With the exception of 2013 and last season, the Los Angeles Dodgers have faced little resistance during their current six-year reign as National League West champions. Their tests have instead come in the postseason, where they have been pushed by the likes of the New York Mets, Washington Nationals and Chicago Cubs.
The Dodgers broke through to win the NL pennant in 2017 by easily dispatching of the Cubs, but fell short to the Houston Astros in their first trip to the World Series since 2018. The Dodgers returned to the Fall Classic last season, only to be eliminated by the Boston Red Sox.
In both instances, the Dodgers were afforded a World Series rematch the ensuing season. Last year, they dropped the first two games to the Astros before salvaging the series at Dodger Stadium with a win to avoid being swept.
Now, L.A. and Boston have split the first two games at Fenway Park, setting up Sunday’s rubber match. Although facing the Red Sox again might bring about added excitement, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts doesn’t consider the series any sort of barometer, per Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“No,” said Roberts whose team lost four of its first five interleague games this season. “I think it’s fun to debate and to see a team you don’t see very often — and a team we lost to in the World Series. But we know the talent that we have. If there is an opportunity to go through Boston or New York down the road, I don’t think we’re too concerned about that right now as far as a bar, where we’re at, as a marker. We just need to win a baseball game, to be quite honest. I think it’s what, four (losses) in a row?
The Dodgers went into this year’s World Series rematch mired in a three-game losing streak and with an offense that had suddenly regressed. Roberts downplayed any concern heading into the All-Star break and was confident the Dodgers would be prepared to play the Red Sox.
They endured some of the same struggles and saw the game get away from them. The Dodgers responded to slug four home runs en rout to an 11-2 blowout win on Saturday. Justin Turner, who hit one of the home runs and had three extra-base hits, believed the Dodgers simply needed to get a game under their belt before finding their stride again.
L.A. enters the series finale at Fenway Park with a 13.5-game lead in the NL West and the best record in baseball by a half-game at 61-33.
