After getting swept in a four-game series by the Miami Marlins, the Los Angeles Dodgers held a closed-door meeting prior to Friday’s series opener against the San Diego Padres. While the message(s) delivered may have been positive, the end result was not.
San Diego handed Los Angeles a fifth consecutive loss, led in large part by Matt Kemp’s three RBIs in their 5-1 victory. When the Dodgers clubhouse opened to the media on Saturday afternoon, there was an inspirational message handwritten on a whiteboard.
“Winning baseball games is the ONLY thing that matters! – Gandhi,” the message read. It’s unclear who’s responsible for passing along such an encouraging note.
It was to no avail, however, as the Dodgers’ bats were once again largely quiet and San Diego cruised to a 5-2 win. Los Angeles dropped to 12-13 on the season with the loss, their sixth straight, and are in the midst of their longest losing streak since May 2013.
The Dodgers lost eight in a row that season. What’s more, their sub-.500 record for April is the first time the Dodgers have posted a losing month since September 2013. Media were greeted with another message on the whiteboard after the loss.
“Can’t hit — Sucks. Lose 6 in a row — Sucks. Still in 1st place – Priceless. Perspective. Win tomorrow!,” it read. Ross Stripling, who suffered the loss in Friday’s game, revealed Adrian Gonzalez was responsible for the postgame message.
Perhaps no coincidence, Gonzalez has had a rough go of it during the homestand. He’s 0-for-17 in the last six games, with four walks and seven strikeouts. The Dodgers look to salvage the week-long stretch with a win on Sunday.
They begin a five-game road trip on Tuesday that will take them to Tampa Bay and Toronto.
