The Los Angeles Dodgers came away with a 4-3 win in 10 innings on a rain-filled evening at Oracle Park to complete a series sweep on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. The night included a 21-minute rain delay as heavy rain swept across the area.
Play was paused in the top of the fourth inning with the Dodgers holding a 1-0 lead thanks to Justin Turner’s RBI double that scored Freddie Freeman from first base minutes before the delay. Turner extended his career high in doubles to 36.
With the game tied, Trea Turner benefitted a bit from the elements as his hard-hit ball into center field dropped for a leadoff double partly due to Lewis Brinson slipping and not locating the line drive. Freeman immediately took advantage by driving Turner in on an RBI single that proved to be the difference for the Dodgers.
Freeman went 1-for-3 with two walks and remains the MLB leader with 186 hits this season.
Despite only pitching four shutout innings, Andrew Heaney ended his streak of allowing at least one home run at five consecutive starts. He finished with eight strikeouts to mark a sixth consecutive start with a minimum of six.
Caleb Ferguson was first to appear after Heaney and allowed a run — though it was unearned due to Trea Turner’s throwing error on what should have been a groundout to end the fifth inning.
Phil Bickford completed a ninth consecutive scoreless appearance, and Evan Phillips struck out three to strand a base hit in the seventh. Alex Vesia worked his way into trouble by starting the eighth inning with back-to-back walks and couldn’t quite escape the jam.
Vesia was initially aided by Cody Bellinger making a leaping catch at the wall in deep center field for the second out, but J.D. Davis followed that with a game-tying ground-rule double. Vesia remained in the game to face a run of right-handed batters as Dodgers manager Dave Roberts seemingly viewed it as an evaluation for the postseason.
Mookie Betts’ RBI double provided L.A. with a lead in the 10th inning, and Max Muncy’s walk with the bases loaded brought in the run that proved to be the difference.
Andre Jackson allowed a run and fell short of converting a second career save as he exited with two outs and the bases loaded. Justin Bruihl entered and retired LaMonte Wade Jr. to help the Dodgers improve to 5-8 in extra innings.
The Dodgers’ 15 wins against the Giants are the most in a single season, and overall so too are their 52 road victories in one year.
Dodgers magic numbers
A Dodgers win on Monday night or the St. Louis Cardinals losing will clinch their postseason berth beginning in the National League Division Series. The division winners with the two best records in both leagues secure a first-round bye, while the third is left to play a Wild Card Series.
The Dodgers’ magic number for the No. 1 seed in the NL is now seven, and it sits at 11 for home-field advantage through the World Series.
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