Gavin Stone's rotation spot in peril after Dodgers lose to Rays

Dodgers starting pitcher Gavin Stone delivers during the first inning.

Staff Writer

May 28, 2023 2:13 PM PT

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Once the ambush started with two outs in the second inning Sunday, Gavin Stone couldn’t make it stop.

In his third career major league start — all against high-octane playoff teams from last year — the Dodgers rookie right-hander got stuck in a spin cycle against the Tampa Bay Rays.

On the verge of escaping an early jam and potentially moving past the rocky start to his outing, the same way he had six days earlier against the Atlanta Braves, Stone instead yielded five straight hits. The Rays exploded for six sudden runs.

By the time the outburst was over, the Dodgers were in a hole they never fully recovered from in an 11-10 loss at Tropicana Field.

And as Stone walked back to the dugout, his head hung low and his steps were somber and slow — the lasting image of another difficult day for the 24-year-old prospect.

“Obviously I’ve just got to go to work on fine-tuning some things,” Stone said afterward, finishing Sunday with a 14.40 ERA in his three starts this month. “I think it’s just a process.”

Where that process will take Stone next is unclear.

After initially planning to give the pitcher an extended run in their banged-up rotation, the Dodgers were contemplating a change of course postgame.

Manager Dave Roberts offered no guarantee about Stone starting on the upcoming homestand, when he would be lined up to face another powerhouse lineup in the New York Yankees.

Roberts said that, while the team remains confident in Stone’s long-term upside, they don’t want to harm his development amid his string of bad outings.

“Given how today went, it’s prudent to just reassess and make sure that whatever we do is best for Gavin and best for us,” Roberts said, noting that fellow rookie Michael Grove could offer the Dodgers another rotation option.

“We’ll all get together and figure out the best course of action,” Roberts added. “Because I think, like most things, you could debate either way. So that’s what we’ll have to figure out.”

Stone’s seven-run, two-inning stat line almost became a footnote in a back-and-forth, 11:35 a.m. matinee game.

The Dodgers had an early 3-1 lead, after consecutive homers from Chris Taylor and Max Muncy — Muncy later left the game with a hamstring cramp but doesn’t believe it is serious — and an RBI single from Trayce Thompson that ended his six-week, 39 at-bat hitless streak.

“I was expecting a champagne toast like when Freddie hit 300 [home runs] or when Kersh got his 200th win,” Thompson joked after finishing the day three for three with a walk. “At the end of the day it sucks that we lost. But personal relief for sure.”

The Dodgers (32-22) evened the score twice more, staging a four-run rally in the third to make it 7-7, then riding solo home runs from Thompson, J.D. Martinez and Taylor in the fifth and sixth innings to knot the score at 10-10.

The MLB-leading Rays (39-16), however, took the lead for good in the seventh.

Former Dodger Luke Raley beat reliever Victor González to the bag on a ground ball to first to begin the inning. He later advanced to third and scored on a grounder, sending the Rays to a marquee series win and the Dodgers to a 4-6 record on their 10-game trip.

“Feels like we played a lot better than 4-6,” said Freddie Freeman, who extended his hitting streak to 17 games with two doubles. “A lot of games that could have been lost a whole different lot of ways, and we came back and kept fighting and fighting.”

The bigger problem, though, was Stone’s inability to keep them ahead.

After wiggling out of one tricky inning in the bottom of the first, when the Rays scored one run on three hits, Stone failed to stop the bleeding in the second.

The inning began with some bad luck, when Taylor let a high hop off the outfield turf get over his head for a leadoff triple. Raley then won a seven-pitch battle with a double into the corner, hammering a changeup that — like many of Stone’s 57 pitches Sunday — seemed to catch too much of the plate.

Stone struck out Francisco Mejía with a changeup — the rookie did induce 15 swings and misses — and got Yandy Díaz to line out to left.

But then, the two-out hit parade commenced: A line drive single by Wander Franco. An RBI base hit by Brandon Lowe. An infield hit that was deflected by Muncy. And then a one-two knockout combination, with Isaac Paredes launching a two-run double over Taylor’s head in left and Josh Lowe adding an infield single that opened up a 7-3 Rays lead.

“Right now I know he’s down in the dumps, but he’ll be all right,” Roberts said.

As for the status of Stone’s next start?

“We’ll see,” Roberts said. “I don’t want to speak too far ahead, but we have some time to kind of reassess what’s best for Gavin.”