Trea Turner and Freddie Freeman combined for seven RBI to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to an 8-4 win over the San Diego Padres.
After Turner’s fly ball to the right-center field gap dropped between José Azocar and Juan Soto for a two-out triple in the third inning, Freeman broke the scoreless tie with an RBI single.
Turner then helped the Dodgers take another lead when he cleared the bases with a three-run double in the fourth inning. Although it was Turner who delivered the big hit off Blake Snell, the rally started when Trayce Thompson battled back from an 0-2 count to work a walk.
It was followed by an Austin Barnes double and Mookie Betts walk to set the table for Turner. He finished the night 2-for-4 with one walk.
Freeman kept the Dodgers’ momentum going after Turner’s second extra-base hit of the night with an RBI double of his own. That gave Freeman a career-high 45 doubles and chased Snell. Freeman then hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning to break the game open, and Chris Taylor added an RBI double.
The Dodgers did have their streak of consecutive multi-home run games snapped at six. It fell just shy of tying the franchise record that is shared by the 2001 and 2018 teams.
After being removed at 78 pitches over six innings in a start against the Padres last week because of the road ahead in mind, Julio Urías got through seven frames on Saturday. He largely dominated the Padres’ lineup, with the exception of Manny Machado hitting two solo home runs off the lefty.
Machado also homered off Urías during his Sept. 3 start at Dodger Stadium, which was another blowout win for the Dodgers.
Heath Hembree allowed two runs in the ninth inning before finishing out the game.
When can Dodgers clinch the NL West?
The Dodgers’ magic number to clinch the National League West is down to four, but the earliest they could potentially wrap up the division remains Tuesday.
However, they are now on the verge of securing a 2022 MLB postseason berth.
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