The Los Angeles Dodgers got the best of the Chicago White Sox by a 3-0 margin in their series opener on Monday night.
It took until the seventh inning for L.A. to break through against Chicago’s dismal bullpen, but they secured the shutout victory nonetheless. They had multi-hit games from Miguel Rojas and Freddie Freeman in the process.
Rojas has been solid at the plate this season and already has three multi-hit games since taking over for Mookie Betts at shortstop. But Monday night’s performance added to one of baseball’s most intriguing streaks.
The Dodgers are 23-0 this season in games when Rojas has at least one hit. Not only are they undefeated when Rojas gets a hit, they are dominant, scoring an average of 6.4 runs and allowing an average of 2.5.
There isn’t necessarily an explanation, but Rojas and Dodgers fans don’t need one, according to Tim Stebbins of MLB.com:
“The love from the Dodgers fans and the people who are watching baseball, they think this is pretty cool,” Rojas said. “It’s a pretty cool streak. I’m not gonna deny it. I’m just gonna continue to have fun with it. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if I get a hit or not. The most important part is to win a game.”
While the streak doesn’t appear to have any actual causation, it is a signal for the veteran shortstop to continue to do his job at the plate and get on base:
“Whatever this is, I’m just trying to get my job done, which is getting on base, trying to get hits,” Rojas said. “It’s been great, and I’m just gonna enjoy it and ride it out until we’re 40-0.”
The Dodgers certainly won’t complain about this streak, especially now that Rojas is their temporary every-day shortstop. Rojas has gotten a hit in four out of the seven games since taking over for Betts — who is dealing with a fractured hand — and L.A. is 5-2 in that span, 1-2 when Rojas doesn’t record a hit.
Kiké Hernández praises Miguel Rojas
Dodgers utilityman Kiké Hernández had plenty of positive to say about Rojas, praising him for his professionalism and the way he has impacted the Dodgers both with his defense and bat this season.
And while he couldn’t explain the streak either, he said that the numbers don’t lie when it comes to Rojas’ success.
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