The Los Angeles Dodgers continued to roll on Friday with a victory over the Atlanta Braves in the first of a three-game series at Dodger Stadium.
With the win, the club pulled into a three-way tie with the Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants for second place in the National League West. Moreover, the Dodgers find themselves one game over .500 for the first time since April 23.
Dating back to May 17, Los Angeles has posted a 16-5 record over their last 21 games. In that span, they have picked up significant ground in the standings and now trail the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks by only 1.5 games in the division.
In the midst of their best stretch of the season, Cody Bellinger believes the Dodgers have regained their mojo, via Kaelen Jones of MLB.com:
“We’re finally playing with confidence again,” Bellinger said. “I think we have been this whole month and the end of last month. And I feel like even when we have injuries, the guys that are coming in are stepping up big time, so it’s been really good these past couple weeks.”
As Bellinger points out, the club has received unexpected contributions from previously unknown players in the wake of injuries to key players. Max Muncy has particularly stepped up, while Walker Buehler and Ross Stripling have thrived with increased workloads as well.
For Bellinger himself, he has seemingly turned a corner at the plate in recent weeks. Since May 30, the 22-year-old is hitting .308 with eight hits in his last 26 at-bats.
Bellinger enters play on Saturday having hit a home run in four consecutive games. His big fly on Friday marked his team-leading 12th of the season.
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