Dodgers Dugout: Dodgers deserved to lose

Hi and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and I think the Dodgers will bounce back and win Game 6.

Game 5 thoughts

--First things first: You have to congratulate the Mets, who played better baseball than the Dodgers and earned the victory.

--With that being said, let me add one more thing: Go Cubs.

--How can a major league team, in the most important game of the season, forget to cover third base? Apparently, Zack Greinke was supposed to cover third on the play when Lucas Duda walked, with Daniel Murphy advancing to second and running to third when he noticed no one was covering. The Dodgers infield was in the shift, meaning shortstop Corey Seager was the only guy on the left side of the infield. Shouldn’t he have been the one covering third, instead of wandering aimlessly toward second? All in all, it was just an embarrassing play and why the Dodgers deserved to lose.

--To me, that signaled the end of Don Mattingly’s tenure as Dodgers manager. Was it his fault? No. But I think the Dodgers will want to send a message in the off-season that the team will have a fresh look in 2016, and the easiest way to do that, and to placate fans, most of whom don’t like Mattingly, is to fire him.

--And I get the feeling Mattingly would be fine with that. I don’t think he will have trouble finding a new job somewhere. A lot of teams would love to hire a guy who led his team to three postseasons in a row.

--Murphy is a free agent after the season. How does “Dodger second baseman Daniel Murphy” sound?

--You just knew that, after failing in multiple chances to pad their 2-1 lead, the Dodgers were probably going to lose. Can someone please get a key hit? I’m still waiting.

--Some players have gone on record saying they enjoy playing for Mattingly.

--So, with the Dodgers at an emotional fever, Andre Ethier decides that is the opportune time to throw a dugout tirade. Mattingly says Ethier wasn’t yelling at him, he was upset at the plate umpire. Ethier hints otherwise, by saying: “Me and Donnie didn’t make it out to be anything, so you don’t.” In the dugout, Ethier shouted to Mattingly, "Shut up and manage." Whatever the reason, it was the wrong time for it, and seemed to take some of the life out of the team. I have been high on Ethier this season, and thought he played really well in the playoffs. But he needs to stop with the petulant woe-is-me attitude.

--Yasmani Grandal, four for his last 94 and barely able to swing the bat because of a shoulder injury that will require surgery, should never have been in the lineup.

--And why was Seager batting second and Kiké Hernandez batting seventh, when Hernandez was the spark plug at the top of the lineup in Game 4?

--Was that Greinke’s final start with the Dodgers? He will probably opt out of the remainder of his contract, and some team will probably offer him something around five years, at least $170 million. Will the Dodgers want to top that? Will they go after David Price instead? Lots of questions, few answers yet.

--The Dodgers have the better players, but the better team won the series.

--Game 5 was also the final game for longtime stadium organist Nancy Bea Hefley, who is retiring. Best wishes for the future and thanks for providing a musical backdrop to some great moments.

--The next game is April 4, 2016, at San Diego. Expect a much different look to the team that day.

What’s next?

The next Dodgers Dugout will come out the day after the World Series ends. At that point, I will look at what the Dodgers should do in the off-season. I would do so today, but you should never make decisions when you are emotional. I’d love to hear from you and what you think the Dodgers should do, who they should get rid of, and which free agents they should go after. After that, Dodgers Dugout will come out every other week, with special editions whenever something newsworthy happens.

And finally

The most important thing to take out of the postseason: Get well, Vin.

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