Cody Snavely
Game 138, 9/02/2024: Dodgers 11, Diamondbacks 6
PHOENIX, AZ — The Los Angeles Dodgers look to conclude their four-game series with their National League West division rival, Arizona Diamondbacks, in a wraparound series on Labor Day Monday.
The Dodgers took care of business in the first two games of the series, with the offense bailing out some medical pitching, which has been the theme of this highly anticipated series thus far.
However, left-handed rookie pitcher Justin Wrobleski getting the start yesterday being one of many call-ups due to the rosters being expanded from twenty-six to twenty-eight ate some much-needed innings for a Dodgers bullpen that has had to work overtime.
In yesterday’s brutal loss, the team only had to use two pitchers, Wrobleski, and right-handed pitcher Michael Grove, along with another pitching appearance from Enrique Hernandez.
The Dodgers will now have all their cards ready to play at the table with right-handed pitcher Jack Flaherty leading the charge, facing up against Diamondbacks lefty Eduardo Rodríguez, who is making his first start against the Dodgers since the botched trade from last year’s deadline.
The Dodgers and Diamondbacks are tied at six wins apiece in what will be their final meeting of the 2024 Major League Baseball regular season. The winner of today’s meeting will win not only the season series but also hold the tiebreaker if it comes down to it.
The Dodgers have already lost the season series and the tiebreaker to the San Diego Padres, and with both the D-Backs and Friars fast on their heels, they can consider this game a must-win.
Thankfully, the Dodgers would rebound after yesterday’s defeat, scoring early against lefty starter Rodríguez in the third inning after an RBI single from Mookie Betts scoring Chris Taylor.
In the same inning, Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman would add to the lead, hitting his twentieth homer of the season after missing the entire three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles, Freeman was five-for-thirteen so far with three home runs and seven RBIs.
The Dodgers would do what they do best against starting pitching, wearing down the D-Backs starter, forcing him to throw twenty-seven pitches in the first inning alone. Rodríguez would end his day going four innings on ninety-two pitches.
If there was one weakness in his Diamondbacks team, it would be their bullpen, which entered today with the sixth-highest bullpen ERA in the National League, at 4.05.
The Dodgers would feast off that bullpen, scoring eight runs over the next five innings with their stars coming up big today.
Shohei Ohtani would add to his quest to become the first Major League player with a 50/50 season picking up stolen bases forty-four, forty-five, and forty-six on the same day.
Freddie Freeman would hit two home runs and drive in five runs, and Teoscar Hernández would finish the day five-for-five with just a home run shy of completing the cycle. Finally, Mookie Betts would add to the fun, going three-for-four and driving in three.
The Dodgers would go a complete 180 in the pitching department today after getting blasted for fourteen runs in yesterday’s loss, and it would deadline acquisition of Jack Flaherty leading the charge.
On the mound, the righty would give the Dodgers a much-needed 5.2 innings of work, falling just shy of getting six complete innings of one-run baseball.
Flaherty was only at fifty-four pitches through four innings, but the Diamondbacks offense worked his pitch count in his last two innings, ending what would have been one of the best starts for a Dodgers pitcher this season.
The bullpen, for the most part, was solid until the seventh inning, where two runs would score, and the tying run came up to the plate in Josh Bell after a misplay at first base by Anthony Banda. However, the lefty would get out of the jam, lowering his season ERA to 2.78.
The Dodgers came into Phoneix up four games in the National League West and are currently under .500 against these Diamondbacks but will leave not only six games up but also narrowly, winning the season series with seven wins compared to the Diamondbacks’ six.
It is an important series win for the Dodgers, winning back-to-back series against postseason-contending teams and solidifying their rank as the team to beat in the National League West despite the Diamodnack’s play since the all-star break.
As stated before, it is the final meeting between the two clubs unless they meet in the 2024 postseason, which, as things stand right now, if the Dodgers hold on to the number one seed in the National League, they would play the winner of the Padres and Diamondbacks wild card.
However, the Dodgers won today by a final score of 11-4 and will travel to Anaheim for a two-game series against their Freeway rivals, the Angels.
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