This is not how Dodgers manager Dave Roberts envisioned September going for his team. The club beat the Padres 1-0 on September 1, improving to 92-41. Since then, the Dodgers have failed to win a game, suffering 10 consecutive defeats: three to the Padres, three to the Diamondbacks, and four to the Rockies. In a slightly larger picture, the Dodgers have lost 15 of their last 16 ballgames.
Assuming Dodgers lose today...
— Bill Baer (@Baer_Bill) September 10, 2017
Dodgers, June 2 to August 25 (70 games): 14 losses
Dodgers, August 26 to September 10 (16 games): 15 losses
The Dodgers suffered an 8-1 loss to the Rockies on Sunday afternoon. The Rockies scored twice against Rich Hill over his five innings of work and Mark Reynolds put the cherry on top of the sundae with an eighth-inning grand slam off of Walker Buehler. Tony Wolters tacked on an RBI single for good measure and Trevor Story drilled a solo homer in the ninth. Tyler Chatwood started and tossed five shutout innings. Carlos Estevez, Mike Dunn, Scott Oberg, and Adam Ottavino stymied the Dodgers over the final four frames. Alex Verdugo hit his first major league home run, a solo shot, in the bottom of the ninth, but it was too little, too late.
Entering Sunday’s action, Dodger pitching combined to put up a 6.24 ERA in the nine previous games between September 2-9. That includes 14 home runs allowed in 79 1/3 innings. The offense had combined to hit a thoroughly unimpressive .197/.255/.340 in 319 plate appearances since September 2.
The 88-55 Nationals, who clinched the NL East on Sunday, have made up some ground to the 92-51 Dodgers in the race for home field advantage.
