Eighteen innings and 19 hits into their weekend series in St. Louis, the Dodgers have scored just once.
On a wild pitch.
As a result, what began as a mild slump has grown into a full-blown five-alarm crisis for the World Series champions. Yet if manager Dave Roberts is concerned, he was hiding it well after Saturday’s 2-1 loss, his team’s third in four games and fifth in seven tries this month.
Advertisement
“It kind of goes in waves. And you can’t ride the emotional waves,” he said. “There’s certainly no angst or panic. Frustration certainly. Because you don’t like losing and not driving in runs when you have opportunities.
“We are getting hits. We are getting guys on base. We’re just not cashing in.”
Here’s how bad things have gotten for the Dodgers: the totality of their scoring this weekend came on a Freddie Freeman strikeout in the ninth inning. The ball got away from catcher Pedro Pagés, allowing Shohei Ohtani to score from third to tie it.
Read more: Dodgers place starting pitcher Tony Gonsolin on the injured list
Advertisement
If you blinked, you might have missed that. For the rest of the weekend, the Dodgers went one for 25 with men in scoring position and stranded 21 runners.
They loaded the bases in the third inning and could not score. They got the first two batters on base in the sixth and could not score. They got two of the first three hitters on in the seventh and could not score. They got two runners on in the eighth and would not score then either.
Could not. Would not. Did not.
The Dodgers came to St. Louis leading the majors in runs and as the only team hitting better than .300 with runners in scoring position. Both those numbers have taken a hit with the Dodgers scoring one or fewer runs in three of their last four games, dropping their average to .232 in June.
Advertisement
“We have to have a better team approach, especially with the guys in scoring position,” said shortstop Mookie Betts, who had his second consecutive three-hit game. “But again, that’s part of the game. Early on, we did great.”
“The way things are going right now, our margin is small,” Roberts added. “We’ve got to find a way to capitalize on whatever opportunities we do get. Recently we haven’t.”
As a result they wasted a splendid outing from starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who deserved better after scattering four hits and striking out nine in six scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 2.20.
“That’s part of game,” Yamamoto said through an interpreter. “Sometimes they have my back and then sometimes they struggle and I try to give what I’ve got for them, for the team.”
Advertisement
The Cardinals appeared to have won the game in the eighth when Alec Burleson’s two-out comebacker ricocheted off reliever Ben Casparius to the right of the mound. Casparius (4-1) scrambled after the ball and made a hurried throw to first that pulled Freeman off the bag, allowing Masyn Winn to race home from second.
Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivers against the Cardinals in the first inning Saturday. (Jeff Roberson / Associated Press)
The Dodgers tied the score in the ninth on the wild pitch but the Cardinals wasted no time getting that run back in the bottom of the inning.
Nolan Gorman led off with a ground-rule double to right, then left for pinch-runner Jose Barrero. When Pagés followed with a sacrifice bunt, Casparius again fielded the ball off to the right of the mound and made another poor throw.
Advertisement
“I kind of checked at third, bobbled a little bit. And then got sped up on that throw,” Casparius said. “Ultimately I should have held on to the ball.”
Instead St. Louis had runners at the corner and nobody out when pinch-hitter Nolan Arenado stepped in. The Dodgers stacked the infield with five players, leaving left field open — and that’s where Arenado hit the ball, dropping it just inside the foul line to score Barrero.
The Dodgers have one more chance to get it right Sunday in St. Louis before flying to San Diego for a crucial three-game series with the Padres, who entered their game in Milwaukee late Saturday trailing the Dodgers by a half-game in the National League West.
Advertisement
“We’re in a position to try to salvage the series tomorrow,” Roberts said. “We’ve got Clayton [Kershaw] on the mound and I feel good about the guys behind him.”
But the way those guys are hitting, Kershaw will have to be nearly perfect to have a chance.
Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Read the full article here