Dodgers Drop Starting Lineup as They Look to Stop the Bleeding Against Milwaukee

The Los Angeles Dodgers have officially dropped their starting lineup for a critical October clash against the Milwaukee Brewers, and the tension is palpable.

USA Today's Bob Nightengale tweeted out the official card, setting the stage for a team that desperately needs to remember how to win a baseball game. When you are carrying the kind of payroll that could fund a mid-sized space program, dropping two straight games in the fall is a full-blown crisis.

The Dodgers are limping back to Los Angeles after getting completely outclassed by Milwaukee on the road. They dropped a tight 2-1 heartbreaker on October 12 before getting bullied 7-4 in the follow-up. That 4-1 win over the Atlanta Braves back on October 7 feels like it happened in an entirely different decade.

Now they have to face the Brewers three times in a row at home. This is the part of the year where managers start overthinking every single spot on the lineup card. You can almost picture the front office staring at a whiteboard of matchup analytics until the numbers just look like a Magic Eye poster.

For anyone holding a Dodgers futures ticket, this homestand is the entire season. If this specific group of guys cannot manufacture some runs and flip the momentum immediately, Los Angeles is going to be booking tee times before Halloween.