The Los Angeles Dodgers blew out the Colorado Rockies, 11-4, in the opener of their final series of the year as they prepare for the playoffs.
The Dodgers don’t have much to play for outside of seeding for the postseason, but they are already locked into a top-two seed and a trip to the National League Division Series. With the win, they lowered their magic number to one over the Philadelphia Phillies.
A Dodgers win over the next two days or a Phillies loss would guarantee the Dodgers home field advantage through the World Series.
During the game against the Rockies, the Dodgers jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, showing no signs of a hangover after their celebration on Thursday night.
Teoscar Hernández blasted a two-run homer in the first inning after a single from Gavin Lux. That was Hernandez’s 32nd home run of the season, tying his career high.
In the second, Chris Taylor singled home Kiké Hernández, Shohei Ohtani singled home Andy Pages and Taylor scored on a throwing error when Ohtani stole second base. That ended up giving the Dodgers a 5-1 lead.
Pages blasted a no-doubt solo home run in the fourth inning that made it a 6-1 game. In the sixth, Taylor hit a leadoff double and Austin Barnes singled to put two on for Ohtani, who blasted his 54th home run of the season.
That gave the Dodgers a 9-2 lead, but they weren’t done scoring as Tommy Edman hit a sac fly after Kevin Kiermaier doubled and moved to third on a wild pitch.
Ohtani also doubled in the eighth inning before scoring on a single from Kiermaier.
Ryan Brasier was on the mound to start the bullpen game for the Dodgers, allowing a walk and RBI-triple to start his outing. But he came back to record a ground out and pair of strikeouts to end the inning.
Ben Casparius took over to pitch the bulk of the game, allowing runs in the fifth and sixth but turning in a strong effort overall. The rookie right-hander went 4.1 innings, allowing one earned run on six hits while striking out seven and walking two.
Although Casparius seems unlikely to make the playoff roster, he has proved to the Dodgers he is worth keeping around on the taxi squad, at minimum.
Edgardo Henriquez allowed a run as well on a ball that kicked off Gavin Lux’s glove.
Shohei Ohtani sets Dodgers & MLB record
Ohtani’s stolen base was his 57th of the season, which gave him the record for most stolen bases in a season by a Japanese-born player. He passed Ichiro Suzuki, who held the previous record with 56.
In addition, Ohtani scored his 132nd run of the season, which set the Dodgers franchise record for most in a single season. Freddie Freeman held the previous mark of 131, which he set during the 2023 season.
His 4-for-5 day also moved his batting average to .309, putting him in position to go for the NL triple crown.
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