September is when aspiring World Series contenders look to begin rounding into playoff form. But for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the opposite is happening. On Thursday night, the Dodgers suffered a 5-3 defeat to the Pittsburgh Pirates to round out their three-game set against the last-placed team in the NL Central — capping off a sweep for the Pirates in a worrying run of games for the NL West leader.
It's one thing to lose a game or two to a team as down in the standings as the Pirates are. But for a powerhouse team like the Dodgers to lose three in a row? That can be very concerning, especially with the playoffs looming and the NL West crown not yet locked up. It was always going to be difficult for LA to win on Thursday, seeing as Pittsburgh had talisman Paul Skenes on the mound.
But for the reigning World Series champion, this kind of play falls so short of the lofty standards fans have been expecting out of them considering the talent they have at their disposal — with the Pirates sweeping them for the first time in a decade, as per Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Thus, in the aftermath of being swept, the Dodgers were clowned on social media.
“Idc if yall the World Series champs yall still trash to me and yall getting embarrassed in the playoffs,” X user @Lano_Nicee wrote.
“#Dodgers are swept like the trash they are. It's September and this team doesn't want it at all. It's really disheartening,” @ImAndrewFrancis added.
“Dodgers are trash….. No emotion….. No manager…. Play small ball when you can't score runs mix it up. ROBERTS SUCKS,” @Grady10101 expressed.
“the Dodgers getting swept by the lowly Pirates is like the Rams losing to the lowly Raiders and Saints in back to back weeks,” @Jrodlaca furthered.
Dodgers look to right the ship with (relatively) easy schedule
It's not right at all to say that the Dodgers have an easy next few games ahead of them considering that nothing comes easy for them at the moment after their series sweep to the Pirates.
But at the very least, they will be facing two teams with losing records in their next two series, namely the Baltimore Orioles and Colorado Rockies, with the latter boasting the worst record in MLB this year. The Rockies series will be coming at home as well. If they don't right the ship by then, that's when the alarm bells must be rung.
