The Dodgers ended a season-high 12-game winning streak with a 4-0 loss to the lowly Kansas City Royals on Sunday. It was the first time the Dodgers lost in August. It was the first time the Dodgers lost since July 30, 5-3 to the Colorado Rockies.
"I mean, we knew we weren't going to win every game," Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman told the Associated Press.
Perhaps. But for a minute there, it didn’t look like the Dodgers were going to lose another game.
The Dodgers winning streak, as impressive as it was dominating, was not even the longest winning streak of 2022. That belongs to the Atlanta Braves and Seattle Mariners. The Braves had a 14-game winning streak in June. The Mariners matched the Braves with a 14-game winning streak in July.
Still, the Dodgers have used their winning streak to build the best record in baseball and a 16-game lead in the National League West standings.
The Dodgers recent run is the second longest since the team moved to Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Dodgers had a 13-game winning streak in 1962 and another 13-game winning streak in 1965.
The Dodgers won the World Series in 1965. They didn’t play in the World Series in 1962, losing a playoff against the San Francisco Giants for the National League pennant after both teams tied for the best record in the league.
The 12-game winning streak matches a run the Los Angeles Dodgers had in 1976. That team, the first with Tommy Lasorda as manager, finished in second place in the National League standings, 10 games behind the Cincinnati Reds.
The longest winning streak in Dodger franchise history goes back to the Brooklyn days when the team was the Robins in 1924. That team, with Zack Wheat, power-hitting Jack Fournier and ace Dazzy Vance, won 15 games in a row.
The 1924 Brooklyn Robins ended up with a 92-62 record and finished in second place in the National League standings.
The Dodgers are on pace to set records for most wins in franchise history and most wins in Major League Baseball history.
The Dodgers won 106 games in 2019 and again in 2021, both franchise records. The 2022 Dodgers are on pace to win 113 games.
The 1906 Chicago Cubs and the 2001 Seattle Mariners hold the major league record for most wins in a season with 116. The Dodgers have to pick up the pace a little to break that record.
The Dodgers are also on pace to break the franchise record for winning percentage, well, at least the record for a full season winning percentage.
The Dodgers had a .682 winning percentage, 105-49, in 1953. That team had Roy Campanella, who won the National League MVP, and Jim Gilliam, who won the Rookie of the Year. That team also won the National League pennant, but lost to the New York Yankees in the World Series in six games.
After Sunday’s game against the Royals, the Dodgers have a .699 winning percentage.
The Dodgers record for winning percentage in a season is .717 in 2020, the pandemic shortened year when the Dodgers went 43-17 in 60 games.
With the way the Dodgers have been playing lately, even that record doesn't seem out of reach.
Dodger starters power rankings:
- Tony Gonsolin
- Julio Urias
- Tyler Anderson
- Ryan Pepiot
- Andrew Heaney
The Dodgers (79-34) head to Milwaukee to start a four-game series with the Brewers on Monday before heading home for a weekend series against the Florida Marlins starting on Friday.
No comments:
Post a Comment