Dodgers News

LOS ANGELES — As Daniel Murphy casually trotted toward second base after a walk to Lucas Duda, it was the innocent beginning of a play that will be remembered as an epitaph for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ season.

Shortstop Corey Seager and second baseman Howie Kendrick, hovering around the bag, talked about where they would be stationed next. Third baseman Justin Turner walked from shallow right field, where he had been marooned on a shift, back to his position. Zack Greinke stood on the mound, the ball in his hand and his head down, deep in thought. Catcher Yasmani Grandal was standing at home plate watching it all unfold — screaming but powerless to move.

Five Dodgers were in a position to cover third base. Nobody did.

So Murphy, sensing an opportunity, seized it. As he neared second base, his jog became an all-out sprint and he slid into third base without a play. Moments later, he came home on Travis d’Arnaud’s sacrifice fly.

“That’s just one of those plays where you should know better — you should be on top of it,” said Dodgers right fielder Andre Ethier, who admitted to also having been asleep on the play, awakened only by the anguish of the crowd. “We let that play slip.”

They let more than that slip.

In the three full seasons since Guggenheim Partners purchased the Dodgers for a record $2 billion, the team has failed to reach the World Series. This was the second consecutive year that the Dodgers have gone out in the first round with home-field advantage and the best 1-2 pitching tandem in baseball: Clayton Kershaw and Greinke.

After last year’s loss to St. Louis, the Dodgers hired Andrew Friedman from Tampa Bay, where he had done wonders with one of baseball’s lowest payrolls, and handed him by far the largest, now near $300 million. He set about overhauling the roster. A franchise record 55 players played for the Dodgers this season.

“For them, the off-season starts now,” reliever J. P. Howell said of Friedman, the team president of baseball operations, and General Manager Farhan Zaidi. “They’re going to be doing their homework. Guys wonder about that — what’s going to be the turnover. It’s a long winter. A lot can happen.”

Much of the focus will be on Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly, who replaced Joe Torre after the 2009 season. He has one more year left on his contract, but the Dodgers have already spent more than $85 million this year on players they have jettisoned.

Asked afterward whether the loss could lead to his departure, the usually placid Mattingly shot back: “Seriously? You’re asking me that now?”

He then instructed the moderator to take another question.

But Mattingly did not duck expressing his disappointment.

“There are really no words to describe how you feel right now,” he said. “You come to spring training, you work all winter, you scratch, you fight all year long to get into this situation, and you have a chance. It comes to a crash. I don’t think there is any way to soften that blow.”

The Dodgers’ other big decision involves Greinke, who, on the heels of his best season, 19-3 with a 1.66 E.R.A., can opt out of the remaining three years and $71 million on his contract.

Asked if he hoped to be back next season, Greinke said: “That would be nice. I guess that is my whole response.”

When he was reminded that he had control over the situation, Greinke said, “See you guys,” and made his way out of the clubhouse.

It might have been a parting shot. The Dodgers, despite their willingness to spend, want to do so in a more prudent manner, and there is little historical evidence that bestowing a lengthy, big-money contract on a pitcher who will turn 32 next week is a smart investment.

The Dodgers, who started three players 24 or younger (Joc Pederson, Kike Hernandez and Seager), figure to continue to get younger.

While Mattingly embraced the analytics-driven philosophies of Friedman and Zaidi, his strength in Los Angeles has been handling a room full of strong personalities, something he was well equipped for from his days with the Yankees.

Ethier’s outburst in the dugout in the fourth inning, when he was seen yelling at Mattingly, was explained by both as Ethier’s being upset at the strike zone of the home plate umpire, Gary Cederstrom. Mattingly was trying to calm him down.

As the Dodgers trend younger, they may seek someone who is a more proficient game manager, though there were no glaring second-guessers’ delights in this series, unlike the last two years. Mattingly lifted Adrian Gonzalez for a pinch-runner too early in an extra-inning loss to St. Louis in 2013 and benched Yasiel Puig in last year’s series-clinching loss to the Cardinals.

As Hernandez noted, Mattingly could not help the Dodgers do better than 2 for 13 with runners in scoring position — unless he grabbed a bat.

“We had every chance in the world to win this game and we didn’t, so I don’t see how that’s Donnie’s fault,” said Hernandez, who chided himself for grounding into a double play that killed a rally in the third inning. “If I would have gotten a hit or a sac fly, we might still be playing, and nobody would be talking about Donnie being on the hot seat.”

But something is clearly missing. Amid the frustration and disappointment of another opportunity that slipped away, the Dodgers had trouble connecting the dots of their playoff shortcomings.

“We’re just missing whatever it takes to get over that edge,” said Carl Crawford, the veteran outfielder. “We just seem to fall short every year, so I don’t really know. Everybody’s playing hard. We just seem to fall short. We just needed to catch a break, I think.”

Often enough, especially in the playoffs, those breaks are self-induced. The teams that move on are typically not only those that hit, pitch and play defense superbly but that make sure they have all the bases covered.