It really comes down to the pitching and the Dodgers squandered Kershaw's start on their final game against the Braves which was most likely the wisest move, but it also has exposed the obvious weakness with their pitching. The Dodgers are only two deep and the Cardinals has a deeper pitching staff and the Dodgers made some critical errors like the one guy that could have had a double, but stumbled and didn't have enough time to get to second base after recovering
I believe the Dodgers are more than just two pitchers deep. The Cardinals certainly have a good pitching staff however.
Dodgers would have won Game 1 if the umpire happened to notice that Molina never tagged Ellis, but, as Ellis himself said, the ump is going to give the call to the catcher on a play like that. So, the Cardinals caught a break. The Dodgers had their chances, but couldn't pull the game out. Just like today. You hold the Cardinals to one run and your offense doesn't score. The Dodgers have no one to blame, but themselves.
Mattingly will manage the Dodgers again next year no matter what happens in this Series.
The Series certainly isn't over, but the Dodgers have little room for error left.
Everyone keeps complaining about AGon being pulled well I haven't seen him do much himself, the bigger question is why did we sign Young? It's obvious he has nothing left.