Originally published by DodgerBlue.com
The Los Angeles Dodgers find themselves one game away from elimination after a second consecutive loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League Division Series, and the play of Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts is a big reason why.
Betts is hitless in seven at-bats, drawing just one walk in Game 1 and scoring. He reached on an error Monday night and is 0-for-7 so far in the NLDS.
Freeman went 1-for-4 in Game 2 and he’s now hitting .167 with a .542 on-base plus slugging percentage through two games. He has yet to score a run or collect an RBI.
The All-Star duo is a combined 1-for-13 thus far in the NLDS.
“Not what we need to do,” Freeman said. “Just take the day, go get ’em, forget about the last two and worry about Wednesday.”
Betts said he doesn’t want to focus on his personal results when the Dodgers are down, but Freeman knows there’s a flaw in his swing he hopes to adjust.
“Same way I’ve been feeling for about six weeks,” Freeman answered when asked about his at-bats in the Game 2 loss. “Cutting my swing off, so I’ve got a couple days to figure it out.”
The Dodgers had a chance to tie or take the lead in the fifth inning with Freeman at-bat. He came up with runners at the corners and two outs, but he struck out looking on a 3-2 curveball down the middle of the plate to end the inning.
“I had a 1-1 cutter that won’t let me sleep tonight,” Freeman said. “That’s the one pitch I needed to hit, and I didn’t hit it. Then he threw three straight curveballs. Good pitch. Three straight, you’re not usually used to that. But it’s not about that. It’s about the 1-1 cutter that I missed.”
Freeman came up again in the seventh inning with Betts on first after he reached on an error, but grounded into a double play. It was a constant trend for the Dodgers throughout the game as they continuously failed to capitalize on their chances.
“We had it,” Freeman said of building momentum. “We had it going in the fifth and sixth, we just didn’t capitalize on those opportunities.”
Freeman also fouled a ball off his right knee during the game, but confirmed there’s nothing to worry about.
“I’m fine,” he said. “That’s what happens when you have a terrible swing. You hit balls off yourself. But I’m all good.”
Freddie Freeman not surprised by Diamondbacks’ success
The Dodgers now head back to Chase Field facing elimination and needing two consecutive wins to get the NLDS back to Dodger Stadium.
“Not what we envisioned, but it’s where we’re at and we’ve got to take it one game at a time,” Freeman said.
Although the Dodgers were heavy favorites to win the series and move on, Freeman and the Dodgers are not surprised they’ve found themselves in a hole.
“No, because we talked about this two weeks into the season at the beginning of this year,” he said. “We knew they were a good team. You’ve got Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen pitching good games, and our offense hasn’t been doing what we need to do.
“We have to go get them on Wednesday.”
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