PHOENIX, AZ – October 11: Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Lance Lynn reacts to giving up a home run to Arizona Diamondbacks Gabriel Moreno during game three of the National League Division Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on Monday, Oct. 11, 2023, in Phoenix, AZ. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
There was a sense of inevitability on Wednesday at Chase Field in Arizona.
As home run after home run sailed into the seats, sending the nearly 50,000 fans in attendance into delirium, the Los Angeles Dodgers embraced the sound of silence, and vocalized the renowned lyrics from Simon and Garfunkel.
"Hello darkness, my old friend. I've come to talk with you again."
For the second consecutive year, the Dodgers were dominant during the regular season, and one-and-done in the postseason.
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They closed their 2023 campaign the same way they concluded the 1995, 1996, 2004, 2006, 2014, 2015, 2019, and 2022 seasons: wondering why they can be so damn good during the grueling 162-game regular season, but a shell of themselves once the calendar turns to October.
The Diamondbacks made history on Wednesday, becoming the first team in MLB history to hit four home runs in an inning in the postseason, as they defeated the rival Dodgers, 4-2, in Game 3 of the NLDS to complete the sweep and advance to the NLCS.
"This is really hard for me to describe right now. There's a lot of emotion inside of our clubhouse," said Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo after the win. "I'm just trying to slow down the moment and enjoy it, and interpret it, and just let it register a little bit, because I don't think anybody gave us a chance to be here. I don't think anybody gave us a chance to win these games that we've won against the teams we've had to play."
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It was the first time the Dodgers have been swept in a playoff series since the New York Mets beat them in three straight during the 2006 NLDS.
"I'm frustrated, disappointed, and embarrassed at the way the whole series went," said Dodgers utility player Enrique Hernandez, who had the most postseason experience on the roster entering the series. "They kept punching us in the face and we weren't able to get back up."
Lance Lynn, who allowed a MLB-worst 44 home runs during the regular season, served up solo shots to Geraldo Perdomo, Ketel Marte, Christian Walker, and Gabriel Moreno in the bottom of the third inning.
Lynn would not escape the home run derby that was the third inning, becoming the third consecutive Dodgers starting pitcher to be pulled before recording nine outs.
"I got behind in counts and they made me pay," said Lynn about the four homers he surrendered in the third inning. "That's what they've been doing all series."
In the three games of the NLDS, the Dodgers starting rotation of three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw, rookie Bobby Miller, and Lynn allowed 13 runs and recorded just 14 total outs.
"We got beat in most of the facets of the game," said Kershaw after the loss. "We especially got beat in starting pitching, which is really disappointing."
Meanwhile, the Dodgers high-octane offense that featured four different players with 100 RBI or more for the first time in franchise history, including a second-best 906 total runs, went weakly into the winter with just six runs over three games in the playoffs.
"It's hard, offensively, these guys are so used to playing every day," added Kershaw when asked if the new MLB playoff format with a five-day layoff between the end of the regular season and the start of the NLDS was a factor the last two years. "I get it. Extra teams means more money and all that stuff, I get it. I'm not a hitter, but it does seem like it's a bit of a challenge. It's not an excuse though. At the end of the day we had a good opportunity, and we should have won three out of five."
As they seemingly always do, the Dodgers have once again had an October let down. If you remove the COVID-19 shortened 2020 World Series championship season, the Dodgers have been to the playoffs 17 times since 1988 without a full season title.
They've also lost three consecutive playoff series as the overwhelming betting favorites to win it.
"I've got to do a better job of figuring out a way to get our guys prepared for the postseason," said Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts, who took the blame for the sweep. "I'll own that. I think we've got great players. But I've got to figure out a way to get these guys prepared for whatever format, whatever series. Yes, we do a great job in the regular season, but the last couple postseasons it just hasn't gone well for us and I've got to figure it out."
This year, they are headed home early because their audacious NL West rivals in the desert dominated them over three straight games. The Dodgers finished 16 games ahead of Arizona in the regular season, but it all meant nothing during three games in the postseason.
