The Dodgers are rolling into the playoffs, securing home-field advantage in the first round and taking three of four games against those surprising San Francisco Giants over the weekend.
The Dodgers went 5-2 last week against the Detroit Tigers and Giants and are 8-2 in their last 10 games.
The Dodgers needed extra innings to beat the Giants on Sunday. The score was tied 2-2 after nine innings when Chris Taylor drove in the winning run in the 10th inning. It improved the Dodgers record to 6-6 in extra innings. But more importantly, it all but knocked the Giants out of playoff contention. They are five games out of the last wild-card playoff spot with six games left to play.
As for the Dodgers, they are closing in on a third 100-win season in a row and have wrapped up the National League West title.
The Dodgers shut out the Giants 7-0 on Saturday and set a number of records in the process.
Clayton Kershaw won his 210th game, putting him all alone in second place in franchise history in that category. He passed Don Drysdale, who won 209 games as a Dodger. Only Don Sutton has more than Kershaw with 223.
Mookie Betts drove in two runs, giving him 105 RBIs for the season, the most ever by a leadoff hitter in MLB history. He passed Charlie Blackmon who drove in 103 runs as the leadoff hitter for the Colorado Rockies in 2017.
“There’s been a lot of great leadoff hitters and for him to be number one is pretty remarkable,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told the Associated Press after Saturday’s game. “It seems like every night we’re eclipsing milestones as individuals."
Freddie Freeman went 2-for-5 and notched his 203rd hit of the season. It is the first time he passed the 200-hit mark in a single season and it is a career high in hits for Freeman.
He also hit his 57th double. He already has the Dodgers record for doubles in a season. He has seven more games to become the first player to hit 60 doubles in a season since Charlie Gehringer and Joe Medwick did it in 1936.
As for Kershaw, he should be well-rested for the playoffs. The Dodgers have been starting him on six-days rest as the season comes to a close. He is 13-4. But since Aug, 10, when he came off the injured list, he has made seven starts and has a 2.03 ERA with 27 strikeouts and 14 walks.
The Dodgers really have nothing left to play for except to keep their players healthy before the playoffs start.
Dodger starter power rankings:
- Clayton Kershaw
- Bobby Miller
- Lance Lynn
- Emmet Sheehan
- Caleb Ferguson
The Dodgers (96-59) have a doubleheader against the Rockies in Colorado on Tuesday and finish the season with a three-game series against the Giants in San Francisco starting on Friday.
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