Dodgers Week 25: Clinching the division, sweepful in Seattle

For the 10th time in 11 years, the Dodgers have won the National League West. The clincher came Saturday in Seattle, with more than two weeks remaining in the season. It was part of a 4-2 week against the Padres and Mariners.

Batter of the week

Jason Heyward led the team in hits (nine), doubles (five, including a team-record three in one game Saturday), and extra-base hits (six) for a 1.300 OPS. His home run on Sunday in Seattle was his 15th of the season, in 339 plate appearances, matching his total from 2020-22 with the Cubs, in 685 plate appearances.

Pitcher of the week

Lance Lynn broke out of his rut with seven strong innings on Tuesday to beat the Padres, his 111 pitches the most thrown by a Dodgers pitcher this season. Lynn did allow a home run, but just the one and a solo shot. He allowed two runs in total.

Honorable mention goes to Kyle Hurt, who was fantastic in his one-day stint in the majors, also on Tuesday. His first three big league hitters faced were Fernando Tatis Jr., Juan Soto, and Manny Machado, and Hurt retired them in order in the eighth inning. In the ninth, Hurt struck out the side.

Week 25 results

4-2 record
38 runs scored (6.33 per game)
25 runs allowed (4.17 per game)
.683 pythagorean win percentage

Year to date

91-57 record
838 runs scored (5.66 per game)
653 runs allowed (4.41 per game)
.612 pythagorean win percentage (91-57)

Miscellany

Twenty-spot: James Outman homered to center field off Mariners right-hander Trent Thornton on Friday night in Seattle, his 20th of the season. Outman is the 10th Dodgers rookie in franchise history with 20 home runs in a season, and the first since Cody Bellinger in 2017. Outman hit another homer on Sunday, his 21st. Outman is the first Dodgers rookie with 20 home runs and 15 stolen bases in a season. Bellinger (39 homers, 10 steals) is the only other Dodgers rookie with 20 homers and 10 steals.

Double your pleasure: Freddie Freeman isn’t the only Dodger hitting doubles this season. Jason Heyward’s 22 doubles are his most in five years, including five this week. He hit three doubles on Saturday alone, part of a four-hit game in the Dodgers division clincher, 10 days shy of 10 full years since Heyward’s last three-double game. Three doubles in a game tied a team record, done 65 times in franchise history. Heyward is the second Dodger with a three-double game in 2023, joining Miguel Vargas on May 2 against Philadelphia.

On Sunday, he rested: Freeman, Mookie Betts, and Max Muncy sat on Sunday, the day after the division was clinched. For Freeman, it was his first time on the bench this year after starting the last 147 games in a row. Just like last year, when he started the first 141 games before sitting the day after the division was clinched. Since the start of 2018, over the last six seasons, Freeman has only missed 11 games. All but two of those days off came after his team clinched its division.

Howe the west was saved: The day after clinching, a pair of bulk pitchers combined to cover the final eight innings in Seattle. Ryan Yarbrough, who has saves of four innings and three innings since joining the Dodgers, pitched 4⅔ innings with seven strikeouts, allowing a run for the win. That cleared the way for Gavin Stone to pitch the final 3⅓ innings to close out the 6-1 win. Stone has the first Dodgers save of exactly 10 outs since Steve Howe on June 26, 1982. Four different Dodgers pitchers have a save of at least three innings this season — Yarbrough (4, 3), Andre Jackson (3, 3), Emmet Sheehan (4), and Stone (3⅓).

Finding away: The Dodgers are 43-31 (.581) away from home this season, the fourth-best road record in the majors. But until winning all three games in Seattle over the weekend, they hadn’t yet swept an opponent on the road this season in a series of at least three games (hat tip to Ryan Walton for this one). Sunday at T-Mobile park was the fifth chance the Dodgers had at a road sweep this season, and the fourth time since the All-Star break. They came up short on getaway day in Atlanta, New York, Baltimore, and Arlington, before breaking out the brooms against the Mariners on Sunday.

Transactions

Monday: Gavin Stone was called up to make a spot start, and Wander Suero was placed on the IL with lower back tightness.

Tuesday: Kyle Hurt was called up for his major league debut, and Victor González was optioned. Gus Varland was transferred to the 60-day IL, ending his season.

Wednesday: Joe Kelly was activated after a month on the IL, and Hurt was optioned.

Game results

• Monday: Padres 11, Dodgers 8
• Tuesday: Dodgers 11, Padres 2
• Wednesday: Padres 6, Dodgers 1
• Friday: Dodgers 6, Mariners 3
• Saturday: Dodgers 6, Mariners 2 (11 innings)
• Sunday: Dodgers 6, Mariners 1

Previous 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 | Week 23 | Week 24

The week ahead

The Dodgers are back home to run the Gail Harris gauntlet, hosting the Tigers for three games and the Giants for four in the final games at Dodger Stadium until October 7.

Friday (Apple TV+) and Sunday (ESPN) are exclusive national broadcasts, with no SportsNet LA telecast.

The weekend rotation is a guess. Dave Roberts said Sunday that an opener will start before Ryan Pepiot on Tuesday against Detroit. Monday is a pitching battle between the starter the Dodgers did acquire at the trade deadline (Lance Lynn) and the one they nearly did (Eduardo Rodriguez).