Dodgers’ Recent Struggles Pushed them Back to Third Place

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

The Dodgers have performed rather poorly in the last couple of weeks. They have only won 1 series in their last 4. While it hasn’t been great, there are many signs to be happy about.

Tolling loss to blame for recent skid?

The Dodgers have had some tough opposite in their stretch. It all started with their NL West division rivals, the San Francisco Giants. They got off to a good start as they were able to win a close 4-3 game. It marked their 4th win in a row against the Giants after having swept them in San Francisco the week before.

Then THE GAME happened. The Dodgers were unfortunately on the losing end of what has arguably been the game of the year. The Giants had a commanding 5-2 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning. Austin Barnes tied it with a thrilling 3-run home run with the Dodgers down to their final out. Momentum was with the Dodgers right? Well yes, for the next couple of pitches.

Pujols almost the hero the Dodgers needed

Pujols stepped up right after Barnes and quickly got into a 2-strike count. Pujols sent one to deep left field and many in the Dodgers dugout came out over the rails to begin the celebration. Many in the stands also started jumping in excitement just waiting for it to hit those famous bleachers. Tauchman had another thing on his mind however. He leapt from the warning track and brought it back to send it into extra innings.

The momentum was back with the Giants and the Dodgers haven’t really found the momentum since then. They went on to lose the game in the very next inning 5-8. Then they proceeded to lose 6 out of their next 9 games. Of course we can’t just say that they are in a rut simply because they’ve lost 6 of their last 9.

Tough schedule to blame for Dodgers struggles

The Dodgers had tough opposition in the past couple of weeks. They split a tough 2-game series in Houston, then lost 3 of 4 to the Giants, won 2 of 3 against the Cardinals and lost 2 of 3 against the Braves. All these teams very much in the mix in winning their respective divisions. It’s not that the Dodgers have been struggling in the past few weeks, it’s that their schedule has been tough