Dodgers offense has been feast or famine

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers will try to snap a two-game losing streak on Tuesday night with the Rockies in town, and to do so will need the offense to kick back into gear.

The club has scored three runs in the last two losses, and after scoring 40 runs in their first seven games has scored just 22 runs in the last seven.

The end result is a middle of the pack offense, scoring 4.43 runs per game at the moment, eighth in the National League. But it’s a weird offense, almost feast or famine. They have scored seven or more runs five times, including three times in double digits. But they have also scored zero to two runs eight times.

The Dodgers have scored three runs once, but otherwise have had almost no in-between. Never have they scored four or five runs. Just to put that in perspective, in 2016 the Dodgers were...

• 16-10 when scoring exactly three runs
• 13-5 when scoring exactly four runs
• 12-5 when scoring exactly five runs

That’s a .714 winning percentage when scoring 4-5 runs, and .672 when scoring 3-5 runs.

The easy go-to when a team isn’t scoring is to cite numbers with runners in scoring position, and that’s understandable, especially after watching the Dodgers on Monday night waste a leadoff double by Justin Turner in the eighth inning, stranding the tying run with three straight pop ups.

The Dodgers were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position over the last two games, both losses.

On the season, they are hitting .213/.348/.380 with runners in scoring position, ninth in the NL in OPS and 11th in batting average. The average is low, but all in all it’s not too far removed from their overall batting line of .245/.339/.404.

The good news is that the Dodgers are third in the NL in plate appearances per game with runners in scoring position, at 10.77 per game, just a hair behind the Cubs at the top (11.08 PA/game).

• In 2016, the Dodgers were 12th in OPS with RISP, and 10th in PA
• In 2015, the Dodgers were 6th in OPS with RISP, and 13th in PA
• In 2014, the Dodgers were 1st in OPS with RISP, and 1st in PA (and people still complained about RISP)

More often that not, the real problem with runners in scoring position is not getting enough opportunities in those situations, rather than the performance itself. So color me unconcerned with the Dodgers’ numbers with runners in scoring position. As long as they keep giving themselves chances, the runs will come.

Just maybe spread them out a little bit rather than living at both extremes. Oh, did I mention the Dodgers face another left-hander tonight?

Game info

Time: 7:10 p.m. PT

TV: SportsNet LA, KTLA