Dee Gordon ties career high in stolen bases

Before Thursday's game against the Pirates I reminded Dee Gordon that he was on pace for 90 stolen bases and the Dodgers second baseman simply shook his head in disbelief. But that didn't stop him from continuing his assault on the base paths in Thursday's loss Pittsburgh.

Gordon drove in the go-ahead run in the second inning with a two-out single, then proceeded to steal both second and third base against Gerrit Cole.

It was Gordon's eighth multi-steal game of the year, giving him a major league best 32 steals on the season. In fact, if only counting Gordon's multi-steal games his 21 steals would still lead the major leagues.

Gordon's 32 steals tie his career high, set in 2012 when he played 87 games. Thursday night was Gordon's 51st game of 2014.

With 32 stolen bases, Gordon remains ahead of the pace of Maury Wills in his franchise-record-setting 104-steal season of 1962. Wills also stole 94 bases in 1965, and got off to a faster start.

Here's Gordon vs. Wills through 55 team games:

Wills didn't steal a base in game No. 55 in 1962, stuck on 29 steals at that point. He did have a big game the next outing, the second game of a doubleheader that was suspended and completed the next day. Wills was 4-for-6 with two doubles in game No. 56, with a steal off Bob Friend and catcher Don Leppert of the Pirates.

In 1965, Wills in game No. 55 was 1-for-4 and stole his 36th base of the season against Chris Short and Gus Triandos of the Phillies. He did not steal a base in the Dodgers' 56th game of the season.

Up next

Josh Beckett starts Friday night for the Dodgers, facing lefty Francisco Liriano for Pittsburgh. Gordon has never faced Liriano, who has allowed seven of eight runners to steal successfully in just 11 starts in 2014, matching his total for 2013.