The Dodgers are staring at elimination, and Max Muncy didn’t waste time dressing up the reality of it.
After Milwaukee rolled to a 6-2 win in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium, Muncy gave the simplest read on Los Angeles’ situation.
“We’re playing like s-,” Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said, “and they’re playing great.”
That leaves the Brewers with a 3-0 series lead and a chance to send the back-to-back World Series champions home as soon as Thursday. What was supposed to be a run toward a third straight title has turned into a steep climb fast.
The numbers behind the collapse are ugly. Before Wednesday, 274 teams had played at least seven postseason games since 1903. The Dodgers’ .572 OPS would rank 268th.
Los Angeles has had almost nothing going offensively in the series. Through three NLCS games, the Dodgers have just two extra-base hits and no home runs while being outscored 15-7.
Muncy has provided the team’s only real power so far, but even that has come in fits and starts. He leads the Dodgers with three home runs in seven postseason games, and all three have been solo shots. Outside of that, he has only one other hit in 18 at-bats.
Dave Roberts acknowledged the challenge facing his club, but he wasn’t ready to throw any more dirt on it. He said he planned to address the team after the game and pointed to the fact that his club has rattled off four straight wins plenty of times this season.
“I’ll talk to them tomorrow,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of his team during his postgame press conference. “They know what’s at stake. We’ve won four in a row a number of times this year, ten times, I think, something like that.
“Again, we’ve got to win (Thursday). That’s our only focus.”
MLB later moved the start time for Game 4 to 8 p.m. ET, 5 p.m. on the West Coast.
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