Dave Roberts Calls For More ‘Urgency’ From Dodgers Amid ‘Middling’ Stretch

The Los Angeles Dodgers were six outs away from completing a sweep of the American League-leading Toronto Blue Jays, and some 30 hours later found themselves in the middle of another losing streak.

The Dodgers remained winless against the Los Angeles Angels this season, dropping the opener of the Freeway Series in Anaheim. The Halos hung on for a 7-4 win and built on sweeping three games at Dodger Stadium back in May.

“We’re all looking for some traction here and trying to stack some wins. Hate to say yesterday’s loss carried over to tonight,” manager Dave Roberts said.

“You’ve got to give credit to Soriano and the way he threw the baseball. Those guys caught a lead and didn’t look back. But yeah, you win yesterday, then you would feel even better about coming into today. But now you’re looking at losing two games in a row. It’s baseball.

“We’re good at resetting and coming back. It was good to see Mookie, Munce has been swinging a hot bat, and I thought Will looked better today, so there was some good things. But yeah, obviously team-wise, it wasn’t enough.”

After going 10-14 in the month of July, the Dodgers have split their 10 games in August thus far. They’ve faltered against playoff-caliber opponents of late and haven’t won more than two games in a row since rattling off four consecutive victories from June 29-July 3.

“There definitely has to be some urgency,” Roberts said. “Obviously, I don’t think anyone is blind to the fact that the standings are the standings. It’s gotten a lot more interesting, so we’ve got to go out there and play good baseball. I definitely feel our guys are starting to feel that urgency.

“It’s been long enough of middling baseball as far as overall team and wins and losses.”

Dodgers’ NL West lead down to 1 game

With the Dodgers falling to the Angels and the San Diego Padres defeating the San Francisco Giants, the teams are now separated by just one game in the National League West standings.

“Well, whether you like it or night, it is what it is, right?” answered Roberts when asked if a heated division race is what could help light a spark for the Dodgers.

“I wouldn’t say wake up. It’s not from lack of care or work, it’s just not getting the job done in whatever fashion. Whether it’s starting pitching, whether it’s situational hitting, whether it’s baserunning, or anything. It’s just baseball. Ultimately, everyone is trying and wants to, but it’s about getting it done.

“And we all have to get the job done.”