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LOS ANGELES — During the Dodgers’ current funk, the offensive struggles have been at the forefront of a lot of their issues. In Tuesday’s 6-5 loss to the Reds at Dodger Stadium, the offense performed slightly better, putting up five runs on the board for just the third time in their last nine games, but the pitching wasn’t quite up to Los Angeles’ standards.
The loss marks the first time since August 2019 that the Dodgers have dropped three in a row. They’re now 2-7 in their last nine games.
Walker Buehler struck out a season-high 10 batters, but he also allowed a season-high five runs over 6 1/3 innings. Jesse Winker got the best of Buehler right from the jump, launching a homer on the first pitch of the game. Buehler was able to settle in, but the Reds jumped on him for two more runs in the fifth and another in the seventh. It’s the first time in Buehler’s career that the Dodgers lost a game in which he struck out 10 or more batters. He was 8-0 in such games entering Tuesday.
Even with Buehler’s uneven start, the right-hander exited the game with the Dodgers still ahead, 5-4. But the recent bullpen struggles were in the middle of things yet again, as Joey Votto hit a go-ahead two-run double off left-hander Scott Alexander.
Alexander has been solid over the first few weeks, and left-handers were 2-for-15 against him entering Tuesday. But things haven’t been going the Dodgers’ way lately, and now they’re looking to avoid getting swept on Wednesday with Clayton Kershaw on the mound opposite Sonny Gray.
During this nine-game rough patch, the Dodgers’ bullpen hasn’t looked like the unit that began the season on a dominant run. With Alexander giving up one earned run, the bullpen has now given up 13 runs over its last 26 2/3 innings (4.39 ERA).