Chris Taylor lifts Dodgers past Orioles with grand slam – Daily News

BALTIMORE — Traditionally, the veteran players on a team are expected to treat the rookies to a dinner or two, maybe even upgrade their fashion by springing for a new suit.

The Dodgers have been picking up the tab for their rookie starting pitchers all season.

Emmet Sheehan gave up three runs in the first two innings but the Dodgers came back with a five-run sixth inning capped by a Chris Taylor grand slam that lifted them to a 6-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Monday night.

Six of the first 10 Orioles batters reached base against Sheehan – two walks, two doubles, a single and a triple. Adley Rutschman took him deep for a solo home run in the fifth inning that made it a 4-1 Orioles lead before the Dodgers’ comeback.

The foursome of Bobby Miller, Michael Grove, Gavin Stone and Sheehan have combined for a 6.08 ERA this season. But the Dodgers have won 16 of the 25 games started by those rookies.

“I just feel like they’re still giving us a chance to win and I feel with our offense we’re always in it,” said first baseman Freddie Freeman, who had three hits in the game (a single, double and triple). “It’s like today – five innings, four runs that he (Sheehan) gave up, right? So that’s going to be a 7.00 ERA or something like that. But it gave us a chance.

“I think it can get construed a little differently. But I feel like they’re giving us a chance to win. That’s all you can ask while they’re learning. They’re taking the ball every five days. … I can’t ask for much more. Like today, that was a good start for us – gave us a chance, kept us in it, covered five innings then we scored some runs and the bullpen came in and shut it down.”

Starting pitching is still at the top of the Dodgers’ shopping list as the trade deadline approaches – written in bold type, all caps and underlined.

Also on that list, though, is a right-handed bat. “It makes sense” to look for help in that area, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts acknowledged recently.

It makes sense because three right-handed hitters they counted on at the start of the season – Taylor, Trayce Thompson and Miguel Vargas – have all failed to contribute through injury or poor performance (or both).

Starting for the first time since returning from a knee injury, Taylor reminded them of the potential value of internal options Monday night.

“When I was posed that question, he was on the IL and not knowing his fate,” Roberts said after Monday’s win. “Even right now, with where he’s at, we’re kind of hanging in there with it. It’s not something that we can really bank on. I don’t think anyone can bank on his health the rest of the season.

“But having him back, performing, having the utility that he does have, very helpful.”

Freeman nearly led off the sixth inning with a solo home run but Orioles center fielder Aaron Hicks reached up over the wall and robbed Freeman – sort of. The ball glanced off Hicks’ glove and back onto the warning track as Freeman galloped into third with a triple.

Will Smith quickly cashed that in with an RBI single.

Orioles rookie Grayson Rodriguez was working his way out of the inning with back-to-back fly outs from J.D. Martinez and David Peralta. But Jason Heyward worked a seven-pitch walk after falling behind 0-and-2, loading the bases with two outs and extending the inning for Taylor.

“Obviously we’re all going to talk about Chris Taylor’s grand slam,” Freeman said. “But I’ve got to give a big shoutout to J-Hey’s at-bat before that. The 3-2 slider he took, that was an impressive take. Sets up that whole thing.”

Rodriguez got ahead of Taylor 0-and-2 as well, working the top part of the strike zone on the outside corner. He tried it for a fourth time with a 98-mph fastball. Taylor was all over it, sending it 416 feet into the Orioles’ bullpen beyond the center field wall.

“Yeah, he was really spotting that fastball up in the zone. He threw four or five up there,” Taylor said. “There was one I missed that I probably should’ve hit that was more middle-middle. But he’s got a good heater. I was just trying to stay more line-drive approach on him. He threw me a bunch of them in a row and I was able to get to that one.”

Taylor’s second grand slam of the season was the Dodgers’ ninth this season, two short of the franchise record set in 2021. Freeman, Max Muncy and James Outman also have multiple grand slams. According to ESPN Stats & Info, the Dodgers are the fourth team in baseball history to have four players with multiple grand slams in the same season, joining the 2018 New York Yankees and the 2002 and 1999 Cleveland Indians teams.

The offense did its part Monday and the bullpen did the rest. Yency Almonte, Alex Vesia, Caleb Ferguson and Ryan Brasier (aided by a slick double play turned by Miguel Rojas) contributed a scoreless inning each.