DENVER – Roll it back to February when they reported for spring training – or all the way back to December when they committed over $1 billion to new players. This is exactly where the Dodgers were expected to be.
They clinched their 11th division title in 12 years on Thursday. And Saturday night, they clinched the best record in baseball for the third time in the past five seasons.
Even before they took the field and beat down the Colorado Rockies with 18 hits in a 13-2 win, the Dodgers had clinched the No. 1 seed for the postseason (by virtue of the Philadelphia Phillies’ loss earlier in the day).
The Dodgers will finish with the best record in baseball for the fourth time in Dave Roberts’ nine seasons as manager, giving them home-field advantage through the World Series – if they can get there.
The Dodgers hope Yoshinobu Yamamoto will play no small part in getting them there. The first-year import from Japan lines up to start Game 2 of the National League Division Series on Sunday (against an opponent to be determined).
But Yamamoto has given them mixed results since returning from a rotator cuff strain. Over his four starts since returning, Yamamoto has given the Dodgers intermittent hope. He struck out eight in four innings in his first start back then pitched four scoreless innings against the Atlanta Braves his next time out.
But he only lasted three innings against the Rockies last week and hadn’t been able to get deeper into games as the Dodgers hoped.
Before the game, Roberts acknowledged it hasn’t been “the ideal buildup” for Yamamoto since he returned, citing an illness that Yamamoto has dealt with recently as a complicating factor – as was making his final tuneup start at altitude in Colorado.
Yamamoto gave up two hits and a run in the first inning and a solo home run to Ezequiel Tovar in the third inning Saturday. But he retired the final 10 batters he faced, five on strikeouts, and pitched into the fifth inning for the first time since June 7.
Offensively, the Dodgers followed up Friday’s 11-run, 15-hit performance with more of the same against a Rockies pitching staff that will once again finish with the highest staff ERA in baseball.
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Shohei Ohtani kept the dream of a Triple Crown alive heading into the final day of the regular season by going 2 for 5 with a pair of singles and a walk. He stole one base to reach 58 for the season, had another taken away by a balk and had yet another stolen only to be doubled off when Mookie Betts popped out.
Ohtani will take a .310 average into the final game, four points behind San Diego’s Luis Arraez who did not play Saturday.
Kiké Hernandez and Teoscar Hernandez each hit three-run home runs in the game. For Teoscar, it was his career-high 33rd of the season. Kiké Hernandez also had two singles and is 12 for his past 25.
Gavin Lux had a three-hit game – and so did Chris Taylor who didn’t even enter the game until the fifth inning.