Sports
Dodgers' growing offensive struggles have a familiar feel in loss to Cubs
It was around this time last year that the Dodgers offense started cooling off.
After a sluggish performance at the plate this week, they can only hope it isn’t happening again.
Before the Dodgers crashed out of the 2023 playoffs in a National League Division Series sweep against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the team’s bats began to quiet in September, when declining production from big stars and role players alike foreshadowed the offensive no-show that doomed the team in October.
Lately, the Dodgers have experienced something similar, following up a rollicking showcase in Arizona with a muted week offensively since.
The latest example came in a 10-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Monday night at Dodger Stadium, in which ex-Dodgers Cody Bellinger and Michael Busch almost outscored the entirety of their former team.
In the first four innings alone, Bellinger and Busch had three hits, a home run apiece and four total RBIs off Walker Buehler.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, didn’t score their first run until the fifth and squandered multiple opportunities to get back in the game — despite facing Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks and his 6.60 ERA, worst among MLB starters with 100 innings.
“We had the opportunities,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “I think we could go through the course of the year and, unfortunately, this is what happens in baseball when you play 162 games. You can have the opportunities, you just don’t get the hits.”
Since tallying 32 runs and 52 hits in a victorious four-game series against the Diamondbacks to start the month, the Dodgers have managed just 23 runs and 45 hits in six games since.
During that stretch, they’ve struck out 56 times. They’ve scored five or more runs just twice. And, after appearing to turn a corner at the plate with a healthy lineup for the first time in months, signs of their mid-summer malaise have returned.
“I think offensively certainly the first few innings were forgettable,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I thought [after] calibrating … we took better at-bats and we took the walks when we needed, got [Hendricks] out of the game, stressed their pen. We just couldn’t get that hit to really put up multiple crooked numbers.”
Alarm bells aren’t ringing yet. But reasons for concern are starting to sprout.
The Dodgers’ biggest problems Monday resided at the bottom of the batting order.
While Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freeman combined for five hits and five walks — Ohtani also stole his 47th base of the season in his continued pursuit of MLB’s first 50 homer-50 steal season — the rest of the lineup offered little support.
Max Muncy went hitless and managed only one RBI (a fifth-inning sacrifice fly) from two bases-loaded at-bats, leaving him two for 18 since the start of September.
Will Smith failed to build off a three-hit performance Sunday, continuing his second-half slide with an 0-for-five line that included a strikeout with two runners aboard in the fifth.
Tommy Edman had two hits, while Gavin Lux, Chris Taylor and Miguel Rojas each singled. But as a team, the Dodgers (86-58) were just two for seven with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base — not nearly enough on a night they trailed 3-0 after the first inning and 7-2 at the end of the sixth.
“I think the production from the bottom half, I certainly know it’s not as dire as it was early in the season,” Roberts said, maintaining confidence in an offense that still ranks third in the majors in scoring this season. “I still think we’re in a good spot.”
But on Monday, at least, the Cubs (74-70) were simply better.
Bellinger, the Dodgers’ former rookie of the year and most valuable player award winner, opened the scoring with a first-pitch, two-run homer in the first, launching his second long ball as a visiting player at Chavez Ravine deep into the right-field pavilion.
Cody Bellinger rounds third after hitting a two-run home run for the Chicago Cubs during the first inning Monday.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
Busch, the former Dodgers prospect who was traded to Chicago last offseason, tallied the next two runs for the Cubs. He lined an RBI single in the first, then cleared the short wall in left on an opposite-field solo homer in the fourth.
It all amounted to a “pretty big step back” for Buehler, as he put it, after a pair of encouraging outings in his previous two starts. The right-hander finished the night with five earned runs in five-plus innings, and struck out just four batters while allowing nine hits.
“I screwed us from the jump,” said Buehler, who now has a 5.95 ERA on the season and 9.69 ERA in first innings. “Obviously three runs in the first kind of sucked the energy out of the building … That’s a lot to ask of the rest of our guys to dig me out of a hole every game.”
Despite that, the Dodgers had chances to rally.
They loaded the bases in the third inning, but came away with nothing.
