After getting off to one of the worst starts in franchise history, the Los Angeles Dodgers appeared to be righting the ship. The salvaged a series and snapped an 11-game regular season losing streak to the Arizona Diamondbacks, then swept the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.
From there it was back to Dodger Stadium for a weekend set against the Washington Nationals, who similarly had yet to meet expectations. The Dodgers, with Clayton Kershaw on the mound, dropped the series opener before bouncing back with consecutive victories.
Winners in six of their last seven games, the Dodgers then welcomed the lowly Miami Marlins to town. They sported one of the worst records in baseball and were mired in a four-game losing streak.
Los Angeles took the series opener, though it wasn’t in the fashion many expected. They then suffered back-to-back losses, one of which again came with Kershaw on the mound.
Despite their disappointing showing, Cody Bellinger maintained the Dodgers superior to the Marlins, via Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times:
“Baseball’s not like basketball or football,” the Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger said. “The better team doesn’t always win.
“Obviously, we are the better team.”
In the grand scheme of things, Bellinger’s remark does carry weight and truth. It also is another sign that the young first baseman is hardly concerned by the team’s inconsistent play. Bellinger and several others in the clubhouse have stressed how much time remains in the season.
That being said, the Dodgers’ play against the Marlins provided more cause for concern. The offense mustered 10 runs and 20 hits during the three-game series. It’s skewed in some regard, as they scored five runs over the final two innings on Wednesday.
In the eighth, Matt Kemp’s two-run home run trimmed the Marlins’ lead to 6-3. They answered with two runs of their in the ninth, capitalizing on errors by Corey Seager and Chase Utley. In the bottom half of the inning, Kyle Farmer cashed in Kiké Hernandez’s triple with an RBI groundout, and Yasmani Grandal hit a two-run homer with two outs.
Bellinger went 2-for-11 in the series, with one double, one RBI, one walk and five strikeouts. His hits didn’t come until the sixth and eighth innings of Wednesday’s loss.
