For the first time since being named manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers prior to the 2016 season, a normally positive and upbeat Dave Roberts called his team out following Thursday night’s 4-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds – the team currently with the worst record in the National League and third worst in all of baseball.

Without paraphrasing and in it’s entirety, here’s what the soon-to-be 46-year-old (on May 31) Dodgers skipper had to say when asked about his team’s inability to hit with runners in scoring position:

“Um … I don’t know. I usually have an answer. It’s been a trend that we’ve seen all year for the most part, with some other good signs, positive signs.

“But recently, we’ve got guys on base, had a chance to break a game open, get a little separation, breathing room for our pitchers, and we haven’t been able to come through for various reasons. Whether it’s too big of a swing, a bad approach, going out of the strike zone, whatever it might be, lining out.

“But the bottom line is we had this guy on the hook tonight early after the first inning, sixty-something pitches after two, eighty-something pitches after three, he ends up going five innings. The last six innings their pitching staff faced the minimum amount of batters.

“Walker pitched his tail off tonight and he had no margin for error, and he ends up wearing the loss.

“So it’s very frustrating and I expect those guys in the clubhouse to be frustrated as well as I am.

“For us to have a below average record at home … unacceptable.

“So we better be ready to come play tomorrow. That’s it.”

“For us to have a below average record at home … unacceptable.” – Dave Roberts
(Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA – Click on image to view video)

That Walker is, of course, 23-year-old right-hander Walker Buehler, who has been absolutely brilliant since his April 23 call-up. Through his first four starts, the Lexington, Kentucky native is now 2-1 with a team-best 1.64 ERA among all Dodgers pitchers, this including his 6.0 innings of no-hit ball against the San Diego Padres on May 4 in Monterrey, Mexico as part of the first combined no-hitter in franchise history.

As he has been since his April 23rd call-up to the Dodgers, Buehler was again lights out on Thursday night. Unfortunately, his teammates were not … again. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

On the night, Buehler allowed two runs on five hits, with eight strikeouts and zero walks in his outstanding 6.0 innings of work. In fact, at one point, the Dodgers 2015 first-round draft pick out of Vanderbilt University retired 14 Reds batters in a row before allow a two-out, two-run double to Reds second baseman Scooter Gennett on a 1-2 count.

“I’ve got to finish the guy off,” Buehler said of the Gennett at-bat, and falling on his team’s sword. “I came out of the game losing, and that’s on me. I’ve got to pitch better. I can’t give up two runs when we only have one.”

That lone Dodgers run was the result of yet another clutch RBI single by the oldest guy on the team – 39-year-old/16-year MLB veteran second baseman Chase Utley – with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the first inning; an inning in which it appeared that the Dodgers were going to put this one out of reach even before the seats were warm.

It didn’t happen.

Instead, the inning ended on a Yasiel Puig line out to Reds right fielder Jesse Winker. The Dodgers loaded the bases again in the bottom of the second inning, but again came away empty on a Cody Bellinger fly out to Reds left fielder Adam Duvall.

The only real clutch hitter in the Dodgers line-up these days is 39-year-old Chase Utley, who drove in the Dodgers only run on Thursday night with this RBI single. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

On the night, the Dodgers stranded eight runners on base and were a pathetic 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Unacceptable indeed.

Beleaguered Dodgers reliever Pedro Baez replaced Buehler in the seventh inning and – yet again – had one of his signature Baez meltdowns, when he gave up a leadoff double to Reds catcher Tucker Barnhart. This was followed by a one out triple by Reds speedy center fielder Billy Hamilton to score Barnhart. Baez somehow managed to escape the inning without further damage when he got Winker to ground out to Utley.

The Reds added another run in the top of the eighth inning on a solo home run by (wait for it…) Scooter Gennett off of Dodgers right-hander Daniel Hudson. Gennett would finish the night going 3-for-4 with three RBI, and came within a triple of hitting for the cycle.

As you would expect, Thursday night’s loss to the National League’s worst team – for now, that is – caused social media to explode, including posts on Twitter calling for Roberts to be fired and/or at least for he and his staff to have a serious heart-to-heart butt chewing to try to get his players back on track.

But perhaps it was former Dodger and current SportsNet LA analyst Nomar Garciaparra who summed it up best during AM 570’s postgame DodgerTalk radio show.

“I sure hope the Dodgers players see Roberts’ postgame interview with the media … because they need to.”