Dodgers in midst of another summer power outage

The Dodgers open a series against the Pirates at PNC Park, still looking to snap a power drought that ranks among their longest of the last two decades.

The last home run hit by a Dodger remains Miguel Rojas, who took Max Scherzer deep in Detroit on July 9. The team has gone seven full games and 263 plate appearances since that last home run, the fourth-longest streak by the Dodgers in the last 20 years.

The longest stretch during that span was a 10-game skid in 2011, then the next year saw a pair of long power droughts stacked on top of each other.

Those two 2012 streaks were part of an amazing stretch of futility that saw the Dodgers struggle on offense like no other time in franchise history since the deadball era. The Dodgers scored 17 runs in their final 13 games of June, including five shutouts in their final six games of the month. The team averaged under three runs per game in June 2012 and had the worst adjusted OPS and fewest home runs in any full month since the club moved to Los Angeles.

But home runs haven't been much of a part of the Dodgers' game all year. They rank 12th in the National League with 76 home runs, but are fifth in runs scored (4.12 runs per game) and lead the league in both OPS+ (105) and adjusted weighted runs created (106 wRC+).

The numbers look worse of late because the Dodgers have scored just 16 runs in their last eight games. During the homerless drought, the Dodgers also have 12 doubles and one triple in those seven games, also below the pace the club has hit at all season. The Dodgers are tied for the NL lead in both doubles (188, with Milwaukee) and triples (26, with Arizona).

So maybe the Dodgers don't necessarily need home runs. Any old extra-base hits will do.

Edinson Volquez, starting the opener for the Pirates, would have been a perfect remedy for this power slump in 2013. Last year Volquez allowed 43 doubles, seven triples and 19 home runs in 33 games, including 32 starts, an extra-base hit every 11.3 plate appearances. But this year he's down to 18 doubles, one triple and 12 home runs in 19 starts, one extra-base hit every 14.9 plate appearances.

Game info

Time: 4:05 p.m. PT

TV: SportsNet LA