The Los Angeles Dodgers finished with nine hits, compared to seven for the St. Louis Cardinals, but it was not enough Tuesday night as they suffered a second consecutive loss and seventh in their last 10 games.
Compounding that was the Arizona Diamondbacks winning in walk-off fashion, which has them 3.5 games ahead of the Dodgers in the National League West entering play Wednesday.
While their bullpen has stabilized some, the Dodgers’ offense remains stuck in a rut and mired in a slump with runners in scoring position. They went 1-for-8 in such situations and left 11 on base in their 5-2 loss.
Los Angeles also didn’t aid their cause. With one on and two outs in the eighth inning, Joc Pederson lined an infield single off Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez’s ribs.
With the ball squirting away from Martinez, Kiké Hernandez made a wide turn at second base and was caught in his tracks. The indecision led to him getting backpicked and preventing Justin Turner from representing the tying run at the plate.
Hernandez took ownership of his costly blunder and put the loss on his shoulders, via J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group:
“Pretty fricking stupid,” Hernandez said. “It might have cost us the game. … Just dumb, dumb and dumber. No excuses.”
While Hernandez willing accepted responsibility for the loss, fact of the matter is the Dodgers failed to capitalize on a slew of opportunities. They loaded the bases with one out in the second inning yet only managed to score one run — because a pitch grazed Yasiel Puig.
A walk and double put two runners in scoring position with nobody out in the fourth, though the Dodgers failed to cash in. While there’s been plenty of inconsistency manager Dave Roberts is confident his team will soon emerge from the rut.
