Critical baserunning error dooms Dodgers

The Dodgers had the game come down to the final play at the plate, but ultimately a lack of offense proved to be the difference in the 3-2 loss to the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night.

Walker Buehler looked to be cruising through five innings, but a Corey Seager three run blast in that fifth was all the Rangers needed to defeat the Dodgers. 

Buehler went five innings and was not helped out by his defense, as newcomer Cavan Biggio made a critical error to extend the inning and allow Seager to drive in all three runs on his blast deep in the right field seats. 

The Rangers actually out-hit the Dodgers on Wednesday night 8-7, but the late rally was the killer. Nobody had a multi-hit game for Los Angeles and they still came within a single throw to the plate to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. 

The Dodgers are now 42-27 and in first place in the National League West. 

Here are the takeaways:

Baserunning Mistake Downs Dodgers

Andy Pages is a rookie and he is doing rookie things. On Wednesday night, he ignored third base coach Dino Ebel’s stop sign on Jason Heyward’s 9th inning double and was thrown out at home to end the game and prevent the tying run from scoring. 

This is now the second instance in the past week of Pages being careless on the basepaths. 

On Sunday night, he left his foot over the bag on a bunt play that would have put the Dodgers in prime position to win the game. Now, he has another “rookie” mistake that costs the team runs. 

I understand he is a rookie, but he has to be better in those scenarios moving forward.

Freeman Back To Himself

Freeman is now hitting .382 with 13 hits and 3 home runs in his last 10 games. After seeing his average dip below .275, Freeman has figured something out, simplifying his approach and getting back to his normal self. 

It was always so odd to see Freeman out of sorts, as he had the biggest slump of his Dodgers’ tenure to open the season. Now, he is back to hitting close to .300 on the season and is once again spraying the ball across the field and being disciplined at the plate. 

Dodgers Acquire Cavan Biggio   

Cavan Biggio was acquired in a trade on Wednesday morning from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for minor league pitcher Braydon Fisher. Biggio struggled over parts of the last 3 years, but he has the ability to play multiple positions and has some upside. 

Obviously, his father is hall of famer Craig Biggio, and Craig was in attendance to see his son make his Dodgers debut. While he did make an error at third base, he did get his first hit as a Dodger and made solid contact in two of his plate appearances. 

Miguel Vargas was optioned to Triple-A OKC as a corresponding roster move. 

The Dodgers look to win the series against the Rangers as they send out Michael Lorenzen up against a presumed opener for the Dodgers. First pitch is set for 7:10 PM PST on Thursday.