LOS ANGELES – Vince Velasquez brought his power arm to Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night and the Los Angeles Dodgers brought their power bats.
The power bats beat the power arm.
The Dodgers hit three two-run home runs against Velasquez fastballs en route to a 9-3 victory over the Phillies that propelled them into a first-place tie with the San Francisco Giants in the NL West (see Instant Replay). The Dodgers have made up a 6½-game deficit since the All-Star break.
Unlike the Dodgers, the rebuilding Phillies aren’t close to contention. They are a mostly young team doing a lot of learning.
After the game, manager Pete Mackanin said he hoped Velasquez, who was pounded for nine runs in 4 2/3 innings, learned something from the worst start of his young major-league career.
“He didn’t pitch well,” Mackanin said. “Everything was hard, hard, hard. He didn’t use his changeup enough and against a good hitting team like the Dodgers with all the lefties they had in the lineup – he’s got such a good changeup that I think he should have used that quite a bit more. He threw a handful of them. That’s what I saw. He just didn’t mix in his other pitches, especially his changeup.
“I think as he gets older and continues to grow he’ll learn from outings like this that it’s important to use all his pitches, especially against a team like this with all the power they have. He’ll get it. He’ll get it.”
Velasquez did not seem thrilled with Mackanin’s critique when reporters relayed it to him.
He responded with a pronounced roll of the eyes.
“I had a plan to attack the guys,” the 24-year-old right-hander. “I challenged the guys inside, outside. I mean, you can’t go wrong with that. If they put good swings on it …
“I guess it was just missed locations and them putting good swings on the ball and they ended up going over the wall. That’s what happens when you miss spots and you go deep into counts. You get into trouble.”
Velasquez’s disappointing outing came with a bunch of friends and family members in the seats. He hails from Pomona, California, about an hour’s drive from Chavez Ravine.
Velasquez was clearly pumped for this outing. He came out firing. He struck out three batters in the first inning, all on fastballs, 94, 95 and 96 mph, respectively.
After the first inning, the Dodgers began sitting on Velasquez’s heat.
The Dodgers scored four runs in the second inning on five hits. The big blow was a two-run homer by Howie Kendrick on Howie Kendrick Bobblehead Night. He hit a 95-mph fastball. The count was 2-0.
An inning later, Yasmani Grandal hit a two-run homer on a 95-mph fastball. First pitch.
An inning after that, Justin Turner lined a 94-mph fastball over the wall in left-center. The count was 1-0.
In the fifth inning, Velasquez’s final inning, Kendrick doubled home a run on a full-count fastball.
During the game, Mackanin asked catcher Cameron Rupp where Velasquez’s changeup was.
“Rupp told me that he didn’t want to throw it for whatever reason,” Mackanin said. “I don’t know, he gave up a hit to (Joc) Pederson early in the game [on a changeup] and then decided he didn’t want to use it.”
According to PITCHf/x data, Velasquez threw 16 changeups out of 100 pitches, which is about normal for him. Maybe a fastball-hunting team like the Dodgers required more change of speed.
“I think I threw enough [changeups],” Velasquez said. “There were guys who were late on my fastball and then they ended up turning on it on the next pitch. I'm not going to throw a fastball and then a changeup. You have to keep them guessing. They were on my stuff. Again, this is something you have to learn from. You're not always going to go out and throw a shutout, especially against a team like this that's fully loaded. You have to attack them all the way through, one through nine.”
The Dodgers have outscored the Phillies 18-7 on the strength of seven homers in the first two games of the series. They have crushed a total of 15 extra-base hits in the two games, including seven against Velasquez.
“I had a mentality going into the game of attacking the hitters,” he said. “They got the best of me. I can't do anything about it.”
