Historic Collapse: Dodgers’ -31 Run Differential Over Four-Game Skid Marks Worst Slump Since 1932 After 9-1 Brewers Rout

The Los Angeles Dodgers, one of Major League Baseball’s most prestigious and consistently dominant franchises, are in the throes of a collapse not seen in nearly a century. Their latest stumble—a 9-1 drubbing at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers—capped off a brutal four-game stretch in which the Dodgers have been outscored by an astonishing 31 runs. The team’s -31 run differential over these past four games marks their worst four-game span since 1932, a year when Babe Ruth was still hitting home runs and the Great Depression was gripping the nation.

For a franchise known for its depth, talent, and relentless pursuit of October dominance, the current downturn is jarring. The Dodgers haven’t just lost games—they’ve been overwhelmed. Overpowered. Outplayed in every aspect. In this recent skid, they’ve surrendered 37 runs while scoring only six. That’s not merely uncharacteristic—it’s historically bad.

The latest blow came in Milwaukee, where a potent Brewers lineup handed the Dodgers a thorough beating. Brewers bats were loud and relentless, hammering Los Angeles pitchers with double-digit hits, including two home runs, while Dodgers hitters mustered just five hits and one lonely run. Once again, it wasn’t just the loss itself that stung—it was the fashion in which it occurred. The Dodgers looked lifeless.

Julio Urías, who took the mound in hopes of stopping the bleeding, was chased early. He allowed five earned runs in just 3.1 innings, including a 2-run homer that seemed to break the spirit of a team already teetering. The bullpen didn’t fare any better, surrendering four more runs as the game spiraled away from the Dodgers yet again.

The offense, meanwhile, has gone cold at a critical point in the season. Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, typically reliable anchors at the top of the lineup, have slumped in tandem. Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers’ blockbuster acquisition and global superstar, has struggled to carry the offense as the pressure has mounted. In the last four games, the team has stranded 29 runners on base and hit just .171 with runners in scoring position.

To understand the gravity of this collapse, one must look back to 1932—the last time the Dodgers posted such a dismal run differential over four games. Back then, they were still called the Brooklyn Dodgers, playing at Ebbets Field and struggling through a 104-loss season. That team finished in seventh place in an eight-team National League. No one would confuse that squad with a contender.

That’s what makes this current slump so staggering. These Dodgers were built to contend for a World Series title. They entered the season with perhaps the most expensive roster in baseball history, bolstered by the additions of Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Tyler Glasnow. But with Yamamoto recently landing on the injured list and Glasnow still finding his rhythm, the rotation has crumbled. Combine that with an underperforming bullpen and a sputtering lineup, and the result is what we’ve seen this week: a team in complete freefall.

Manager Dave Roberts, usually the picture of calm and poise, didn’t sugarcoat his team’s performance after the 9-1 loss.

“This isn’t who we are,” Roberts said bluntly. “Right now, we’re not executing. We’re not playing with energy. We’ve got too much talent to be getting beat like this. It’s embarrassing.”

Embarrassing is putting it mildly. The Dodgers’ defense has also been porous during this stretch, committing multiple errors that have directly led to opposing runs. In one especially frustrating sequence during the second game of the skid, a routine grounder turned into a two-run rally for the opposition due to a throwing error and a dropped tag at second base. Those are the types of miscues rarely seen from Dodgers teams of recent years—teams that prided themselves on fundamentals, preparation, and execution.

The slump comes at a critical juncture of the season, as the Dodgers had been jockeying for position atop the National League West. With the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres both surging, Los Angeles now finds itself in danger of slipping out of first place. In a division that has become increasingly competitive, the margin for error is razor-thin.

Some fans and pundits are beginning to ask uncomfortable questions. Is the team too reliant on star power and not enough on depth? Has the constant shuffling of lineups and bullpen roles contributed to the inconsistency? Is Dave Roberts losing the clubhouse?

For now, the Dodgers are preaching patience and resilience. “We’ve been here before,” said Freeman. “Not this bad, maybe, but we’ve had rough patches. The key is not to panic. We know what we’re capable of.”

Still, numbers don’t lie. A -31 run differential in four games is a staggering mark of ineffectiveness on both sides of the ball. And it’s not just the runs allowed—it’s the manner of the losses. Blowouts. Lopsided contests that were often over by the fourth inning. The type of games where the Dodgers were not only losing, but looking disinterested and disengaged while doing so.

One possible explanation is fatigue. The team is in the middle of a grueling road trip, and several players, including Ohtani and Betts, are nursing minor injuries. But injuries and travel are part of every team’s schedule. Great teams find ways to push through those stretches. This week, the Dodgers looked more like a team that had given up than one that was battling adversity.

The pressure now turns to the front office, led by President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman. Will the Dodgers look to make a move before the trade deadline? Reinforcements—particularly in the bullpen—are needed. There’s also the question of the bench. Role players have provided little spark, and injuries to key contributors like Max Muncy and Gavin Lux have exposed the lack of reliable depth.

It’s a rare moment of vulnerability for a franchise that has been the model of regular-season dominance. The Dodgers have won 100 or more games in five of the past seven full seasons. They’ve played in three World Series since 2017 and won it all in 2020. They are not used to losing—not like this.

And that’s perhaps the most disconcerting part of it all. The Los Angeles Dodgers, for so long a paragon of consistency and excellence, now find themselves drifting through unfamiliar waters: blown out, besieged by questions, and on the wrong side of history.

The season is far from over, and there’s plenty of time for the Dodgers to recover. But history, as this week has reminded everyone, is not always kind. The last time the Dodgers looked this outmatched over a four-game span, Franklin D. Roosevelt had yet to take office, and the Empire State Building was still the tallest in the world.

If the Dodgers are to avoid more ignominy, the turnaround must begin now. Because while the standings may still show them in the hunt, the performances on the field tell a far grimmer story—a team searching for answers in the midst of its worst slump in 93 years.