Dodgers funk continues as slumping offense,…
There was blame to go around for the Dodgers on Monday night time.
In a 9-3 loss to the San Francisco Giants, their slumping offense remained in a funk.
But this time, in what was the crew’s thirteenth loss in 22 video games, the pitching employees didn’t offer a lot assist either, with Roki Sasaki grinding through another start and a sometimes stout bullpen struggling a late-game collapse.
The decisive sequence got here in the seventh inning, when the Giants broke open a tied recreation with three runs against Alex Vesia –– who entered the night time having beforehand allowed just two all season.
Roki Sasaki throws a pitch during the Dodgers’ May 11 recreation against the Giants. AP
He yielded three-straight one-out hits, then walked Rafael Devers in a full-count to plate the go-ahead run.
Will Klein changed him on the mound making an attempt to clean up the mess. Instead, he hung a two-strike, two-out sweeper to Willy Adames, who lined a two-run single to proper to break the sport open.
The sequence represented a uncommon meltdown from the Dodgers’ reduction corps, which started the day with the fourth-best ERA in the majors.
But, given the dreadful latest kind of the Dodgers’ struggling lineup, it was more than enough to put the sport out of attain –– even on a night time Mookie Betts returned from a strained indirect and went 1-for-5.
Up until the seventh, Monday had been a back-and-forth affair.
The Giants (17-24) scored first on a solo homer from Devers in the second inning, with the San Francisco slugger getting a hanging splitter at the end of an eight-pitch at-bat against Sasaki.
Alex Vesia prepares to throw a pitch during the Dodgers’ May 11 recreation. IMAGN IMAGES via GWN Connect
The Dodgers (24-17) answered back in the underside of the fourth, manufacturing a couple runs from a bases-loaded, no-out alternative.
The Giants retook the lead in the sixth, when the Dodgers caught with Sasaki a little too long at the end of his five-plus-inning, three-run start. After escaping his own bases-loaded jam in the third, then retiring eight batters in a row with improved fastball command, Sasaki gave up three-straight hits to start the sixth, including a two-run double Heliot Ramos pulled down the road.
Roki Sasaki reacts after getting pulled during the Dodgers’ May 11 loss to the Giants. AP
That 3-2 benefit didn’t last long. In the underside of the sixth, Max Muncy belted a leadoff home run, going the other manner for his team-leading eleventh long ball of the yr.
However, the Giants would in the end surge back in entrance again.
And once they did, the Dodgers couldn’t muster any more solutions.
What it means
The Dodgers have repeatedly insisted their latest slide is one thing every crew endures in a 162-game season.
Every time they endure another outcome like Monday’s, however, that argument turns into harder to keep making. Slowly but certainly, larger considerations continue to come up.
Download The California Post App, comply with us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters
California Post News: Facebook, Instagram, TikTook, X, YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedIn
California Post Sports Facebook, Instagram, TikTook, YouTube, X
California Post Opinion
California Post Newsletters: Sign up right here!
California Post App: Download right here!
Home supply: Sign up right here!
Page Six Hollywood: Sign up right here!
The largest one proper now stays the impotence of their offense. Though they racked up 10 hits Monday, only three have been extra-base knocks. And amid their lack of slug, they haven’t been good situationally, either, going just 2-for-10 with runners in scoring place in this latest loss.
Add it all up, and the Dodgers have now scored three runs or fewer in 9 of their last 12 video games –– eight of which have been losses.
To make issues worse: The crew is now back in second place in the National League West, trailing the Padres by half a recreation.
Who’s sizzling
For the first time in a while, Teoscar Hernández.
Entering the night time, the veteran slugger was hitting just .196 over his earlier 26 video games. He hadn’t recorded an extra-base knock since April 21.
Because of that, supervisor Dave Roberts dropped him to the No. 8 spot in the batting order, making an attempt to shake issues up for the two-time All-Star.
Then, proper on cue, Hernández responded, going 2-for-3 with a third-inning double, plus an spectacular sliding catch in left area on the first pitch of the sport.
Who’s not
Shohei Ohtani … still.
Shohei Ohtani reacts after hanging out during the Dodgers’ May 11 recreation. AP
Despite taking another spherical of pregame batting follow on the sphere (already his third time doing so this yr), the slugger remained ice cold on Monday, going 0-for-5 to lengthen a latest 4-for-38 hunch over his last 11 video games.
Two of Ohtani’s outs got here in situational alternatives, grounding out to second in both the third and sixth innings with a runner at second.
Those swings continued his downside of pulling the ball on the ground –– a key purpose he has just one home run in his last 107 plate appearances.
On the season, Ohtani’s batting average is now down to .233 and his OPS to .767, his worst marks this late into a season since 2022.
Up next
The Dodgers and Giants continue this four-game collection on Tuesday. Yoshinobu Yamamoto (3-2, 3.09) will face right-hander Adrian Houser (0-4, 6.19 ERA) on the mound.
Stay up to date with the latest trending topics! Visit our web site daily for the freshest Sports news and content, fastidiously curated to keep you informed.
