Lopez deals for Rays in LA homecoming: 'Really a dream come true'

LOS ANGELES -- With Shane Baz sick and unable to pitch as scheduled Sunday afternoon, the Rays needed someone to step into their rotation to face one of the Majors’ best lineups at Dodger Stadium.

Jacob Lopez was up to the task.

Promoted from Triple-A Durham on Sunday morning after flying all the way from Syracuse, N.Y., on Saturday, Lopez held the Dodgers to just one run over five excellent innings in front of dozens of family and friends at the ballpark where he grew up idolizing likely future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw.

“It was everything I could have asked for,” Lopez said. “Really a dream come true.”

Lopez gave the Rays more than they could have possibly expected, and the 26-year-old left-hander’s performance kept them in the series finale. But their bats went quiet, and lefty reliever Richard Lovelady gave up a two-run homer to Mookie Betts in the eighth inning of Tampa Bay’s 3-1 loss.

The defeat dropped the Rays’ record to 65-65, the club-record and MLB-leading 31st time they’ve been at .500 this season. They headed to Seattle on Sunday night having gone 3-4 during the first two stops of their three-city, West Coast road trip.

Arguably the most frustrating part of the Rays’ series loss at Dodger Stadium? They were in every game, including Sunday’s pitchers’ duel.

They took an early three-run lead on Friday, only to give it up in the fifth and lose on Shohei Ohtani’s walk-off grand slam. They battled their way to a wild, 9-8 victory in 10 innings on Saturday. And the finale was tied, 1-1, after Jonny DeLuca hit his first homer since July 4 off former Dodgers teammate Gavin Stone in the seventh inning.

“I don't know if that's more frustrating than just getting beat up, but it did feel like we had opportunities all three games to find a way to get that big hit or make that big pitch,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “We did it once and came up short the other two, so that can be frustrating.”

So can a lack of offense. The Rays have scored three runs or fewer in five games on this trip, and they’re averaging just 3.1 runs per game in their last 22 games dating back to July 31. They were silenced Sunday by Stone, who permitted three hits and two walks while striking out seven over seven innings.

“He has electric stuff, so I think he's really learned to pitch,” said DeLuca, who noted he may have held an advantage after previously facing Stone in Spring Training and simulated games. “It's been fun to watch him -- not too fun to face him, but I got one, so I got bragging rights on that one.”

The Rays’ lack of run production left the door open for the dangerous Dodgers lineup, and Betts kicked it down in the eighth. Lovelady hit Ohtani with a 2-1 sinker to lead off the inning, and his argument that Ohtani swung on the pitch was unsuccessful.

Up came Betts, who laced a first-pitch slider out to left field for a go-ahead homer. Lovelady said he was trying to get the pitch up and in, but it veered closer to the middle of the plate.

“Tough part of the lineup. … It's kind of pick your poison. You go with the lefty right there to try to cover [Freddie] Freeman and Ohtani, or you go with a righty,” Cash said. “Felt like Lovelady, the way he's been throwing the ball, gave us our best chance.”

The silver lining was the performance of Lopez, who is expected to be sent back to Durham after his spot start. Despite pitching on three days’ rest after throwing 80 pitches at Triple-A on Wednesday, the lefty breezed through five innings on 72 pitches, struck out six and permitted just one run on a fifth-inning homer by Kiké Hernández.

“He was outstanding,” Cash said. “I'm happy that his family and friends were here to see it. That's got to be a big moment for him.”

Considering his recent workload, Lopez said he figured he had a “0 percent chance of coming up,” but he got the call around 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and caught a flight out west an hour later.

The turnaround was so quick, he said, that he could only text his family and friends that he’d be starting at Dodger Stadium, where he had been to more than 25 games as a kid growing up in nearby Santa Clarita, Calif. Asked who made it out to see him pitch, Lopez replied, “Everybody.”

“I left 25 tickets, then I kind of had to be mean and say 'get your own ticket' after that,” he said, smiling. “It was great. Lots of friends and family.”