San Diego – The Dodgers finally won many small shots as an offense on Sunday against the Padres of San Diego.
And in a pivotal victory and ousting 8-2 at Petco Park – which once again equaled the two teams for first place in the classification of the West National League – this allowed their alignment of falling to offer direct elimination.
For the first time this weekend, the dodgers looked like the plate.
They struck four circuits, no bigger than a three -round shot which due to the shooting receiver Dalton rushing into the seventh who finally decided on the match.
They gathered nine safe and four goals on balls, crunching a padres pitch staff who had stifled them during the first two games of the final renewal of the season of this rivalry.
More importantly, however, they did all the little things that too often disappeared during their recent two -month funk; The one in which they ranked 24th in the majors by scoring since the beginning of July, and left what was once an advance of nine games in the division turn into a dog fight in the section.
They extended to the stick. Fought with two strikes. And, finally, won the kind of land that their star list could swing.
“For us to come here and that we execute as an offensive, much better than both the last two days, it’s a big boost for us,” said first goal player Freddie Freeman, who had two circuits to help dodgers save the final of the series.
“When you develop the area, the percentage of slugging will decrease, because the launchers will continue to develop,” added manager Dave Roberts. “But when you win good counts and get good locations, control the area, then Slug arrives. You can’t always chase it. Which, today I thought we’ve done a very good job.”
Before the first throw, Roberts spoke for a long time of the recent offensive struggles of the team – following his criticism on Saturday evening of the approach more and more or nothing of the club.
“We haven’t really been synchronized,” said Roberts. “It has been a lot disjointed with regard to the offense.”
Freddie Freeman, on the right, is congratulated by the coach of the third base, Dino Ebel, after hitting a home run in sixth round on Sunday.
(Derrick Tuskan / Associated Press)
When asked if it meant that his team needed to adopt more than a small ball mentality, however, Roberts rejected.
“I think it’s a good question,” he said. “But I couldn’t disagree.”
After all, his team is still filled with stars, MVP and future renowned. Basically, they are built for baton opponents – not slaps and sacrifice bullets.
“Slugging are still part of it,” he said. “I certainly don’t want guys to strike as I did.”
Around the margins, however, there were ways that Roberts felt that Dodgers (74-57) could better position themselves to do so. Like trying to count better, staying alive with two strikes and finding a better balance between patience and aggression.
“I want my cake, and [to] Eat it too, ”he joked, a diabolical smile on his face.
“I would be shocked,” he added, “if we don’t see a different offensive outing from here, from today.”
The change started during the first round, the dodgers putting the Padres starter, Nick Pivetta, under immediate stress.
Shohei Ohtani attracted a five -step walk. Mookie Betts shortened his swing on a 0 and 2 cursor to line a simple in the middle. Freeman has loaded the bases by crushing a free switch to complete counting.
It was a series of small victories that provided the TOoscar Hernández cleaning shot the ideal chance of stopping.
Hernández tried to make a quick ball above the plate in an account of 3 and 1 and to launch a deep fly ball which seemed intended to be a big slam. The journey, however, hung up just enough for Ramón Laureano to fly to the wall.
The fly of the sacrifice brought the only race of the Dodgers in the Channel – giving them an advance of 1-0 which would soon be erased on the circuit of two points of Elias Díaz during the third of Yoshinobu Yamamoto (the only shopping he gave in the beginning of six rounds).
The dodgers leaving the Yoshinobu Yamamoto launcher delivers against the paadres during the first round on Sunday.
(Sean M. Haffy / Getty Images)
However, this set the tone for a wave of offense that would follow, when a weekend of nonexistent offense finally started to turn.
“Make guys and mark the guys in this first round was huge,” said Freeman Sad. “Even if we could have drawn more, racing it through a good boost so that we are getting out of the last two games.”
In the sixth, Freeman struck his first circuit of the day, crushing another quick ball of the central pivetta cup in the center for a liaison explosion.
Then, against the lift of Padres Jeremiah Estrada in the seventh, the club gathered all the pieces in a five -point rally.
Andy Pages rolled a simple through the left side to lead. Michael Comforto came next, defeated a complete cursor, then took a quick bullet at the top of the area for a walk inducing stress.
Miguel Rojas could not go down a blow after that, finally swinging for a flight in the center.
But, in what was easily his best moment of a recruited season, rushing at the fatal blow seven throws later – reset after a bad first striking call, enclosing his own two -strike cursor to keep the stick, then typing another cursor on the right for his three -stroke Homer.
“When I am in the box and I am put in a hole, it’s almost like,” okay, I’m going to find my way, “said Rushing, who entered the day in the stick. 184 with two circuits.” I sort of played the match with him. He launched each land he had, and I completely got rid of being able to put a good swing on the ball.
“I think that today,” added Roberts, “was a big step in the right direction for him.”
The same thing, of course, was true of the whole offense of the Dodgers – which also obtained a second circuit of Freeman later in the seventh, then another when Ohtani completed his 45th circuit of the season in the ninth.
They started doing the little things correctly. They removed a big swing after another.
“Today was more indicative of what we are going to do, we expect us to have in the future,” said Roberts. “The fight, the version, taking what the launcher gives you-and then if there are slugs there, that’s it. Just the by-product of good at-baskets all day.”
