The Los Angeles Dodgers are down 3-0 in the National League Championship Series, and the defending champions look lost in every facet of the game.
The Milwaukee Brewers have out-pitched, out-homered and out-managed what many consider the greatest team ever assembled. Still, looking at the Dodgers' lineup, it's hard to ignore three MVP Award winners, multiple All-Stars and countless postseason home runs. What is going on with the Dodgers?
“It’s a pretty simple answer,” Max Muncy said after losing Game 3 of the NLCS. “We’re playing like (expletive), and they’re playing great.”
The Dodgers' offense has disappeared, and even when they do get on the board, the Brewers find a way to punch right back. Even with a struggling offense, the Dodgers got past the Atlanta Braves. That was in large part because of how good the starting rotation is. Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow might be the best postseason rotation ever.
However, the Brewers have mowed through the first three of the Dodgers' collection of aces, and now Glasnow is the Dodgers' last hope.
It does not matter how well he pitches if the Dodgers cannot give him run support. Tarik Skubal gave up just two runs in Game 1, and it was too much for the Dodgers.
The Dodgers offense has disappeared, but some of that is because of how good the Brewers' pitching staff has been. Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson did not have their best starts earlier in the series, but the bullpen has been on a roll. In Game 3, Robert Gasser had a great start, and Abner Uribe gave up the lead in the sixth inning. However, the offense picked him up, and the rest of the bullpen was great.
Muncy knows the Dodgers are not living up to expectations, and if they want to three-peat, they will have to become the second team ever to erase a 3-0 deficit.