Dodgers lose 11th straight game after miserable three-hour rain delay

Liz Roscher
·Staff writer

Saying that it’s been a tough two weeks for the Los Angeles Dodgers would be a dramatic understatement. Coming into Monday night’s game, the team had lost 10 games in a row. So they came to AT&T Park to face the San Francisco Giants on Monday night looking for a win. What they found was wet, rainy misery.

[Now’s the time to sign up for Fantasy Football! Join for free]

Right off the bat there was a 42-minute rain delay, so the game didn’t start until 7:57 p.m. PT. When the game was finally underway, Curtis Granderson kicked the whole thing off by striking out against Giants pitcher Chris Stratton. And then instead of a second batter, the game stopped. After a 40-plus minute rain delay and one batter, the umpires put the game into another rain delay. And this one would last nearly three hours.

And for the beat writers stuck at AT&T Park for the duration, the struggle was real.

The seagulls would be disappointed, because the game was far from over. After two hours and 52 minutes, the game resumed at 10:50 p.m. PT. And when it ended — after 2 a.m. on the West Coast and 5 a.m. on the East Coast, yikes — the Dodgers had lost again. They had more than a few chances to win, especially given that they were tied with the Giants after five-and-a-half innings. But the Giants tacked on two late runs and the Dodgers couldn’t catch up. They lost 8-6 to a team they’d already eliminated from the postseason.

Los Angeles Dodgers’ Alex Verdugo looks up at the rain during a delay during a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Monday, Sept. 11, 2017, in San Francisco. (AP Photo)
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Alex Verdugo looks up at the rain during a delay during a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Monday, Sept. 11, 2017, in San Francisco. (AP Photo)

The Dodgers’ skid now sits at 11 games, and they haven’t lost this many games in a row since they were Brooklyn Dodgers — in 1944 they lost 16 games in a row. They still have to lose five more in a row before they hit that one, and they need to lose 12 more games in a row before they approach the post-1900 record for losses, which was set by the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies at 23 losses. So they still have a long way to go before they make it into the record books.

[Jeff Passan: Breaking down two of baseball’s stunning streaks]

But an 11-game losing streak isn’t nothing. It would be concerning for most teams, but for a team like the Dodgers it feels monumental. The last time they won a game was on Sept. 1, when they had 16-game lead on the second place Arizona Diamondbacks. Now that lead is down to nine games. What’s even crazier is that before that Sept. 1 win, the Dodgers had a five-game losing streak. Before that started, they had a 21-game lead on the D-backs.

The Dodgers won’t lose forever. They will win a game again, and soon. They still have a comfortable lead in the NL West, and with just 18 games left they’ll almost certainly make the playoffs. (That’s how good the Dodgers have been — they’ve lost 16 of their last 17 games and they’re still pretty much a lock for the postseason.) But that’s not much of a comfort for Dodgers fans, who have to be wondering how much of this awful September will follow their team into October. The answer to that is just as unsatisfying as the answer to “When will the Dodgers win another game?” Right now, no one knows.

– – – – – –

Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher

More from Yahoo Sports:
• Sideline reporter explains awkward ‘Monday Night Football’ moment
• NFL Power Rankings: Who replaces Pats as No. 1?
• Curry takes strong stance on Kaepernick’s NFL status
• Pat Forde: The ugly truth about racism and coaches in the NCAA