Dodgers in search of the big inning

The Dodgers try to pick up the pieces from their latest loss, and get to do so quickly with Wednesday morning's getaway day game against the Brewers at Miller Park. As Tuesday night showed, the Dodgers have been unable to put up the big inning all season.

The Dodgers loaded the bases with one out in the third inning, but Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier struck out to end the threat with no runs. The Dodgers scored two runs and loaded the bases again with one out in the fourth inning, but were unable to expand to a big inning, as Adrian Gonzalez struck out and Kemp grounded out to end that threat.

With just a one-run lead instead of three or four runs, the Dodgers watched the Brewers in the fifth use five consecutive hits as part of a four-run inning that turned the tide in Milwaukee's favor and ultimately provided the final margin.

On the season, the Dodgers have scored at least three runs in a single inning just nine times. The only team in the National League close are the lowly Marlins, with 10 such innings. The Nationals are next, with 13, then the Padres and Phillies, with 15 each.

The Dodgers have allowed 21 innings of three runs or more, including Tuesday night's fateful fifth.

It has led to more of the same for the powerless Dodgers, 11th in Major League Baseball with a .326 on-base percentage yet 29th in runs scored at 3.34 per game.

The Dodgers are hitting .222/.312/.286 with runners in scoring position, the worst OPS and slugging percentage in the majors with RISP. They are even worse with the bases loaded, the crux of their struggles on Tuesday night. With the sacks full in 2013, the Dodgers are hitting .139/.143/.139 (5-for-36), the worst numbers across the board in MLB.

Do the Dodgers have a big inning in them on getaway day in Milwaukee? Their last inning of three runs or more came in the seventh inning against the Marlins at home on May 12, nine games ago.

But maybe three runs in an inning is too much to ask, since the team hasn't even scored that many runs in a game in five of their last eight contests.

Notes

• The Dodgers are 6-4 in day games this season.
• The Dodgers are 5-5 on getaway day this season, including 3-3 on the road.
• Dee Gordon gets his second off day in four games, in the midst of an 0-for-22 slump that has seen his seasonal line drop to .167/.274/.259.
• Ramon Hernandez, in an 0-for-17 slump of his own, gets the start on Wednesday, his first game played since May 7. Hernandez had appeared in just one of the previous 20 games.
• Operation Get A.J. Ellis Rest update: Through 45 team games counting Wednesday and 53 days counting Thursday's off day, Ellis has 36 starts this season, tied with Buster Posey for fourth in MLB. In 2012, Ellis also started 36 of the first 45 games and through 53 days had 37 starts.
  

Game Info

Time: 10:10 a.m.

TV: Prime Ticket

MLB Gameday