“Couldn’t muster anything tonight” - Dodgers manager Dave Roberts keeping focus on Diamondbacks $80,000,000 pitcher after 3-0 shutout loss

The LA Dodgers hosted fellow NL West rivals, the Arizona Diamondbacks, at home on Friday. With LA challenging for the World Series yet again this season and the D-backs dropping out of contention, many expected a routine victory for the hosts.

However, it was the visitors who secured a comfortable 3-0 win. Arizona's starting pitcher, Zac Gallen, was at his absolute best on Friday, pitching six innings, allowing zero earned runs and striking out eight.

Speaking to the press after the game, Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts acknowledged his team's inability to produce anything offensively in the game. He also reiterated their focus on Saturday's game, where they will face veteran pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez.

"We just really couldn't put anything together all night long. For me, I think we just gotta watch this one, focus on [Eduardo] Rodriguez tomorrow ... and try to win a game in the series," Roberts said (via Dodger Blue's YouTube channel at 0:45).

"I wasn't a part of the game-planning meeting, so I'm not sure what we were planning for, but the swings we were getting, certainly it seems like he (Gallen) was executing, and we just couldn't muster anything tonight," he added [1:38].

Rodriguez joined the Diamondbacks in December 2023 as a free agent, signing a four-year, $80 million deal.

Despite struggling with inconsistency of late, Dave Roberts and Dodgers are still the favorites to win NL West and World Series

The Dodgers have not displayed the kind of consistency their fans were expecting, considering the amount of talent on their roster. In their last seven games, the Dodgers are 4-3.

However, despite the struggles, they remain the favorites to win their division, the NL West. With arch-rivals, the San Diego Padres, also losing against the Minnesota Twins on Friday, LA's cushion at the top of the standings stays at two games.

As for the World Series, the 2024 champions are heavily favored by oddsmakers to repeat last season's exploits and win again. According to ESPN, LA are priced +375 to win it all, with the next closest team, the Philadelphia Phillies, coming in at +600.

About the author

Raghav Mehta is a baseball journalist at Sportskeeda awaiting results for a Bachelor's in Journalism from Delhi University. He enjoys highlighting the key battles between players at different stages of the game and analyzing the decisive moments upon which they hinge.

One of Raghav's favorite moments, which underscores this, was the Shohei Ohtani vs. Mike Trout clash in the 2023 WBC, where two of baseball's best players faced off against each other in the 9th inning. With the score 3-2 to Japan, Shohei eventually got the strikeout, which was absolute cinema.

Raghav is a Baltimore Orioles fan and is enjoying watching such an exciting young team compete at the top in a very competitive division.

Raghav has loved watching sports for as long as he can remember and realized he was pretty decent at writing his thoughts down at around the age of 14. Combining the two meant he had something he would enjoy doing every day, and he had identified that well before going to college.

Aside from work, Raghav enjoys playing sports, working out and watching movies.

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Edited by Parag Jain