Roberts guarantees division win after Dodgers' latest defeat
The previously unbeatable Los Angeles Dodgers have suddenly dropped 11 of their last 12 games - but the skipper's not sweating one bit.
Even after the Dodgers' latest loss Wednesday - a 3-1 defeat at the hands of their surging rivals from Arizona that cut the Dodgers' 21-game lead atop the NL West in half - manager Dave Roberts refused to push the panic button, and even went so far as to guarantee there will be no epic collapse at Chavez Ravine.
"We're going to win the division," Roberts said postgame, according to Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times. "I can assure you of that."
Wednesday's loss was perhaps the most painful defeat to hit the Dodgers during this sudden dry spell. Frustrations boiled over in the sixth inning when third baseman Justin Turner was ejected for arguing balls and strikes, just one frame before the Diamondbacks took the lead for good with a two-run seventh.
In addition to making it 11 of 12 losses for baseball's best club, Arizona ensured the Dodgers will not make any history this year. The loss means the Dodgers have no mathematical chance of winning what would have been a record-tying 116 games.
Still, despite a division lead that's now shrunk from 21 games in late August to 10 1/2 and the possibility of at least equaling baseball's wins record now gone, Roberts' unwavering confidence in his men shouldn't seem out of place. According to Fangraphs' playoff odds, the Dodgers' chances of winning the NL West remained at 100 percent after Wednesday - meaning that neither their slump nor the D-Backs' historic run have had any negligible impact on the division race.
If Los Angeles is going to prove its skipper right and get back to the team's winning ways, there's perhaps no better chance to start than on Thursday night when Clayton Kershaw takes the hill against Colorado. But even Kershaw can't guarantee anything when the team around him owns a collective .567 OPS during the past 12 games.
"I believe in the talent in the room," Roberts added, per J.P. Hoornstra of the Orange County Register. "But we've got to (find a way to) win a baseball game."