LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥 The silence in the Los Angeles Dodgers clubhouse was deafening. The few players left quietly dressed and departed after another tough loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Once again, the bullpen blew it.
After Shohei Ohtani pitched five hitless innings, Philadelphia’s Rafael Marchon hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer off Blake Treinen with two outs in the ninth inning for on Tuesday night.
The Phillies clinched the NL East title with in 10 innings on Monday night.
Twelve of the Dodgers’ last 19 losses have been charged to relievers and they are 6-14 in their past 20 games decided by one run.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e lacking confidence,鈥 manager Dave Roberts said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not making good pitches when they need to, a little careful at times.鈥
Roberts maintains he hasn’t lost confidence in the group that includes veterans Treinen, Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates and Michael Kopech, along with youngsters Jack Dreyer and Emmet Sheehan.
鈥淚 know it鈥檚 frustrating to the fans,鈥 Treinen said. 鈥淚 can promise you from the bottom of our hearts we鈥檙e trying our darndest every single night. There鈥檚 nothing we haven鈥檛 done, there鈥檚 no stone we haven鈥檛 unturned. It鈥檚 not an effort thing, it鈥檚 not a preparation thing. It is literally just sometimes things aren鈥檛 working.鈥
Dreyer and Justin Wrobleski had been pitching well lately, until the Phillies came to town. Dreyer gave up two runs and two hits in one inning of Monday’s loss.
The crowd of 44,063 groaned when Wrobleski came onto the field, knowing Ohtani was done. They booed heavily as the 25-year-old left-hander got shelled for five straight hits, including a three-run homer, in blowing a 4-0 lead.
鈥淢y job is to go out there and put up zeroes and I did not do that,鈥 Wrobleski said. 鈥淟ife is about how you handle adversity and I鈥檝e dealt with a lot of that, so I know what I need to do. I know that being better is the bottom line and I know I can do it.鈥
Time is running out.
The Dodgers lead second-place San Diego in the NL West by two games after the Padres also lost, 8-3 at the New York Mets. The Dodgers dropped seven games behind the Phillies for the No. 2 seed in the National League with 11 games remaining in the regular season.
As dreadful as the bullpen has been, Dodgers starters have been terrific lately. In eight of the last 11 games, they’ve allowed one or fewer hits in the first five innings.
But the relief corps has been their undoing.
鈥淲e’re really good at being resilient,鈥 Treinen said. 鈥淵ou have to understand what this team does year in and year out, and we’re winners. We’re going to find a way to get that done.鈥
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