There’s losing, and then there’s losing ugly.

Friday night’s 8-2 Dodgers loss to the Chicago Cubs in front of a sold-out Dodger Stadium crowd of 52,298 was as ugly as it gets.

Oh sure, you can pin the blame on 26-year-old Dodgers right-hander Andre Jackson, who allowed five runs on six hits (four of which were home runs) in his two innings of relief. But the real culprit was the fact that the Dodgers had a grand total of three hits on the night: – a solo home run by Dodgers left fielder Chris Taylor to lead off the bottom of third inning, a single to center by Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy with one out in the bottom of the fourth, and a solo home run down the right field line by Muncy to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning.

That’s it.

Three total hits on the night by a team considered by many to have one of the the best – and deepest – offenses in the game.

“Tonight wasn’t a good night. You gotta give (27-year-old Cubs starting left-hander) Justin Steele credit. Fastball had life, he got a lot of swing and misses, I think he punched 10, 11 guys, we couldn’t muster anything,” a visibly annoyed Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters postgame. “We got one base hit and a couple homers, but we didn’t threaten all night, and so I guess tonight you just gotta give their guy credit.”

As for Dodgers starting right-hander Noah Syndergaard, he pitched his best game of the season and most certainly well enough to win. The 30-year-old Mansfield, TX native and first-round draft pick in 2010 by the Toronto Blue Jays allowed three runs on six hits, while striking out nine and walking only two – his first two walks of the season through his now three starts and combined 16.0 innings pitched.

“With what Noah did tonight, we gotta find a way to win that game,” Roberts said of Syndergaard.

With their ugly loss on Friday night, the Dodgers have now lost five of their last seven games and are now 7-7 on the young season and in second place in the National League West, one game back of the division-leading Arizona Diamondbacks.

Needless to say, the Dodgers indeed better “find a way” to start winning games, and fast.

Getting more than three hits in a game would be an excellent place to start.

Play Ball!

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