LOS ANGELES ―The National League West and a first-round postseason bye have been clinched. The starting pitchers for Games 1 and 2 of the NL Division Series have been decided. The Dodgers can switch to cruise control for the final seven games of the regular season while the rest of the playoff picture sorts itself out.
That doesn’t mean their two best players will be absent for the final stretch.
Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman played every inning of Sunday’s 3-2 win over the San Francisco Giants, and figure to get plenty of at-bats when the Dodgers begin a four-game series against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday.
“We only have so many games left,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I want Mookie and Freddie to get a good run at this MVP. Colorado’s a hitter-friendly place. If they can go out and hit some homers, pad their stats, and we win some baseball games, I’m all for that.”
The stat-padding portion of the Dodgers’ season has arrived.
Betts and Freeman didn’t pad their stats much Sunday; they combined to go 1 for 8 and didn’t factor into any of the Dodgers’ three runs. But Chris Taylor continued his quietly efficient second half by hitting the game-winning single in the 10th inning off Giants closer Camilo Doval.
Taylor lined a 100-mph cutter from Doval into right-center field to score Amed Rosario, who began the inning as the automatic runner on second base. Taylor’s first walk-off hit since 2018 gave the Dodgers their seventh walk-off win of the season.
“It’s just another win,” Taylor said. “We’re trying to continue to play good baseball, win games, and keep going. Try to head into the playoffs on a positive note.”
Taylor is batting .269 with a .371 on-base percentage since the All-Star break.
“It’s nice to not have to constantly think about my own mechanics,” he said. “It’s tough to do that in the box. Right now I feel like I’m in a spot where I can compete in the box. I feel like I’m seeing pitches better.”
Taylor also turned a spectacular double play in the top of the 10th inning to preserve a 2-2 tie.
With the bases loaded and one out, Patrick Bailey hit a ground ball to the mound. Dodgers pitcher Shelby Miller deflected the ball with his back to the plate on a perfect arc to Taylor standing behind second base. Taylor stepped on the bag for the forceout, then threw out Bailey by a half-step to end the inning as Freeman picked the short-hop throw out of the dirt just in time.
“We got a little lucky that CT was there,” Miller said. “If I had just gotten out of the way, it would’ve been a routine double play.”
James Outman’s two-run home run against Tristan Beck in the second inning got the Dodgers on the board. The Giants tied it in the fifth inning on a two-run home run by LaMonte Wade Jr.
Those were the only runs allowed by Dodgers starter Lance Lynn, who settled for a no-decision in what might have been his final start at Dodger Stadium this year. The right-hander allowed five hits, walked three batters, and struck out five in six innings.
Alex Vesia, Ryan Brasier, Brusdar Graterol and Evan Phillips held San Francisco scoreless out of the bullpen. Phillips had to overcome a first-and-second, nobody-out jam after he hit Michael Conforto with a pitch and allowed a single to Marco Luciano to begin the ninth inning.
A sacrifice bunt by Blake Sabol and a shallow flyout by Tyler Fitzgerald provided the first two outs before Wade was intentionally walked to load the bases. When Mitch Haniger swung and missed at a slider for the final out of the inning, Phillips punched both fists in excitement as he walked off the mound.
The Dodgers (96-59) won three of four games in the series against the Giants to all but mathematically eliminate their rivals from wild-card contention. The two teams will face each other again in San Francisco for a three-game series beginning Friday.
With a final record of 53-28 (.654) at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers tied the Tampa Bay Rays for the best home record in MLB.
ALSO
The Dodgers drew 3,837,079 fans in 2023, the fifth-largest regular season total in team history. … Roberts said Ryan Pepiot and Bobby Miller will pitch in that order in Tuesday’s doubleheader; Pepiot will be preceded by an opener in Game 1. … Relievers Daniel Hudson (knee) and Yency Almonte (knee) are not expected to be activated from the injured list before the end of the regular season, and aren’t expected to pitch in the NLDS either. Roberts said the soonest either would pitch is in the NL Championship Series, if the Dodgers advance that far.
UP NEXT
The Dodgers have a day off Monday.