Dodgers Quick Hits: Struggles Against Last Place Teams Continues

The Dodgers dropped another game to a last place team on Friday night as the Dodgers lost 5-3.  The Dodgers NL West lead also shrunk to 1.5 games.

The month of September has been a puzzling one for the Dodgers.  They continue to play to the level of their competition which is a bad thing considering the remaining opponents left are not very good record wise.  The latest defeat came at the hands of the last place San Diego Padres.

In September, the Dodgers have now lost five of seven games against the Padres, Reds, and Mets.  On the other hand the Dodgers have won nine of eleven against the Dbacks, Cardinals, and Rockies. It just goes to show that the Dodgers are playing to the level of their competition which is not good.

Eric Lauer of the Padres continued to dominate the Dodgers in his third start of the season against LA and the lone run he gave up came on a solo shot by Enrique Hernandez that barely cleared the outfield wall.  The Dodgers need to bounce back tonight in order to hopefully get their division lead back to 2.5 games.

Other news…

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• Ross Stripling struggled in his start last night and was pulled after just 3 1/3 innings pitched.  Stripling has a 5.82 ERA since the all-star break and is forcing the Dodgers to re-consider their fourth starter options for the playoffs.  Stripling will get another shot in Arizona next week against the Dbacks.
• Like Stripling, Rich Hill continues to have a horrid September.  Hill will get a chance to stop the bleeding tonight against the Padres.  Hill has an ERA of 6.75 since the all-star break.  Hill is going to get one more start after tonight although it will not be against the Dbacks who he has struggled against.
• Pedro Baez has been dialed in and it’s time to consider Baez for a potential playoff bullpen.  Baez has a 2.86 ERA in the second half of the season and a 1.42 ERA in September.  Baez has also cut down on his walks which has been one of his main knocks.  It remains to bee seen who the Dodgers will select on their playoff roster but Baez should make the squad.

• Justin Turner committed his second two error game of the week and it’s fair to question what the deal is with Turner.  This figures to be the season that Justin Turner is the freshest down the stretch since he missed two months at the beginning of the season but he may need a day off this weekend.