Roberts Calls Out Shohei Ohtani, Tarik Skubal's Dodgers After Loss to Brewers amid NL Standings Race

After losing three out of four games against the Milwaukee Brewers this past weekend, the Los Angeles Dodgers' hopes for home-field advantage in the 2026 playoffs took a major hit.

At 74-51, the Dodgers sit three games behind the Brewers (77-48) for first place in the National League. Losing the four-game series cost Los Angeles a significant tiebreaker as the stretch run of the regular season approaches, and manager Dave Roberts called out his team's recent inconsistencies.

"I say this because it's just been four or five, six weeks of below-average production in our offense. It's just the truth, and I think we just haven't played clean baseball for quite some time, and that speaks to the defense," Roberts said after Sunday's 6-2 loss, per the Associated Press.

National League
Team	GB
Brewers (77-48)	--
Braves (74-50)	2.5
Dodgers (74-51)	3
Cubs (72-53)	5
Phillies (67-58)	10
Padres (67-58)	10
Diamondbacks (66-59)	11
Marlins (64-61)	13
Cardinals (63-61)	13.5
Pirares (61-65)	16.5
Reds (59-64)	17
Nationals (60-66)	17.5
Mets (56-69)	21
Giants (51-73)	25.5
Rockies (50-74)	26.5

Prized trade deadline acquisition Tarik Skubal was responsible for Sunday's loss, and he has yet to register a win in a Dodgers uniform after three starts. Star slugger Shohei Ohtani recorded just three combined hits in four games against the Brewers, and he grounded into an inning-ending double play in the eighth inning on Sunday that ended Los Angeles' chances for a comeback.

"I think that urgency of every single pitch is important. I don't think we have that intent, and some guys are scuffling at that with their swings and things like that, which is real. But I think other guys are not valuing every single pitch," Roberts said.

While the Dodgers still have a seven-game lead for first place in the NL West, the back-to-back defending World Series champions have gone just 18-21 since the start of July. Roberts made it clear that no one on the team is immune from criticism.

"It's been a long time since we've been consistent offensively," Roberts said. "For me, it's winning a 2-1 pitch and not chasing. Winning a 3-2 pitch, taking the walk. Not chasing the first pitch to then be 0-1. I see our guys, we're chasing off in, chasing away, and I just don't see the consistent plan of attack, 1 through 9."

Roberts added that he's hoping to see an increased sense of urgency from his players as the Dodgers try to achieve an elusive three-peat, but he also admitted that losing the series against the Brewers could hurt them in the long run.

"I really wanted to win this game because it could matter, but we didn't," he said. "So now we got to move forward, but I hope it doesn't come back to bite us."