The Los Angeles Dodgers scored 12 runs, including a five-run ninth-inning rally on Sunday to leave Denver with a comeback victory and series win. However, in three games against the Miami Marlins since that point — all losses — the Dodgers have merely managed to scrap together a combined five runs.
Los Angeles suffered their first shutout loss of the season on Wednesday, which also coincided with their first three-game losing streak of the 2016 season. They managed just two hits over 7.1 innings against left-hander Justin Nicolino, who was recalled from Triple-A New Orleans to make his first start this year.
“Early we swung the bats OK, hit the ball hard, didn’t have anything to show for it, and at that point [Nicolino] really settled in,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after his club’s loss.
“You could see guys pressing a little bit. There was some hard contact but when they’re not falling, you start looking at your last four or five games. Some guys are looking at their average and wanting to get hits. When you feel like you need to get a hit, it gets tougher. I think guys are coming out of the strike zone a little bit.”
The futile offensive performance came one night after Roberts lamented the quality of Dodgers’ at-bats. Clayton Kershaw had two of their six hits, and drove in one of the three runs scored. “Kersh put the best at-bats, it seemed like, all night. Without those at-bats, I don’t know how much offense we had,” Roberts said on Tuesday.
The first-year manager allowed there was improvement in quality of at-bats on Wednesday, results not necessarily withstanding. Roberts was particularly pleased with the Dodgers loading the bases in the eighth inning on three consecutive walks drawn by pinch-hitters Chase Utley, Yasmani Grandal and Joc Pederson.
A.J. Ellis said he doesn’t believe the offense is pressing. “I don’t think so, I hope not. We’re 22 games into this thing, so there’s an ebb and flow. Coming off the highs of a weekend in Colorado, especially with the win Sunday,” Ellis said.
“It would have been nice to have some carry over into this week but again, that Marlins team got hot up in San Francisco. They’re swinging the bats well, Stanton is dangerous again, it’s a tough matchup. They’ve thrown the ball extremely well and really limited out scoring opportunities.”
Entering Thursday, the Dodgers rank eight overall with 99 runs scored, 15th in batting average (.247), 11th in on-base percentage (.321), 25th in slugging (.377), 18th in wOBA (.308) and 22nd in wRC+ (89).
