Steve Webb
WASHINGTON, DC — I think I never realized just how good Freddie Freeman was when he was playing in Atlanta. Didn’t watch a whole lot of Braves’ games because they were in the NL East and, quite frankly, his number don’t pop out at you like sluggers who post big home run and RBI totals. However, watching him these last two seasons has shown me what a complete player this dude is. He is relentlessly excellent. And now, after a hustle double during Friday night’s 8-5 win over the Washington Nationals, he is in the Dodger record books.
By legging out a double on a ball hit up the middle in the top of the fifth inning, Freeman notched his 53rd double of the year, putting him in first place on the Dodgers’ franchise leader board, passing Johnny Frederick, who set the record in Brooklyn in 1929. There’s been a lot of Dodgers baseball between then and now, and for Freeman to break a nearly century-old record tells you something about just how excellent he has been this year.
“This franchise has been around for a very long time,” Freeman said. “A lot of winning seasons. A lot of great players have come through here. So just to be able to be mentioned with some of these guys I’m climbing the leaderboard on, it’s pretty cool. It’s been a wonderful two years so far, so hopefully, I can just keep re-breaking for the next couple weeks.”
Freeman went 3-for-4 in the game, raising his batting average to .336, but he was far from the only offensive star in this one. In the early part of the game, the Dodgers and Nats were trading haymakers. J.D. Martinez gave the Dodgers and early lead with a two-run homer in his first at-bat after a couple of weeks on the IL. Then, former Dodger Keibert Ruiz homered to put the Nats up 3-2. In the fourth inning, Max Muncy and Kiké Hernandez both went yard with solo shots to put the Dodgers back on top. But Nats shortstop C.J. Abrams countered in the fifth with a two-run shot of his own to give Washington a 5-4 lead.
That set up the pivotal sixth inning. The Dodgers put up a four-spot, and this time there wasn’t a home run in sight. Kiké led off with an opposite field single. James Outman walked to put a couple on the bags. Miguel Rojas went old school and bunted the runners to second and third. Then came the key hit of the game. Chris Taylor, batting first in place of the injured Mookie Betts, ripped a double into the right centerfield gap that scored two and put the Dodgers in the lead for good. A J.D. Martinez sac fly and a Max Muncy single tacked on a couple more, so the inning ended with the Dodgers up 8-5.
And then the rains came. The game was halted in the top of the seventh right after Miguel Rojas slipped on a swing and ended up grounding into a double play. It was an hour and thirty four minutes later that the game finally started up again, but both teams seemed pretty eager to get the game over with at that point. Other than a walk from Kolten Wong, there were no more baserunners for either team for the rest of the game, so 8-5 is where it ended.
Pitching-wise, Emmet Sheehan got the start in this one, and he pitched just okay. The two homers will really hurt his line for the night (4.1 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K), but he pitched better than those numbers indicate. Not nearly the start he had against the Braves, but acceptable. He too will be in the running for a start as Dave Roberts tries to figure out his postseason rotation. If Lance Lynn continues to struggle, Sheehan might sneak into the four-hole as a starter.
“I thought [Emmet] was just OK,” Roberts said of his rookie’s performance. “I thought there were some good throws in there, but [he] just didn’t look as crisp as he has been. But that’s going to happen. So with the fresh ‘pen, it just made sense to use those levers, and we got some big hits when we needed them.”
The series in Washington finishes with a couple more early games. Bobby Miller gets the ball on Saturday for a 1:10 PDT start, and there will probably be some kind of bullpen game on Sunday morning to finish out the road trip. Right now, it looks like the Dodgers are going to be in a position to clinch the division sometime next week, depending on whether or not the D-backs keep winning. The Dodgers have a brief homestand coming up against the Padres, and then a trip to Seattle to see the Mariners before they come home for the final homestand of the year against the Tigers and the Giants. Only ten more home games left on the regular season schedule.
It’s crunch time, folks.
