LOS ANGELES _ The Los Angeles Dodgers' fourth straight loss, a streak that has wrapped around the All-Star break and journeyed from coast to coast, closely approximated the first three with a late-game touch.
Despite a reloaded lineup with three significant additions, they failed to muster much offense again and wasted another solid starting pitching performance against the Boston Red Sox before the bullpen stumbled into an 8-1, rain-delayed rout at Fenway Park on Friday night.
For the third time during their skid, a left-handed pitcher silenced their bats. On Friday, it was Eduardo Rodriguez, who spiked his glove in rage the last time he faced the Dodgers. That was at Dodger Stadium in the World Series. He was more pleased with his performance opening baseball's unofficial second half.
Rodriguez (10-4) entered the night with a 4.65 earned-run average before limiting the Dodgers (60-33) to one run over seven innings. He compiled 10 strikeouts to one walk and threw 105 pitches, outlasting Kenta Maeda's 5 1/3 innings of three-run ball. The deficit was two runs when Pedro Baez and JT Chargois, with an hour-long rain delay in between, combined to allow five runs in the seventh inning. The Dodgers, meanwhile, managed only five hits and two walks. They have scored seven runs in their last four games. The infusion of talent they received Friday went unnoticed.
The Dodgers welcomed back Corey Seager, A.J. Pollock and David Freese from the injured list Friday, giving the club its original group of position players for the first time since late April. All three players started. Their presence should bolster the Dodgers' lineup, mimicking a blockbuster midseason acquisition for the team already with baseball's best record. It will also slide previous starters to other positions or to the bench.
"It's a high-class problem," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Seager reclaimed shortstop and hit leadoff. Freese served as the designated hitter and batted third. He will continue as the designated hitter for the remainder of the three-game series against the Red Sox (50-41) because Boston is slated to start two more left-handed pitchers.
Pollock will resume as the everyday center fielder, his role before sustaining an elbow infection in late April, and played there Friday. He hit sixth. His return shifted Alex Verdugo, who had excelled in center field during Pollock's absence, to left field. The three players went a combined one for 11 with a walk.
Verdugo was the only Dodger who produced at the plate. The rookie whacked his 10th home run in the second inning and deposited a bloop single in the fifth. Those were the Dodgers' only two hits off Rodriguez through five innings. The rest of the lineup went 0 for 15 with seven strikeouts and two walks.
The Red Sox were not much better, but their first two hits inflicted more damage. In the first inning, moments after the large contingent of Dodgers fans completed a roll call in enemy territory, Rafael Devers smacked an 0-2 fastball from Maeda over the green monster to give Boston a 1-0 lead. In the second inning, Christian Vazquez won a nine-pitch battle with another home run over the oversized wall in left field. It was Vazquez's 15th home run. The catcher had 10 combined in his first four major league seasons. The Red Sox led 2-1.
Boston doubled the margin in the sixth inning with rapid fire as Maeda stumbled facing the top of the Red Sox lineup a third time. Mookie Betts lined Maeda's first pitch, a slider, into the left-center field gap for a double. Devers smoked the next pitch, a curveball, off the monster. He slid safely just ahead of Verdugo's throw from left field for another double. Betts scored.
Maeda (7-6) exited after retiring the next two hitters with 87 pitches. He limited the Red Sox to three runs on four hits across 5 2/3 innings, struck out seven and walked one. Getting through a lineup a third time, however, remains an obstacle for the right-hander.
The Dodgers generated an opportunity to respond in the seventh inning as Pollock led off with a single. Two batters later, Enrique Hernandez flared a hit to left field as steady rain began to drench the ballpark. It was the first time the Dodgers had two runners on base since the first inning, when they drew two two-out walks. Like that one, the chance was squandered. Austin Barnes struck out and Seager grounded out to second base.
The rain intensified over the next few minutes until the game was delayed in the bottom of the inning. The Red Sox had already tallied a run off Baez and were threatening for more. When the game resumed an hour later, Baez was replaced by Chargois. Boston had runners on second and third with one out. Betts was at the plate facing a 1-1 count. He mustered a sacrifice fly. Two batters later, after the Dodgers chose to intentionally walk Devers with two outs and first base vacant, Xander Bogaerts lined a three-run home run into the seats atop the monster to bust the game open.
