LOS ANGELES -- In the middle two games of a four-game showdown series against the Braves, September callup Kolten Wong hit the Dodgers’ only home run and is the only one to drive in multiple runs for Los Angeles. Those who had that, come get your lucrative prize.

A Dodgers offense that was essentially as hot as anybody’s in August has been unable to produce in cooler September temperatures. In a 4-2 loss to the Braves in 10 innings on Saturday at Dodger Stadium, Will Smith brought home a run on a double-play grounder and Max Muncy had a sacrifice fly in an inning that started with a runner at second base.

The likely August Player of the Month Mookie Betts? He doesn’t have a hit in the past two games and has struck out three times.

The series was billed as a chance for Betts to gain a foothold on the National League MVP race, but instead, the Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr. has made a statement in favor of his own case with a home run in each of the series’ first three games.

And Betts’ tag-team partner Freddie Freeman? He has two hits in the past two games, both singles, with four strikeouts.

“I mean, you can’t take too much out of it,” said Muncy, when asked about measuring up to a team that could be a playoff opponent. “If we face them in the postseason, it will be completely different games. I think we have proven that in the past against teams that we have played.

“It’s an exciting series right now, and a lot of fun for people watching it, but at the end of the day, it’s not going to be the same if it’s in the playoffs.”

Muncy isn’t wrong, of course, but the buildup and the atmosphere during the series is about as close as it gets to the postseason.

The Dodgers still have a chance to salvage a game in the four-game series on Sunday, but since the Braves have arrived in town, their deficit to overtake the Braves for best record in the National League has gone from four to seven games.

The good news for the Dodgers is that they still are 7 1/2 games up on the Brewers, who are third among the NL division leaders. That means the Dodgers still are pointed toward a bye in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.

And there are still five weeks remaining to rid themselves of the past two days. Going 24-5 in August -- and becoming the fifth Major League team to win 24 or more games in a month -- isn’t negated by the first three-game losing streak since the Giants swept a three-game series in June.

“We still have a really good offense,” manager Dave Roberts said. “That first game [against the Braves on Thursday], we got to the ‘pen. Last night and tonight, we didn’t really do a whole lot. It’s just one of those things that you can’t overthink it a whole lot. Like we always say, hitting is difficult, it’s tough to do. Hopefully, you can turn the page and salvage [something in] the series tomorrow.”

And while the Dodgers’ usually productive lineup hasn’t been clicking, the Braves have been as advertised.

The Braves have eight home runs in the series, with Orlando Arcia hitting a go-ahead three-run home run in the 10th inning Saturday. They increased their baseball-best homer total to 258.

The signature moments of the series so far have been Acuña’s grand slam Thursday and his 454-foot home run Saturday that was clocked at 121.2 mph off the bat, the fastest exit velocity in the Majors this season.

“We’ve seen [Giancarlo] Stanton hit some balls, but I haven’t seen a ball hit like that,” Roberts said. “I didn’t think that was possible.”

Dodgers rookie starter Emmet Sheehan had an otherwise solid four-inning outing, but the blast he gave up to Acuña might live in his memory bank for some time.

“It sounded like a jet engine going by,” Sheehan said.