The Los Angeles Dodgers, those back-to-back defending World Series champions everyone expected to simply cruise to another title, are in some serious deep water right now. After dropping three out of four games to the Milwaukee Brewers this past weekend, their hopes for home-field advantage in the 2026 playoffs took a colossal, body blow hit. They’re now sitting at 74-51, a full three games behind the Brewers (77-48) for first place in the National League. That series loss could be absolutely brutal, costing them a significant tiebreaker as the regular season’s stretch run closes in.
Roberts Is Done With the Excuses, Calls Out His Stars
Manager Dave Roberts didn’t mince words after Sunday’s tough 6-2 defeat, and you gotta respect him for it. He laid out the harsh truth for everyone to hear: “I say this because it’s just been four or five, six weeks of below-average production in our offense. It’s just the truth, and I think we just haven’t played clean baseball for quite some time, and that speaks to the defense.” That’s not just a slump call; that’s a whole systemic breakdown, straight from the top. Even their prized trade deadline pickup, Tarik Skubal, got called out indirectly. Skubal was responsible for Sunday’s loss and has yet to get a single win in a Dodgers uniform after three starts since joining the squad. And get this: superstar slugger Shohei Ohtani only managed a measly three combined hits across those four games against the Brewers. He even grounded into an inning-ending double play in the eighth inning on Sunday, absolutely crushing any last-gasp comeback hopes. Roberts summed up the lack of effort, saying, “I don’t think we have that intent, and some guys are scuffling at that with their swings and things like that, which is real. But I think other guys are not valuing every single pitch.” You feel that fire, right? The manager is demanding more.
The Three-Peat Dream Needs a Jolt of Urgency, STAT
This isn’t just about one bad series, either. While the Dodgers still hold a seven-game lead in the NL West, the bigger picture is ugly: these defending champs have gone just 18-21 since the start of July. That’s a *losing record* for the team chasing an elusive three-peat! Roberts made it crystal clear that literally no one on the team is immune from criticism, stating it’s “been a long time since we’ve been consistent offensively.” He wants a fundamental change in approach, hitting hard on “winning a 2-1 pitch and not chasing. Winning a 3-2 pitch, taking the walk. Not chasing the first pitch to then be 0-1.” He’s just not seeing a “consistent plan of attack, 1 through 9.” Roberts is hoping for a massive dose of urgency from his squad to turn things around. He even admitted he “really wanted to win this game because it could matter, but we didn’t. So now we got to move forward, but I hope it doesn’t come back to bite us.” Man, if they don’t find that urgency and find it fast, the “long run” Roberts talks about might be a lot shorter than they think. They gotta wake up!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Bleacher Report.
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