Freddie Freeman’s 4 RBI leads Dodgers blowout in Miami

6-run 7th inning blew open a close game. Landon Knack and Matt Sauer, both called up from Triple-A Wednesday, combined for all 9 innings on the mound

For the entirety of Landon Knack’s five-inning performance, he pitched with zero margin for error, as Los Angeles scored only one run with him on the mound. However, shortly after the Dodgers’ starter left the game, the offense exploded against the Marlins bullpen, and that allowed for a stress-free ending in this 10-1 win.

It was a rare game of triples for the visiting team, along with the patented Freddie Freeman runners-in-scoring-position reliability. Los Angeles got on the board after Freeman drove Shohei Ohtani in, who had tripled one inning earlier. Freeman’s triple came with the bases loaded, putting this game well out of hand for Miami.

A triple in it of itself in that situation was outstanding, but a triple on the specific pitch he hit, that’s just absurd. At 35 years old, Freeman is playing the best baseball of his career, which is saying something when you account for the resume of this future Hall of Famer.

Circling back to the starting pitchers’ performance, which allowed Los Angeles to keep themselves in the game until the offense could break through, Knack deserves a ton of praise. One of those names who can’t get into a proper routine because he is often moving around, Knack seems to hold his own pretty frequently despite the unfavorable situation he has to deal with.

Facing an underwhelming offense, the priority to attack the zone is even more emphasized, as the last thing you want to do is beat yourself. Knack did that for the most part with a zone rate of 66 percent on his four-seam fastball, a mark well-above major league average. Knack only walked a batter across five full innings and kept Miami off the board, conceding just one extra-base hit.

With the pitch count well in check and amidst a marathon of games, Dave Roberts sent Knack out there for the sixth, but he didn’t push his luck much. After the first two Marlins hitters reached base, Roberts made the call to the bullpen, removing Knack, who had thrown just 79 pitches to that point. Leaving with what was then a one-run lead and the go-ahead run on base, Knack’s fate was up to the bullpen, and they picked him up. Matt Sauer got a much-needed double play and went on to punch out Jesus Sánchez and wrap up the sixth.

The six-run rally by the offense in the seventh inning allowed Dave Roberts to save the high-leverage arms and instead keep Sauer there to finish the game. You know what that meant, the ever-so-coveted four-inning save for Sauer, who pitched brilliantly with his sights set on that achievement.

One final note about this one is that even though the game was over by that point, it felt great seeing James Outman run into one for a three-run shot in the ninth, making it an even 10. It should be noted, Outman only had that chance because Andy Pages managed to hit an 0-2 pitch that might’ve bounced at home plate had he not swung at it.

Wednesday particulars

Home run: James Outman (1)

WP —Landon Knack (1-0): 5+ IP, 4 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts

LP — Cade Gibson (0-1): 1 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 1 walk

Sv — Matt Sauer (1): 4 IP, 1 hit, 1 unearned run, 1 walk 4 strikeouts

Up next

No rest for Los Angeles, with a quick departure from Miami before starting a four-game series against the Diamondbacks in Arizona. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Brandon Pfaadt will square off on Thursday (6:40 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA). Yet to face the Padres and Giants, this will be the Dodgers’ second NL West series this season.