Steve Webb
ST. LOUIS, MO — If the Dodgers’ 2023 season goes off the rails (and it still could), we’ll probably look back at this weekend in St. Louis as the moment when things started to crumble. Let’s recap, shall we? Dustin May went on the IL. Julio Urias went on the IL. Clayton Kershaw hasn’t pitched the same since his mom died. Noah Syndergaard’s ERA is still over 5.00. Ryan Pepiot and Michael Grove are still rehabbing injuries and we’ve got two rookies slated to throw in back-to-back games against the team with the best record in the NL. Yikes!
So I guess it should have been no surprise that Sunday afternoon’s finale of the season series against the Cardinals wouldn’t end well. It didn’t. Clayton Kershaw used way too many pitches and couldn’t get going on Sunday, exiting the game in the 4th and leaving an overtaxed bullpen to finish up. The bullpen fared no better, giving up six runs to turn a fairly close game into a blowout. The final score was 10-5. Max Muncy got thrown out for chirping about balls and strikes. Yeah, it wasn’t a great look for the Dodgers.
Good news is that San Diego still doesn’t have their act together, and the Dodgers are still in first place. But, with the upstart D-backs nipping at their heels and the schedule over the next week looking rough, it’s an open question as to whether the team will still be atop the division on Memorial Day.
On to Atlanta.
