MIAMI -- Tyler Glasnow spent much of Saturday night trying to find something that never quite came together.
The Dodgers right-hander repeatedly stretched his back, moved around the mound and worked to find his rhythm as he battled his delivery in a 4-3 loss to the Marlins at loanDepot park.
“You could see he was fighting himself all game,” manager Dave Roberts said. “And I know he didn't feel great coming into the game as far as kind of overall body, but I don't know what specifically.”
The 33-year-old was activated from the 60-day injured list on Aug. 25 after initially being placed on the IL on May 8 with low back spasms. He said Saturday that his back felt good and that he is just trying to figure some stuff out.
“Sometimes you're good, you're timed up … and then there's other times you have to make adjustments and figure out how to get people out that day,” Glasnow said. “I'm just kind of in that phase right now.”
With the loss, the Dodgers will have to wait another day for a chance to clinch a postseason berth after their offense was held to four hits. The Dodgers (90-58) could clinch a postseason berth Sunday if they beat the Marlins, the Diamondbacks lose to the Rangers and the Padres lose to the Giants.
Glasnow allowed four runs on five hits while walking four and striking out seven. Of the 21 walks he has allowed this season, 10 have come in two starts against Miami.
“I was kind of off in the beginning,” said Glasnow, who has a 3.50 ERA with 77 strikeouts through 11 games this season. “Just tried to stay in rhythm and battle back. The third and fourth, I felt good and then lost it in the fifth. But I thought it got better as the game went on. I’m just struggling to find it right now.”
After the second inning, Glasnow made an adjustment to move a bit quicker and get his glove on a little higher. He threw 25 pitches in the first inning, 27 in the second, then settled in with 15 pitches in the third and 14 in the fourth.
“I was just ripping off everything,” Glasnow said. “I kind of put a Band-Aid on it. Felt pretty good, and then started to feel a little weird again.”
Glasnow first ran into trouble in the bottom of the first. With one out, he struck out Heriberto Hernández before giving up a double to Griffin Conine. Otto Lopez was hit by a pitch, with both runners advancing 90 feet on a passed ball by catcher Hunter Feduccia. Jakob Marsee worked a six-pitch walk to load the bases, but Javier Sanoja lined out to left to end the threat.
Glasnow issued a seven-pitch walk to Owen Caissie in the second. Caissie later advanced to second on a wild pitch and Graham Pauley tied the game with a two-run homer to center.
Miami extended its lead in the inning after Glasnow gave up three consecutive hits, with Hernández scoring on an RBI single by Lopez. Roberts liked Glasnow’s response, as he retired five batters via strikeout before issuing back-to-back walks to Conine and Lopez with one out in the fifth, ending his night after 91 pitches.
“It was great [for him] coming back and competing like he did,” Roberts said. “I just thought for me, walking those first two hitters in that fifth inning was time to just pull the plug and get Jack [Dreyer] in there and try to limit damage.”
With a couple of weeks left in the regular season, Roberts is hopeful that Glasnow will get the results he wants. Given Glasnow’s 6-foot-8 frame, Roberts said there are a lot of moving parts in his delivery, which can make it difficult to sync everything up when something gets out of whack.
Coming into the game, Glasnow’s .171 opponents’ batting average was the second-lowest among pitchers with at least 10 starts, behind Jacob Misiorowski’s .156. Glasnow also had a 10.9 K/9 and a .529 opponents’ OPS in 57 2/3 innings.
“This one was, given his last handful of outings, more of an outlier,” Roberts said. “There were some good throws in there with different pitches, but I just think the consistency of the throw execution, what he's done over the last handful of starts, wasn't that way tonight.”
“I'm just kind of looking at his body, his demeanor, mound presence, and [his] work through that delivery.”