The Los Angeles Dodgers salvaged their series against the Arizona Diamondbacks with a 5-4 walk-off win on Sunday for a positive end to an otherwise disappointing weekend.
L.A. dropped the first two games to Arizona after sweeping the Cincinnati Reds and appearing to gain some momentum.
The Dodgers were hurt by multiple blunders in Saturday’s loss to the Diamondbacks, which again raised some questions about their focus and attention to detail.
Manager Dave Roberts has been critical of his players on several occasions this season and recently implied that they were relying on eventually flipping a switch.
Roberts believes that is possible but would prefer the team treat each game equally.
“It is, but I do think a switch can be flipped,” Roberts explained. “But it doesn’t feel good saying that, because I think there’s a certain way you go about things and each day should be equally important.
“Every little play, pitch, should be equally important. How you do anything is how you do everything, that adage, I believe in that.
“Again, when you’re playing a long season, it’s hard to be that locked in every single pitch. But I’m not going to not try to ask our guys to do that.”
Roberts doesn’t know how much more time the Dodgers have to flip a switch but wants to see more awareness from his players.
“Whatever it is, we’ve got to do it right now,” Roberts said before Sunday’s series finale. “We’ve got to win today, we’ve got to play better baseball, we’ve got to play more focused baseball, and then let the chips fall where they may.
“There’s more in there. There just is.”
Dodgers’ recent struggles
Since July 28, the Dodgers are 7-10 against sub-.500 teams and 11-4 against opponents with a winning record.
“I mean, you’re just losing your edge,” Roberts opined of the difference in records. “I don’t like the playing your competition type thing, but it’s like we’re not getting up for teams that we should be. We should be getting up for everyone, regardless of record.
“So, yeah, I don’t have an answer to that. No excuse for that.”
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
