Steve Webb
PHOENIX, AZ — What did you think was going to happen Dodger fans? Did you think that notorious home run gifter Lance Lynn was going to pitch seven innings of shutout ball? Did you think that Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts would awaken from their October slumber and suddenly play like they were supposed to? Did you think that the Dodgers would win this thing and actually get this series back to LA? Then, you haven’t watched much Dodgers’ playoff baseball. Because this is who the Dodgers are. A team that looks great on paper, looks great in the regular season, and then lays a big fat egg in the playoffs. Wednesday’s 4-2 loss to the Diamondbacks is just the latest installment of the baseball world’s depressing reality series that has gone on far too long.
Of course, a World Series run this year was always a bit of a longshot, given the massive amount of injuries and misfortune that the Dodgers had to deal with this year. And, it’s true, when you have to pin your hopes for survival on a journeyman starter with a surly attitude and a colorful vocabulary, you’re in dire straits to begin with.
Still, one would have hoped it looked better than this. The game was over in a flash. It happened in the bottom of the third inning. In the space of just seventeen pitches, Lynn gave up four solo home runs to the Diamondback hitters. That gave the Diamondbacks a comfortable lead, and though the bottom of the Dodgers’ batting order put together a little rally in the seventh to plate a couple of runs, that was as far as it got.
The reason for this was that literally nobody at the top of the Dodgers lineup seemed to be in the mood to get on base. Mookie Betts: 0-for-4, Freddie Freeman: 0-for-4, J.D. Martinez: 0-for-4, Max Muncy 1-for-4. That’s some pretty bad hitting from the guys who combined for over 400 RBI this year.
Lethargic. Lifeless. Pathetic.
“Frustrating,” was how Freddie Freeman put it after the game. “Me and a lot of us didn’t play the way we wanted to. They just came out swinging in all three games and beat us.”
“It’s just a lot of disappointment,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “And I believe in every one of those guys. With baseball, that team over there outplayed us. I can answer questions about the game itself, but the bottom line is that they outplayed us in every facet of the game.”
Yes, they did, Dave. And now, the Dodgers face another long postseason still searching for a team that shows up in October.
