Joe Kelly’s Los Angeles Dodgers career has gotten off to a rocky start, to say the least.
The former Boston Red Sox reliever made his Dodgers debut Friday night and promptly coughed up a three-run lead against the Arizona Diamondbacks. And, well, his follow-up performance Monday night was even worse.
Kelly was handed the ball in the sixth inning with a 2-0 lead against the San Francisco Giants and gave up a first-pitch homer to Brandon Belt. He took the mound again in the seventh and gave up a game-tying RBI single to Pablo Sandoval and a double to Steven Duggar before getting pulled from the game. Dodgers fans, understandably upset, booed Kelly after the Sandoval hit and booed him even louder as he walked to the dugout.
Here’s Belt’s homer:
And here’s Sandoval’s single off his former Red Sox teammate:
Left-hander Scott Alexander took over for Kelly and allowed both inhered runners to score. The Dodgers eventually lost 4-2, with all four Giants runs being charged to Kelly. The 30-year-old now is 0-1 with an 18.00 ERA in two appearances for the Dodgers, who fell to 5-2 with the loss.
To his credit, Kelly didn’t make any excuses after the game.
“If I did my Job, we’d be 5-0,” Kelly said, via NBC Los Angeles’ Michael J. Duarte.
He also added a little perspective, drawing back on his Boston days.
Kelly and Sandoval weren’t the only players who gave this game a Red Sox feel. Former Boston starter Drew Pomeranz got the start for the Giants and pitched well, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out six in five innings.
