It’s no secret that the Los Angeles Dodgers have been struggling over the last week, losing five straight games, all of which came with the winning run scoring in the seventh inning or later.
They picked up a much-needed win to snap the skid on Wednesday night, defeating the San Francisco Giants, 4-3, in 12 innings on a walk-off sacrifice fly by Brian Dozier to avoid being swept at home.
“It’s just how we are,” Kemp said of the Dodgers’ persistence despite squandering another lead. “We continue to grind and make things happen. It was just one of those days that they tied it and we just kept grinding and we were on the right side of the game today.”
Kemp wasn’t afraid to admit that this was a game the Dodgers needed to win as they look to keep pace with the other clubs atop the National League West. “Oh yeah, we definitely needed this one,” he said. “So that’s a good win and now it’s time to play another good team and keep it going.”
The offense and bullpen, in particular, have struggled greatly during the recent stretch, and Kemp believes if the Dodgers are going to come out of the skid then it has to be a group effort.
“We win as a team, we lose as a team. There’s days where we don’t pitch good and we hit good and vice versa,” he explained. “We just got to all get on the same page and play good baseball like we know how and just keep going.”
Kemp also went on to add that giving up the lead considering how they have been playing was difficult, but they didn’t give up faith that they would come away with the victory. “It wasn’t discouraging. We just knew we needed to battle,” he said.
“We knew we had another game in our hands, and like I said, we fought and we won.”
Kemp had a solid night at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two walks while driving in a big run with a single in the seventh inning. Perhaps that could help break him out of his personal slump as he has struggled for much of the second half.
