They lost by intervals of 90 feet, the way playoff teams usually lose, the way the Dodgers have lost and lost and lost.
In the end they sat in their spiffy clubhouse, shielded from the delirious cries of “Dan-iel Murphy” from the Mets fans outside.
It wasn’t just Murphy who drop-kicked the Dodgers out of the NL Division Series on Thursday night, although he did have the sixth-inning home run that won it, 3-2 in runs, 3-2 in games as well.
It was the inability to master the nuts and bolts that make the house stand up, or let it fall.