by Megan Garcia
The Dodgers still have something to fight for after being crowned the National League West champions.
Led by Shohei Ohtani’s four-RBI performance, the Dodger lineup continued its momentum in the 11–4 win on 15 hits over the Rockies in Colorado on Friday. The victory extended their lead to two games over the Philadelphia Phillies in the race for the №1 seed spot in the postseason.
“Our guys just understand that we’re still in playoff mode,” manager Dave Roberts said. “All the guys that are trying to get locked in or stay locked in, these are the opportunities they can do that.”
Ohtani is heading into his first career postseason trip. He isn’t slowing down as the season comes to a close.
Just like he had done 56 times before, Ohtani put his head down, sprinted toward the base ahead of him and swiped it. During Mookie Betts’ at-bat in the second inning, his aggressive baserunning added another milestone to his resume when he stole second base.
His 57th stolen base surpassed Ichiro Suzuki’s all-time Major League record of stolen bases by a Japanese-born player in a single season. Suzuki set the record in 2001 when he stole 56 stolen bases in 2001 with the Seattle Mariners.
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Ohtani is inching closer to two other records at the plate. He launched his 54th home run in the sixth inning, making him long ball shy of becoming the first player to achieve the 55/55 mark.
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He went 4-for-5 at the plate with two singles, a double and a home run which gave him eight total bases. Now, Ohtani needs eight total bases to tie Babe Herman’s 1930 Dodgers franchise record of 416.
Since he went 6-for-6 on Sept. 19 in Miami, Ohtani has produced outstanding offensive numbers. He’s driven in 20 RBI and hit six homers while slashing .718/.750/.1.575/2.325 in eight games.
In the midst of this eight-game span, Ohtani was awarded the National League Player of the Week.
As two games remain, there’s another possible milestone on the horizon: the Triple Crown.
Ohtani currently leads the National League in RBI (130) and home runs (54). He ranks second with a .309 batting average, four points behind Luis Arraez’s .319 batting average.
“He’s cognizant of it,” Roberts said of Ohtani hitting for the Triple Crown. “He’s close to 200 hits. Anything that’s sort of attainable, I think it’s on his radar.”
Roberts finished by saying that Ohtani will play the final two games of the season.
Both Sides of the Ball
Teoscar Hernández flashed his right-hitting power against the Rockies. He matched his career high with his 32nd homer of the season. The two-run shot put the Dodgers on the board as part of his three-hit day. This marked Hernández 40th multi-hit game this season.
Andy Pages showcased why he’ll be on the postseason roster in his rookie season. He hit his 13th homer to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 6–1 in the fourth.
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As for the pitching, Ben Casparius pitched a bulk of the innings in the Dodgers’ bullpen game in this third career appearance.
Casparius threw 4 1/3 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on six hits, walking one and striking out seven batters. He faced 21 batters on 85 pitches (55 strikes). Prior to Friday, the 25-year-old right-hander pitched four total innings in two outings with five strikeouts.
“I trusted everything in the zone,” Casparius said. “Most of the misses with the curveball were on the plate and below.”
Casparius recorded a 27% called strike whiff rate on his curveball to keep the Rockies off-balance.
Freeman Injury Update
Roberts shared that he is confident that Freddie Freeman will be ready for Game 1 of the NLDS on Oct. 8 after he rolled his ankle in Thursday’s game. The All-Star first baseman didn’t suffer structural damage to his right ankle, as revealed by x-ray scans.
Where They Stand
The Dodgers (96–64) lead the Philadelphia Phillies (94–66) for the best record in baseball by two games in the race for the №1 seed in the postseason. Their magic number to clinch home-field advantage throughout the playoffs is one game.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto will take the mound on Saturday against Antonio Senzatela in Colorado at 5:10 p.m.
The Dodgers continue their postseason battle behind Shohei Ohtani’s four RBI was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.