in Seattle Mookie Betts gave Dave Roberts the go-ahead to leave the ballpark on Saturday night. On Sunday morning, he coerced Freddie Freeman into signing an agreement.
Then, Roberts saw his team defeat the Seattle Mariners 6-1 at T-Mobile Park, riding strong performances from Jason Heyward and the pitching staff to a weekend sweep without them.
It couldn’t have gone much better, according to Roberts. Of course, such a fantastic series.
Roberts started organizing the two days off for when the Dodgers’ magic number was reached in recent weeks.
It wasn’t difficult to persuade Betts to take a break.
“Mookie just texted me right now,” Roberts recalled during the team’s Saturday night celebration in the clubhouse, “and said he wouldn’t be upset if he didn’t play tomorrow.”
Freeman, who makes playing all 162 regular-season games a yearly objective, was more difficult to convince, leading Roberts to have some “slow-dripping, preemptive conversations” with his first baseman over the past few weeks over a post-clinch off day.
In reference to the lone game Freeman missed last year in a similar circumstance, Roberts noted, “He set the precedent [last year] as far as once we clinch, he’ll take the day off.” I had to bring up the conversation again.It turns out that neither superstar was necessary for the Dodgers (91-57) to win their third straight game, nor did they require any of their other regular starts, such as catcher Will Smith, third baseman Max Muncy, or shortstop Miguel Rojas.
Instead, Heyward extended his stellar weekend against the Mariners (81-68) by going 3 for 5 with a solo home run in the first inning, an RBI single in the fourth, and a ground-rule double in the seventh. Currently at.865, his on-base plus slugging percentage is on pace to reach the highest level of his 14-year career.
And, appropriately, he struck out on Sunday while playing at Freeman’s usual No. 2 position in the batting order.
Heyward laughed as he observed Freeman become restless in the dugout. “He let me borrow it for a second,” he said. “But watching a baseball game today probably felt like three weeks to him.”While fill-in shortstop Amed Rosario had three hits and rookie center fielder James Outman added a late single shot, backup catcher Austin Barnes hit a two-run home run.
In order to complete the sweep, the Dodgers pieced together a solid pitching strategy, deploying Ryan Yarbrough and Gavin Stone in heavy relief behind starter Shelby Miller. Yarbrough earned the victory with a one-run, 423 inning appearance, while Stone earned the save with a scoreless 313 inning outing to end the game.
Barnes remarked, “We just have to keep playing baseball.” “Turning it on and off is difficult while your foot is off the pedal. The major issue is hence that. Carry on. Keep up the wonderful work in baseball.