They scored twice in the fifth and seventh innings — Betts homered in the latter, his seventh in 26 games since returning from a broken hand — but missed opportunities in each to chip away further.
“Chalk it up to one of those days,” Freeman said. “Come back and get them tomorrow.”
The good news for the Dodgers: Their biggest stars are still hitting.
In addition to his seven homers, Betts also has a .316 batting average and 26 RBIs since coming off the injured list.
Freeman, who is still playing through a fractured right middle finger, is 11 for 33 with seven walks since getting a three-game break in late August.
Ohtani is also continuing to mash, batting an even .300 since Aug. 21 in search of his third MVP award.
But if the Dodgers thought their top-heavy lineup problems were a thing of the past, Monday’s loss — in which they were without Teoscar Hernández for a third straight game because of his foot contusion — offered a familiar reminder of how quickly things can turn.
“Every single day we come in with a game plan to win that game and do our best,” Freeman said. “Just didn’t happen today.”
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CM Punk appeared on “Friday Night SmackDown” ready to take on any challenger that was ready to step to him after winning the Undisputed WWE Championship against Sami Zayn.
Punk entered the ring in Oklahoma City and called back to the “Monday Night Raw” after WrestleMania 42 when he told Cody Rhodes he’d be ready to deliver if a championship opportunity fell “out of the sky.”
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Cody Rhodes and CM Punk face off during SmackDown at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla. (Craig Ambrosio/WWE via Getty Images)
“When championship opportunities fall out of the sky, CM Punk catches them,” he said.
Punk named potential SmackDown superstars he’d think might come for the title, including Gunther, Finn Balor, Royce Keys, Damian Priest and Trick Williams. He even said that Zayn could come back around and get his rematch if he wanted. He didn’t mention Rhodes’ name, but the “American Nightmare” came out uncalled and marched his way down to the ring.
“I don’t think you and I can run away from each other anymore,” Punk told Rhodes.
Cody Rhodes looks on during SmackDown at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., on July 10, 2026. (Craig Ambrosio/WWE via Getty Images)
Rhodes agreed and mentioned that Punk would want a match with him, just “say when.” It was a quick retort from Punk, who said, “when.” SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis, who was in the ring for the segment, booked the match for SummerSlam.
Punk will defend the Undisputed WWE Championship at SummerSlam, which takes place Aug. 1 and 2 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
First, however, Punk and Rhodes will be involved in a tag team match at Saturday Night’s Main Event in New York City next week. Aldis made the match after Gunther demanded that Aldis put him in a match against Punk. Gunther was hoping it would be for the championship. Instead, Gunther will tag with Zayn.
Gunther didn’t take too kindly to that and attacked Aldis. Rhodes came back out to break up the calamity. He wanted to take on Gunther after the show went off air but Gunther walked away.
Gunther makes his entrance during SmackDown at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., on July 10, 2026. (Rich Wade/WWE via Getty Images)
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Punk definitely has his hands full as he moves to SmackDown to become a fighting champion.
World Cup tourists are coming to L.A. for the soccer, but they’re staying for the $21 smoothies and Double-Doubles.
As the last Los Angeles FIFA World Cup event ended Friday, soccer fans were eating like locals and famous chains from the region were cashing in.
In the weeks that L.A. has hosted the World Cup, international soccer enthusiasts have flocked to big brands from the area, often in large groups wearing their countries’ jerseys.
It is a phenomenon seen at many of the host cities. In Dallas, giant gas station Buc-ee’s is the main attraction. For people visiting New Jersey, deli shops have been a hot ticket. In L.A., the place to be between matches was Erewhon.
Thirsty international sports fans gathered for pictures outside different Erewhons, wandered their aisles smiling, and, of course, picked up pricey smoothies.
While Erewhon would not comment on its business, mobility data company Arity, which uses phone data to track consumers, said Erewhon visits at the outlets around SoFi Stadium were quadruple what they were a week earlier on June 12, the day of the U.S. national soccer team’s opening match there.
Arity looked at what stores people visited within a 10-mile radius of SoFi that day and also found surges in visitors to nearby El Pollo Loco and Trader Joe’s.
