Since getting off to a 13-2 start that put to bed any concerns of a World Series hangover, the Los Angeles Dodgers have lost 12 of their last 16 games. They enter play Wednesday needing a win against the Chicago Cubs to avoid being swept for the first time this year.
As it stands, the Dodgers dropped both games of a doubleheader despite the contests being started by Clayton Kershaw and Trevor Bauer. Kershaw only managed to pitch one inning in the shortest outing of his career, and Bauer labored through 4.1 frames.
Neither pitcher received much support as the Dodgers scored a combined four runs in the losses. Although L.A. remains mired in a difficult stretch, Justin Turner referenced a stretch of losing 16 out of 17 games four years ago and the nee to simply improve.
“It’s baseball. It’s not the first time we’ve gone through a skid like this. In ’17 in September, we went through a worse skid and still ended up winning 104 games,” Turner said.
“No one feels sorry for us, 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.”
Bauer, who for a second consecutive start anticipated a rough performance based on his daily logging of data, echoed Turner’s sentiment and took responsibility. “We’ve got to play better baseball, obviously, all around. We’ve got to play smarter baseball, do the little things right,” Bauer said.
“It starts with the pitching, going out there and throwing strike one, getting ahead and keeping the pitch count down. I didn’t do a very good job of that, so instead of being able to go six or seven like I normally would, I was only in there for 4.1 (innings). It starts with little things like that and making big plays on defense just by being alert and being in the game.
“It starts by putting together solid at-bats even if you don’t get paid out in that at-bat per se. Having a plan and sticking to it, just dong the little things you can control as a player, I think as a group we have to better at that. It’s one of those things right now that we don’t seem to be able to put together a complete game.
“Pitching will be good and offense won’t score. Then the offense will score but pitching will give up runs. Everything is kind of mismatched right now for us. That just starts with taking care of the little things and trusting if you do the little tings right, ultimately the whole picture will look a lot better.”
Despite the rough patch, the Dodgers remain in the thick of the early race in the National League West and still lead the Majors with a +38 run differential.
Roberts surprised by Dodgers’ stretch
Having previously remarked that he was content with the Dodgers’ overall record through the first month of the season, though not with how they got there, manager Dave Roberts was surprised to learn the details of being 4-12 since the torrid start.
“I didn’t realize that. Obviously we haven’t won a whole lot of baseball games in the last couple weeks,” Roberts said. “I think if you kind of look at how we’re playing baseball, it’s just not all around, all facets of the game executing. That’s what happens when you don’t do that.
“You keep other teams in it, they get the big hit, they make the big play. You end up being on the short end. I think for us, got to continue to get good starting pitching, got to play clean baseball, clean defense and continue to grind at-bats. I think that we’re better than what we’ve shown and we’ve got to get back to doing the little things and playing good baseball.”
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, participate in our shows and giveaways, and more!
