Dodgers Reliever Doesn't Hold Back on Brutal Struggles This Season

A rough season for Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen continued Tuesday night against the Phillies.

Starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani had put on a masterclass through five innings, allowing zero hits and walking just one batter. The Dodgers' bats did their part, as Alex Call and Kiké Hernandez both homered and Hernandez hit another sacrifice fly to earn a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth.

All the Dodgers needed was the bullpen to hold on for four innings. A win over the Phillies would be huge, not only to build on their two-game division lead over the Padres, but to build a shaky team's confidence headed into the postseason.

The bullpen couldn't do it.

Justin Wrobleski gave up five runs in the sixth inning, and Edgardo Henriquez gave up one more in relief of him. After the Dodgers tied the game at six runs in the bottom of the eighth, reliever Blake Treinen entered the game hoping to give the Dodgers a chance to walk it off.

After forcing a ground out and a pop out on his first two batters faced, Treinen gave up a hit, a walk and then a soul-crushing 362-foot home run to give the Phillies a three-run lead.

“Sometimes you look back and try to understand what’s going on. You try to pinch yourself when it’s not going well,” Treinen told reporters after the game. “A lot of us have had our moments this year. Sometimes there’s no words, no reasons to describe it. I know it’s frustrating to the fans. I mean, I can promise you from the bottom of my heart we’re trying our darnedest every single night. There’s nothing we haven’t done, there’s no stone we haven’t unturned. It’s not an effort thing. It’s not a preparation thing.

“It is literally just sometimes things aren’t working and I wish for their sake, for our team, our organization, our ownership that I’m better in those spots. I know that’s in the heart of my teammates too. Sometimes you just don’t have answer. You just have to find something to cling to and keep plugging away every day. Re-set your body, re-set your body and try to do the job you’re called to do tomorrow. But obviously it’s been a frustrating stretch.”