For a while there, it seemed as if everything was starting to crash.
Pitchers with a first inning phobia, an anemic offense, a gritty Padres team. All of that led to a sweep in San Diego.
The Dodgers returned back to the friendly confines of the Ravine, only to get hit with a sobering wake up call as they were no-hit by Zach Davies and the Chicago Cubs bullpen.
Sentiments postgame then were a combination of treating that like it was only one game in a marathon, with the concession that they needed to find their groove offensively.
Find that they did on Friday night, as clutch home runs from AJ Pollock and Max Muncy sealed a 6-2 Dodger win.
And in the process, that might have righted the ship at an important time.
Heading into Friday, the Dodgers were only 4.5 games behind the Giants for first place in the NL West. But with a series against a quality Cubs squad and staring down a two-game set against the inferno that the Giants are — winners of 11 of their past 14 — this current series was gaining more and more importance, if only to keep things from ballooning out of control.
Now, things are still important, but it doesn’t feel like as much of a do or die situation.
The Dodgers still sit 4 and a half back of that team by the Bay, but with a quality win under their belt after skidding last week, the Dodgers look like their usual selves again.
Los Angeles heads into their last two games of the series with Julio Urias and Clayton Kershaw taking the mound and something to build on.
Dave Roberts praised the offense following Friday’s win, but in addition to Justin Turner and Mookie Betts, the manager specifically praised shortstop Gavin Lux as well for a key walk in the 8th — right before he was driven in by the Pollock home run.
“One of the key at-bats I don’t think should get lost is the Gavin Lux at-bat. That’s a six-pitch at-bat, takes a 3-2 change down below, was big, was really big … Across the board, much better tonight.”
The Dodgers’ patient approach has been consistently praised since Thursday even in the face of getting no-hit. Despite that black mark, the team forced eight walks that night, followed by not chasing against Jake Arrieta on Friday.
All in all, things looked much better on Friday and the lately much maligned offense showed a spark that they hadn’t shown since last week.
It’s too small of a sample size to say whether the team has turned things around completely, but at the very least they now have something positive to take with them as they head into the final two games against Chicago and a twin billing against the Giants.
And with Urias and Kershaw on the docket, certainly their left arms should do quality work as they look for a series win as they try to climb up the standings.
The offense — the biggest Achilles heal during last week’s stretch — they found that groove Friday, a very encouraging sign heading into the weekend.
Whether that ultimately leads to tangible Dodger momentum and a series victory, we shall see.
Cubs vs. Dodgers, 4:15 PM PST on FOX
Alec Mills (3-1, 5.18 ERA) vs. Julio Urias (9-3, 3.99 ERA)
