What time is it?

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By Jon Weisman

“Darkest before the dawn” can be a tough sell, especially when “darkest before it gets even darker” is also true. It’s hard to know whether it’s midnight or 5 a.m.

Individual games and series disappear quickly behind you, succumbing to the omnipotence of “What just happened?” Just as the sweep over the Angels or the two victories against the Phillies are already distant memories, so too will be the three excruciating Dodger losses this weekend to the Pirates. A walkoff defeat in the 10th, a one-run loss with the tying run in scoring position in the ninth, and then Sunday’s come-from-ahead, 13-6 electroshock featuring a numbing nine-run seventh.

By this time Tuesday, we’ll be talking about how the Dodgers found a ray of daylight against the Nationals, or how they slipped deeper into the void by losing their fourth game in a row for the first time this year. Los Angeles is 5-0 after it has lost three games this season.

Complicating our vision is what appears to be a rather serious injury to Howie Kendrick, a strained left hamstring that will receive an MRI today but that already has the Dodgers preparing for an extended absence. Until third baseman Justin Turner returns, the Dodgers are without half their starting infield. Kiké Hernandez, hitting .400/.450/.714 (but mostly against southpaws) is a candidate to take some at-bats, with newly acquired Jose Peraza (.385/.415/.590 for Triple-A Oklahoma City) perhaps getting a call.

The Dodgers are also looking for salvation for their bullpen. Saturday’s four shutout innings ended a streak of eight straight games that the Dodger relievers had allowed a run, but faced with an equal task Sunday, Jim Johnson entered a nightmare, with eight batters reaching base, interrupted only by a sacrifice fly and topped off by a three-run homer off Joel Peralta by Jung Ho Kang.

So yes, darkness.

At the outset of Sunday’s game, I ranted out several tweets that might have seemed ill-timed by the ugly seventh inning, but that actually were all the more appropriate. Here is the text:

• Dodgers have been hustling on the bases and in the field all weekend, but nothing will sway ESPN from calling them lethargic.
• (Yasiel) Puig not starting today, or we’d have heard how he’s most lethargic of all, a day after a 9-6 forceout and hustle down the basepaths.
• ESPN also said “I don’t know what this team is,” even though, like ’em or not, HR power and front-line SP have defined the team for months.
• Have Dodgers been inconsistent? Days in first place: Dodgers 115, Giants 3. Months below .500: Dodgers 0, Giants 3.
• No, Dodgers haven’t proven they’re the best team in baseball. This time last year, neither had the Giants.
• Should Dodgers be better? Sure, why not? But how much better? Team has 62 wins. A 100-win pace would be 68 wins, or 1.5 extra wins per month.
• Happily accept idea that there’s room to improve. Absolutely refuse to buy notion that a team playing .564 ball is a huge disappointment.
• Looking for improvement? If this matters to you, here’s Dodgers’ record vs. winning teams since July 1: Road: 4-5, home: 5-1, total: 9-6. (After Sunday, you can add one more road loss to this.)

Imperfection is not the same as incompetence. Not having reached the ideal — especially in August — does not mean the season is lost.

Look, I understand that until a new World Series title is won, many Dodger fans live in a binary world, where nothing is good unless everything is good. I understand that. I do. I could feel the rising anger with every run the Pirates scored.

I also know that the Dodgers could have the best record in baseball, and while the national coverage in that case might be good, for sure there would still be concern here at home over what was lacking. Going 26 years and 10 months without a championship makes insecurity a permanent condition.

There are good signs for this team, and there are bad. But the best sign of all is there are still games to play. Whether it’s midnight or 5 a.m., the night is far from over.