When the Los Angles Dodgers quickly responded to their series loss to the San Diego Padres with a sweep of the Cincinnati Reds last week, it felt like they would breeze through the Arizona Diamondbacks and Pittsburgh Pirates and finally regain separation in the National League West. Instead, the defending World Series champions dropped two versus the Snakes at home and fell 9-7 to the Buccos on Tuesday night.

Coming out of a stellar August in which he went 5-0 with a 1.88 ERA, future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw combusted in his first September start of the season. The veteran left-hander allowed four runs – all in the first inning– and walked four batters in five innings of work. LA erased the deficit, however, with history-making Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez, Andy Pages and Will Smith coming through with big hits.

This is when the Dodgers are supposed to punish the inferior opponent and cruise to a comfortable victory. But Pittsburgh did not relent. They scored three runs in the sixth inning to break the 4-4 tie, positioning themselves for a series-opening win. Los Angeles roared back in the next frame and pulled within one run, but the recently feisty Pirates added some insurance in the eighth and kept the Boys in Blue down.

The Dodgers have now lost three of their last four, while the Pirates have won nine of their last 12. The late great Rod Serling is surely ready to pop out at any moment, right? This is just not what the baseball-watching world is accustomed to seeing, especially at this time of the year.

The players themselves do not have much of an explanation for the club’s inconsistencies, either. “Obviously, we didn’t play well,” Betts told the media after the failed comeback bid, per SportsNet LA. “We all know that. We don’t have to necessarily have a team come-to-Jesus about it. We just got to figure out ways to win games. There’s no secret formula or anything.”

“There’s no secret formula… we just have to figure out ways to win games.” Mookie Betts discusses the Dodgers’ late-season challenges. pic.twitter.com/zJffYO8VK5

https://twitter.com/SportsNetLA/status/1963077292227494280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1963077292227494280%7Ctwgr%5E13eb54f874406acac648b0100a571d3ab454c36d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fclutchpoints.com%2Fmlb%2Flos-angeles-dodgers%2Fdodgers-news-mookie-betts-admits-no-secret-formula-after-pirates-loss

The Dodgers have yet to go full-throttle

The last part of the Betts quote will confound some fans. When a franchise wins two championships and 11 divisional titles in 12 years, it suggests that there is in fact a “secret formula.” Call it supreme star power, terrific talent evaluation or simply the Dodgers Way, this organization is in a class of its own as far as the rest of the NL is concerned. LA collectively approaches the game differently than most others, just based on the perennial excellence it has achieved.

The squad endures significant adversity every year, mostly in the form of pitching injuries, and it somehow pushes through, wins the NL West and rolls into the playoffs as an undeniable contender. The Dodgers have suffered their share of October misery, to be sure, but they usually exude a strong presence. In a season when LA should be more dominant than ever, the script has changed a bit.

Although the champs have once again navigated a slew of injuries and have led the division for most of 2025, they are struggling to maintain momentum in the second half of the campaign. Splendid showings versus the Padres and Reds are sandwiched between a sweep at the hands of the LA Angels, a series split with the Colorado Rockies and a series loss to the D-backs. Another defeat versus the Pirates would only compound this befuddling stretch.

Is a late resurgence inevitable?

The Dodgers (78-60) currently sit in fourth place in the NL standings, an unfamiliar place for a known juggernaut. Fortunately for the team and its fans, talent and experience remains bountiful. Manager Dave Roberts and company still have a month to “figure it out” before the playoffs begin. Mookie Betts will play a crucial role in that process. His individual campaign is somewhat indicative of the club’s occasional lapses.

The 2018 MVP and three-time champ had a miserable start to the year after getting sick and losing roughly 20 pounds in March. He will probably not be able to definitively improve his overall numbers — batting .252 with 14 home runs, 60 RBIs and a .699 OPS — but the seven-time Silver Slugger and six-time Gold Glover is finding his groove now. Betts slashed a respectable .288/.358/.404/.762 in August.

When fans take a step back and survey the entire MLB landscape, they will see that the Dodgers are perfectly capable of leveling up in October and winning another World Series. LA will still have to prove it, though.