LOS ANGELES — It wasn’t much of a contest tonight for the Dodgers, as they had the offense going from the start. I may sound like a broken record but the dominant offensive showing was led by none other than Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, but that’s not to say that they were the only ones to hit Wednesday night.

Two players hit their first Dodger home runs, with Amed Rosario going first and Miguel Rojas finally getting on the board in the home run column. This was Rojas’ first home run since June 26th, 2022 and Rosario’s first in a Dodger uniform. Speaking of Rosario, he hit cleanup for the first time tonight and after the showing that the guys in front of him put on, we may be seeing him there more often.

What else can I say about the Dodger superstars other than they can flat out hit. Mookie Betts hit his longest home run as a Dodger which was measured at 436 feet and Freddie Freeman tallied another three-hit game (his fifth since the All-Star break). Since July 17th, Freddie Freeman is hitting a whopping .481 and looking like a top MVP candidate in the National League along with his former teammate Ronald Acuña. The two Dodger stars absolutely rake…

Tony Gonsolin was on his game tonight in a huge bounce back performance on the mound Wednesday night. He threw five innings, giving up only one run and forcing a ton of weak contact from the A’s. This is the pitcher that we saw last year at his best and I hope this trend continues for Gonsolin. The bullpen came on and also did their thing, with Yency Almonte, Alex Vesia, and Ryan Brasier combining for four scoreless innings to close out the Athletics 10-1.

Here are my three takeaways:

The Offense Has A “Get Right” Series

The Dodgers’ 10 games with at least four home runs are tied for second in the Majors behind only the Atlanta Braves. This lineup is such a threat, scoring seventeen runs in the first two games of this series and it must be a sight for sore eyes to Dodger fans. Of course there is always the fact that they can be better, but for a team that was thrown together on the fly this off-season and essentially on one year deals around the edges, this is ideal. The superstars are now surrounded by even better depth than they had last year, believe it or not, and it is seriously paying off at this point in the season. 

The Acquisitions Have Performed So Far 

Amed Rosario hit an opposite field shot tonight to give him his first Dodger home run, Kiké Hernandez added an RBI single tonight and has played various positions already in his limited time back and Lance Lynn pitched deep and well enough in last night’s game. Not to mention, Joe Kelly got out of a bases loaded jam over the past weekend as well which means every acquisition the Dodgers have made so far has paid off, sans Ryan Yarbrough. If last year is any indication, the Dodgers are likely to turn Yarbrough into a 2023 version of Tyler Anderson, who was one of the Dodgers’ best pitchers in 2022. If he can get to that level, and the other new faces can contribute in positive ways, myself and Dodger fans included may be eating our words about a disappointing deadline.  

This Team Can Be A Tough Out 

While I don’t think that this team is a full blown World Series contender yet, I do believe that they are trending towards that. The Dodgers now have 61 wins and are sixteen games over .500, which is the second best record in the National League behind the Braves. While there is disappointment regarding their underwhelming trade deadline, the players the Dodgers did get have contributed so far. They are still one good arm away from solid contention status, but with the team that was put together and is on the field currently, the Dodgers are outperforming expectations. 

The Dodgers wrap up this series looking for a sweep as Julio Urias takes the mound for the Dodgers against JP Sears for the Athletics. First pitch is set for 7:10 PM PST.