The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched their 10th National League West title in the last 11 seasons with a win over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday and now have two weeks to prepare for the postseason.
The Dodgers’ first post-clinch lineup did not include the likes of Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith, Max Muncy and Miguel Rojas, but the team still managed to complete a sweep of the Mariners at T-Mobile Park.
Jason Heyward, who went 4-for-5 in the Dodgers’ clinching victory, was back in the lineup for the series finale and finished a triple short of the cycle. The veteran outfielder hit in the No. 2 spot, which is usually occupied by Freeman.
Heyward, who won a World Series with the Chicago Cubs in 2016, emphasized that the Dodgers’ goal is being the last team standing this season and maintaining focus, per Doug Miller of MLB.com:
“The finish line, to us, is that we want to be the last team on the field, winning whenever the last game is, and that’s to try to win every day,” Heyward said. “We prepare. We don’t think about what’s going on next or what happened before. We’ve got to go right now. And I think that is just the epitome of our group. So there’s no thoughts of the finish line or ‘keep pushing.’ We just push every day.”
While most of the heavy lifting in the regular season is done, the Dodgers have a magic number of six to officially clinch the No. 2 seed in the NL. That’s due to holding a tiebreaker over the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Dodgers are still technically alive for the top seed in the NL as well, but the Atlanta Braves have a 4.5-game lead with 14 left on the schedule.
J.D. Martinez: Dodgers focused on winning World Series
After wrapping up the division on Saturday, J.D. Martinez also suggested that the Dodgers’ biggest priority is winning the World Series. Like Heyward, Martinez previously won a World Series with the Boston Red Sox in 2018.
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