Did Dodgers already pack offense for road trip?

LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers end another underwhelming homestand on Wednesday with their series finale against the White Sox, looking yet again for some offensive consistency.

The Dodgers are 4-5 on the homestand, with their only four wins in the games they scored more than three runs. The club is hitting .220/.295/.351 so far on the homestand, averaging 4.11 runs per game, pretty much right in line with their seasonal numbers. In 31 games at Dodger Stadium this year, the Dodgers are hitting .247/.306/.409 and are averaging 3.90 runs at home.

On the road, the Dodgers are hitting .261/.337/.408, putting up 4.66 runs per game.

The home woes have the Dodgers 13-18 at Dodger Stadium, the third-worst home record in baseball this season. They need a win on Wednesday just to secure their first non-losing homestand of the year. The Dodgers homestands have gone as follows this year: 2-3, 4-6, 3-4 and now 4-5.

This seems reminiscent of 2011, when the Dodgers opened 19-27 at home and were out of contention by the All-Star break. That club needed a blazing 25-10 finish to end up over .500, including 42-39 at home, and that year included superhuman seasons by Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw.

To date in 2014 those roles have been played by Yasiel Puig and Zack Greinke, with a now-healthy Kershaw back at peak form, too.

The Dodgers are by no means out of contention in 2014, even though it may seem so since they trail the 103-win-pace Giants by seven games.

Disappointing? Sure. Exasperating at times? Absolutely. Performed below expectations? Yep.

But amazingly, the Dodgers find themselves even at 31-29 currently in second wild card position. Not that a wild card berth is a goal, but it's of at least relative importance that even with how bad they have played the Dodgers are by no means out of it or done.

So while there are few things more maddening than to watch a team struggling on offense - the Dodgers have scored three or fewer runs in five of their last seven games, which certainly qualifies - the team just has to ride out the homestand before hitting the road, where they might starting hitting again with their pending trip to Denver and Cincinnati.

In other words, buck up Dee Gordon (in slumps of 0-for-11 and 9-for-59), Andre Ethier (0-for-15), Kemp (4-for-36), Adrian Gonzalez (8-for-45), Hanley Ramirez (1-for-10) and Scott Van Slyke (1-for-11). The road and its greener offensive pastures awaits. But a little bit of an outburst at home as a send-off might be nice, too.

Game info

Time: 7:10 p.m. PT

TV: SportsNet LA