The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-1, to take the rubber match of their weekend series at Dodger Stadium and tie the franchise record of 106 wins.
The Dodgers previously had 106 wins in the 2019 and 2021 seasons. “It’s certainly important,” said manager Dave Roberts prior to first pitch on Sunday.
“I don’t think it’s something we were chasing but we’re certainly in position to accomplish that, which would be great. But obviously we’ve got a lot bigger things in mind. To look back on the season and say we accomplished this, when and if we do, absolutely something to be proud of.”
The Dodgers collected their 106th win behind offensive contributions from Freddie Freeman, Joey Gallo, Will Smith and Cody Bellinger.
After missing the past two games due to being under the weather, Freeman roped an RBI double to the gap in right-center field in his first at-bat of the day. Freeman finished 1-for-3 with the RBI and a walk.
Gallo added onto the Dodgers’ lead in the first inning by drawing a bases-loaded walk against Adam Wainwright. The veteran Cardinals started completed just three innings.
Wainwright gave up an RBI double to Smith in the second inning, and Bellinger hit a run-scoring double in the third.
Meanwhile, Dodgers prospect Michael Grove matched a career high by logging five innings. He’s reached that total in three consecutive starts and allowed three runs or fewer in each of the outings.
Grove held the Cardinals to just one run on a Yadier Molina base hit in the second inning. He ended the Cardinals’ two-out rally by striking out Tommy Edman.
Grove had previously been aided by Gallo making a catch in front of the wall in left field for the first out of the game.
Brusdar Graterol was first to appear out of the bullpen, and he was followed by Andre Jackson completing a three-inning save.
Dodgers clinch best record in National League for playoffs
With their win, the Dodgers clinched the No. 1 seed in the National League over the New York Mets. Thus, they are guaranteed home-field advantage through the NL Championship Series. The Dodgers’ magic number for homefield in the World Series is four.
They wrapped up the top record in the NL on the anniversary of Charlie Culberson hitting a walk-off home run to clinch the NL West in Vin Scully’s final game at Dodger Stadium.
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