The Los Angeles Dodgers closed out the homestand with a series sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks that has them on a five-game winning streak leading into their longest road trip of the season.
It was only a handful of days ago that L.A. was one out away from being swept by the Philadelphia Phillies in a four-game set. Instead, Gavin Lux delivered a walk-off win that the Dodgers rode into four consecutive victories against the Diamondbacks.
Sweeping the series was all the more impressive when taking into account the doubleheader at Dodger Stadium followed by a day game.
“We put ourselves in a little hole at the start of this homestand. So we found a way to salvage a homestand, and credit to everybody,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
“There was no panic and came back and won a game against a good Phillies team playing good baseball and a team that just beat us in a series. And to win four games and to play four games in X amount of hours, man, it’s tough.
“But no one complained, wavered, and collectively, we got it done. Really fun to watch.”
The Dodgers have come from behind in each game of their winning streak, and Wednesday was their first time scoring first in nine games.
While the lineup collectively fared better against the Diamondbacks compared to the Phillies series, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Trea Turner were particularly effective.
Betts is on a seven-game hitting streak, Freeman has reached safely 18 in a row, and Turner has an 11-game hitting streak. Justin Turner, who’s made recent strides toward ironing out his swing mechanics, hit a home run in back-to-back days.
Dodgers maneuvering pitching
On top of playing a stretch of 31 games in 30 days, the Dodgers have dealt with mounting injuries to their pitching staff.
Victor González underwent elbow surgery that will keep him out until the second half, Blake Treinen isn’t expected to return until after the All-Star break, and Clayton Kershaw and Tommy Kahnle were both placed on the 15-day injured list in the past week.
The Dodgers nevertheless have persevered, even if it required rotating pitchers on and off the roster.
“We have a lot of good players and I think, ideally, you have five healthy starters that go deep in games. But it just doesn’t work out that way,” Roberts said. “So we’ve been there before.
“We’re going to find a way. The bullpen at this point has been invaluable to our ballclub. And even some guys that are not on our roster right now that we’ve had to kind of shuffle in and out. So I still think we have done and will always do a good job preventing runs.”
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