The Los Angeles Dodgers dropped two out of three games to the Arizona Diamondbacks over the weekend in their first series after the All-Star break. Both defeats were one-run losses, and the Dodgers’ inability to hit with runners in scoring position was a big factor in those contests.
After a 13-run outburst on Friday in which the Dodgers as a team were 7-for-19 with runners in scoring position, they combined to go 4-for-26 in the final two games of the series.
If it were not for two hits in the ninth inning of Sunday’s game when their comeback attempt fell short, the Dodgers would have been 2-for-24 over the final two games.
According to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts acknowledged there’s room for improvement from his club in hitting with men in scoring position but also expressed confidence his club will fare better:
“With runners in scoring position, sometimes you’ve got to shorten up and put the ball in play,” said Roberts. “There’s something to be said for that. I do believe we’re going to continue to get better, but runners in scoring position, those numbers don’t lie. In situations in this series we weren’t very good until that last inning. It’s a production-based game, so when you get opportunities, you’ve got to cash in.”
Overall on the season the Dodgers rank 21st in the Majors with a .246 average and .304 wOBA with RISP. The Dodgers’ 91 wRC+ plus in such situations is 20th-best in baseball. After Andrew Toles’ base hit put the tying run 90 feet away with one out, the Dodgers spun their wheels.
Yasiel Puig, who is hitting .313 with 23 RBIs this season when runners are in scoring position, was late on a fastball and eventually struck out on a slider out of the zone. Then Chris Taylor, one day removed from nearly hitting for the cycle, also struck out to end the rally.
