Wrobleski, Dodgers come out on wrong side of slugfest with Seattle

LOS ANGELES -- You get a run! You get a run! Everybody gets a run!

Tuesday night’s series opener between the Dodgers and Mariners played out less like a tight pitching duel and more like an Oprah Winfrey giveaway, with both offenses answering each other frame by frame in a game that featured three separate ties. But when the dust settled at Dodger Stadium, it was Seattle that took the final lead, handing Los Angeles a 7-6 defeat.

Despite the loss, the storyline for Los Angeles wasn't a lack of punch at the plate. The Dodgers' offense came out aggressive, matching Seattle swing for swing through seven chaotic innings.

Shohei Ohtani set the tone early with a leadoff blast for his 23rd home run of the season, then came through again in the fourth, lining a clutch RBI single with the bases loaded to knot the game at 4 (although a missed sign from Kyle Tucker kept another run from coming in). Max Muncy added fireworks of his own with a solo home run in the fifth -- his 130th at Dodger Stadium, tied with Eric Karros for most all-time -- while Dalton Rushing and Tommy Edman consistently sparked rallies from the bottom half of the order.

• Most home runs at each active ballpark

The real test for Los Angeles came on the mound, as starter Justin Wrobleski endured his toughest outing of the month. The young left-hander gave up five earned runs on seven hits -- including four home runs -- over six innings, striking out seven as his ERA bumped from 2.62 to 2.88.

According to manager Dave Roberts, Seattle came in with a clear, aggressive approach against Wrobleski that took advantage of pitches up in the zone.

"You can tell that they were looking up and trying to pull the baseball vs. Justin," Roberts said. "A lot of balls that were up, a couple of them out of the zone that they were getting to. So clearly their plan was to get on the fastball or get on stuff that was up in the zone, and he didn't change eye levels enough. That's why he gave up a lot of slug."

For Wrobleski, the rough line was driven more by Seattle capitalizing on high pitches than by him missing his spots.

"I still threw the ball pretty well," Wrobleski said postgame. "I know that sounds crazy considering the number and the line, but for the most part, I think I did an OK job of the things that are in my control. At the end of the day, one of the things in my control is adjusting to what is happening within the game, and I think that's where, me personally, I didn't do a great job of adjusting."

Wrobleski’s outing comes at a time when the Dodgers are intentionally being mindful of his workload. Having already surpassed his previous career high in innings pitched, Los Angeles is actively looking for ways to monitor the 26-year-old’s usage down the stretch to ensure he remains fresh. While Tuesday wasn't Wrobleski’s sharpest night, his ability to grind through six full innings saved the bullpen from taking on an early workload.

With the score tied at 5 in the eighth, the game once again swung in Seattle’s favor when right fielder Dominic Canzone launched his second home run of the night, taking reliever Alex Vesia deep to put the Mariners ahead, 7-5.

"Alex made a really bad pitch -- 0-1 slider that was middle-middle -- and they hit the ball out of the ballpark," Roberts said. "So that's kind of the tale of the run prevention tonight."

Vesia didn't run from the misstep postgame, acknowledging the slider didn't get to where he intended.

"I’ve thrown that pitch more than a few times this year with different results," Vesia said. "Obviously, it's not the best pitch, so I would like to have [it] more outside or even a little bit more down. Kind of just going to flush it and onto the next one. Clearly, I need to be better in that situation."

Yet even in the bottom of the ninth, the Dodgers didn't go down quietly. Facing Seattle closer Andrés Muñoz, Rushing kicked off a late rally with a sharp infield single before Ohtani crushed a line-drive RBI double to right field, advancing to third on an error and pulling Los Angeles within a run.

After two quick outs, Muncy worked a grueling nine-pitch walk, then stole second, to put the winning run in scoring position, bringing Dodger Stadium to its feet one last time. Mookie Betts grounded out to shortstop to seal the victory for Seattle -- but in a game defined by back-and-forth offensive fireworks, the Dodgers showed plenty of fight at the plate, pounding out 13 hits on the night.