The Dodgers had another frustrating loss on Tuesday night to the Pirates, in which their offense and pitching were at odds with one another. If the Dodgers can’t figure out a way to be more in sync, they can say bye bye to a bye in the postseason.
The Dodgers scored seven runs on Tuesday, and fell to 33-7 (.825) when scoring at least that many runs. MLB teams in 2025 when scoring at least seven runs have an .880 win percentage. When scoring exactly seven runs, MLB teams are 227-56 (.802) this season.
The Dodgers are merely 7-5 (.583) in those games, including four losses in their last five such games, dating back to the weekend before the All-Star break.
That’s about the time this malaise began for the Dodgers, who are a very ordinary 20-21 since the break despite outscoring their opponents by 30 runs.
Walks were the Dodgers’ undoing, issuing eight free passes against the Pirates. Clayton Kershaw walked four himself, after walking three of his 107 batters faced in all of August. The Dodgers are 0-3 this season when walking at least eight batters.
Walks have been a problem for the bulk of the season by the pitching staff, with a 9-percent walk rate on the year that is the seventh-highest in baseball.
Dodgers pitching walk rate by month
- March/April: 10.1 percent (7th in MLB)
- May: 8.3 percent (17th)
- June: 9.2 percent (5th)
- July: 9.6 percent (2nd)
- August: 7.5 percent (20th)
That August walk rate was best of the season by the Dodgers pitching staff, fueled by a starting rotation that was at full strength for the entire month, adding much-needed stability.
They just need that to carry over into September and October, and avoid as many games like Tuesday as possible.
