‘Freddie Dance’ sends LA to 24th win this month
LOS ANGELES — When August began, the Dodgers have been targeted on including a few items to a staff that was clinging to a 2 1/2-game lead within the National League West.
As August nears its finish, the script has fully flipped for the Dodgers. Los Angeles improved to 24-4 this month following a 7-0 win over the D-backs on Wednesday night time at Dodger Stadium and now have a 14 1/2-game benefit over the Giants atop the NL West.
The 24 wins in a single month is probably the most by the Dodgers since transferring to Los Angeles, they usually have an opportunity to match the general franchise report on Thursday towards the Braves. The .857 profitable proportion this month would even be the very best in membership historical past. With 30 video games to go within the common season, the Dodgers (83-49) are properly on their solution to a tenth NL West crown in 11 seasons.
“It’s just good all-around baseball,” mentioned Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts. “I think a lot of times teams talk about when you have the hitting, you’re not pitching, and vice versa. But I think right now we’ve had both every night.”
Fighting for his or her playoff lives, the D-backs lined up their three greatest starters towards the Dodgers this week. But with the way in which the Dodgers’ lineup has been swinging the bat, they proved to be no match. After attending to Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly within the first two video games of the sequence, the Dodgers didn’t waste a lot time in attending to rookie Brandon Pfaadt.
As it normally is, the Dodgers’ offense was began by Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, who now sit 1-2 in NL OPS. Betts led off the third with an infield single and would come round to attain on Freeman’s twenty fifth homer of the season, a 440-foot blast to proper discipline. Freeman additionally related on his 51st double of the season, placing him one shy of the franchise report, set by Johnny Frederick in 1929.
“I don’t know what the record is but if he gets the record, I’ll be on record and say I’ll do the ‘Freddie Dance,’” Roberts joked. “He has a song now, the ‘Freddie Dance,’ I guess. So it’s gaining some traction.”
The backside of the Dodgers’ lineup additionally gained some traction within the sequence towards the D-backs. Jason Heyward adopted Freeman’s lead and launched a two-run homer of his personal to cap the four-run third inning. Heyward and Freeman may have distinguished roles after they face the Braves, the group that drafted and developed each gamers.
In the fourth, the Dodgers tacked on two extra runs on a Max Muncy two-run double. While Betts and Freeman dictate how the offense goes, Muncy’s potential to affect a sport could possibly be the X-factor for the Dodgers down the stretch. He’s driving a season-high nine-game hitting streak, with an extra-base hit in eight straight.
“All I can do is keep focusing on doing my routine every day and trying to stay in a good headspace and hope that this continues,” mentioned Muncy, who additionally hit an RBI single within the sixth. “It just started in Cleveland after the off-day. Things started clicking a little bit. Just kind of a different mindset out there.”
On the mound, rookie Ryan Pepiot and lefty Ryan Yarbrough mixed to toss the Dodgers’ third shutout of the season. Pepiot punched out three over 5 innings, whereas Yarbrough earned his second save with 4 robust frames.
“Just being able to navigate and just trying to get weak contact,” Pepiot mentioned. “Guys made some good performs behind me, and having run help all the time helps.”
Now that the three-game set towards the D-backs is over, all eyes shift to the much-anticipated four-game sequence towards the Braves. These two organizations have been the category of the NL for the final half-decade and look like, as soon as once more, on a collision course to fulfill within the NLCS for the third time in 4 years.
The Dodgers go into the sequence trailing the Braves by 4 video games for the highest seed within the NL, which might safe them home-field benefit till not less than the World Series.
“It’s going to be a fun series,” Roberts mentioned. “These guys have been the best team, the class of baseball, from the get-go. They can pitch. Their bullpen is solid. Their position players are as good as anybody in baseball. So it’s going to be a fun series.”
