Dodgers All-Star Isn't Worried About Struggles: 'We're the Best Team in Baseball'

Maren Angus-Coombs | Aug 3, 2024

Jason Parkhurst-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Dodgers had been sitting comfortably in first place in their division all season until they were swept by the San Diego Padres in a two-game series.

Their comfortable lead has now turned uncomfortable as the Padres pulled within 4.5 games of the first-place Dodgers. The smallest lead for Los Angeles since May 4.

San Diego has won nine of their last 10 games while the Dodgers finished with a losing record in July (11-13), their first losing record over a full calendar month since April 2018.

“It’s a long year,” Dodgers catcher Will Smith said. “There’s going to be injuries. There’s going to be tough times. There’s going to be good times which have been this year. So, yeah, it’s part of it. We’ll come out of it. No doubt about it. We’re the Dodgers. We’re the best team in baseball.”

The Dodgers haven't been the best team in baseball for quite some time and didn't look that way in an 8-1 loss on Wednesday in San Diego.

In Clayton Kershaw's second start since returning from shoulder surgery, he failed to get through four innings.

“Not very good,” Kershaw said afterward. “Just not a lot went well at all. Just got to pitch better.”

Clayton Kershaw's second start of the season didn't go as planned last night, but when it's all said and done, he'll go down as one of the greatest pitchers of all time.

Brian Kenny digs in on the lefty's remarkable career.#MLBNow pic.twitter.com/6UsDwAzHdW

— MLB Now (@MLBNow) August 1, 2024

The same could be said for the team as a whole which is 30-29 since May 20, the ninth-best record in the National League. The starting pitching had a forgettable month of July combining for a 5.09 ERA across 24 starts. The bullpen hasn't been sharp either.

“The defense I love. We’re playing hard. I think offensively, the guys we run out there are prepared. They’re putting good at-bats together,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Overall, the pitching in general, we just haven’t had the effectiveness, the command. There’s a lot more homers in the last 30 days, in the month of July. The walk is up from all the pitchers. And it just puts a lot of stress on the offense.

“Yeah, we’re going to get back to health. I still like the guys we got. I still feel good every time we start a game. But we still have to go out there and play 27 outs.”

For the first time in his career, Kershaw started and exited a game without striking out a single batter. He didn’t get a swing-and-miss until his 23rd pitch and only got one more on his 81st of his 83 total pitches. His fastball dipped below 90 mph. Against San Francisco, he averaged 90.6 mph.

Roberts wasn't surprised to Kershaw have a bump in his comeback.

“I think it’s hard to ever bet against Clayton,” he said. “The last one (against the Giants) I thought was very good and tonight just wasn’t great. I think he’ll be the first to say that. But it’s part of the process. I just don’t think that anyone can expect him to come back and be lights out every start out, certainly after two starts.”

With just 53 games left in the season, the odds remain in the Dodgers favor to bring home a division title. However, the race has gotten a lot closer than anticipated.