Dodgers' late rally not enough vs. Wainwright

ST. LOUIS -- The Dodgers got some good news before Wednesday’s game. Tony Gonsolin, who has been sidelined since July 31 with a right shoulder injury is slated to come off the injured list on Thursday. Clayton Kershaw, who has been out since July 3, is currently scheduled to start on Monday.

Adding Gonsolin and Kershaw to the rotation will certainly be a big boost, though the Dodgers’ pitching depth has been the driving force behind Los Angeles’ run-prevention machine over the last few months.

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That wasn’t the case on Wednesday as right-hander Mitch White struggled yet again in the first inning in a 5-4 loss to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

With the Dodgers’ loss and a Giants win over the Rockies, Los Angeles is now two games behind San Francisco in the National League West with 22 games remaining in the season.

White has provided solid length as the team has navigated through injuries, but the production hasn’t quite been there his last two outings. The 26-year-old had his career-best start on Aug. 18, tossing 7 1/3 scoreless innings against a Pirates lineup that ranks near the bottom of the league in just about every offensive category.

Since then, White has allowed three first-inning runs in back-to-back outings. On Wednesday, it was Yadier Molina’s two-run homer that put the Dodgers behind early. To White’s credit, he settled in and was able to give the Dodgers five innings a night after the club used nine relievers.

“That first inning, I was a little out of rhythm,” White said. “I spun a few sliders, and they took advantage.”

While White wasn’t particularly sharp, he didn’t get much help from the offense, which has been a concerning trend for the Dodgers over the last few weeks.

The Dodgers have a star-studded lineup and are as healthy as they’ve been all season. Despite that, the club hasn’t been able to piece together quality offensive games in a row. On Tuesday, the team scored seven runs and showed signs of an offensive force that would be tough to beat in a postseason series.

On Wednesday, the Dodgers showed that potential again in the first inning. Max Muncy, Mookie Betts and Corey Seager each had some good swings, and the Dodgers got off to a 1-0 lead. That lead could’ve been even bigger, but Betts was thrown out at the plate after an aggressive send by third-base coach Dino Ebel.

However, following Seager’s RBI double in the first, the offense disappeared until Muncy’s homer in the sixth. Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright, who is having a superb season, retired 15 consecutive batters following Seager’s RBI. The Dodgers did put together a ninth-inning rally, finally getting Wainwright out of the game, but it was too little, too late.

“It’s definitely been inconsistent,” Muncy said of the offense. “Pitchers come out and they give us their best and we really haven’t been giving our best back at them. It’s one of those things where we have the talent and we’re just not putting it together. We haven’t been able to do it all year. I think if you ask anyone on this team, they’ll tell you we’ve really sucked on the offensive side.”

The Dodgers should get a shot in the arm in the rotation with the return of Kershaw and Gonsolin. They’ll also cruise into the postseason either as the division champion or the host of the NL Wild Card Game. But in order for them to get to where they want to go, the offense is going to have to be much more consistent over the next few weeks. The Dodgers have scored six or more runs in just two games since Aug. 18. That won’t be good enough to repeat.

“I know that the preparation, the urgency every night from the beginning of the season hasn’t changed,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “I just don’t have an answer, but clearly the last 30 days we just haven’t been ourselves. The pitching and defense has really allowed us to win a lot of ballgames. There's going to come a time when the offense has to pick up some slack, too.”