The Los Angeles Dodgers started their quest for a third straight World Series championship with a 3-0 record after sweeping the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium.
But in each of those games, the Dodgers trailed 2-0 thanks in part to an inconsistent offense early on in each game. Still, they managed to come back all three times, and Freddie Freeman believes that’s in part to their ability to control the strike zone and keep a steady approach throughout the game.
“Obviously, we would love to get more hits than we had the last couple days, but I think with our lineup, no one’s going to worry about that,” Freeman said. “It’s going to happen. Baseball’s hard. We’re going to go through our stretches where we don’t get the hits.
“But that’s the key. We got really good people on the rubber there too that keep us in the game just long enough where we can come out and score some runs late in the game. We got a deep and talented lineup. You can see coming off the bench today, you have Max Muncy, you got Freeland. And then obviously, the guys that started. Santiago was an All-Star a couple years ago. You have Miguel, who is doing it all right now.
“So we just got a really good team right now, and a good approach. Guys know their strike zones, what they’re trying to do at each and every at-bat, and it’s working so far.”
To complete their comebacks, the Dodgers have relied on the home run in each game so far.
On Opening Day, it was Andy Pages who put them ahead with a three-run blast. Mookie Betts slugged a three-run go-ahead homer the day of their ring ceremony. In the final game of the series, Will Smith blasted a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning.
But the Dodgers have also been able to do the small things well, such as working walks and moving hitters into scoring position.
Before Smith homered, it was Betts who took a walk. When Bets hit his homer the day before, it was after Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Tucker walked.
And when Tucker drove in the game-winning run with a single on Friday, it was after Ohtani moved Alex Freeland over from second to third base.
“Shohei rolling over, getting a guy over. That’s the key,” Freeman said. “That’s why we’re 3-0. Those are the things that aren’t going to go in the box score that people aren’t going to talk about.
“But that’s how you win baseball games throughout the course of the season. That’s team baseball. And you’ve seen that the last couple days.”
Still, even with the small things being done, it still takes another player to come through and capitalize on the moment. It was Smith on Saturday, Betts on Friday and Pages on Thursday.
“I think our whole lineup is a first choice,” Freeman said when asked about who he would want to see in clutch spots the most. “I’ve been talking, everyone on our team, I feel like could hit third in a lineup. It’s just All-Stars up and down.
‘I think everybody wants that at-bat, and I think that’s the key to our lineup. We all want to be in that situation. We all want to be the guy up there. And if you don’t get it done, you know the next guy’s going to get it done.”
Freddie Freeman happy to see offensive results
After hitting the ball hard in each of the first two games with nothing to show for it, Freeman finally got some hits to start falling in during the third game.
Freeman said he’s felt good at the plate and knew it was only a matter of time until the results followed.
“I mean, there’s different outs throughout the course of the year,” Freeman said. “And obviously, there was reason for optimism over the last couple of games. I have been feeling good pretty much all Spring Training, even the last of couple games, even though I have the results to show for it.”
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