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Imagine a nurse asking the Dodgers: “Any allergies?”
And the Dodgers responding: “Oh, just RISP.”
“Just RISP?” the nurse would ask, incredulously. “Just hitting with runners in scoring position? Fellas, that’s serious. That could be season-ending.”
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“Oh, it’s OK,” the Dodgers would say, “because we can always slug to counteract it. And we have incredible starting pitching, so we can get away with it.”
That would not make the nurse – or any Dodgers fan sweating out this postseason – feel better.
Especially not after watching how consequential the Dodgers’ lack of timely hitting was Sunday in Game 1 of the best-of-seven National League Championship Series, a 2-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Dodgers left nine runners on base and went one for six with runners in scoring position.
Thus far, Andy Pages appears to be the only one on the team somewhat immune to the inopportune blues, because while in five postseason games the Dodgers are collectively two for 22 with runners in scoring position, he has both of those hits. But he also struck out with runners on the corners in the sixth inning Sunday.
Continuing to squander so many opportunities is bound to come with a price.
Squandering so many competitive at-bats against the Brewers’ flamethrowing Jacob Misiorowski is going to cost the Dodgers.
Squandering slumping Shohei Ohtani’s single – a Sho-poke to left-center field that was just his third hit in these playoffs – is going to haunt them.
The Dodgers are going to squander the grandest opportunity of all – the possibility of the three-peat, something only two other MLB franchises have pulled off, and none in the National League.
They know this.
“The offense has to find a way to get some more timely hits,” said Mookie Betts, who got a pitch in the middle of the zone but flew out to center field to end the game with two runners aboard. “We do have to keep applying pressure, but we’ve got to find a way to break through.”
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The Dodgers left 7.19 runners on base per game this 100-win season, more than all but four teams, and they ranked 16th with 3.5 runners left in scoring position. That they regularly got so many runners on is a good thing; leaving so many of them stranded isn’t.
“It depends on your perspective,” Betts said Sunday. “For us, obviously it sucks. But it’s encouraging just because we keep applying pressure. That’s all you can really do and hope that somebody gets that hit. They got it, they got their hit. At some point we’ve got to get ours.”
The Brewers left seven runners on base Sunday and went two for seven with runners in scoring position. That one extra hit – not only getting something brewing, but following through, manufacturing a second run with a sacrifice bunt and a timely single – was the difference.
“Some of it is just baseball,” Betts added. “We hit into a couple double plays and just didn’t really get to build any innings.”
The Dodgers actually hit into three double plays Sunday – an entirely characteristic plot point for an older, slower team that hit into a league-leading 128 double plays this season.
“Just didn’t get the hit with guys in scoring position,” said Teoscar Hernández, who singled twice and was stranded each time. “We need to be better in that situation.”
How? What’s the prescription? Is there a reliable antihistamine for these chronic RISP woes?
“Just keep grinding,” Hernández said. “Get a good pitch and don’t miss it. They’re not going to miss a lot, so when you get one you just have to put a good swing on it.”
It isn’t only the NBA that’s a make-or-miss league, turns out.
And Kobe Bryant’s famous “job’s not finished” postseason credo really is about taking it one step at a time, all the way across the finish line.
The Dodgers need to finish the job, need to bring home some baserunners – or they won’t be bringing home a third consecutive World Series championship.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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This story was originally published October 12, 2026 at 3:20 AM.