One base short of the cycle
Kyle Tucker needed a triple. That was the only thing missing from his night in Cincinnati, and nobody in the Los Angeles dugout was counting. Tucker went 4-for-5 with a home run and three runs batted in as the Dodgers beat the Reds 8-2 on Thursday and locked up the National League West for the 13th time in 14 seasons.
Los Angeles had already let one clinching chance slide earlier in the series. This time the lead never wobbled. Miguel Rojas homered and singled, Max Muncy collected two hits and two RBIs, and Freddie Freeman added two more hits and a run driven in.
Try it for $0.99.
A call-up wins it
The pitcher who ended up with the decision had been in Triple-A that morning. Landon Knack was recalled from Oklahoma City earlier on Thursday, threw four scoreless innings out of the bullpen and walked away 1-0 on the season.
Cincinnati never found a counter. Sal Stewart homered for the one Reds moment worth replaying. Brady Singer, who fell to 6-15, gave up seven runs on nine hits and lasted three and a third innings. The Reds have now lost six of their seven meetings with Los Angeles this season and eight of their last 10 games overall.
It was the Dodgers’ third win in four, the kind of stretch a team wants when the only item left on the list is seeding.
What the title actually buys them
Thirteen division titles in 14 years turns a pennant race into an administrative formality. It also means Los Angeles has spent almost every September of the past decade and a half managing workload rather than scrambling for a berth, and this one runs the same way.
The games that remain now function as tuning. Home-field advantage in the early rounds is still live, the rotation still needs an order and the bullpen still needs arms that are fresh rather than merely available. Cincinnati leaves the series with a much shorter list of things to play for.
Discover the rest of our MLB news on MathODDS!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply