Buehler takes loss for Dodgers, but has strong moments against Rockies

LOS ANGELES – The dark billowing mass that emerged beyond center field at the start of Saturday’s game was not a cloud and yet proved to be an ominous warning all the same.

Walker Buehler took the mound with the shadow lurking behind him from a distant fire and while he showed he could be close to finding success soon, there were more moments that have prevented the right-hander from finding his former staff-ace form.

The Dodgers fell 6-3 to the Colorado Rockies as the San Diego Padres moved three games out of first place in the National League West. The magic number for clinching an 11th division title in 12 seasons remained at five, with the Padres arriving for a three-game series Tuesday.

It always figured to be a bumpy road ahead for Buehler, who made his season debut in May after two years away following a second major elbow surgery in his career.

Saturday’s conflicting numbers were a season-high nine strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings, showing that some deception and overpowering stuff has returned. But he got off to another slow start with three runs allowed over his first two innings.

Buehler’s first-inning ERA remained at 9.00, while his second-inning mark rose to 6.60. His overall ERA rose just a tick to 5.63.

“They put the bat on some decent pitches but I don’t feel like they were hitting six straight balls off the wall,” Buehler said. “So some encouraging things about it, but obviously not good enough at this point of the year trying to keep the lead in the division.”

The Dodgers rallied Buehler out of the early 3-0 hole with a two-run home run from Mookie Betts in the third inning and an RBI single from Hunter Feduccia in the fourth. It was Feduccia’s first career RBI in five games.

But with the score reset, Buehler was tagged for a home run by Ryan McMahon a half inning later and Colorado never relinquished that lead. McMahon, a Mater Dei alum, reached 20 home runs for the fourth consecutive season and fifth not counting the 2020 pandemic season.

“We tie the game up, and then I give up the homer, and, you know, just sucks,” Buehler said. “… I think I’ve had some rough patches and really questioned if I have the stuff to compete, and tonight I felt like I could compete. I just didn’t make the big pitches in the big spots, or kind of made little mistakes in the big spots, and that’s frustrating.”

Buehler (1-6) allowed four runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings and could still line up as the Dodgers’ No. 3 starter in a playoff series. He walked just one while just missing out on his first double-digit strikeout game since April 25, 2022.

“This is as confident as I think … I’ve been in Walker this year,” Roberts said. “I believe that it was in there, but obviously he needs to have some success to believe that as well. I do think that tonight, getting nine strikeouts and commanding the baseball the way that he is, I feel very confident of him starting a playoff game for us.”

The Dodgers had scoring chances snuffed out in the sixth and eighth innings on double-play grounders. Ohtani singled in the ninth inning and stole his 53rd base in front of walks to Freddie Freeman and Tommy Edman. But Max Muncy struck out to end it against Seth Halvorsen, who earned his first career save.

“We were a hit away in a couple situations to put up a couple crooked numbers,” Roberts said. “I still thought offensively we were good, we just didn’t get the one hit that could’ve changed the game.”

Ohtani had a fashionable evening with a walk, a single, the 53rd stolen base, and a run scored on his T-shirt night.

The earliest the Dodgers could clinch the division is Wednesday against the Padres. They close the season with three games at Colorado next weekend.

“(The Padres) are three games behind us and they have us in the tiebreaker,” Roberts said. “My focus right now certainly is winning tomorrow and winning a series, which we need to do. We’ll have our chance at those guys.”