After such a compelling win to clinch the division on Saturday, the Dodgers were back at it early and took care of business again. Jason Heyward continued his hot streak and Ryan Yarbrough cruised in long relief.
Whenever you have a celebration that involves champagne after a division title, there will be a slight decrease in urgency and quality of play. Not for this Dodger team. Although the Mariners threw one of their best arms in Logan Gilbert, the Dodger offense sans Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman tagged Gilbert for five earned runs over five innings.
Jason Heyward has been scorching hot and with his three hits in this one, his average rose to .283 and his slugging percentage is now up to a career-high .510. With Heyward hitting as well as he is right now, it may be hard to remove him from the lineup regardless of the mainstays being available or not.
It was another bullpen day for the Dodgers, or as I would call it, a “piggyback day.” Shelby Miller was used as the opener, and went through a clean inning in the first after a leadoff double. Then, the Dodgers main long reliever Ryan Yarbrough came in and dominated for 4 ⅔ innings. Over those innings Yarbrough only gave up a single run and struck out seven using his lethal sweeper in many of the at-bats.
Gavin Stone came in after Yarbrough and gave the Dodgers 3 ⅓ scoreless innings to get his first career save and close out the Mariners and get the sweep.
The Dodgers are now 91-57 and have 14 games remaining in the regular season.
Here are my three takeaways:
Jason Heyward Has Been a Revelation
Heyward has five extra-base hits over his last two games and was 8-13 in the series against the Mariners. This has been his comeback tour and his 4.5% home run percentage is the highest of his career. That’s right, not this year, not in the last five years, over his entire career. A ton of credit has to go to the front office for believing in him and for the coaching staff to get his swing and approach back to his prime version.
Austin Barnes Has Turned It Around
Barnes is a .300 hitter since August 1st and launched a line-drive home run in Sunday’s game. When you look at his average overall, it will not wow you, but recently Barnes has looked like the guy Dodger fans loved in the 2017 World Series run at the plate. If he can continue to improve his bat into the postseason, he may find himself in clutch situations in big games again.
Amed Rosario Triple Short of Cycle
Rosario was in a bit of a slump lately but he broke out in a big way. He went 3-4 with a stolen base and looked like the guy Dodger fans saw in the first few weeks of acquiring him. It just goes to show the kind of depth and versatility this team has. If Rosario can continue this momentum much like Heyward and Barnes, the Dodger offense could be stacked in the postseason.
The Dodgers will now head back home as Lance Lynn takes the mound against Eduardo Rodriguez for the Detroit Tigers. First pitch is set for 7:10 PM PST Monday.
