LOS ANGELES – Friday night at Dodger Stadium wasn’t just a loss. It was a reminder that this Dodgers team, as talented as it is, still has a maddening tendency to vanish at the plate. The Arizona Diamondbacks, led by a pitcher with an ERA pushing five, made the Dodgers ’ offense look ordinary in a 3-0 shutout.
Yes, Blake Snell gave up the big blow — a two-run homer to Blaze Alexander in the fourth, his first long ball allowed since his start in Tampa Bay. Yes, his fastball velocity was down from his season average, an eyebrow-raiser as the Dodgers try to get him right for the stretch run. Snell was activated on Tuesday from the paternity list and has had a rough week trying to juggle everything as he prepared for his first start since being activated.
“It is what it is,” Snell said. “I just got to be better.”
But let’s be clear: this game wasn’t lost on the mound. It was lost at the plate.
The Dodgers managed three hits. Three. Against Zac Gallen, who came into the night with an ERA of 5.13 and a reputation for laboring through lineups. On this night, though, he looked like a Cy Young. He silenced L.A. over six innings, mixing sinkers and breaking balls while the Dodgers’ swings looked tentative, defensive, and, frankly, unprepared.
Shohei Ohtani legged out an infield single. Mookie Betts managed a double off the wall. Andy Pages punched a single to right. That’s the entire offensive highlight reel. No rallies, no traffic, no real threat of putting runs on the board. A lineup built on star power and depth played small and predictable, again.
Teoscar Hernandez went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts and wasn’t pleased after the game.
“When the pitcher deserves the credit, I think you have to give it to him,” Hernandez said.
Dave Roberts did his best to stay even-keeled afterward, but the cracks are showing. Asked about the offensive approach against Gallen, Roberts admitted he wasn’t even in the game-planning meeting — an odd admission for a manager whose team looked entirely out of sync. He chalked it up to Gallen’s mix of pitches and Snell’s velocity dip. But the bigger truth is this: the Dodgers looked flat. After an off day, no less.
“We just couldn’t figure anything out tonight,” Roberts said. ” We need to wash this one.”
And that’s the problem. This team can’t afford to drift through games, not in a division race and not with October around the corner. Strong starting pitching has been the lifeline all year, but when the bats disappear, the Dodgers look mortal — painfully mortal.
Tyler Glasnow takes the mound Saturday, and you’d expect the Dodgers to bounce back. But how many times have we said that after nights like this? The Dodgers’ lineup is too good to be shut down by a struggling arm, too talented to roll over with three lonely hits. Yet here we are.
If Friday was a one-off, fine. Flush it, move on. But if this is the kind of inconsistency that lingers into October, then the Dodgers aren’t just vulnerable — they’re beatable. And in Los Angeles, with this payroll, this roster, and these expectations, beatable isn’t good enough.