Dodgers News: Mattingly And Rollins Expect Difficult 10-Game Road Trip

After a short drive to San Diego to begin a three-game series with the San Diego Padres June 12, the Los Angeles Dodgers traveled to Texas to face the Rangers for a quick two-game set before returning to Dodger Stadium for a five-game homestand.

It’s been rough sledding on the road for the Boys in Blue this season, which makes their 10-game road trip that begins Monday in Chicago an interesting stretch in the schedule. “We have one heck of a road trip coming up,” Jimmy Rollins said.

“A revived Chicago, who is playing good baseball, then down in Miami, which is another big park. It’s kind of like San Francisco. If you take your hits, you can win will ballgames. Then head over to Arizona, so we have a tough stretch of 10 games. We have to go out there and hopefully win the next 10, that would be a nice little streak.”

Rollins went 3-for-4 with one double in Sunday’s win; it was a second consecutive multi-hit game and helped raise his slash line to .211/.269/.344. He finished a combined 5-for-12 with two doubles and one run scored in the three games against the Giants.

While the veteran shortstop has shown recent life at the plate, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly indicated Rollins will soon be given time off, likely Monday when they’ll face left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada. Regardless of the matchup or recent trends, Rollins voiced his preference for playing as opposed to sitting.

“It doesn’t matter if I’m on a roll or not,” he said. “But, yes, if you’re on a roll then you want to be out there.” Rollins was also the latest player to dismiss the importance of the Dodgers’ ending their losing streak to the Giants.

While he was aware San Francisco had gotten the better of the head-to-head matchups, Rollins couldn’t say what the exact win-loss record is; the Giants are 9-3 against the Dodgers in 2015. However, he did say the win would lead to a more pleasant flight to the Midwest, which certainly appeared to be the case based on a video Kiké Hernandez posted on his Instagram account.

Prior to the Dodgers ending their offensive drought behind four home runs, Mattingly also commented on the difficulty of the looming road trip. “This trip is kind of a tough one for us,” he said.

“Just from the standpoint of it being 10 days, we haven’t been great on the road and we’re not playing great right now. But again, this game changes so fast. You feel like you’re not playing good one day and three days later you feel like you can’t lose. You never know what’s going to happen.”

The Dodgers enter play Monday 12-18 on the road. They’re 5-7 in the last 12 road games (four series), but don’t look for Mattingly to explain the woes. “I really don’t,” he responded when asked if he knew why the Dodgers have been subpar away from Chavez Ravine.

“The last couple of years I’ve think we’ve been really good on the road, and this year we’ve seemed to struggle. I really don’t know if there’s a rhyme or reason.” Last season the Dodgers finished 49-32 on the road, which was superior to their 45-36 home mark.

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