The good news is that the Dodgers starting pitching and their bullpen have been – for the most part – very good of late.

The bad news is that their offense has been… well… awful. We’re talking 15 for 104 (.144) in their last three game with only two home runs awful; 0 for 13 with runners in scoring position awful; 21 men left on base awful; just plain awful awful.

In Wednesday night’s painful 2-0 loss to the Miami Marlins – their third straight – the Dodgers mounted only one real scoring opportunity. It came in the bottom of the eighth inning and it came without a hit. Three different Marlins relievers walked Messrs. Chase Utley, Yasmani Grandal and Joc Pederson to load the bases with one out. I mean it doesn’t get any better than this. At worst a fly ball scores one run and at best a simple base hit probably ties the game. But instead, Yasiel Puig swung for the fences and struck out on four pitches and Adrian Gonzalez followed with a routine fly ball to right to end the inning and the Dodgers only offensive threat of the night.

Puig’s eighth-inning strikeout with the bases loaded and one out was the crushing blow for the Dodgers.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

“I think early we swung the bats okay, hit the ball hard, didn’t really have anything to show for it,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, trying to find a silver lining to a very dark cloud. “You could see guys pressing a little bit. There was some hard contact out there, but when they’re not falling, you start looking at your last three, four games. Some guys start looking at their average and thinking they need to get a hit. And when you feel like you need a hit, they get tougher. I think the guys are coming out of the strike zone a little more than we’re used to.”

An understatement, to say the least. In their last collective 104 at-bats, the Dodgers have struck out a combined 19 times. That’s five more strikeouts than they have hits during that time.

To add insult to injury (literally), rookie shortstop Corey Seager – who is one of very few Dodgers not slumping right now and had one of the Dodgers two hits on Wednesday – fouled a ball off his right shin and may have to sit out for a game or two as a result.

“It’s sore. … There’s nothing there, it’s just bone. So it hurts,” said Seager, with his leg wrapped after the game.

Visions of Andre Ethier flashed through the minds of Dodger fans when Seager fouled a ball off his right shin in the fifth inning of Wednesday night’s game. Fortunately, he was able to remain in the game. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

There is still a bit of good news, the Dodgers are still in first place in the National League West. Unfortunately, their lead is now down to a mere .5 games over a suddenly red-hot San Francisco Giants team – and that’s never a good thing when you’re mired in a losing streak.