Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow have the biggest names and paychecks in the current Dodgers rotation, and for good reason. Yamamoto, signed to a 12-year, $325 million deal, is 6-2 with an ERA of 3.32, and Glasnow, signed to a five-year, $136.5 million deal, is 6-3 with an ERA of 3.04 , both in 12 starts.
But an unheralded 25-year-old right-hander whose $742,500 salary is just a shade above the Major League minimum has been as good as the team’s more renowned pitching stars. Gavin Stone emerged as a mainstay in the rotation after failing to make a footprint. in the major leagues in four shaky stints as a rookie in 2023.
Pitching on regular four-day rest for the second time this season, Stone gave up four hits in five scoreless innings with six strikeouts and two walks, leading the Dodgers to a 4-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies before Sunday afternoon. crowd of 48,251 at Dodger Stadium.
Read more: Dodgers injury updates: Bobby Miller and Clayton Kershaw making progress, but Max Muncy suffers setbacks
Elf is entering his second season, Stone is 6-2 with a 2.90 ERA.
“You know, it’s fun to watch him grow and mature,” manager Dave Roberts said. “His poise, his command of the baseball, the way he attacks hitters and gets one strike… he has built the trust in everyone that you expect to gain when he takes the mound.”
Stone, a 2020 fifth-round pick out of the University of Central Arkansas, was a bit shaky in his first four starts of the season, going 1-1 with a 6.00 ERA, but he has been dominant in seven starts since April 26 . , 5-1 with a 1.64 ERA, gave up 33 hits, struck out 31 and walked nine in 44 innings.
He hasn’t allowed a run in his last two starts, gave up three hits in seven scoreless innings against the New York Mets last Tuesday and threw another gem on Sunday.
“I see the confidence level in executing pitches,” catcher Austin Barnes said of Stone. “He’s not afraid of getting beat in the zone now. He trusts his stuff. I think he has a good pitch mix right now.
“His sinker to right is pretty good, his slider has come a long way and they play well together. Then he has that funky change. He has three pitches to get batters off balance, but he also throws the ball hard. He’s in a really good place.”
Stone did not allow a Rockies runner to reach second base until the fifth inning, when Jacob Stallings singled and Charlie Blackmon hit a two-out double down the first base line, putting runners on second and third base.
But Stone got Ezequiel Tovar to line out to first baseman Freddie Freeman, who was perfectly in the hole, to end the inning and maintain a 3-0 lead.
With a six-pitch mix led by a four-seam fastball at 90 mph, a 90-mph slider, a 90-mph sinker and an 80-mph changeup, Stone produced 15 swinging strikes among his 75 pitches, nine of which were with the slider. He threw first-pitch strikes to 15 of 20 batters.
“We leaned a little more on the slider today – that was a big throw – and Barnsey called it a great game,” Stone said. “It felt good out of my hand on the catch play before the game, and I felt like they were a team that hit the ball fast.”
Barnes, who backs up starter Will Smith, made an early adjustment when he noticed Rockies hitters chasing fastballs on the first pitch.
“They were swinging early and attacking a little bit from the first pitch, and the second time you don’t want them to get free shots on a heater across the plate,” Barnes said. “So we went in between [the slider] a little later in the game. I just thought they were aggressive.”
Right-hander Michael Grove replaced Stone to start the sixth and pitched two hitless innings, striking out two and walking one, and left-hander Alex Vesia retired the side with two strikeouts in the eighth.
Daniel Hudson pitched a scoreless ninth and the game ended when third baseman Kiké Hernández teamed up with second baseman Miguel Rojas to make a smooth game-ending double play on Kris Bryant’s grounder.
Mookie Betts led off the bottom of the first inning with a 350-foot fly ball that was carried over the short wall in left field for his ninth home run of the season and the first in 50 at-bats dating back to May 17.
The 52nd leadoff homer of his career moved Betts to one by Craig Biggio for fourth on the all-time baseball list, which is led by Rickey Henderson (81), George Springer (57), Alfonso Soriano (54) and Biggio. (53).
Two batters later, Freeman pushed the Dodgers’ lead to 2-0 when he drove his seventh homer of the season over the center-field wall just high enough to clear the glove of Rockies outfielder Brenton Doyle, who timed his jump perfectly and actually grabbed the ball. the tip of his glove on the ball, a few feet above the fence.
Read more: Yoshinobu Yamamoto shines and the Dodgers offense shows some life in the Rockies win
Doyle fell on his back on the warning track, and Freeman slowed around second base, unsure if Doyle had made a spectacular catch, before second base umpire Larry Vanover circled with his index finger to signal a home run.
“I did that, I did that,” Roberts said, when asked if he thought Doyle robbed Freeman of a homer. “That guy can really defend himself there.”
Freeman rallied in the third inning off Rockies left-hander Austin Gomber with a lead walk and a stolen base. Teoscar Hernández struckout, but Andy Pages walked, and Rojas hit an RBI single to left center field for a 3-0 lead.
The Dodgers scored an insurance run in the eighth, an inning that Jason Heyward and Barnes led off with singles. Betts popped out to first baseman Bryant, who made a nice catch while crashing into the screen in foul territory.
Heyward and Barnes alertly tagged and advanced in the game, allowing Heyward to score on Freeman’s sacrifice fly to center for a 4-0 lead.
“Jason’s baseball play in that pop-up was really a heads-up baseball game,” Roberts said. “That moved him to third, which ultimately created that situation for Freddie. That run was big.”
Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.
This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
