Inconsistency haunts Dodgers again during loss to

PITTSBURGH — Now is the time, Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts believes, for his staff’s depth to rise.

And if the exterior pressures of a tight National League West race, postseason seeding implications and a looming World Series title protection in October don’t do it, then possibly, he hopes, elevated inside battles for enjoying time will.

For a while on Tuesday night time, in a collection opener against the perpetually rebuilding Pittsburgh Pirates, the Dodgers confirmed battle. Clayton Kershaw gave up 4 runs in an ugly first inning, but the lineup clawed its manner back to even the rating — thanks, in half, to a 120-mph rocket of a home run from Shohei Ohtani in the third, his forty sixth of the season and a hundredth as a Dodger and a tying solo blast from Andy Pages in the fourth.

Kershaw, meanwhile, settled down to get through 5 innings without any more injury, retiring 13 of his remaining 15 batters to put the Dodgers in place for a come-from-behind win.

Instead…

The bullpen faltered, with Edgardo Henriquez (who hadn’t given up a run in his first 12 outings this 12 months) and Blake Treinen (who had finally began wanting like himself again after an early-season elbow injury) combining for three runs conceded to break the tie in the sixth.

The lineup couldn’t overcome another big deficit, scoring twice in the seventh only for the Pirates to get the runs back in the next two innings.

And once more, the Dodgers fell to a staff miles behind them in the standings, dropping 9-7 at PNC Park to drop their tenth sport out of the last 14 against opponents with dropping data this season.

“There were different points in the game that we showed some life,” Roberts said. “And then, unfortunately, we just couldn’t kind of put up that zero to build off of it.”

Still, the Dodgers’ incapability to beat unhealthy groups has underscored a persistent issue with the membership.

They’ve been inconsistent, struggling to stack clean performances or any semblance of an prolonged successful streak. They’ve at instances lacked urgency, failing to draw back from the slumping Padres in the division or get back in place for a top-two NL playoff seed (which might give them an all-important first-round bye in the postseason).

For all their efforts to rally on Tuesday, they also noticed each of their three outfielders fail to snag robust but catchable balls, an eighth-inning wild pitch by Anthony Banda led to one key insurance coverage run and a normal lack of execution price them in other key spots (like when they managed only one run from a bases-loaded, no-out state of affairs in the second).

“Obviously we didn’t play well. We all know that,” shortstop Mookie Betts said. “Don’t have to necessarily have a team come-to-Jesus [moment] about it. We’ve just got to find ways to win games. There’s no secret formula about it. It doesn’t matter if a team’s below .500 or above .500. Especially right now, we’ve got to find ways to win games. We’re not doing it.”

Still, neither a delicate spot in the schedule nor the realities of the calendar has remedied that issue.

Thus, Roberts highlighted another potential answer in his pregame handle — acknowledging that gamers who don’t step up their efficiency soon may see their enjoying time get cut as the roster returns to full health.

“We got some guys coming back, and guys are gonna get opportunities,” Roberts said. “As we get into September, where all these games certainly matter, you got to have guys that you trust.”

On Monday, when MLB rosters expanded to 28 gamers, the Dodgers (78-60) activated two key items from the injured checklist: Infielder Hyeseong Kim, who had been out since late July with a shoulder injury; and reliever Michael Kopech, who had been restricted to eight appearances this 12 months because of arm troubles and a meniscus surgical procedure in his knee.

Next homestand, more reinforcements could possibly be on the way in which, with Max Muncy and Tommy Edman starting rehab assignments with triple-A Oklahoma City this week.

Before long, the Dodgers’ long-shorthanded depth chart may all of a sudden be crowded. And as a end result, robust selections may loom in left area, at second base and in the bullpen — forcing the problems for a quantity of gamers at varied spots on the roster.

“I do think just kind of naturally it raises the level of performance and intensity,” Roberts said, pointing to veteran infielder Miguel Rojas as one instance of somebody who is “fighting for playing time” with not too long ago improved play.

“I tip my cap to him,” Roberts said. “I’m expecting that from a lot of other guys as well.”

Roberts said Edman will play largely heart fielder during his rehab stint, one thing he had been unable to do earlier this season while battling an ankle injury. Once he’s back, that means somebody such as Michael Conforto (who went 0 for 3 with a stroll Tuesday to dip to .189 on the season in batting average) may drop to the bench, leaving the nook outfield spots for Pages and Teoscar Hernández.

In the infield, Kim will probably determine in at second base (though may also kick out to left area, where he noticed time during his own latest rehab task). That will create one more slice in an infield pie that is already being divvied between Rojas, Kiké Hernandez and Alex Freeland. Once Muncy is back at third, at-bats shall be at even more of a premium.

The same state of affairs may unfold in the bullpen, which is able to also get Alex Vesia and Brock Stewart back this month from their own accidents. That will raise the stress on struggling offseason signings Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates to continue incomes leverage alternatives.

How it all shakes out stays unclear.

But where there are more choices, the Dodgers imagine, better manufacturing — and depth — will comply with. To this level, nothing else appears to be constantly raising the staff’s degree of play.