Justin Wrobleski makes ugly Dodger history as home run barrage raises concerns

CHICAGO –– For most of this season, Dodgers left-hander Justin Wrobleski has been surpassing expectations.The last two weeks, however, he has succumbed to some ugly franchise history in his first real slump all year.In a 10-5 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Monday that tied a season-long four-game losing streak for the Dodgers, Wrobleski encountered a suddenly familiar problem. For a second-straight start, he couldn’t keep the ball in the yard.Last week, the third-year left-hander was tagged with four home runs in a six-inning, five-run start against the Seattle Mariners, yet came away feeling like he hadn’t pitched that poorly.“I just think going back and looking at it, I still threw the ball pretty well,” he said.“I know that sounds crazy considering the number and the line, but for the most part I think I did an OK job of kind of the things that are in my control.”Problem was, when he returned to the bump at Wrigley Field on Monday, Wrobleski’s long ball problems only got worse.Once again, he surrendered four big flies in a 4 ⅓-inning, seven-run start. And just like that, he became the first pitcher in Dodgers history to allow four homers in multiple games in the same season –– let alone in back-to-back outings just six days apart.“I think sometimes teams are gonna have, honestly, good swings off you,” Wrobleski said.

“And yeah, today that happened.But there’s no excuse.

I think I need to be better than I have these past two.”Monday’s barrage began with a first-inning blast that felt reminiscent of last week. In a 1-1 count against Seiya Suzuki, Wrobleski climbed the ladder with a seemingly well-executed 94.6 mph fastball, the kind of pitch that has typically been an effective weapon for him this year.Only this time, Suzuki was on it, lifting a two-run shot to the left-field bleachers that left Wrobleski shaking his head.If that was bad luck –– Wrobleski said he was “not super upset” with his execution of that throw �...