September 8th, 2013 at 6:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka On Saturday the Dodgers lost their third straight games for the first time since June 8-10. That was three months ago and without looking it up, I would be willing to bet that no other team in Major League Baseball this season has gone three months without losing three in a row, so there is no need to panic.
…or is there?
With the Cincinnati Reds kicking, scratching and clawing to win the NL Central to avoid being forced into a one-game Wild Card playoff against their division rival Cardinals or Pirates, they are in essence treating every game as if it were a playoff game and have developed a must-win attitude. This would account for their current three-game winning streak, including two against the Dodgers.
Trailing 2-1, Yasiel Puig muscled a Mat Latos slider that may have been off the plate for a two-run home run to left-center field in the second inning of Saturday’s game. The Dodgers would not score again.
(Video capture courtesy of Fox Sports)
In contrast, the Dodgers seem to have developed an attitude that their 11 game lead in the NL West makes them a shoo-in for the World Series and are merely treading water until then. There’s only one problem with this attitude – they haven’t won the Division yet and are playing in a manner that suggests that even if they do (and they will), they will be lucky not to be three and out in the NLDS regardless of who it is against, and even luckier to win the NLCS, which could very well be against these sames Reds.
The point here is that the Dodgers have run into a Cincinnati Reds team that is a lot hungrier than they are right now; a championship-caliber team with a championship-caliber attitude. And when they finish up their three-game series with the Reds later today, the Dodgers will return home to begin a three-game series against a very desperate Arizona Diamondback team that may not be as good the Reds but are every bit as hungry.
As they have done so many times in recent years, the Dodgers seem to again quit playing once they score two or three early runs. In doing so, they are getting caught and passed by their opponents in the latter innings (or extra innings), which is exactly what the Dodgers did to their opponents when they went on their 52-14 run since June 22 – before arriving at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, that is.
This is not to say that the Dodgers aren’t trying, they most certainly are. But they are once again giving away at bats and are again not hitting with runners in scoring position, not to mention running themselves out of innings with some embarrassing base running gaffs.
To be fair, the Dodgers aren’t getting a lot of help from their manager either. In games of this magnitude against a legitimate post-season contender, why wouldn’t Don Mattingly put his best nine out there, if for no other reason than to give them some experience against a playoff-bound team? No one is disputing how valuable Skip Schumaker, Jerry Hairston Jr., Nick Punto or even newcomer Michael Young are to this team, but Mark Ellis and Juan Uribe are unquestionably the best choices for second and third base respectively – especially Uribe.
And then there’s the pinch running. Why on earth would Mattingly have Nick Punto pinch run for Adrian Gonzalez, who led off the top of the 10th inning in Saturday’s game with a single, instead of Dee Gordon? There is absolutely no question that Gordon is a much bigger threat to steal than Punto, and Gordon’s mere presence on first base would get into Reds reliever J.J. Hoover’s head – kind of like what Billy Hamilton did to Paco Rodriguez on Friday and Brian Wilson yesterday. This would have undoubtedly forced Hoover to throw more fastballs instead of his filthy curveball, thus helping Dodger hitters. Ironically, former MLB manager and current DodgerTalk Radio host Kevin Kennedy posted this exact thing on Twitter the instant that Punto replaced Gonzalez:
There is certainly no need to cry wolf over the Dodgers current three-game losing streak. That is, of course, unless it becomes a four, five or six-game losing streak – or worse. The remedy is to return to playing with heart and with a sense of urgency.
It’s all about attitude, and as we all know, attitude is everything.
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That has been a concern for me. That is, the Dodgers would clinch and mark time which might be difficult not to do.
Hopefully they are not marking time now. The Dee Gordon thing is just a head scratcher since the Dodgers have witnessed the Billy Hamilton effect.
It is quite understandable to want to rest your players in preparation for the post-season but to rest two, three or even four of them on the same day is like conceding defeat for that game. I realize that you can’t win ’em all, but when playing a team like the Reds (or any other possible post-season contender), you need to field your best nine.
There is simply no explanation for the Dee Gordon pinch runner situation. This is exactly why he was called up on September 1 – Heaven knows it wasn’t for his shortstop or hitting prowess. There is no argument that Billy Hamilton is the faster of the two, but Gordon is still exceptionally fast and definitely gets into the head of opposing pitchers, catchers and middle infielders – and that is a very valuable weapon.
I simply do not understand bringing in Nick Punto to pinch run after AGon’s leadoff single in the T-10. I understand pulling AGon, who is unquestionably the slowest guy on the team, but if you are going to yank your best overall hitter and Gold Glove first baseman at the most crucial point in the game (which is basically saying ‘it’s now or never’), why would you not bring in your fastest runner on the team instead of Punto?
Punto remained in the game at 3B after his useless pinch running appearance. He could have just as easily came in the game as a replacement for Michael Young (who moved over to 1B to replace AGon) without having been used as a pinch runner – which should have been Gordon.
These are the little things (which end up being big things) that Mattingly seems to do on a regular basis that end up leading to a loss.
I was actually quite surprised when Dusty Baker did not pinch run Hamilton after pinch hitter Chris Heisey walked to leadoff the B-9, but by not doing so and using Hamilton in the B-10 makes Baker now look like a genius – and we all know that isn’t true.
The only excuse for not putting Gordon in there to pinch run for Gonzalez would be if there is an injury of some sort. None of us understand Mattingly’s thinking in that situation. I found it curious that when Gordon had the bunt single on Friday, when he hit for Moylan, he made no attempt to steal. Could it be possible that when he got hit in the head/neck with that throw that he came up injured?
I think this year if we have learned anything is that there is the ministry of misinformation when it comes to injuries. Time and time again, information is slow to trickle out about the existence and extent of injury. Gordon may have some sort of minor injury and since the Dodgers are obviously in “coast-mode,” Mattingly didn’t want to risk it? I just don’t get the advantage of not announcing that Gordon may have some sort of issue. Are the Reds going to do something different if it is known Gordon is not going to be used? To me that is a bit of a stretch. It also makes Mattingly look like he made a bad choice, but for me the only thing that makes sense is that Gordon has some minor injury.
For me the biggest thing is lack of quality at bats. Many look like they are not focused at the plate. Even though he has gotten a few hits over the past week, AGon has had some really bad at bats, swinging at pitches out of the strike zone and striking out a lot which is very uncharacteristic for him. I hope the bats get back on track. That appears to be what is missing.
It IS surprising that Gordon wasn’t the one brought in to run for Gonzalez. As Evan and BBB pointed out, there might’ve been something wrong with Gordon after being hit in the back of the head Friday on that throw to first. Mattingly could’ve still put in Punto to play 3B.
Well it’s all in the past now and we have to just hope the Dodgers put on there hitting shoes or change their attitude as Ron pointed out and give run support to Kershaw tonight.
Seeing Hairston used to pinch hit against RH pitching really bothers me. There’s no excuse for not having a lefty with power on the bench even with expanded rosters. This should have been addressed long ago.