Only 11 days before Saturday night, before an enraptured crowd at Dodger Stadium, Julio Urias displayed the upper limits of his ceiling. He carried a no-hit bid into the seventh inning of a game, capable of subduing his opponents with only his fastball.
The fans lavished cheers upon him as he exited the stage. The applause on Saturday, his first game back in this ballpark, felt different. It occurred much earlier, midway through a ruinous third inning. The noise stemmed not from appreciation but relief.
In a 10-6 loss to Miami, Urias took a pounding for the second start in row.