What started as a promising week turned into a troubling weekend for the Dodgers in Arizona.
The Dodgers swept the visiting Colorado Rockies in a two-game series on Monday and Tuesday.
The Dodgers extended the winning streak to three games in their first game of a four-game series against the Diamondbacks on Thursday. But it went downhill quickly from there.
The Dodgers lost three games in a row to the Diamondbacks over the weekend and went from leading the National League West standings with a 5-2 record, to third place with a 5-5 record.
Usually reliable Clayton Kershaw took the loss on Friday night, 6-3. Noah Syndergaard followed by taking the loss on Saturday, 12-8. Michael Grove took a beating on Sunday in an 11-6 loss.
There is plenty of blame to go around for the recent woes. The starting pitching was far from effective. Kershaw gave up four runs on seven hits in six innings. It wasn’t horrible, but certainly not good enough to win.
Syndergaard gave up six runs on eight hits in four innings. He didn’t give the Dodgers much of a chance to win that game.
Grove had the worst starting performance of the weekend, giving up nine runs on 12 hits in 3 ⅓ innings.
The Diamondbacks scored 31 runs in the four games against the Dodgers.
“We got beat in every facet,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told the Associated Press after the loss on Sunday.
The Dodgers are all of a sudden struggling for sure. As bad as the starters were over the weekend, some of the hitters are making matters worse.
Since hitting three home runs and driving in eight runs in one game, Trayce Thompson is 1-for-9.
Max Muncy went 1-for-10 in the three losses to the Diamondbacks and drove in only one run. He is batting .121 (4-for-33) after the first two weeks of the season.
Dave Peralta went 1-for-7 with one RBI in the three losses to the Diamondbacks. He is batting .174 (4-for-23).
Chris Taylor hasn’t been much help in the batter’s box so far either. He is hitting .125 and is 3-for-24.
But it’s not like the Dodgers aren’t scoring runs. They scored 22 in the four games against the Diamondbacks, 5.5 per game, and scored 14 in the final two games of the series.
Freddie Freeman is keeping the offense churning, batting .421 (16-for-38) in 10 games. Will Smith is batting .357 (10-for-28) with three home runs and 11 RBIs in eight games. And James Outman continues to impress with three home runs and nine RBIs in 10 games.
No team is pulling away in the NL West standings. Those pesky San Diego Padres and the Diamondbacks are in first place with 6-4 records. The Dodgers are a game behind, followed by the San Francisco Giants at 4-5.
The Dodgers have plenty of time to turn things around. But it’s not a good sign the Diamondbacks gave them so much trouble over the weekend.
Dodgers starting pitcher power rankings:
- Dustin May
- Julio Urias
- Clayton Kershaw
- Noah Syndergaard
- Michael Grove
The Dodgers start a three-game series against the Giants on Monday and finish with a three-game weekend series against the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium.
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