NEW YORK -- The upcoming four weeks could potentially be defining for the Dodgers.
Beginning with this weekend's three-game set at Citi Field -- which is tied at a game apiece after Saturday's 5-2 Mets win -- the Dodgers have eight series in a row against teams that currently have a winning record.
The season will not be decided in the space of these four weeks, but the Dodgers have a real opportunity to put themselves in a good position against fellow contenders -- or leave themselves with work to do in the second half.
"I just think things have just got to be more buttoned up on the pitching side, making sure the defense and the hitting's got to continue what we're doing," manager Dave Roberts said before the series in New York began. "But this is going to be a good test for us. You can't run away from the fact that we're playing some good teams."
Roberts has been vocal about his desire to push his starters further to get more innings out of them each night. That would have been especially welcome on Saturday, one night after the bullpen was depleted in a rain-delayed 13-inning win. But righty Tony Gonsolin only lasted five innings, allowing four runs to the Mets.
"That long one yesterday didn't go great for us, but luckily we pulled out the win yesterday," Gonsolin said. "Today, I just tried to give everything I had and go as deep as I could. Unfortunately I was only able to get five, but fortunately I was able to get five at the same time."
The Dodgers managed to get by on Saturday by only using Anthony Banda and Bobby Miller -- who was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City before the loss -- out of the 'pen. Gonsolin, who struggled with his command in a three-run fourth inning, was done after completing a clean fifth and throwing 88 pitches.
Despite Roberts wanting to get more out of his starters, there wasn't much consideration of Gonsolin going out to start the sixth for multiple reasons. Roberts didn't feel great about his available options if the bottom of the lineup turned it over for Francisco Lindor and Starling Marte, and he thought it made more sense to get Banda a clean inning.
It has been a tough balance to strike for Roberts. The Dodgers' rotation ranks last in the Majors with 237 1/3 innings, while the bullpen has covered an MLB-high 227 2/3 frames. The L.A. skipper doesn't want to overwork his relievers in the first half -- but he also needs to push the right buttons to win games.
“The tone of tonight, it was easier in the sense of there wasn’t much offensive energy tonight, as far as how we were swinging, the at-bats we were taking," Roberts said. "So to try to chase and use leverage guys in a down game, it just didn’t make any sense for me."
With the rotation not reliably going deep into games, the Dodgers have leaned heavily on long relievers. That was the reasoning behind bringing up Miller, who allowed one run to the Mets in two innings in his first Major League relief appearance.
The move necessitated optioning Matt Sauer, who has helped save the bullpen by pitching bulk innings on multiple occasions. But Sauer pitched three innings in Friday's win and would have been unavailable through at least the end of the weekend, so he was a logical choice to send down.
Not every short start has been preventable. Clayton Kershaw, for instance, was held to two innings due to a rain delay of more than an hour and a half on Friday. But Roberts has seen inefficiency as the common thread linking the shorter starts from his rotation.
It starts from the top of every at-bat. Entering Friday, the Dodgers had a 59.6 percent first-pitch strike rate, below league-average 61.4 percent. Roberts wants to see his pitchers focus on getting ahead of hitters, rather than working back from behind, to set a better tone for their outings.
"When you do that, it makes pitching tough," Roberts said earlier in the week. "So I think we’ve got to start being more efficient, certainly from the starters, to give us an opportunity to get deeper into games. The 30-pitch innings just don’t play. It’s not sustainable. And that starts with getting strike one."