Dodgers News: Mattingly Not Accepting Excuses For Rough Road Trip
The Los Angeles Dodgers can finally say that their road trip is over after their 3-2 loss to the Washington Nationals yesterday. As they return to bright and sunny southern California today, the team will have a slightly greater appreciation for the favorable weather than they did before they embarked on their nine-game tour of the east coast.
With two rain delays that totaled close to five hours and a 21-inning doubleheader instated due to a rain storm, including a handful of extra-inning games, the Dodgers could blame their 5-4 record in the past nine games on the unfavorable weather, but Don Mattingly would not fail to remind people that three of these games were played under a Miami roof.
According to Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times, the Dodgers manager was not ready to blame unfortunate circumstances for the team’s shortcomings:
I don’t want to accept that just because you had some tough travel and you had some tough games that that changes anything. Because those games in Minnesota are over. You get your rest, you reload and you go. That’s just what our game calls for. You travel a lot. You play a lot.”
Mattingly admitted that he is not completely disappointed in the way the Dodgers have been playing, but as a manager, he knows that his team is not living up to its potential. Although their rotation has held its own amidst some injuries and roster changes, their bullpen currently has the most losses in baseball and not until recently have Dodger starters been receiving the run support they deserve. The Dodgers also have the second highest number of errors in the league with 33 on the season.
The Dodgers are currently 19-16 and sit third in the NL West behind San Francisco and Colorado. As the Dodgers begin their four-game series against the Giants at home, they look to regroup against their rivals and work their way back to the top of their division.
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