Dodgers Can’t Turn the Page on August

The calendar says September, but the Dodgers' play on the field still looks remarkably like August.

For all the optimism that accompanied the Dodgers' return from Detroit—with hopes of leaving with a series victory and beginning a long homestand against teams they were expected to handle—the opening night at Chavez Ravine offered another reminder that this team has become remarkably creative when it comes to finding ways to lose.

When the pitching staff is on, the bats have a tendency to go quiet. When the bats catch fire, the pitching staff occasionally appears to be auditioning for next year's Home Run Derby. Tuesday night provided a little of both.

The Cardinals wasted no time getting comfortable in Los Angeles, jumping on Dodgers starter Eric Lauer early and often. By the time the Dodgers came to bat in the bottom of the third inning, St. Louis had already built a 7-0 lead.

So much for turning the page.

September is supposed to be the time when contenders separate themselves, when expanded rosters provide managers with additional pieces and when every game begins to carry a little more weight. The Dodgers added some pieces of their own Tuesday, activating catcher Will Smith, catcher Dalton Rushing and left-hander Justin Wrobleski from the injured list while recalling infielder Alex Freeland from Triple-A Oklahoma City.

The cavalry had arrived.

Unfortunately, the Cardinals had already arrived first.

There is still plenty of baseball to be played, but the margin for simply assuming everything will eventually straighten itself out is becoming considerably thinner. The Dodgers have spent enough of the season demonstrating that they can score runs in bunches. They have also demonstrated, with equal enthusiasm, that scoring runs and actually winning the game are two entirely different skills.

The Dodgers scored eight runs Tuesday.

They lost by five.

They are now 28-2 when scoring at least eight runs this season, which is a rather impressive record until you remember that the two losses have both come when eight runs somehow weren't enough.

St. Louis hit five home runs, including two from Thomas Saggese and a two-run shot from Home Run Derby champion Jordan Walker. Ramón Urías and Joshua Báez also went deep as the Cardinals, who had lost seven of their previous nine while being outscored 63-38, suddenly discovered that Dodger Stadium was an excellent place to revive an offense.

Saggese's first homer came with two outs in the second inning, immediately after Urías had taken Lauer deep. The Cardinals then sent nine men to the plate in the third, loading the bases twice while turning a 2-0 lead into a 7-0 advantage.

Iván Herrera delivered an RBI single. Leo Bernal followed with a two-run single in his major league debut. Saggese added a sacrifice fly, and Nathan Church's infield single brought Bernal home.

It was not, in other words, the sort of third inning a starting pitcher puts on his Christmas card.

Lauer was charged with seven runs and eight hits in three innings. His own assessment afterward was refreshingly uncomplicated.

“Getting back to the basics is really all I think I need to do.”

That would certainly be one place to start.

The Dodgers eventually made the scoreboard look considerably more respectable. Mookie Betts drove in four runs, and Los Angeles continued to chip away, but every time the Dodgers appeared ready to make the game interesting, St. Louis had another answer.

Walker supplied the biggest one, launching a two-run homer off Seth Halvorsen in the fourth to make it 9-3. It was particularly timely for Walker, who had hit only five homers in his previous 41 games since the All-Star break.

Saggese added his second homer in the fifth, and Báez hit a solo shot in the seventh to restore an 11-4 lead.

By the ninth inning, the Dodgers had resorted to the modern baseball equivalent of waving the white flag without actually waving one. Kiké Hernández struck out as a pinch hitter in the seventh and then took the mound in the ninth, becoming the 148th position player to pitch in the majors this season.

At least somebody got to work on both sides of the ball.

There was some genuinely encouraging news before the game. Will Smith returned from the injured list and immediately looked like a player who had never left.

“It was just an injury that needed time to heal,” Smith said. “Felt good. Felt like I didn't miss a beat.”

That is precisely what the Dodgers need from Smith—and from the rest of the reinforcements now arriving as September begins.

What they probably don't need is another motivational slogan.

After another loss, manager Dave Roberts offered the familiar prescription.

“Try to flush this one and win tomorrow night, and give ourselves a chance to win the series.”

Flush it. Incinerate it. Put it through a woodchipper. Launch it into outer space.

At some point, however, if the same prescription is being administered every few games, it might be worth asking whether the problem is the game—or the amount of flushing being required.

No one is suggesting taking a baseball bat to the clubhouse espresso machine. There are limits, after all.

But perhaps September is the appropriate time for something a little more basic: fewer motivational slogans, fewer explanations and a little more of the old-fashioned get-your-butt-in-gear variety.

The Dodgers have already proven they can produce crooked numbers.

The problem is that crooked numbers don't count for much when the other team has more of them.

And with the calendar now officially turned to September, the Dodgers don't have the luxury of remaining stuck in August for much longer. The division lead provides some breathing room, but every unnecessary loss makes the postseason path a little less comfortable and keeps the possibility of a Wild Card round lurking where nobody particularly wants to see it.

Tomorrow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto gets the ball against a Cardinals team that will use a bullpen game.

Perhaps that is exactly what the Dodgers need.

A fresh pitcher. A fresh game. A fresh opportunity to prove that September is actually September.

Because right now, the calendar has turned.

The Dodgers haven't.