Dodgers News: Don Mattingly Confident After Loss To Giants

On the cusp of clinching their third consecutive National League West crown, the Los Angeles Dodgers lost on a walk off sacrifice fly ball in the 12th inning against the San Francisco Giants last night. With the loss, the Dodger move to a dismal 0-7 record at AT&T park this season and have lost their third consecutive game.

The magic number to clinch the division remains at two for the fourth straight day, but manager Don Mattingly still expressed confidence in his team.

According to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, Mattingly thought Los Angeles played a clean game and got better as the game progressed:

It was a tough one to lose, but actually I felt pretty good about the game itself,” he said. “It’s what we’ve been wanting, a clean game and playing to our potential, and it just didn’t work out. I felt better and better as the game went on. Felt we played a little like that [pressing] in Colorado, just trying to finish it. As the game went on, I felt better and better about all that.”

On the year the Dodgers have totaled a record 87-69 and still hold a 5.0 game lead over the San Francisco Giants, who have a record of 82-74. While the Dodgers are still in control, they have lost eight of their last 10 games. One more win would put them in the postseason to take on the New York Mets in the NLDS. It would be the first time in franchise history that the Dodgers won the NL West three straight years.

The Dodgers send Clayton Kershaw to the mound on Tuesday against Giants’ ace Madison Bumgarner looking for one more win.