LOS ANGELES – The Dodgers had their own rout in a bit of a redemption game after a tough collapse the night before. Lance Lynn ate some quality innings and the offense continued to pour it on, which is something they could not do on Monday night.

Speaking of Lynn, he looked more like the pitcher we saw in his first few starts with the Dodgers. He went seven innings, giving up only five hits, and allowing two runs. He absolutely needed a start like this considering his struggles, and hopefully it can get him back on track, because the Dodgers will certainly need as much depth and length as possible down the stretch. 

After Lynn came Kyle Hurt, who was just called up earlier in the day. Hurt is a 25 year old right hander who generates a ton of whiffs and led the entire minor leagues in K/9. In this one, he looked absolutely dominant. He went six up and six down through the heart of the Padres order, striking out the side in the ninth to close out the game. He is going to be a problem for opposing hitters as we wind down the season. 

The offense was clicking on all cylinders once again, but this time the pitching allowed them to cruise. Freddie Freeman was the star and on his birthday Tuesday night he went 4-5 with a home run, four runs scored, and two RBI. 

It wasn’t just Freddie in this game either. Will Smith had two hits and three RBI with a home run, Kiké Hernandez had two hits with two runs scored, and J.D. Martinez had two RBI as well. This offense mashed the baseball in one of their highest scoring games in a little over a month. 

The Dodgers are now 88-56, 13 ½  games up in the National League West, and their magic number is down to 5.

Here are my three takeaways:

Freddie Does It All On His Night 

You may look around and see people “doing the Freddie,” and you may hear chants of his name as well. In this one, it was Freddie Freeman jersey giveaway night and his 34th birthday as well. He homered for the fourth time on his birthday in his career which is only one shy of the all-time record, and he was a triple short of the cycle. Cameras even caught him smiling at the scoreboard when the stadium played his song as well. It is easy to see why Freeman is a fan favorite and he just seems to keep getting better as the years go on. 

Lance Lynn Delivers  

I have been very harsh about the starting pitching for the Dodgers not just as of late, but the whole year. It has been a rough go in the recent weeks, but Lance Lynn delivered against a Padres team that took advantage of Gavin Stone the night before. All Lynn has to do is limit the homers he gives up and outside of that, he usually looks pretty good. Not to mention, he went seven innings to give some relief to the bullpen and threw over 100 pitches to get through it. I hope this is the spark of some momentum going into October.

Dodgers Closing In On NL West Title 

The Dodgers have been the class of the National League West going all the way back to about 2015. Other than 2021 where the Giants won the division, it has been all blue that has reigned at the top. With the magic number down to five right now, this team can close out that title with a great end to the week. But, when that is all wrapped up, I still want to see some urgency and fight regardless of the games meaning nothing. Momentum is what matters in the playoffs as we have seen just last year with the Padres and Phillies. I trust that the veterans in this group will understand that and still show up in the coming weeks. 

The Dodgers will send Ryan Pepiot to the mound to face Cy Young candidate Blake Snell for the Padres. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. PT.