The Los Angeles Dodgers, a team long feared as baseball’s best, lost their sixth straight game, completing a brutal two-series sweep that has them looking like anything but World Series shoo-ins. This squad, expected by many to have a cakewalk to a third straight World Series, is instead playing like a team headed for a wild card series. It’s an absolute gut-punch for fans who’ve watched them get utterly drubbed by the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs, and it means they won’t lose again on Thursday, but only because they don’t play.
This Is Not the Dodgers We Know
Right now, the Dodgers are in a serious slump, losing six consecutive games. What’s wild is that before this current streak, they hadn’t dropped more than four games in a row all season. This isn’t just a bad week; it’s a significant downturn for a team that has won five pennants since 2017. To put it in perspective, in a decade-long stretch starting in 2017, they’ve only had a six-game losing streak five times total. This 2026 active streak is right up there with their 2018 and 2019 struggles, though still thankfully not as bad as the 11 straight in 2017 or the seven in 2025. You just don’t see this kind of sustained ineptitude from them often, and it’s gotta be frustrating for everyone involved.
Pitching Pains and Offensive Woes
The offense hasn’t been helping, either. It’s been pretty ordinary since the start of July, and during this six-game skid, they’ve scored more than one run only five times in 54 innings. Even when they got five runs in the eighth inning on Wednesday at Wrigley Field, it only provided false hope in a game that felt decided. They still lost by just one run. On the mound, things aren’t looking much better. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tarik Skubal, two guys you’d expect to anchor their ideal postseason rotation, both had quality starts, combining to allow five runs in 14 innings. But they both lost their starts. Every single starter or bulk pitcher during this woeful stretch has taken a loss. Overall, Dodgers “starters” have an ugly 8.42 ERA over the last six games, giving up 29 runs in 31 innings, including 13 home runs. That’s just brutal. The team is averaging seven runs allowed during the losing streak, giving up five or more runs in five of those six games. When this team allows five or more runs this season, their record is a dismal 11-28 (.282). But when they hold opponents to four runs or fewer? They’re an incredible 58-18 (.763). The answer seems pretty clear.
The Dodgers played 105 half-innings over the last six games, and they only led after 12 of them. That’s a rough stat for any team, let alone one with their talent. Up next on the schedule is Arizona. They desperately need to flip the script and get back to playing the kind of baseball that makes them feared, not just frustrated.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by True Blue LA.
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