The Dodgers lost to the Giants 6-2 on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium, extending their losing streak to four games and ending any chance of winning the four-game series. Los Angeles is now 24-18, while the Padres moved to 24-17 after Tuesday’s games, leaving the Dodgers behind in the division race.
The loss also continued a brutal stretch for the Dodgers, who have dropped each of their last four games by four runs or more. MLB.com research said that tied the franchise mark in the modern era since 1901, and it had not happened to the club since 1936, when it was in Brooklyn.
Tuesday’s game began with a sign that the Dodgers might finally break out of the skid. They loaded the bases in the first inning with one out, and Will Smith followed with a sacrifice fly to bring in the opening run. But Jung Hoo Lee raced back in right field and made an over-the-shoulder catch that kept the inning from turning into something bigger for Los Angeles.
That play mattered because the Dodgers did not cash in on the kind of early chance that can change a game. Roberts said, “That was a really game-changing play,” and later added that when a team does not get many opportunities and fails to convert the ones it gets, it does not score many runs. San Francisco answered and never let the Dodgers recover.
The result fit a pattern the Dodgers have been trying to shake for weeks. The club has been dealing with inconsistent offense and bullpen problems, and Tuesday’s defeat underscored both. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “I think that we bring out the best in every team,” and added that the Giants have played with visible emotion against Los Angeles and that the Dodgers need to match that intensity.
Andrew Friedman pointed to the randomness of baseball when asked about the offense, saying every player goes through ups and downs and that those struggles can hit all at once or be spread out. When they happen together, he said, that is when an offense can fall into a real lull. That has been the Dodgers’ reality in this skid.
The team had entered Tuesday after beating the Houston Astros 8-3, but Shohei Ohtani was not part of that home-run resurgence at the plate. Against the Giants, Los Angeles managed just enough early pressure to hint at a turnaround, then watched the game slip away again.
For now, the Dodgers’ margin for error has thinned. They have beaten the Giants just once in five games this season, and with a split the best possible result in the four-game series, Tuesday’s loss made clear how much ground they still have to make up if they want to steady the season quickly.
