The Los Angeles Dodgers benefited from a five-run sixth inning on Sunday to defeat the San Francisco Giants and notch their 100th win of the year, resulting in the third consecutive season the club hit the century mark for victories.
More importantly, the team found out it would face either the Brewers or Diamondbacks in the first round of the 2023 NLDS beginning next weekend in Los Angeles.
Young righty Bobby Miller threw 57 pitches over four scoreless innings in his postseason warmup, and Evan Phillips notched his career-high 24th save of the year. The biggest offensive blow in the 5-2 win was a three-run homer to left field off the bat of super-utilityman Enrique Hernandez.
Although it was nearly a given, skipper Dave Roberts confirmed this weekend that veteran ace Clayton Kershaw would start the initial game of the NLDS next Saturday, so long as he felt well coming out of his start in Saturday’s middle game.
“It’s pretty academic,” Roberts said. “I expect him to come out of this feeling well, given his demeanor and how he felt after the game. And if that’s the case, then it seems like pretty much a no-brainer.”
While the 2022 version of the Dodgers arguably may have been more talented, it could be fair to say that this year’s version was slightly more balanced, especially in terms of execution. One difference between this year’s team and last year’s is the absence of four primary players in Justin Turner, Cody Bellinger, Trea Turner and Gavin Lux.
Still, the Dodgers will hope the offensive attack stays balanced through this year’s postseason. 2023 was the first year in franchise history the team had four players with 100 more RBI in the same year. Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, and J.D. Martinez primarily carried the offense this season, while players like Will Smith, James Outman and others contributed heavily.
Last year’s NLDS saw the Padres surprise the baseball world and defeat a Dodgers team whose offense abruptly shut down when it needed it most. One of the primary differences on the pitching staff will be lefty Julio Urias’s exclusion from this year’s roster. Urias got the lone playoff win for Los Angeles against the Padres in the NLDS opener last season.
The Dodgers haven’t announced the rest of their pitching plans for the NLDS, but many assume that Miller will follow Kershaw with the possibility of Lance Lynn starting Game 3.
The Dodgers were 8-5 against the Diamondbacks this year, including a three-game series sweep at Dodger Stadium to close out the month of August. Los Angeles was also highly successful against Milwaukee, taking the season series five games to one.
The best-of-three Wild Card series between the D-backs and the Brewers starts on Tuesday in Milwaukee, with Game 2 scheduled for Wednesday and Game 3 on Thursday, if necessary.
The Dodgers plan to hold a simulated type of scrimmage open to the public at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday.