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The Los Angeles Dodgers were red-hot, going 15-3 since mid June and running their division lead up to nine games. Then Los Angeles got blown out by the Houston Astros in the worst defeat in Dodger Stadium history. The rout began a losing streak that the team extended to four straight in a 9-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday.
Manager Dave Roberts isn’t ready to hit the panic button. But he did acknowledge that the Dodgers need to turn things around as he challenged the team to improve.
“We just couldn't put anything together… You look back four, five days ago, things looked more positive. But this is a time for us to look at ourselves and be better,” Roberts said following Monday’s loss, per SportsNet LA.
The Dodgers’ struggles continue with fourth straight loss
“I just feel that with the guys we have, we just gotta play better. We gotta pitch better, we gotta defend better, we gotta take more competitive at-bats and we’re just not doing any of those things right now,” Roberts added.
The Dodgers have been outscored 38-7 over their four-game losing streak and the offense has only managed to plate two runs in the last 23 innings.
On Monday, the damage was done in a five-run first inning for the Brewers. Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto had the worst start of his career, allowing five runs (three earned) on four hits and two walks in 2/3 of an inning. Roberts had to pull Yamamoto early, straining the bullpen further as the team used six different pitchers in the 9-1 loss.
Yamamoto almost escaped the first inning, inducing a routine grounder to short from Caleb Durbin with two on and two out. But Mookie Betts committed an ugly throwing error that allowed another run to score and the inning continued. After Andruw Monasterio's RBI single in the following at-bat, Yamamoto got the hook.
The Dodgers' once commanding nine-game lead in the NL West is down to 6.5 as the Padres and the Giants attempt to get back in the division race. Los Angeles will call on Clayton Kershaw to snap the losing streak, sending the future Hall of Famer to the mound on Tuesday. However, the Dodgers will face Brewers rookie phenom Jacob Misiorowski.
