MILWAUKEE – Andrew Friedman, Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations, scurried down the staircase Sunday night with several of his staff members as blaring chants from the crowd in the American Family Field concourse pierced his ears.
Let’s Go Brewers.
Let’s. Go. Brewers.
Friedman descended into the Dodgers' clubhouse after the Milwaukee Brewers' 7-4 victory where there was nothing but dead silence.
The Dodgers, the two-time defending World Series champions, are on the ropes.
They boarded the team bus at 8:20 p.m. local time for the Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport for a return flight to Los Angeles, trying to make sense of what just happened.
The Dodgers certainly weren’t taking the Brewers for granted, not after winning 103 games this season, but they never imagined that their high-powered offense would be suffocated like this, trailing the Brewers 2 games to 0, with their dynasty on the brink.
“It’s hard to win,’’ Dodgers future Hall of Fame shortstop Mookie Betts said, “when you get only three hits.’’
“It’s tough to hit,’’ Dodgers future Hall of Fame first baseman Freddie Freeman said, “when their bullpen is throwing 100 mph with different arm angles.’’
“It’s just tough to beat those guys,’’ Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández said. “They play hard. They never give up. You know, they play clean baseball. That’s the thing, we’ve got to play a better game.’’
The Dodgers certainly put up a brave front in the clubhouse, reminding everyone that they have two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell going in Game 3, playoff experienced Tyler Glasnow in Game 4, with two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal returning for a potential Game 5.
Yet, they are in deep trouble, trailing 2 games to 0 for the first time in a postseason since the COVID 2020 NLCS against Atlanta, which they came back to win in seven games.
They also came back from a 3-games-to-2 deficit in the World Series last year to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Still, this feels different.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, their World Series MVP who yielded a 1.07 ERA in his last five postseason starts, lasted just 2⅔ innings Monday, and coming just a day after the two-time Cy Young winner Skubal lasted only five innings.
“It was tough,’’ Betts said. “But he’s a human being, too, you know. I think everybody’s so used to him being a robot that if he didn’t go eight innings, no hits, whatever, then he wasn’t Yamamoto.
“So, it just shows he’s a human being. It’s playoff baseball.’’
The Brewers aren’t getting length from their starters, either, but their bullpen has made the Dodgers look absolutely silly.
The Brewers bullpen came into the game in the fifth inning, and promptly retired 15 consecutive batters, setting a postseason record. Their bullpen is yielding a 0.31 ERA this postseason. And the Dodgers, who have seen six different Brewers’ relievers, are hitting just .067 with just two singles off their bullpen.
If the Brewers didn’t pose enough problems, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was left being second-guessed Monday for the way he deployed his bullpen, All-Star catcher Will Smith was being second-guessed for not challenging enough pitches, and then there was the $700 million question:
What is wrong with Shohei Ohtani?
Ohtani, the greatest talent in the game, who has come through again and again for the Dodgers whenever they’ve needed him, has disappeared.
He last hit a home run on Aug. 18 at Coors Field.
He has hit .157 since Aug. 19 with one RBI, three extra-base hits and a .503 OPS.
He hit .154 (2-for-13) with four strikeouts and no extra-base hits in the four-game NL Division Series against Atlanta.
And now, he’s 1-for-7 in the two games against the Brewers with three strikeouts, lowering his postseason batting average to .150.
The greatest player in the game has become such a non-factor in the Dodgers' lineup that Roberts plans to speak to Ohtani on Tuesday, according to The Athletic, with the possibility he could be benched for Game 3 on Wednesday.
“It’s hard, it’s hard to see,’’ Betts said. “We know he’s working, but that’s a big one. We need him. We need him for sure.’’
The Dodgers won’t come out and say it, and Ohtani refuses to address it, but certainly something is wrong. It might be his sore left knee. His strained right biceps. But he doesn't appear to be healthy, not performing like this. He’s not driving the ball with power, he’s not pulling the ball, he’s getting beat on the fastball, and is just trying to get on base with walks or soft singles. He even squared off to bunt in the sixth inning off Brewers left-hander JoJo Romero.
“I mean, it’s tough,’’ Hernández said. “We obviously need him. You know, he’s a big, big part of this team, and he’s really important. I feel bad for him. You know what he’s capable of. He’s been dealing with some stuff in the past. We don’t know if it’s still there, but you know, it’s Shohei. Any moment he can come through.’’
The Brewers still believe he’s dangerous, and are pitching him carefully as if he’s the same dominant hitter who won four MVP awards, but nobody has seen him struggle like this, at least not since joining the Dodgers.
“Everybody knows he’s struggling right now,’’ Hernández said. “But they’re being careful the same way as he was doing his MVP season. It’s not that he’s getting pitches to hit, so it’s going to be even tougher, especially when you’re in a slump like that.’’
The Dodgers can only hope to quickly regroup and try to save their season with Game 3 scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 14 at Dodger Stadium.
They insisted to everyone who’d listen that their confidence has not waned, even with their deficit, not with their star-studded rotation lined up nicely with the next three games in Los Angeles.
“It’s still a pretty good scenario we’re in,’’ Freeman said. “It’s going to be a great series. They know they’ve got a lot on their hands, too. We just got to come out and play better.’’
The Dodgers, with just one extra-base hit this series, believe they’ll start hitting once home in their friendly confines. They’ve got the experience. They’ve certainly got the hardware. And they still have the belief they can become the first National League team to win three consecutive World Series championships.
“I don’t think there’s much doubt going on,’’ Betts said. “I think we just have to regroup and figure out what we need to do individually. But there are no doubts …
“They’re a really good ballclub, really good arms. They’re swinging it. They’re playing really well. So we have to be ready to go. The mindset can’t really change. Can’t add more pressure. There’s already enough as it is.
“There are no secrets.
“We’ve just got to figure out a way to get those hits.’’
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dodgers insist they're not panicking, but there's concern about Shohei Ohtani