The Los Angeles Dodgers remain one of the favorites to win the World Series, but that doesn’t mean it will come easy. Manager Dave Roberts called out his team both offensively and defensively on Sunday, Aug. 16 after the Dodgers lost three of four games to the Milwaukee Brewers at Dodger Stadium. "I say this because it's just been four or five, six weeks of below-average production in our offense,” Roberts said. “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.” When asked which was more concerning, Roberts pointed at both. “I think both,” Roberts said. “Giving extra outs, which causes pitches and the guys are working with the defense and their at-bats, but I still think there’s certain intent offensively, but they both need to get better.” The Dodgers have lost 10 of their past 15 games – including a seven-game losing streak from July 31 to Aug. 7 – and have gone 13-14 since the All-Star break.
Roberts admitted he didn’t have a single answer as to what will break the team out of this funk but continued to cite the team’s experience as a reason for this to be seen as nothing more than a phase and not a snapshot of what this team is going forward. During that seven-game losing streak, the Dodgers were swept in series by the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs. “That’s just not winning baseball,” Roberts said. “Our pedigree and what we typically do is control the zone, grind it out at-bats and create stress. We just aren’t doing that.” Los Angeles even acquired Tarik Skubal during that losing streak, and he hasn’t been able to turn things around for the team. He is just 0-1 after three starts for the Dodgers. The Dodgers appeared to have turned things around this past week, sweeping the Kansas City Royals at home in a three-game series, but that was quickly derailed. The Milwaukee Brewers came to town and won three out of four games, outscoring the Dodgers 16-10. In the last two games against Milwaukee, the Dodgers’ offense was held to just three runs on 11 hits and three walks. “I like to think they are all aware of it,” Roberts told reporters on Sunday. “They’ve done it in the past. We just need to reset offensively, and it just can’t happen all at once. We just have to start building collectively.” The Dodgers will have an opportunity to get back on track with a three-game series on the road against the Colorado Rockies. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dave Roberts laments Dodgers' offense, defense after Brewers take 3 in LA