inning when Ohtani singled with one out to right field and reached third on Mookie Betts’ double to left. Freddie Freeman was intentionally walked to load the bases for Chris Taylor, who had replaced Hernandez at first.
Taylor hit three two-strike pitches before hitting a 104 mph fly ball to the shortstop. Rocchio fielded the ball cleanly and threw to second to start a 6-4-3 double play that ended the inning.
Read more: With Gavin Stone injured, who’s left to lead the Dodgers’ starting rotation?
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.