Lance Lynn didn’t solve his home run problems in his Dodgers debut.
But, the right-handed trade acquisition did alleviate one of the team’s biggest issues in recent weeks, pitching seven innings in his first start with the club to help the Dodgers to a 7-3 win over the Oakland Athletics.
No one will confuse the last-place A’s with the 1927 Yankees. Entering Tuesday, their rebuilding lineup had 20 fewer runs than any other club. Their plight was so bad that at one point “Sell the team!” chants broke out around Dodger Stadium.
Still, getting seven decent, albeit home run-plagued innings out of Lynn represented a success for the Dodgers (60-45), particularly after they failed to land any other notable rotation upgrades prior to Tuesday’s trade deadline.
Acquired from the Chicago White Sox last week along with reliever Joe Kelly, Lynn began his start Tuesday dominantly. He struck out his first batter. He retired the first seven in a row. And through five innings, he had kept the A’s off the board, protecting an early 4-0 lead (three runs scored on a bases-loaded double from Kiké Hernández, another recent trade acquisition, in the fourth).
In thesixth, however, Lynn threw an elevated fastball that A’s rookie Zack Gelof — the brother of recent Dodgers second-round pick Jake Gelof — hammered into the left-field seats.
An inning later, Lynn served up two more long balls, leaving a first-pitch cutter belt-high to Brent Rooker, before throwing a center-cut 2-and-1 fastball to Jordan Diaz.
Despite those mistakes, Lynn not only escaped the seventh inning with the lead intact, but also completed the longest start by a Dodgers pitcher since Clayton Kershaw went seven innings against the Angels on June 20 — 32 games ago.
Since then, the Dodgers’ inconsistent rotation had taken a nosedive. Kershaw went down with a shoulder injury. Julio Urías and Tony Gonsolin have continued to lack top form. And with three rookies starting regularly in July, the team posted its worst single-month starting pitcher ERA (6.18) in the franchise’s Los Angeles history, slipping to 25th in the majors in rotation ERA (4.76).
Given the team’s inability to add more starting pitching, Lynn is suddenly a key cog in its contention hopes, a veteran who will be asked to steady the back half of the rotation and, in the event of any more injuries in front of him, potentially even start playoff games.
To fulfill those hopes, much work remains to be done for Lynn, whose 6.47 ERA with the White Sox was the highest among qualified pitchers.
Despite the home runs, though, Tuesday at least marked an encouraging start.
