The Los Angeles Dodgers faced one of their toughest tests of the season coming out of the All-Star break as they went on a nine-game road trip that included series against two of the best teams in Major League Baseball.
The Dodgers began their road trip against the talented but underperforming New York Mets, taking the first two games before losing in extra innings during the series finale. They then traveled to face the Baltimore Orioles and Texas Rangers, taking two of three in each series, including three blowout wins overall.
In total, the Dodgers went 6-3 while going from tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks atop the National League West standings to being four games up following their trip, which had manager Dave Roberts happy with how his club played, via SportsNet LA:
“It was a great road trip. Obviously, you want to finish it off with a win and see Emmet as a young ballplayer trying to gain some confidence, but he’s a tough kid. This road trip was a fantastic road trip. Really proud of the way we played.”
The road trip also saw Max Muncy get back on track offensively, which may be one of the most important developments for the Dodgers moving forward. Muncy capped his week off with a grand slam while hitting .224/.357/.569 with six home runs in his past 15 games.
Muncy has utilized a new approach at the plate to help him get back on track and it has been a relief for him. He too was pleased with the overall results for the Dodgers on their road trip:
“It was a good road trip for us. Today was obviously a little bit of a dud, but I thought the team played really well coming out of the break. It was a good way to start the second half, and we’ve just got to keep building on it.”
The Dodgers now return home for matchups with the Toronto Blue Jays, Cincinnati Reds and Oakland Athletics. But much of the focus for the front office will be on the August 1 MLB trade deadline, which should bring in some reinforcements to the roster.
Current FanGraphs projections have the Dodgers with 80.1% odds to win the NL West and 97.5% odds to make the playoffs.
Dodgers debut new dance celebration
Unveiled during Friday’s 11-5 win against the Texas Rangers, Dodgers players stretched their arms up and quickly shifted back and forth with their new dance celebration. Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and Yonny Hernández were among the most enthusiastic with the Dodgers’ new celebration.
Muncy and Will Smith appeared a bit more reluctant to participate, but still did so with sheepish smiles.
Following the win, Freeman revealed the dancing stemmed from a viral clip of him during the Usher concert at the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation Blue Diamond Gala.
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