The Los Angeles Dodgers struggled to find any consistency at the plate and suffered a 5-3 loss to the San Diego Padres in Game 2 of the National League Division Series.
The Dodgers scored all three of their runs on solo homers and tallied 11 hits in the contest, but went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left 10 on base.
“You know, honestly, I thought we threw out a lot of hits [Wednesday] night, and I thought there were some other balls that we squared up that didn’t get rewarded for,” manager Dave Roberts said on the off day.
“I thought there were a lot more good at-bats than bad at-bats, but situationally I think we could have done a better job. We had a couple opportunities to push a couple runs across, and we didn’t capitalize.
“I thought we did a good job of getting to Yu and not letting him get through six innings and having a chance to get to the bullpen as well. The first game we sort of went silent for six innings, but I thought even having a chance against Hader in the eighth and ninth, I thought we did a good job.”
The Dodgers’ inconsistencies at the plate coincide with Mookie Betts’ slow start in the postseason. After going hitless in the NLDS opener, he went 1-for-4 with a double and walk in Game 2.
“I thought the last at-bat, the double, was a good piece of hitting,” Roberts said of Betts. “I haven’t looked at him. I think there was one at-bat, there was an expanded slider off from Yu when he was 1-0.
“I’ve got to look again, but it’s a little bit more magnified, as it should be in the postseason, but it’s two games, and I expect Mookie to be fine.”
While Betts hasn’t had many hits fall in yet, his double in the seventh inning registered an exit velocity of 101.5 mph, and his ninth-inning flyout was 91.6 mph.
Dodgers lineup changes for Game 3
With the Padres starting Blake Snell in Game 3, Cody Bellinger will be out of the Dodgers lineup and Austin Barnes is due to catch Tony Gonsolin.
Will Smith is getting moved to designated hitter, which pushes Max Muncy to second base and puts Justin Turner at third base.
The Dodgers lineup was identical for Games 1 and 2.
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