Originally published by DodgerBlue.com
The Los Angeles Dodgers are in the midst of their worst stretch in years, having gone just 13-18 since May 15 and losing six of 10 series during that span. The club also dropped to third place in the National League West standings after being swept by the San Francisco Giants over the weekend.
“You know, it’s not the ideal situation right now. I mean, it’s hard to even put in words,” Freddie Freeman said of the Dodgers’ rough stretch. “Every day we come in with the right attitude, right mindset, and by the end of the day, it’s another loss right now.
“So it’s one of these trying points to the season where you got to grind and keep coming every single day to show up and expect to win. That’s the thing. And our team is way too good to keep going like this and go through this stretch.
“I think we’re at like, 12-18, 12-19, in the last 30 games. So we know we’re better than this and it’s hard to keep talking about it, we got to start doing it on Tuesday.”
The Dodgers’ unexpected skid can largely be attributed to injuries in the starting rotation and inconsistent performance from the bullpen. However, the pitching staff has also struggled to prevent innings and the offense has gone through cold spells as well.
“I mean, there’s not a specific answer for that, you just got to win,” Freeman said when asked how the Dodgers can get back on track. “The last few days we scored two runs, you’re not going to win combining two runs in the games.
“So as an offense, we got to take it upon ourselves to score more runs, and we got to start doing that on Tuesday. And there’s no like, this needs to happen, this needs to happen. I think as a collective whole, we just need to play better.”
Freeman added that he does not believe the high expectations for the Dodgers is putting more pressure on his teammates. “I mean, I don’t think the Dodgers are used to this kind of stretch,” Freeman began.
“I’ve been through stretches like this, so if you want a quote of panic, you’re not going to get it from me because I’ve been in different spots and ended up winning a World Series.
“So I think some guys aren’t used to it, yes. But when you have guys that have been through it, won a World Series, which is probably 70% of the guys in there have a World Series championship.
“So when you play this game of baseball, you’re going to go through ups and downs. Right now, this is a down for us and we need to start getting that down done and start coming back up.”
Freddie Freeman doesn’t expect Dodgers to place him on injured list
Freeman legged out a double in Sunday’s matchup against the Giants, and after sliding into second base, appeared to have injured his right wrist. Freeman was checked on by a trainer after coming around to score but remained in the game.
“I’m OK,” Freeman said after the Dodgers’ 7-3 loss. “I jammed it sliding into second base when I put it down. The pain went away as the game went along. I was a little worried for a second, but all good now. I’m all fine. No worries, no concerns.
“I didn’t get treatment or anything after the game. All good.”
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