Dodgers Week 23: Back in the playoffs again (almost)

The Dodgers took care of business by winning two more series against divisional foes, putting them within a whisker of a ninth National League West title in the last 10 seasons.

Los Angeles has won nine straight series against NL West teams, and their 41-15 mark against the division (.732) would be their best divisional winning percentage in team history. The mark to shoot for is the 1974 team, who were 63-27 (.700) against the NL West.

We thought the Dodgers on Sunday clinched a playoff berth, their 10th straight season doing so. But it turns out, thanks to tiebreaker scenarios, that’s not the case.

Batter of the week

Freddie Freeman found his home run stroke again, snapping an 87-plate-appearance drought with a three-home run week and ended up hitting .545. It was a close battle with Max Muncy, who also homered three times, drove in nine, and had a 1.559 OPS. Justin Turner was under consideration too with his three homers, including two in Sunday’s clincher.

Pitcher of the week

Julio Urías continued his consistent run atop the Dodgers rotation. In his one start this week, he pitched seven innings to shut down the Padres outside of two solo home runs, the only source of offense against the left-hander over his last five starts.

Week 23 results

4-2 record
40 runs scored (6.67 per game)
24 runs allowed (4.00 per game)
.718 pythagorean win percentage

Year to date

96-43 record
756 runs scored (5.44 per game)
446 runs allowed (3.21 per game)
.724 pythagorean win percentage (101-38)

Magic number: 2 to clinch the NL West

Miscellany

Century city: When Max Muncy’s three-run home run in the eighth inning put Wednesday’s game to bed, the second player to score on the hit was Freddie Freeman, giving him 100 runs scored on the season. It’s the fourth time in his career scoring at least 100 runs for Freeman, who led the National League in scoring in each of the last two seasons. This year, he’s second in the NL in runs, with 103 through Sunday, behind only teammate Mookie Betts at 109. This is just the third time since moving to Los Angeles that the Dodgers have had multiple players score 100 runs. In 2019, Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy did it, and in 1962 the team had Maury Wills, Tommy Davis, and Willie Davis do so. Trea Turner, who scored a career-high 107 runs last season, has scored 90 times this year, on pace for 105 runs. The franchise record for 100-run Dodgers is six, with Duke Snider, Jim Gilliam, Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella, and Gil Hodges all reaching triple digits for the juggernaut 1953 Brooklyn team.

Transactions

Monday: Jake Reed, who was designated for assignment on September 2, was claimed off waivers by the Orioles.

Monday: Eddy Alvarez was released.

Monday: Justin Bruihl was called up from Triple-A, and Ryan Pepiot was optioned.

Saturday: Blake Treinen landed on the injured list with shoulder tightness, retroactive to Wednesday. Andre Jackson was recalled.

Game results

• Monday: Giants 7, Dodgers 4
• Tuesday: Dodgers 6, Giants 3
• Wednesday: Dodgers 7, Giants 3
• Friday: Padres 5, Dodgers 4 (10 innings)
• Saturday: Dodgers 8, Padres 4
• Sunday: Dodgers 11, Padres 2

Previous weekly reviews: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 | Week 13 | Week 14 | Week 15 | Week 16 | Week 17 | Week 18 | Week 19 | Week 20 | Week 21 | Week 22

Up next

The Dodgers finish off their last extended road trip of the season by running the Dante Powell gauntlet with three games apiece in Phoenix and San Francisco.