The Dodgers are headed home early because their starting rotation was more brittle than a three-month old bar of soap. But more importantly, they are headed home early because for the second straight October they lacked energy, passion, tenacity, and urgency.
A first-round bye did not make a difference. Home field advantage did not make a difference or even a single dent in the inevitable outcome.
"It's hard to find words right now...It's frustrating," said Dodgers' All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman. "Me, and a lot of us did not play the way we wanted. They came out swinging and they beat us."
The Dodgers bullpen, maligned for most of the season, did a sensational job of keeping them in the tenor and competitiveness of Games 2 and 3. They took down 12.2 innings, allowing just a single run.
Unfortunately, their starting rotation did them no favors.
"I think sometimes you've still got to trust the players to go out there and execute," said Roberts of the rotation. "We just didn't get the starts we needed."
The real culprit, however, was the Dodgers offense. In all three games the Dodgers offense trailed by multiple runs and played the remainder of the game from behind, a daunting uphill battle reminiscent of Sisyphus rolling the boulder up the hill for all eternity.
As easy as it is to play with the lead, the Dodgers had 38 comeback victories in 2023, but when the lights were the brightest and the moments monumental, they were as soft and quiet as a whisper in winter.
All-Stars, and franchise cornerstones Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, both of which will finish in the top three for NL MVP this season, were a combined 1-for-21 in the series.
"I didn't do anything to help the team," said Betts matter of factly. "There's no real words for it. They played better. I can't speak for all of us, but I know I did absolutely nothing to help us win. There's no real words for it."
Roberts couldn't find the words either.
"I know that those guys prepared. Those are our guys, two great players," said Roberts when asked why Betts and Freeman struggled in the series. "I don't have an answer, I really don't."
The Dodgers habit of hitting home runs during the regular season failed them in the postseason. Los Angeles had the second-most home runs hit in all of baseball in 2023, but they only hit one during the NLDS compared to nine for Arizona.
"I've never seen something like that before," said Lovullo of his team hitting so many home runs in the series. "It was almost unbelievable. That's the quality of the hitters we have."
Trailing by four runs for most of the game, the Dodgers did everything they could to muster up a small rally in the top of the seventh inning. Chris Taylor and Hernandez both hit back-to-back, two-out, RBI singles, but they stranded the tying run after pinch-hitter Austin Barnes grounded into third base on the first pitch he saw.
"That was a situation where we needed to get a hit," said Roberts of his decision to pinch-hit Barnes, a .180 hitter during the regular season. "Austin is a guy who has been in many postseasons and gotten huge hits for us. He just expanded. It was a ball down below the zone and we let them off the hook right there."
The Dodgers are the most dominant and transcending team over the last decade. They've won more regular season games than any other team in the league, yet they have only one ring to show for it.
Meanwhile, the Houston Astros, the second-best regular season team over that same span, is on its way to their seventh consecutive American League Championship Series, and have been to four World Series, winning two titles.
Fans will want to point the finger of blame on manager Dave Roberts, but he had arguably his greatest season in his eight-year tenure during the regular season.
Fans will want to put the blame on President of Baseball Operations, Andrew Friedman, after all, he constructed this roster. However, even Friedman couldn't anticipate losing starting pitchers Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin to torn ulnar collateral ligaments, and ace Julio Urias to a suspension after a domestic violence arrest in early September.
If there is any consolation for the Dodgers, its that they are not alone in the conundrum that is the MLB Playoffs. The two other 100-win teams this season are either eliminated already, or facing elimination. No MLB team has won back-to-back World Series titles since the New York Yankees in the late 1990s.
The Dodgers are undoubtedly the kings of the regular season, but even they haven't been able to figure out the roulette wheel that is the MLB Playoffs.
Instead of celebrating, it will be back to the drawing board for the Dodgers as they continue to try and solve the enigma of October.
