Dodgers offensive woes continue

The good news is that the Dodgers starting pitching and their bullpen have been – for the most part – very good of late.

The bad news is that their offense has been… well… awful. We’re talking 15 for 104 (.144) in their last three game with only two home runs awful; 0 for 13 with runners in scoring position awful; 21 men left on base awful; just plain awful awful.

In Wednesday night’s painful 2-0 loss to the Miami Marlins – their third straight – the Dodgers mounted only one real scoring opportunity. It came in the bottom of the eighth inning and it came without a hit. Three different Marlins relievers walked Messrs. Chase Utley, Yasmani Grandal and Joc Pederson to load the bases with one out. I mean it doesn’t get any better than this. At worst a fly ball scores one run and at best a simple base hit probably ties the game. But instead, Yasiel Puig swung for the fences and struck out on four pitches and Adrian Gonzalez followed with a routine fly ball to right to end the inning and the Dodgers only offensive threat of the night.

Puig's eighth-inning strikeout with the bases loaded and only one out proved to be the crushing blow for the Dodgers. It was followed by AGon's harmless fly ball to end the inning. (Photo credit - Ron Cervenka)

Puig’s eighth-inning strikeout with the bases loaded and one out was the crushing blow for the Dodgers.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

“I think early we swung the bats okay, hit the ball hard, didn’t really have anything to show for it,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, trying to find a silver lining to a very dark cloud. “You could see guys pressing a little bit. There was some hard contact out there, but when they’re not falling, you start looking at your last three, four games. Some guys start looking at their average and thinking they need to get a hit. And when you feel like you need a hit, they get tougher. I think the guys are coming out of the strike zone a little more than we’re used to.”

An understatement, to say the least. In their last collective 104 at-bats, the Dodgers have struck out a combined 19 times. That’s five more strikeouts than they have hits during that time.

To add insult to injury (literally), rookie shortstop Corey Seager – who is one of very few Dodgers not slumping right now and had one of the Dodgers two hits on Wednesday – fouled a ball off his right shin and may have to sit out for a game or two as a result.

“It’s sore. … There’s nothing there, it’s just bone. So it hurts,” said Seager, with his leg wrapped after the game.

Visions of Andre Ethier ran through the minds of Dodger fans when Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager fouled a ball off his right shin in the fifth inning of Wednesday night's game. However, unlike Ethier, he was able to remain in the game. (Photo credit - Ron Cervenka)

Visions of Andre Ethier flashed through the minds of Dodger fans when Seager fouled a ball off his right shin in the fifth inning of Wednesday night’s game. Fortunately, he was able to remain in the game. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

There is still a bit of good news, the Dodgers are still in first place in the National League West. Unfortunately, their lead is now down to a mere .5 games over a suddenly red-hot San Francisco Giants team – and that’s never a good thing when you’re mired in a losing streak.

 

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7 Responses to “Dodgers offensive woes continue”

  1. SoCalBum says:

    Kike Hernandez with 2 base hits in last 20 at bats after his huge game against Bumgarner. Appeared that he was trying to hit every pitch into the LF bleachers until recently when he has hit the ball hard to the opposite field. Kendrick has not hit all year and hurting the team almost every game he plays 3b.

  2. OldBrooklynFan says:

    It’s Mattingly 3 Dodgers 0, at the moment. The team better go find their hitting shoes. I’m happy to see Kenta Maeda going against Jose Fernandez. Other than Kershaw, Maeda is our best bet, but they better come out of this hitting slump and avoid being swept by the lowly Marlins.

  3. blake says:

    This team just let the worst manager in dodger history get bragging rights. What a pathetic showing

  4. Bluenose Dodger says:

    Not sure he was the worst manager in Dodger history as the only one to get to the post season three years in a row. We just got Mattinglyeyed.

    The Marlins have some good young players and may not stay as the lowly Marlins for too long. They played like the Dodgers should have played.

    The Dee Gordon disaster will not help their cause.

  5. ebbetsfld says:

    Does it bother anyone else that Gordon got the suspension right after the game? And Mattingly was far from the worst manager in Dodger history, do you not remember Grady Little or Davey Johnson? And they were just recent fiascos.

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