Dodgers misery only gets worse after walk-off loss to Tigers

DETROIT –– For the Dodgers right now, everything feels so tedious and difficult.

In their pursuit of a third-straight World Series, they’ve wound up in a miserable grind from which they’re struggling to snap out of.

Their offense has been maddening, either struggling to generate scoring chances or finding ways to waste them with poorly-timed double-plays and empty situational at-bats.

Their pitching staff has operated under constant threat, throwing like they know even one potential mistake could be the difference between a win and a loss.

It has created a gloomy mood around the team in recent weeks, where frustration is high and momentum rarely lasts.

And on Saturday, their ongoing struggles became even more tiresome, as they slogged their way to a 2-1 walk-off loss to the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.

Even before Kevin McGonigle’s game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth, little about the afternoon looked all too enjoyable.

Blake Snell’s labored through a five-inning, one-run, 99-pitch start. The offense managed just a six-hit performance that featured six men left on base and a 1-for-6 mark with runners in scoring position.

The loss dropped the Dodgers to 1-4 on this road trip and 12-15 over their last 27 games.

Offensively, the Dodgers didn’t have a single runner in scoring position through the first five innings. Then, even after they finally broke through in the sixth on a Freddie Freeman RBI single, they wasted a bases-loaded opportunity with their MLB-leading 111th double-play of the season, this time off the bat of Tommy Edman on a down-the-middle, hitter’s-count cutter.

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Another leadoff double would be stranded in the seventh, as would a one-out single in the ninth.

Snell made sure to at least keep them in the game early, striking out 10 batters to post a 1.17 ERA in four starts since returning from the injured list. However, the two-time Cy Young Award winner battled familiar efficiency problems, nibbling around the strike zone all afternoon in pursuit of what –– given the Dodgers’ offensive woes –– felt like necessary perfection.

Turned out, even the one run allowed, which came on a Gleyber Torres RBI double in the third, was too much to overcome.

Instead, the Dodgers held the 1-1 tie until Jack Dreyer entered in the ninth.

Then, in what was their 15th one-run game this month, they watched another winnable contest slip through their fingers, after Javier Báez laced a leadoff double, a pair of walks loaded the bases, and McGonigle ended it with a deep fly to left-center that bounced over the wall and ended the game.