Freddie Freeman went 1-for-3 with a walk in his return to the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup after missing the past two games due to illness. The Dodgers tied the franchise wins record by taking the series rubber match against the St. Louis Cardinals, and it also clinched the top seed in the National League playoffs.
Prior to Sunday, the Dodgers had already guaranteed themselves of beginning the 2022 MLB postseason with Game 1 of the NL Division Series at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday, October 11. Now they also have home-field advantage through the NL Championship Series as well.
The Dodgers again lead baseball in attendance and Dodger Stadium has often been mentioned by visiting players as being particularly imposing come the playoffs. Freeman has spent the majority of his career experiencing that, and Juan Uribe’s home run in Game 4 of the 2013 NLDS specifically made an impression.
“It’s the only stadium with four decks and 50,000-plus people, and they are loud,” Freeman said.
“The loudest stadium I’ve ever heard was this place in 2013 when Juan Uribe hit that home run. This place can get deafening, so to have home-field advantage all the way through the NLCS is a big deal.”
The Dodgers are an MLB-best 54-21 at home this season. They close the year with a six-game homestand against the Colorado Rockies and need to go undefeated during that stretch to set a franchise record for most wins at Dodger Stadium.
That mark belongs to the 2019 Dodgers that went 59-22 at home.
Dodger Stadium attendance
Earlier this month the Dodgers surpassed 3 million in Dodger Stadium attendance for the ninth time in the past 11 seasons. The only years they fell short of that benchmark during that span came in 2020 (no fans permitted) and 2021 (limited capacity for multiple months).
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