SAN FRANCISCO — It wasn’t supposed to end this way.
The Dodgers were vulnerable, as vulnerable as they had been in years. There were significant departures in free agency. Young players were going to be incorporated. The San Diego Padres had asserted themselves in the fall and were ascendant. Then Gavin Lux was lost for the season and the starting rotation started to dissolve.
But here they are again, runaway winners of another NL West title and 100 regular-season games for the fourth consecutive full season after Sunday’s 5-2 season-ending win over the San Francisco Giants. No other team in baseball history has won as many as 100 games in four consecutive (full) seasons.
It all worked out. The young players came through. The low-cost veterans signed as free agents became key contributors on and off the field. The top two hitters in the lineup had historic seasons. The Padres were an expensive dysfunctional disappointment.
“From outside the organization I don’t think people expected that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of the 100 wins.
“From start to finish, I feel like a lot of the outside noise was doubting us this year — not inside,” Freddie Freeman said. “I don’t think winning 100 games surprises anybody in this clubhouse. But to do it when – I mean we have one guy in the starting rotation that was in spring training coming out of it that is in there now. We’ve faced a lot of ups and downs and we rose above it and got 100 wins.
“Baseball is played on the diamond, out on the field. It’s not on paper or who spends the most money and blah blah blah. Outside noise is outside noise. It’s very easy to shut it off and go out and play the game when you know you’re a good team.”
The Dodgers will now try to do something their previous three 100-win teams did not – reach the World Series. The 2019 and 2021 teams (106 wins each) lost in the first round and the NLCS, respectively. Last year’s 111-win team didn’t make it out of the first round.
These Dodgers will face either the Milwaukee Brewers or the Arizona Diamondbacks in a best-of-five Division Series beginning Saturday at Dodger Stadium.
“Being on this team, we’ve been on a lot of winning teams. It’s easy to take it for granted,” said Chris Taylor, one of eight players who has played on each of the four 100-win teams in this stretch. “We had a really good year and I think it’s important to reflect on it and feel good about it then we move on. We start over now.”
After the Dodgers left the field at Oracle Park, the players gathered in the batting cages under the stands to emphasize that. A post-series tradition went a little longer than normal as they talked about the regular-season accomplishment and the expectations moving forward.
“An end of the year, ‘Good job, guys. Now get ready for the postseason,’” Mookie Betts said of the meeting. “I don’t think there was any importance to it. Just a team meeting saying good job.”
Rookie right-hander Bobby Miller will start Game 2 of that series. He prepped for that with four scoreless innings Sunday, allowing one hit. Miller finished his rookie season 11-4 with a 3.76 ERA in 22 starts.
“I think that you can have confidence, but to have real confidence that is sustainable, you have to perform and pitch well and he’s done that,” Roberts said. “Each time out there he’s gotten better and taken something from each outing.
“He’ll be ready to go for the postseason.”
Held hitless by Giants starter Kyle Harrison for five innings, the Dodgers took hits instead. Harrison hit three batters with pitches – Freddie Freeman and Will Smith in the first inning, Taylor in the fourth. Taylor’s was the worst, a breaking ball that hit him in the left knee. He left the game an inning later but said X-rays were negative.
“It feels not that bad,” Taylor said after the game. “It was one of those ‘dead-leg’ things. Honestly, I felt I could stay in the game but they wanted to get ahead of the swelling, get X-rays and everything. It’s all good.”
Harrison came out of the game after five innings and Smith immediately broke up the no-hitter with a leadoff single off reliever John Brebbia. The Dodgers broke through for five runs in the inning, all after there were two outs – very on brand for this year’s team. The Dodgers led the majors with 359 two-out RBIs this season. Amed Rosario and James Outman had RBI singles and Kike’ Hernandez a three-run home run.
Betts and Freeman finished the season short of some round numbers. Betts had just one home run after his torrid August and finished with 39 for the season. Freeman came up one short in each category of becoming the first player in baseball history with 30 home runs and 60 doubles in the same season.
“I saw a text from my wife and my dad (after the game), and I think my dad said, ‘If you would’ve told me those numbers at the beginning of the year, sign me up,’” Freeman said. “I think the best thing is I’ve never done 200 hits, 90 extra-base hits. Those are pretty cool.
“I’m going to look forward to Saturday. But maybe January when we’re talking at FanFest, we can talk about the season.”