Dodgers Kyle Tucker still looking to break out of season-long slump

By this point in the season, Kyle Tucker knew to not read too much into anything he did on Monday in the Dodgers’ 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.He recognized the night for what it was.A good game.A series of good at-bats.A good defensive play.Nothing else.He’d been fooled by moments like this before, tricked into thinking his season was about to turn around.“And then,” Tucker said, “I’m back to square one.”So in the wake of a 2-for-4 performance in which he homered and threw out a baserunner at home from right field, Tucker kept the night in perspective.“I just gotta try and do it again tomorrow,” Tucker said.He continued, “It can work for one at-bat or two at-bats or something, but just gotta make it consistent.Play so many games and have so many at-bats, so having one at-bat go your way is fine, it’s great, but you just gotta try and come back and do that every single time.”His failure to sustain his positive moments are reflected in his numbers.In his first 69 games with the Dodgers, Tucker is hitting a career-worst .239 with six home runs and 39 runs batted in. This wasn’t what the Dodgers envisioned when they signed Tucker to a four-year, $240-million contract over the winter.This wasn’t what Tucker envisioned either.His left-handed swing was compared in the past to Ted Williams’, but the only version of Ted Williams he has resembled since his move to the Dodgers is the one that is cryogenically frozen in an Arizona facility.A four-time All-Star, the 29-year-old Tucker started the season as the Dodgers’ No.

2 hitter.His underwhelming offensive form in the first three weeks of the season prompted manager Dave Roberts to move him into the cleanup spot.

Over the last three weeks, Tucker has usually batted fifth or sixth.Tucker sounded mystified when reflecting on the last 2 ½ months.“I’ve tried basically everything,” he said.“Just sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”He said he isn’t feeling the weight of h...