Miguel Rojas Breaks Down Costly Defensive Miscue in Dodgers’ Game 3 Loss
Before Tuesday’s game, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres’ focus was all about staying composed. But both teams agreed that once they hit the field, it wouldn’t really matter.
In the end, though, the Dodgers came up just short, mostly because of a rough bottom of the second inning.
The Padres pulled out a 6-5 win and took a 2-1 lead in the NLDS.
Starting pitcher Walker Buehler threw one of the better games of the season but his defense let him down with physical and mental mistakes.
First was a throwing miscue by first baseman Freddie Freeman which gave the Padres runners on the corners and was followed by a rare mistake from shortstop Miguel Rojas.
While trying to turn a double play on a ground ball hit by Xander Bogaerts, Rojas hesitated on a toss to second base and ended up taking it himself. But Jackson Merrill beat him to second, and Bogaerts made it to first before the throw. The Dodgers should’ve at least gotten one out there, but ended up with nothing and a run scored.
Read more: Miguel Rojas Claps Back at Fan on Social Media After Dodgers’ Game 3 Loss to Padres
“That play has happened to me in my career a bunch of times and more times than not, I think 99 percent, today was the only time that I haven’t gotten the runner at least at second base,” Rojas said after the game. “I felt like I was playing not all the way in the hole. I was playing in straight-up position and I was moving to my left already. I felt like the best way for us to get two outs there was that.
“But at the end of the day, you rethink about it and revisit the play, and all we needed was one out. I didn’t know that the whole thing was going to happen after obviously, but getting one out there probably was the best option and I made a bad decision.”
After Mookie Betts launched a solo homer in the top of the first — his first postseason hit since Game 3 of the 2022 NLDS —the Dodgers finally grabbed an early lead. It was the first time in the series that L.A. managed to strike first.
It didn’t last long.
Buehler’s struggles, sloppy defense, and a bit of bad luck all came together, allowing San Diego to explode for six runs and send a packed Petco Park into a frenzy.
“You can’t give up six runs in an inning of the playoffs and expect to win,” said Buehler. “So there’s some things that I have some pride about in that game. But at the end of the day, I put us in a really bad spot, and we fought back, but the spot was too big.”
Photo Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
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