
Once again, the Dodgers didn’t wait long to respond. “One night he just wasn’t on,” Roberts said of Phillips, who hadn’t previously allowed a baserunner since Aug.
Los angeles dodgers magic number plus#
Vesia returned to the mound to begin the fifth, then passed the baton to Chris Martin for a scoreless inning.Ībout the only key leverage reliever who struggled for the Dodgers was previously streaking setup man Evan Phillips, who in the seventh inning allowed two inherited runners to score, plus another run that was charged to him, to let the Padres get back to within 5-4. The Dodgers’ offense then hung five runs on Padres starter Mike Clevinger in the bottom half of the fourth, first on a leadoff home run from Will Smith, then on Cody Bellinger’s bases-loaded walk, Mookie Betts’ sacrifice fly and Trea Turner’s two-run bloop double. The Dodgers reached deep into their bullpen to do it.Īlex Vesia was summoned first, stranding the two runners he inherited from Pepiot with two strikeouts and a popup. Though the Dodgers used an opener for the first time this season, Sunday’s outing wasn’t supposed to be an all-out bullpen game. “The challenge is to go out there and play with urgency and keep the bar high.” “We’ve put ourselves in a good spot,” Roberts said. This year, the Dodgers are running away from the pack in near-historic fashion, extending their lead to 19 games over the second-place Padres even on a night when their pitching didn’t go according to plan.

“Every game was do or die, it seemed like, trying to jockey to find a way to win the division last year,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts recalled. Last fall, the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants jockeyed for the division crown down the stretch, with the standings remaining undecided until the final day of the season.
Los angeles dodgers magic number series#
With nine more Dodgers wins, San Diego Padres losses or some combination of the two, the Dodgers will once again be champions of the National League West.Īnd based on the last couple of nights at Chavez Ravine, it shouldn’t take much longer.ĭespite using eight pitchers in what essentially became an unplanned bullpen game Sunday night, the Dodgers still blew the Padres away in a weekend series rubber match at Dodger Stadium, winning 9-4 to move a step closer to reclaiming a division title they won eight consecutive years from 2013 to 2020 before finishing second last season. The Dodgers’ magic number is now … a magic number. Trayce Thompson belts a pinch-hit, three-run home run off San Diego Padres reliever Adrian Morejon during the seventh inning of the Dodgers’ 9-4 win Sunday night at Dodger Stadium.
