Dodgers Drop Fifth Straight Series to Angels – 5/8/21

Drop Sixth Strait Series

Dodgers Drop Fifth Straight Series to Angels – 5/8/21

Sunday afternoon, the Dodgers faced off with the Angels in a rubber match, trying to avoid their fifth straight series loss. Bauer was not his best in his previous outing and didn’t look to have his best stuff today. He managed to turn things around after a rough third inning and kept the game close for the offense. But, his efforts didn’t matter as the offense fell apart with RISP once again and the Dodgers dropped their fifth straight series in a row.

Dodgers had a big night offensively on Saturday.  It looked like it might carry over into this one when the Dodgers loaded the bases in the first inning. Mookie Betts showed some signs of him returning to form.  He battled with Angels starter José Quintana took a 10-pitch walk to start the game. Justin Turner and Max Muncy drew a pair of walks.  Taylor had a chance to get the Dodgers on the board early but flew out to left field to end the inning. Even though the Dodgers didn’t score in the first, they did get Quintana to throw 30 pitches, which they had been doing to starters when they were winning games. So I had a good feeling about the offense in this one.

But the offense had other plans. Ones that are becoming way too familiar every game.

One Run Slides in

The Dodgers did get the first run across in the game in the third inning. Turner and Muncy took their walks once again, putting two on with two out for Taylor. This time CT3 came through with a base hit, and Turner scored easily, giving the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. With Bauer on the mound, a one-run lead felt safe for the time being. 

Well, as we’ve seen so much of lately, leads don’t last very long for the Dodgers, and that was the case today too. Bauer gave up a leadoff base hit, but Smith gunned down the runner trying to steal second, clearing the bases with two down. That’s when things got messy for Bauer. After an infield base hit, he gave up back-to-back walks to Ohtani and Trout. That brought Walsh to the plate, who doubled, driving in two runs and giving the Angels a 2-1 lead. Before today’s game, Bauer was untouchable with RISP and two outs. Hitters were 0-for-10 in these situations against Bauer this year, but if there was the time for a hitter to change that, it was, of course, going to happen when we’re desperate for Dodger wins. 

Bauer settled in after Walsh’s double and didn’t allow another base runner the rest of his outing. It’s usually the home run ball that bites Bauer, but today it was the walks and the double. Outside of the one bad inning, he looked like his regular self on the mound. We didn’t see the usual emotion from Bauer when he struck out hitters, but we did see the strikeout pitch working for him as he set down eight Angels on his four-seamer on one on the knuckle-curve. At 113 pitches, Bauer wanted to come out for more, but Roberts made the right call and ended his day after the sixth.

The Dodgers offense had multiple opportunities to come back in this one. But like we’ve seen over the last two weeks, this team continues to struggle with RISP. They’ve struggled in general to just move runners over without the help from a walk. This game was no different. In four innings, the Dodgers got the leadoff guy on base and never once found a way to bring him home. Seager led off the fifth inning with a double and never made it to third base. It’s the little things like moving runners over that have been detrimental to the Dodgers’ success over recent weeks. According to teamrankings.com, the Dodgers are the worst team in baseball when it comes to leaving runners in scoring position. So it’s not your imagination that the Dodgers have sucked with RISP. They’ve really been THAT bad.

They showed a little bit of fight in the ninth when Mookie walked, and Seager singled, but Turner and Smith weren’t able to bring them home. Dodgers have now dropped five straight series and have gone 2-8 in their last 10. One day there’s hope they’ll turn it around, and the next day, they’re back to looking like a lost team at the plate. They went 1-for-11 with RISP and left 12 men on base. Good luck winning many baseball games this way, no matter how good your pitching is.

Dodgers have the day off tomorrow before heading home for a quick two-game series against the Mariners on Tuesday. First pitch is at 7:10 PM PDT.

For last night’s game recap, click here.

 

Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

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