Make it five consecutive losses for the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

At home Tuesday night, the Dodgers suffered another ninth-inning meltdown, as starter-turned-reliever Kenta Maeda allowed a ninth-inning run en route to a 2-1 loss (box score) to the rival Giants. The loss dropped Los Angeles into third place in the NL West. They are two games back in the division and 2 1/2 games back of the second National League wild-card spot.

The Dodgers lost closer Kenley Jansen to an irregular heartbeat last week -- the condition may require offseason surgery -- and, since he went down, the bullpen has been thoroughly ineffective. Each of these five consecutive losses has involved a late-inning meltdown.

  • Friday: Zac Rosscup allowed the go-ahead two-run home run in the seventh inning.
  • Saturday: JT Chargois allowed a three-run walk-off home run.
  • Sunday: Dylan Floro issued the walk-off walk.
  • Monday: Scott Alexander allowed four runs in the ninth to blow the save.
  • Tuesday: Maeda allowed the go-ahead single in the ninth.

"They were prepared for an injury at every single position on the team except for one: Closer," said former MLB GM Jim Bowden on CBS Sports HQ (video above). "They weren't prepared for this. They don't have anyone on their roster that has proven he can close games, and big games ... If they're going to solve this thing in-house, is if either (Ross) Stripling or Maeda can take that role, and hold that role until hopefully Jansen can come back in September."

Jansen was placed on the disabled list last Friday, and, in the five games since, the bullpen has allowed 11 runs (10 earned) and 20 baserunners in 12 innings. The starters have allowed eight runs (seven earned) and 30 baserunners in 31 1/3 innings in the five games. The bullpen wasted seven shutout innings from Walker Buehler on Saturday and eight innings of one-run ball from Clayton Kershaw on Monday. It has been a disaster, through and through.

And yet, as bad as the bullpen has been lately, one number sticks out to me and it has nothing to do with the relief crew. That number: One. That's how many runs the Dodgers scored Tuesday night. One. It came on a Manny Machado eighth inning single to tie the game 1-1.

The Dodgers scored one run Tuesday night. They scored two runs Monday night. They scored nine runs total in their three losses to the Rockies over the weekend. That is 12 runs total in the last five games. In fact, since a 21-5 drubbing of the Brewers on Aug. 2, the Dodgers have scored 30 runs in their last 11 games, and only once in those 11 games did they score more than four runs. Six times they scored no more than two runs.

Since the All-Star break the Dodgers have been, at best, a middle of the road offensive team. Here are their ranks in the second half:

  • Runs scored: 110 (14th in MLB)
  • Batting average: .235 (25th)
  • On-base percentage: .317 (17th)
  • Slugging percentage: .417 (15th)
  • OPS+: 98 (15th)

Keep in mind the Dodgers ranked second in the NL with a 108 OPS+ during the first half, then they went out an added Machado during the All-Star break. Machado's game-tying single in the eighth inning Tuesday night was his first big hit with Los Angeles, and while RBI are not the best way to evaluate a hitter, it's still jarring to see Machado has 6 RBI in 25 games since the trade. He's hitting .258/.345/.392 (100 OPS+) with two home runs for the Dodgers so far. Safe to say the team expected more impact than that.

Furthermore, first half offensive stalwarts Matt Kemp and Max Muncy have crashed back to Earth in the second half, and it shouldn't have been entirely unexpected. Kemp has a recent history of starting strong before fading in the second half.

Muncy was incredible in the first half. He really helped keep the club afloat after Justin Turner and Corey Seager went down with injuries, and expecting him to keep up an MVP caliber pace was probably unfair. Still, going from .271/.409/.604 (177 OPS+) before the All-Star break to .203/.277/.472 (99 OPS+) since has taken some punch out of the lineup. Machado, Kemp, and Muncy are three key middle of the order bats and they've been average at best lately, and the offense has stalled out.

The good news is the Dodgers have reasons to believe their offense will be better going forward. Machado's track record suggests there is more production on the way -- he certainly wouldn't be the first big-name player to go through an adjustment period following a midseason trade -- plus they have others like Turner, Cody Bellinger, Yasmani Grandal, Chris Taylor and Yasiel Puig. The Dodgers are not short on talent. They just need that talent to get back to playing up to their capabilities.

The bullpen is a different matter. Moving Stripling and Maeda to the bullpen will help to some degree -- Alex Wood and Hyun-Jin Ryu returning from the disabled list allows the Dodgers to move Stripling and Maeda to the bullpen without taking a hit in the rotation -- and rookie lefty Caleb Ferguson is emerging as a key contributor. Otherwise guys like Alexander, Chargois, and Pedro Baez have been so up and down this year that it's tough for manager Dave Roberts to know what he's going to get each time they enter the game.

The five-game losing streak and bullpen meltdowns have made it easy to overlook the club's offensive struggles. The Dodgers are still right in the thick of the postseason race -- again, they're two games back in the NL West and 2 1/2 games back of the second wild card spot -- with plenty of games remaining. The offense should correct itself it in time. The talent is there. The bullpen? That is a much dicier proposition.