Locals have spotted groups of people in Korea jerseys huddled together, trying to decide what to order at In-N-Out.
Some complained on social media that international tourists at Trader Joe’s were buying up all the mini canvas tote bags.
Soon after the Belgium vs. Spain quarterfinal ended Friday, the In-N-Out near SoFi had a long line of soccer fans stretching out the door in bright red and yellow and black jerseys and matching striped hats and scarves.
One of the workers said he had to explain “spread” and “animal style” to foreign football fans.
“I didn’t know this place existed,” a fan from Romania said while waiting in line.
Los Angeles and other cities and states that have hosted the event need the soccer fans to spend money to make the event worth all the time, effort and money it requires.
A rosy 2024 report projected the World Cup could bring more than $800 million to the L.A. region as 180,000 people converge on the area to sleep, eat and spend.
There were early concerns people weren’t turning up for the event because of the high ticket prices and the difficulty of obtaining visas for citizens of some countries.
However, at least for some L.A. hotels, there was a surge of last-minute visitors which pushed up occupancy and room rates.
While sports fans are not in the region to shop, they do make time for it.
World Cup customer spending is also apparent in beer sales. Andrew Heritage, the chief economist at the Beer Institute said beer purchases at entertainment and attractions in L.A. – outside of World Cup spaces – were up around 10% from normal.
“That tells me that fans in the L.A. area have decided to extend their stay and take in all the other things that the area has to offer, rather than just the match itself,” he said.
On social media, the purpose of these shoppers is clear: grab a quick souvenir or local specialty and take a selfie.
The data from Arity suggests that fans are very efficient when they spend at local spots, diving in, getting what they want and getting out as soon as possible, said Jeff Schlitt, a director at the company.
“Normally you’re there for an hour. They’re going to be there for 15, 18 minutes,” he said. “Why is that? Because they were purpose-driven shoppers.”
For some travelers, the more popular American chains aren’t unfamiliar. But some of the native L.A. fare still comes as a surprise.
As one Belgium-Spain matchgoer from the Netherlands stood taking a picture of the In-N-Out sign after the game, he said he’d never had a burger like the one he’d just tried.
“We only have McDonald’s and Burger King,” he said. “It’s way better.”
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The face of baseball will not be at Tuesday’s All-Star Game.
Shohei Ohtani was scratched from his start on Friday as the Los Angeles Dodgers said he will also miss the Midsummer Classic with what the team called left knee irritation.
Ohtani, for obvious reasons, has become an All-Star Game fixture. He has earned the honor in each of the past five seasons and made his first start in 2021.
Starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers warms up before the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on June 03, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
The two-way phenom is on his way to winning his fifth MVP award in his last six seasons as he is hitting .290 with a .939 OPS and pitching to a minuscule 1.79 ERA, the second-lowest in the sport among pitchers with 80-plus innings. His OPS is also the seventh-best mark in the league.
The Dodgers said Ohtani will be the team’s designated hitter up until the break, but he will “have some interventions on his knee to put him in the best position for the second half of the season.”
Ohtani dealt with knee issues earlier in the season.
It is certainly a big hit for the game as the other face of the sport, Aaron Judge, will miss the game due to a fractured rib that has kept him out since late May.
Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers gets ready in the on deck circle against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on June 01, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) (Norm Hall/Getty Images)
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Ohtani hit 99 home runs combined in 2024 and 2025, leading the National League with a 1.025 OPS in that span. Ohtani did not pitch in 2024 after elbow surgery but returned to the bump last year and owned a 2.87 ERA and 11.9 K/9, a figure he also put up in 2022 that led the American League.
The “Japanese Babe Ruth” is the only player in MLB history to have 300-plus plate appearances and 40-plus innings in six separate seasons (Ruth only did it twice and never stole 50 bases), and he has more than excelled at both.
Shohei Ohtani pitches for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, on May 13, 2026. (Gary A. Vasquez/Imagn Images)
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Ohtani is not hitting like he has in the past, but certainly the best pitching performance of his career will make up for it. He “only” has 20 homers and 56 RBI this season.
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