Dodgers in the winning driver’s seat
They lower their magic number to clinch a sixth straight NL West title.
PHOENIX — Manny Machado walked down the first base line, his eyes tracking the parabola that just burst off his bat, in the final inning of a 7-4 victory over the Diamondbacks. The baseball traveled toward the Chase Field fence, an insurance salvo taking flight. Machado admired the shot until his sense of pride morphed into urgency: The ball wasn’t going to clear the wall.
Machado dropped his bat and started to sprint. He arrived at second base, the owner of an RBI double rather than a home run. At this point, the Dodgers will take it. Can one at-bat be a metaphor for a season? After
months of fits and starts, the team must sprint through the finish line in order to hold off Colorado and win their division.
“We can’t approach a day looking for help,” manager Dave Roberts said. “We’ve put ourselves in a situation where we’re in the driver’s seat. There’s going to be some scoreboard watching — that’s natural. But it’s upon us to take care of our own business.”
Five games remain for the Dodgers (88-69). The team may need to win every one of them in order to capture their sixth consecutive National League West crown. The Dodgers can clinch with any combination of five victories and Rockies
PHOENIX — A few weeks ago, David Freese thought he would end his season playing in meaningless games for the Pittsburgh Pirates. They were fading in the standings. The non-waiver trade deadline had passed. The waiver deadline was fast approaching. His place in Pittsburgh appeared cemented.
Then, on Aug. 31, minutes before the waiver trade deadline passed, Freese was dealt to the Dodgers. A day later he was in the starting lineup. He was suddenly instrumental for a club fighting for a sixth straight division crown. His addition has proven invaluable.
After going three for four with a home run in Monday’s 7-4 win at Arizona, the 35year-old infielder is batting .375 with two home runs and a 1.130 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in 38 plate appearances for Los Angeles while getting his starts at first base against left-handed pitchers and supplying a positive clubhouse presence. He’s made a case to make the Dodgers’ postseason roster, should they clinch a berth and face a club featuring a heavy lefthander presence.
“He’s all that we had hoped for,” manager Dave Roberts said.
Freese was added to provide another proven righthanded bat — Manny Machado and Brian Dozier were acquired the previous month — for a club that had struggled against left-handed pitching. He hit .282 with a .780 OPS in 94 games for Pittsburgh. He was performing better against righties than lefties, though his track record contains greater production against southpaws. He boasts postseason success — and a World Series most valuable player award — on his resume. He added value. But his role was unclear. The Dodgers already had Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy splitting time at first base. At-bats appeared limited. Freese was an afterthought in the grand scheme on a roster gushing talent.
But the Dodgers have decided to start Freese against left-handers and he’s produced. Freese made his 10th start at first base with the Dodgers on Monday. He batted third, between Justin Turner and Machado — the platoon-happy Dodgers’ only two everyday players this month as they seek to maximize production carrying an expanded roster — with left-hander Robbie Ray on the mound for Arizona. Freese immediately delivered: He smacked an RBI single in the first inning.
Two innings later, after Turner worked an 11-pitch at-bat, Freese lined a solo home run the other way off a tiring Ray to tie the game at two. He added an infield single off right-handed submariner Brad Ziegler in the seventh inning. Machado then drove in the go-ahead run with a groundout.
“He’s got some big hits for us,” Robert said. “And tonight was probably his biggest hit, the homer to tie the game up.”
Freese’s night ended in the bottom of the inning, when Roberts elected to replace him at first base with the left-handed-hitting Muncy, who had pinch-hit. Muncy later worked a leadoff walk in the ninth, advanced to third on Turner’s single, and scored on a wild pitch to give Los Angeles a 5-3 lead. The Dodgers tacked on two more runs, finishing what Freese sparked as they cut their magic number to clinch the National League West to five.
“You understand what this organization is trying to do,” Freese said.
“And you get called upon to help out, do whatever Dave asks of you. You understand that you need to do your job and be productive and get stuff done and help this team. So far, I think I’ve done a decent job of just kind of doing my thing and filling my role.”