After losing, 4-1, to the Washington Nationals on Thursday and falling to three games back in the NL wild card race, the Los Angeles Dodgers are starting to see a potential postseason berth slip through their fingers, manager Don Mattingly said in the clubhouse after the game.
"Honestly, it does. It feels like it is a little bit," Mattingly told MLB.com. "I just don't think there's any way for us to look at it other than that. We're going in the wrong direction."
With only 12 games remaining in the season, the Dodgers are 10 games back of the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants and three games behind the St. Louis Cardinals, who beat the Houston Astros earlier Thursday, for the final wild card spot. The Atlanta Braves, St Louis and the Milwaukee Brewers are all ahead of the Dodgers in the wild card race.
"It's been challenging because you have to continually pick yourself up and push your club to get better and to keep fighting," Mattingly told The Los Angeles Times. "That gets tougher and tougher as games dwindle away and you fall back. It's a challenging time."
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