For the first time in his debut Dodgers season, there seemed to be a brief injury scare for starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow on Saturday.
After six stellar, suffocating, scoreless innings in a 4-2 Dodgers win over the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre, Glasnow returned to the mound in the seventh inning hoping to put the finishing touches on a second consecutive shutout performance.
Instead, he gave up a run, then left alongside a trainer — momentarily stirring concern for a veteran pitcher with a long and troubling history of injuries.
Just minutes after Glasnow left the mound, however, the pitcher’s prognosis indicated it was a false alarm.
While the right-hander was seen flexing his throwing hand as he exited the game, the Dodgers announced he was only experiencing cramping. Any serious setback had seemingly been averted. The good vibes that have surrounded the Dodgers lately could continue.
After the game, manager Dave Roberts said there was “not any level of concern” with Glasnow’s cramping.
With Saturday’s victory, the Dodgers (18-11) have won six straight games. In that span, they’ve outscored opponents 43-8. They haven’t trailed at any point since a one-run deficit early Tuesday.
Glasnow was crucial in starting the streak, after he spun eight scoreless innings in a win against the New York Mets last Sunday that halted the Dodgers’ previous 3-7 slide.
He was even more important in extending the winning run Saturday, protecting an early four-run lead with perhaps his most dominant stretch yet with the Dodgers.
Through the first six innings against a struggling Toronto offense, Glasnow’s execution was nearly flawless. He established his 96-mph fastball, which accounted for six of his nine total strikeouts and almost 70% of his 95 pitches.
He gradually layered in his breaking pitches, as well, using his curveball for his other three strikeouts while limiting the Blue Jays (13-15) to just one hit through six innings.
While Glasnow’s pitch count was up to 86 at the start of the seventh, Roberts decided to leave him in, confident the club’s key offseason trade acquisition and opening day ace — who had already eclipsed 100 pitches twice this season — hadn’t yet emptied the tank.
Instead, Glasnow walked the leadoff batter by missing badly with a fastball in a full count. Then, he was punished for a center-cut heater that Toronto outfielder Davis Schnieder roped for an RBI double.
As the ball landed in the gap, Glasnow turned and growled in frustration. Then, in a momentarily alarming sight, the 30-year-old started to flex his throwing hand.
By that point, the Dodgers already had the bullpen active. And after allowing consecutive hitters to reach base, his day might have already been coming to an end.
Nonetheless, when Roberts emerged from the dugout, an athletic trainer came along with him. After a brief discussion between the three, Glasnow exited the game.
When the team announced he was battling cramping a few minutes later, however, any dark thoughts about Glasnow’s health — which has never allowed him to pitch more than 120 innings before in his nine-year career — were nixed.
Instead, the story of the day remained the Dodgers’ all-around improving play, which Saturday included a second straight game in which each member of their batting order recorded a hit.
“I think our guys got tired of playing middling baseball,” Roberts said before the game, reflecting upon their spiraling form just seven days earlier. “We’ve seen a different edge these last five or six games, which is very welcomed. … I think collectively, there’s just a little bit more urgency.”