PITTSBURGH -- Down to their final three outs, fighting to stave off a sweep, the Dodgers played some of their best baseball on Thursday night -- and perhaps, in their three-game series at PNC Park -- in the ninth inning.
Though Mookie Betts led off the frame with a homer and his team strung together hits to plate another pair of runs, narrowly avoiding being shut out in back-to-back games, it was ultimately too little, too late.
After being shut down by a dominant Paul Skenes early on, the Dodgers rallied late but were unable to avoid falling, 5-3, to the Pirates. The loss sealed a three-game sweep at the hands of the Bucs, who are 13 games under .500 and in last place in the NL Central.
It follows a troubling trend for the Dodgers over the past month. Since Aug. 1, the Dodgers have gone 11-4 against teams with .500 records or better. But Thursday's loss dropped them to 4-12 against sub-.500 teams in that same span.
"I don't have a reason for it, outside of the fact that teams are going to bring their best against us. But that's teams with above .500 records, too," manager Dave Roberts said. "Tonight, in a vacuum, we faced one of the best pitchers, but yeah, doesn't change the fact that other teams, we just haven't found ways to beat those guys with losing records."
The Dodgers came into September with one of the easier schedules in the Majors, at least on paper. After Thursday's games, they were tied with the Cubs for the fourth easiest strength of schedule (.479) for the remainder of the season.
But games aren't played on paper, and by losing to non-contenders, the Dodgers are squandering opportunities to pull away in a tightly contested NL West.
The Padres, who twice briefly overtook the Dodgers for first place in the division last month, were swept by the Orioles -- L.A.'s next opponent -- this week and they have lost eight of their past 10 games overall.
Instead of padding their lead, the Dodgers are in the same place they were heading into the final month of the regular season: Two games ahead of the Padres for first place in the division, and now three games behind the Phillies for a first-round bye in the postseason.
"If we come in here and do what we all know we’re capable of doing, we’d have a bigger lead, more cushion," said starter Blake Snell, who allowed five runs in five innings. "But that’s not what happened. We’re where we’re supposed to be. This is what we’ve earned. We’ve got to figure it out and we will. I’m confident of that. We’re such a good team. We’ve got to come together, figure it out and get it going."
The combination of the calendar running out and the stakes ramping up have turned up the pressure for the Dodgers. On some nights, that pressure has manifested itself in positive ways, giving the team a healthy amount of urgency to fuel more focused play.
On other nights, it has led to players pressing and trying to do too much as individuals.
Veteran infielder Miguel Rojas believes that the frustration has compounded on himself and his teammates at times. They need, he said, to play for each other and find joy in the game.
"I feel like ever since we started playing poorly a couple months ago, the pressure and frustration has been building up on the team. And I don’t see anybody smiling and having a good time," Rojas said. "We all know, when you’re losing baseball games, it’s not that fun. But I feel like we have to find a way to put everything in perspective.
"We’re still in first place. We’re still two games ahead of the Padres. We should be able to have some fun while we’re playing the game and kind of relax a little bit more. Because I think when this team is together like that, we’re really hard to beat.”
The Dodgers believe that they have too much talent to play the way they have over the past couple of months. They still have faith that their best baseball is yet to come, as frustrating as things have been recently.
"It's going to happen," Roberts said. "I still believe it's going to happen."
The belief is there. If joy is the missing piece, then the Dodgers need to find it sooner rather than later.