If it seems to you like the 2013 Dodgers just can’t win more than two games in a row, you would be 100% correct.

The painful truth is that the Dodgers have won three games in a row exactly once this entire season – yes, I said once. That aberration occurred way back on April 5-7 against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Dodger Stadium. And while Dodger manager Don Mattingly likes to puff out his chest and brag about how many series his team has won over the past month, one single three-game winning streak is not what you would expect from a team with as much talent as the 2013 Dodgers have.

Here’s one for you – even the worst team in the American League, the Houston Astros, have had a six-game winning streak; and it get’s worse from here. The only other teams in all of baseball with only a single three-game winning streak are the Miami Marlins and the Seattle Mariners. Still feeling good about winning those series, Don?

As most baseball analysts will tell you, teams must play at least .500 baseball on the road and above .600 baseball at home if they are to have any hopes of making it into the post-season, and in many cases they must do even better than that. Through 57 games, the Dodgers are 9-17 on the road (.346) and 16-15 at home (.516). That’s a combined record of 25-32 (.439), good enough for last place in the NL West and 8.5 games behind the division-leading Diamondbacks. Still feeling good about winning those series, Don?

To compound matters, the team with the second best record in the MLB right now, the Atlanta Braves, roll into Dodger Stadium tonight to begin a four-game series. And while I am confident that the Dodgers will not be swept by the smoking hot Braves, they will definitely be lucky to split the series – especially when you consider that the Braves will miss Clayton Kershaw, who pitched (and lost) last night. Should the Dodgers lose 3 of 4 or (lord forbid) should they get swept by the Braves, the Dodgers will most likely fall to 10 games back of the D-backs, who just so happen to be the team that rolls into The Ravine when the Braves roll out.

If the Dodgers have to face Braves closer Craig Kimbrel in the next four days, their chances of winning are very slim. Kimbrel has converted 17 of 20 save opportunities and has an ERA of 1.93. (Photo credit – Justin K. Aller)

To put it bluntly, if the Dodgers are unable to win four of the next seven games, they could conceivably be out of the race by the time that they leave town on June 13 to begin a nine-game road trip that will take them through Pittsburgh, New York (Yankees) and San Diego before returning home on June 24 to take on the defending World Champion Giants (man, I hate saying that).

There is no easy way to put it – if the Dodgers do not play above .500 ball over the next three weeks, they are toast.