Dodgers 'pen does its job, but bats stay cold

It was more of the same for the Dodgers in a 3-1 loss to the Brewers on Friday at American Family Field.

With the team in the middle of a stretch where they’re playing 14 games without an off-day, the Dodgers opted to go with a bullpen game. Edwin Uceta got the start in his Major League debut and picked up the loss as he allowed a two-run homer to Jackie Bradley Jr. in the second inning.

• Box score

Behind Uceta, the Dodgers got effective and efficient shutdown innings from Scott Alexander, Mitch White, Victor González and Jimmy Nelson. Milwaukee was able to add an insurance run in the eighth against Blake Treinen. Those five pitchers combined to give up one run over six innings, giving the offense plenty of time to put together any sort of rally.

But as has been the case over most of the last two weeks, the Dodgers’ offense was nowhere to be found. Los Angeles was held without a hit through four innings. The first hit came courtesy of AJ Pollock’s second homer of the season, a solo shot off Brewers starter Freddy Peralta in the fifth.

“No one is going to give us anything. We just gotta go out there and keep taking good at-bats, keep competing and expect good things to happen,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “There’s a point you just continue to give guys credit for pitching and throwing good ballgames, but there is a point where you still have to find a way to scratch some runs across. … Collectively, we just didn’t get it done.”

Pollock has been one of the lone bright spots for the Dodgers’ offense recently. He has hit .360 (9-for-25) with two homers and three RBIs in his last eight games.

Outside of Pollock and Justin Turner, the Dodgers just can’t seem to get any momentum offensively. Will Smith’s broken-bat single just over the infield in the seventh inning was the only other hit Los Angeles recorded on Friday; he ended up stranded at first.

“We just have to get back to taking quality at-bats,” Pollock said. “It’s tough, it’s frustrating and it seems awful. But in baseball, we play 162 games, sometimes you go through little things like this. We know how potent our offense is and it’s not going to take much to get this thing clicking again. But it is a little frustrating. We just have to keep at it.”

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Since a six-run eighth inning in the series finale against the Reds -- a rally the Dodgers hoped would propel them to happier days during their road trip -- the team has scored just two runs on 11 hits. Mookie Betts had a scheduled off-day Friday, and the Dodgers are hoping it also helps him reset mentally. Corey Seager and Max Muncy are also searching for answers.

It’s been an individual grind for most of the Dodgers’ hitters. The recent frustration was on display, as Roberts was ejected for arguing with first-base umpire Ángel Hernández.

“I didn't agree with the earlier balk call with Nelson and then right there, I’m in the third-base dugout, so I don’t have the best angle,” said Roberts. “But it was pretty clear to me from the back side that [Chris Taylor] didn’t go around. As a hitter, anybody that has played the game, knows that a 2-0 count is considerably different than a 1-1 count. I just think we all need to be held accountable, and I thought he missed it.”

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With a struggling offense, the Dodgers have now lost nine of their last 12 games for the first time since August 2018 and have seen their record go from 13-2 to 16-11 in a matter of two weeks. They’ve also allowed the Giants to overtake them atop the National League West standings and for the Padres and D-backs to make up ground in the division.

The back of the baseball cards suggest that the Dodgers will eventually turn things around during a 162-game season. And in the bigger picture, the club is still four games over .500 one month into the season. But right now, the Dodgers are stuck trying to find their way out of an unusually cold stretch for the club.

“After one month, I think we’re in a good spot,” Roberts said. “I think that the recency makes it a little bit more clouded. But to bank that as we started the season, I think we would’ve all banked that. To get through the first month where we’re at in the win-loss [columns], I think is fine. I think it’s just how we got there that doesn’t sit well with any of us.”