The Los Angeles Dodgers lost to the Chicago Cubs in extra innings for a second consecutive night and were swept for the first time this season, which understandably brought about some frustration.
The Dodgers took four separate leads throughout the night, including when Max Muncy hit an RBI double off the wall in left-center field. Gavin Lux scored easily from third base but Justin Turner was thrown out at the plate on his attempt to race home from first.
Turner attempted to slide his left hand past the tag by Cubs catcher Willson Contreras and came up looking at it as he walked toward the dugout. “It might’ve been something with that collision, but Justin didn’t alert me after the fact and I haven’t heard anything yet,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the game.
The Dodgers challenged the play, which Roberts explained was from the standpoint that Contreras appeared to be blocking the plate before receiving the ball. “That was our visual, that Justin didn’t have any plate to slide into,” Roberts said.
“Granted, he got the ball, but even before that. It’s a little bit unclear, and we just felt it was worth a challenge.”
Catchers are not permitted to block the plate unless they have already received the ball or the throw takes them in that direction.
The challenge was unsuccessful and Turner wound up being the third out. The Cubs tied it in the bottom of the 10th on a Joc Pederson sacrifice fly and won the next inning behind Anthony Rizzo’s walk-off RBI single.
The Dodgers are 1-6 in extra-inning games this season and have lost 13 of their past 17 games. “The bottom line is the little things across the board, we’re just not finishing, executing the way we’re capable of,” Roberts said.
“Like I said [Tuesday] night, it sounds like I’m on repeat, we need to do a better job.”
Turner: Dodgers need to focus on ‘little things’
After being swept in a doubleheader, Turner was among those to emphasize the Dodgers needing to focus on the minute in order to emerge from their rut. “No one feels sorry for us,” he said.
“Can’t take anything for granted, we’ve got to show up and do all the little things, play the game the right way and the bottom line is we just need to play better.”
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