LOS ANGELES — There are still things for the Dodgers to chase before the regular season ends – if they want them.
The Dodgers were held to three hits in a 4-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night.
The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Dodgers (93-58). But the Atlanta Braves (97-55) also lost Wednesday night, their fifth loss in the past six games. The Braves’ post-clinch hangover has allowed the Dodgers to move within 3½ games (three in the loss column) of the best record in the National League with 11 games to play.
Overtaking the Braves (who hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Dodgers) would give the Dodgers home-field advantage in a potential National League Championship Series matchup with the Braves.
“Obviously, there’s the benefit of looking way out to the home-field advantage in the CS,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before Wednesday’s game. “I think that it’ll play out the way it’s going to. I’m not going to make decisions on trying to catch the Braves. I think that our thought is just to beat these guys tonight and get ready for the Giants. And then however it kind of washes out, we’ll kind of prepare that way.”
There is actually a potential benefit to staying where the Dodgers are and finishing as the No. 2 seed. The No. 2 seed will face the winner of a wild-card matchup between the NL Central winners (likely the Milwaukee Brewers) and the lowest-seeded wild card (currently the Chicago Cubs) in a best-of-five NL Division Series. The No. 1 seed, on the other hand, would draw the winner of the series between the other two wild cards – currently the Philadelphia Phillies and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The defending NL champion Phillies are viewed as a more dangerous potential opponent than the Brewers. But Roberts isn’t buying into that thinking.
“I don’t think so – because I don’t want to play the ‘Be careful what you wish for’ game,” Roberts said. “You look at the Phillies. That’s a very talented team. You saw what they did last year. They can pitch. They can put up a lot of runs quickly. You look at the Brewers. They can really pitch. And in any series, they’re very dangerous. And the other teams that are in the mix, they are there for a reason.
“I think it’s just easier to, once we know the opponent, prepare and try to beat them.”
Roberts has already said he expects rookie right-hander Bobby Miller to start one of the first two postseason games, regardless of the opponent. Miller strengthened his standing with another strong six-inning outing Wednesday despite the loss.
“I feel ready,” Miller said of his postseason assignment. “I’ve learned a lot since I’ve been here, and I feel very ready. I got the guys here that have had a lot of experience there. So I’ve been asking those guys some questions here and there, on how they go about it. I feel really ready.”
Miller struck out the side in the first inning, gave up single runs in the second and third but retired the final 12 batters he faced in order starting with a spectacular diving catch by James Outman in the left-center field gap. Outman’s web gem with the bases loaded in the third inning robbed Spencer Torkelson of an extra-base hit and saved multiple runs.
“That was unreal,” Miller said. “I thought that was going in the gap or over his head. But at this point, you can never doubt the man out there. He’s saved me a lot of runs this year.”
Outman’s improvement defensively over the course of the season has been significant, for which he gives a large share of credit to coach Clayton McCullough.
“Honestly I didn’t think it could happen this fast,” Roberts said of Outman’s strides defensively. “He’s a plus-center fielder right now and has been for quite some time in the second half.
“You’ve got to get a good jump on the ball, get a perfect line to the baseball and then finish the play. He’s done that time and time again for us.”
On his 98th pitch of the night, in his career-high 128th inning of the season (majors and minors combined), Miller struck out Andy Ibañez with a 100-mph fastball to end the sixth inning.
But the Dodgers had just two hits through six innings against Tigers starter Reese Olson. Max Muncy had both of those hits, including a solo home run, his 36th home run of the season (matching his career-high set in 2021).
The Dodgers’ third hit was an eighth-inning double by Mookie Betts that set up a run-scoring ground out by Freddie Freeman who went hitless, stuck on 198 in his pursuit of a 200-hit season.
UP NEXT
Giants (LHP Kyle Harrison, 1-1, 5.18 ERA) at Dodgers (RHP Emmet Sheehan, 3-1, 5.44 ERA), Thursday, 7:10 p.m. SportsNet LA, MLB Network, 570 AM