Dodgers misery only gets worse after walk-off loss to Tigers

DETROIT –– For the Dodgers right now, everything feels so tedious and difficult.

Their offense has been maddening, either struggling to generate scoring chances or finding ways to waste them with poorly-timed double-plays and empty situational at-bats.

Their pitching staff has operated under constant threat, throwing like they know even one potential mistake could be the difference between a win and a loss.

It has created a gloomy atmosphere around the team in recent weeks, where frustration is high and momentum rarely lasts.

And on Saturday, that miserable grind became even more tiresome, as they slogged their way to a 2-1 walk-off loss to the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.

“We’re all frustrated. We know we should be better,” Roberts said. “But again, now it’s more of, ‘What are we gonna do about it?’ So that’s kind of where my head is at.”

Even before Kevin McGonigle’s game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth, little about the afternoon looked all too enjoyable for the two-time defending champions.

Blake Snell labored through a five-inning, one-run, 99-pitch start. The offense managed just six hits in an unopportunistic performance that featured six men left on base and a 1-for-6 mark with runners in scoring position.

“For some reason, the big hit is not happening right now,” said outfielder Teoscar Hernández, one of several big-name veterans enduring coinciding slumps at the plate. “You just gotta look back and see what we can do better, and just go the next day and execute it.”

Try as they might, however, the Dodgers have not been able to course-correct yet.

Saturday’s loss dropped them to 1-4 on this road trip. They are also 12-15 over their last 27 games, and 22-24 over their last 46.

“I don’t know what’s missing,” Roberts said, when asked specifically of an offense that ranks bottom-10 in the majors in scoring since the start of July. “I know the work is there. I know the will is there. I know the talent is there. But yeah, we just haven’t put it together in quite some time consistently … I gotta think about what I can do to spur this offense.”

---

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

Saturday was a familiar story. The Dodgers didn’t have a single runner in scoring position through the first five innings, offering little resistance to Tigers right-hander Keider Montero. Then, even after they finally broke through in the sixth on a Freddie Freeman RBI single, they wasted a bases-loaded opportunity with their MLB-leading 111th double-play of the season, this time off the bat of Tommy Edman on a down-the-middle, hitter’s-count cutter.

Another leadoff double would be stranded in the seventh, as would a one-out single in the ninth.

“Honestly, I think every night is different,” Roberts said. “Whether it’s not having a good two-strike approach, not hitting with runners in scoring position, situationally, getting a lead-off guy on, controlling the strike zone — whatever.”

“I think it’s just more of just being more fine in our process, trying to hone in on what we have done not well and how we can resolve it, get better,” he added.

Snell made sure to at least keep the team in the game early, striking out 10 batters to post a 1.17 ERA in four starts since returning from the injured list. However, the two-time Cy Young Award winner battled familiar efficiency problems, nibbling around the strike zone all afternoon in pursuit of what –– given the Dodgers’ offensive woes –– felt like necessary perfection.

“It is a toll,” Roberts said. “You feel like you can’t give up a run or we lose. And that’s not the way it should be, certainly with this offense.”

Indeed, it turned out that even the one run Snell allowed, which came on a Gleyber Torres RBI double in the third, was too much to overcome.

Instead, the Dodgers held the 1-1 tie until Jack Dreyer entered in the ninth.

Then, in what was their 15th one-run game this month, they watched another winnable contest slip through their fingers, after Javier Báez laced a leadoff double, a pair of walks loaded the bases, and McGonigle ended it with a deep fly to left-center that bounced over the wall and ended the game.

“[We have to] just come tomorrow with a new mentality,” Hernández said. “And just try to win.”