Dodgers Find Their Backs to the Wall Ahead of Game 4

All year long, we’ve heard about the superteam that is the Los Angeles Dodgers. After all, they were the two-time defending World Series champions. In addition, they hoped to become the first back-to-back-to-back champs since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees.

The Dodgers made moves, signing Kyle Tucker in free agency to bolster an already loaded lineup. At the trade deadline, they picked up Tarik Skubal from the Tigers to put another front of the rotation starter in the mix. They rolled to their fifth straight NL West crown and their 13th in the last 14 years with a 100-62 record. Los Angeles brushed aside Atlanta in four games in the NL Division Series and seemed primed to cruise to another title.

Instead, the wheels have come off in the NL Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers.

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Are the Dodgers Doomed?

Los Angeles finds themselves in a 3-0 series hole after falling 6-2 at home Wednesday night to the Brewers. The Dodgers saw their offense sputter in this series as they totaled just seven runs in the first three games.

First pitch from Dodger Stadium is scheduled for 8 pm ET.

What’s Gone Wrong?

For starters, their ballyhooed lineup simply hasn’t delivered in this series. In the first three games of the set, the Dodgers are hitting a putrid .165 as a team with 25 strikeouts in 91 at-bats. In addition, they have just two doubles and no home runs in the first three games of the set. Meanwhile, Milwaukee is hitting .281 with two doubles and five homers in 96 at-bats in this series.

Guys aren’t hitting with any kind of success in the series. Mookie Betts is three-for-12 in the first three games. Freddie Freeman and Will Smith are each one-for-11, Max Muncy is one-for-nine and Andy Pages is one-for-eight. That doesn’t even begin to touch Shohei Ohtani and his issues in the postseason. He is two-for-nine with three whiffs in the series.

Pitching Problems

Let’s start with the bullpen. Quite simply, they haven’t done the job. The Dodgers’ relief corps has posted a 0-1 mark with a 4.76 ERA (six earned runs over 11.1 innings of work). In addition, they’ve allowed 14 hits and seven walks in that span, giving them a WHIP of 1.853 from the bullpen. Five of the eight relievers to see work in this series surrendered runs.

The starting rotation has been good but unspectacular. Skubal threw five innings, allowing two runs on five hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in Game 1, which the Dodgers dropped 2-1. Yoshinoby Yamamoto was roughed up in Game 2, giving up three runs on four hits with two walks and a strikeout over 2.2 innings in a 7-4 defeat. Blake Snell threw in Game 3, working six innings, giving up four runs on four hits with two walks and nine strikeouts in a 6-2 loss.

Snell pitched well in the first six frames, allowing one run on two hits with one walk and nine whiffs. However, Dave Roberts made a mistake sending him out for the seventh. Andrew Vaughn worked a walk on a 78-mph curve up in the zone on a full count. After fouling off three pitches on a full count, Jake Bauers clobbered a 97-mph fastball middle-middle into the seats, and the Brewers led 3-2. Two pitches later, Garrett Mitchell smashed an 86-mpg changeup 428 feet for a 4-2 lead and that was that.

What’s Next?

Los Angeles now sends Tyler Glasnow to the mound in Game 4 against Milwaukee’s Shane Drohan in hopes to keep their season alive. The odds clearly are against the Dodgers at this point. After all, only one team has rallied from a 3-0 series deficit in the postseason. That, of course, was the 2004 Boston Red Sox, who went on to win the World Series for the first time since 1918.

We’ll see if the Dodgers force Game 5. The one game at a time mantra carries on here. The Dodgers are a -155 moneyline favorite with the over/under set at eight runs at Fanatics Sportsbook for Thursday’s Game 4.