Dodgers lose 10th consecutive game, NL West lead down to nine

LOS ANGELES >> At a Catholic Mass inside Dodger Stadium on Sunday morning, a priest attempted to perform an exorcism on the ballpark. Friday, pitcher Yu Darvish sprinkled salt in the Dodgers’ dugout, a Japanese custom intended to ward off evil spirits.

It’s come to this.

The Dodgers’ 8-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Sunday was their 10th straight. Only a home run by Alex Verdugo in the ninth inning prevented a shutout in front of an announced crowd of 50,161.

Monday, the Dodgers will embark on a 10-game trip to San Francisco, Washington and Philadelphia. If Dodger Stadium stadium is the problem, the players can only thank the heavens, or the schedule-makers, for the reprieve.

In their futile effort against the Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks this week, the Dodgers lost every game of a seven-game homestand for the first time ever. Their longest homestand without a win before this week was in 1893, a four-game set in Brooklyn, according to Stats LLC.

The Dodgers’ lead in the National League West, which reached 21 games in August, is down to nine. Their 116-win pace is a distant memory.

“We have a very frustrated, upset clubhouse,” Manager Dave Roberts said.

Sunday’s game offered nothing new to the narrative. The Dodgers’ sagging offense went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base.

For the second straight game, Roberts rolled his once fearsome foursome of Chris Taylor, Corey Seager, Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger at the top of his lineup. The quartet combined for two hits and no walks after combining for three hits and one walk Saturday.

Taylor went 0 for 5 in both weekend games.

“You have to give credit. I thought their pitcher pitched really well. You’ve just got to keep grinding. The ball’s not always going to bounce your way. We’ve got to just forget about it and get ready for the Giants,” Taylor said.

“Tomorrow’s another day,” said the Dodgers’ starting pitcher, Rich Hill. “I know people are tired of hearing that and tired of seeing us lose games. Believe me, that’s felt throughout this locker room.”

Hill (9-8) allowed two runs in five innings. The loss wasn’t his fault, but Hill acknowledged afterward that he didn’t have his “best stuff.” He was fortunate to escape the first inning with only one run on his ledger.

Charlie Blackmon drew a walk to begin the game and went to second base on a single by D.J. LeMahieu. Nolan Arenado singled weakly, scoring Blackmon and sending LeMahieu to third. Trevor Story walked, loading the bases with none out.

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Hill came back to retire Carlos Gonzalez on a popout, then struck out Mark Reynolds and Raimel Tapia. He threw 28 pitches in the inning. Hill “has got to set the tone,” Roberts said before the game, and the pitcher heeded those words. The eight innings that followed felt longer than usual.

Turner and Seager singled in the bottom of the first inning, but neither scored. Curtis Granderson and Andre Ethier singled in the second inning. Neither scored.

Rockies starter Tyler Chatwood (7-12) walked two batters in the third inning, allowed a single in the fourth, and got away with all of it. The Redlands native didn’t allow a run in five innings – his longest outing since Aug. 2, with an extended trip to the bullpen sandwiched in between.

Taylor didn’t mention Chatwood by name, but he didn’t have to. During their 1-15 stretch, the Dodgers are hitting a collective .199. While Roberts continues to praise his hitters’ preparation, he’s tired of acknowledging the disparity between the effort and the results.

“I think the mental (effect) is real, when you look back two weeks,” Roberts said. “Our guys do a good job of focusing on the next day. Right now they’re upset. There’s frustration. Anger. I know tomorrow we’ll be ready to go.”

The Dodgers’ offense wasn’t the only broken record Sunday. No team in baseball history has won 15 in a 16-game stretch and lost 15 of 16 in the same season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The 10 consecutive losses equaled the Dodgers’ longest drought since the franchise relocated from Brooklyn in 1958. Their ninth consecutive loss at Dodger Stadium equaled a record set in 1987.

This game was actually within reach until the Rockies piled on rookie pitcher Walker Buehler.

Buehler took over in the eighth inning of a 2-0 game. He got squeezed on a couple pitches, but didn’t help himself with his fastball command. Only 11 of Buehler’s 24 pitches were strikes, including the fifth grand slam of Mark Reynolds’ career. The 23-year-old right-hander walked two batters and recorded one out in his second major league appearance.

Verdugo’s home run against pitcher Adam Ottavino was his third hit since being recalled from Triple-A. The Dodgers’ lone highlight was too little, and it came too late. The Rockies swept their first four-game series in Los Angeles since 1993.

At 21 years old, Verdugo is the youngest player on the Dodgers’ active roster. He could not remember being part of a losing streak this long at any level of his career. At 37, Hill is the second-oldest player on the roster, and he couldn’t remember being part of a slump this long either.

“And I’ve never been through a winning streak like the one we went through either,” Hill said. “There’s two sides to it. It doesn’t sit well with anyone in this room, and it’s not OK. You have to really look at it and say ‘enough is enough.’ We are doing that. … Every guy is putting forth their effort every single day.”