Mike Salas
Game 160, 9/27/2024: Dodgers 11, Rockies 4
DENVER, CO — After an exciting NL West Division win last night against the Padres, the Dodgers traveled to Colorado to take on the Rockies for their last three games of the regular season. The Dodgers were looking to stay in front of the Phillies for the best record in the National League and seal home field advantage through the playoffs.
In the first inning Gavin Lux hit a sharp single to right field, Teoscar Hernandez came up to the plate and blasted his thirty-second home of the season putting the Dodgers on the board first. The Rockies score ending the first inning, Dodgers 2 Rockies 1.
The Dodgers came to the plate in the second inning with Kiké Hernandez at the plate, Hernandez singled on a fly ball to center put a runner on first. After a Pages walk, Chris Taylor hit a ground ball to center field to plate Kiké. Shohei Ohtani, clearly not affected by the champage-fueled celebration and the plane ride to Colorado, kept his hitting streak alive with a single to right, scoring Pages. Ohtani then got his 57th stolen base, setting another record for the most stolen bases by a Japanese-born player, surpassing Ichiro’s 56. Dodgers extend their lead in the inning to 5-1.
In the top of the fourth inning, Andy Pages crushed a ball over the left field wall that traveled 433 feetr and added another run on the board for the Dodgers. Pages has three home runs in his last four starts.
The Dodgers went with a bullpen game in this one, and after Ryan Brasier gave up a run in the first, it was up to rookie Ben Casparius to handle the bulk innings. Which he did very well. The righthander attacked the zone most of his outing and pitched four solid frames before running out of gas in the bottom of the sixth. He gave up an unearned run in the fifth when a Tommy Edman throwing error to first base allowed Jake Cave to scamper home to make it a 6-2 ballgame. After getting one early out and throwing error, Ben Casparius dug in and retired the next two batters to limit the damage.
With runners on the corners in the sixth inning, Ohtani crushed his 54th home run to the centerfield upper decks clearing the bases and putting him one shy of the first ever 55/55 season. Dodgers added four more runs in the top of the sixth going up 10-2.
After Casparius gave up three consecutive hits, Dave Roberts came out of the bullpen to congratulate him on a job well done. Casparius ended his bulk role in the bullpen game with a line of: 85 P / 55 S / 4.1 IP / 6 H / 2 R / 1 ER / 7 K / 0 HR / 2.16 ERA. Job well done, indeed.
Both teams add a run in the eighth inning, but the big standout was Shohei Ohtani,who ripped another double. Ohtani went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and four RBI. In his last 7 games, Shohei has 18 hits, 3 homeruns, 6 stolen bases, .643 AVG, .688 OBP, and 1.107 SLG. More importantly, with the performance, Shohei inches closer to the first triple crown in the National League since Ducky Medwick in 1937. As of now, home runs and RBI are locked up, but he still trails the Padres Luis Arraez for the batting title by a couple of ticks going into the final two games of the season. Can he do it? Don’t bet against him.
The Dodgers moved to a two-game lead over the Philidelphia Phillies for the number one seed in the National League after the Fightin’ Phils lost to the Nationals 9-1 on Friday. And if you do your math, that puts the Dodgers magic number for the one seed at one. One Dodger win or one Phillie loss in the next two games, and the Dodgers will wrap up the NL’s best record. And with the Yankees losing as well, the Dodgers have guaranteed home field advantage in the World Series if they can run the gauntlet and make it there.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto takes the mound for the Dodgers for his final start in the regular season and the offense will face Rockies RHP Antonio Senzatela. You can watch tomorrow’s game on SportsNet LA, start time will be 5:10PM PT and pre-game show 4:00PM PT.
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