Dodgers' lack of production with RISP has them facing elimination
The Los Angeles Dodgers, who led the major leagues in batting average and on-base percentage with runners in scoring position during the regular season, have now gone 0-for-19 with RISP in the NLDS leaving them one loss away from elimination.
The team’s last hit with runners on second or third base came in the third inning of Game 1 of the NLDS against San Diego Padres starter Mike Clevinger. Since then, the Dodgers have scored only four runs, and they do not have a hit with RISP, including Friday night's game when they went 0-for-9.
“Runs are at a premium in the playoffs and we need to do a better job when we get in those situations,” Austin Barnes, who had two hits on the night, said to reporters after the game. “Whatever it has to be to move the runner, it doesn't always have to be a hit.”
The Dodgers' 0-for-19 tied this season’s record for hitless streaks with RISP, which happened twice. It first happened in June from the 11-14, then at the end of the season from Sept. 27-28.
It is also tied for the third-longest streak in Dodgers postseason history. The 1966 team scored a run in the second and third inning of Game 1 of the World Series, then proceeded to go 0-for-22 with RISP and were swept by the Baltimore Orioles. The 1981 team went 0-for-25 but proceeded to win the World Series against the Montreal Expos.
The Dodgers are now in a situation they’ve been in many times over the past decade: facing elimination.
If the Dodgers want to take the series back to Los Angeles, it is clear the offense needs to turn it around. Not only do they need hits with RISP, they just need hits in general. The Dodgers' No. 3-5 batters went 1-for-11 Friday night.
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