Welcome to the California Post’s weekly Dodgers recap, where we review the week that was, hand out very official awards and take stock of the state of the season.
asserted
that → welcome → season
Off the bat, it appeared history was afoot.
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history → appear → bat
Already on Thursday afternoon, Kyle Tucker had kicked his slow late-season turnaround into a suddenly more hopeful gear, hitting a two-run home run in the first, an RBI double in the second and a single that aided a three-run rally in the fourth.
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that → kick → fourth
Now, standing at the plate just a triple shy of the cycle in the eighth, he laced a line drive that made the feat feel possible.
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feat → stand → drive
With yet another squared-up swing, the $240 million slugger shot a ball into the left-center field gap.
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slugger → square → gap
As two Reds outfielders converged on it, the entire Dodgers dugout rose in anticipation.
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dugout → converge → anticipation
Alas, the 11th cycle in Dodgers history would have to wait.
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cycle → have → history
The Reds turned a clean relay play.
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Reds → turn → play
Tucker wisely — although, somewhat disappointingly, given the lopsided score — pulled up at second.
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Tucker → give → second
And on the bench, all his teammates could do was razz him by mimicking send signs with their arms helplessly waving.
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arms → do → signs
“I tried my best, but I don’t think I was gonna get there,” he told SportsNet LA afterward.
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he → try → LA
“I probably would’ve been thrown out halfway.”
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I → throw → ?
For this year’s Dodgers, Tucker’s 4-for-5, three-RBI game was still hugely encouraging, continuing what is now a weeklong surge in which the four-time All-Star has finally looked like himself.
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Star → continue → himself
Even before this stretch, the Dodgers committed to keeping Tucker as a key part of their lineup.
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Dodgers → commit → lineup
They hoped a breakthrough he made with his mechanics could salvage something from an otherwise disastrous debut campaign with the team.
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he → hop → team
Well, in his last eight games, Tucker has batted .414 with seven extra-base knocks, 10 RBIs and more walks (five) than strikeouts (four).
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Tucker → bat → strikeouts
He has hit five home runs in his last 13 games, after collecting just 11 in his first 132 games this year.
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He → hit → games
It is the version of Tucker that the Dodgers will need in the playoffs, especially with fellow left-handed bats like Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman battling ongoing injuries.
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bats → need → injuries
After a season that once seemed so lost, signs of revival have arrived just in time.
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signs → seem → time
PITCHERS OF THE WEEK
Tarik Skubal and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (seven scoreless innings from each)
We are going with a tandem honor this week, from a pair of pitchers who will likely have the biggest influence on the Dodgers’ World Series chances.
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who → go → chances
With Blake Snell battling a groin injury, and Tyler Glasnow entering a Friday start having recently regressed in his return from the injured list, the Dodgers’ rotation doesn’t feel quite as formidable as it once did.
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it → battle → list
Then again, if Skubal and Yamamoto keep pitching like they did this week — when they spun consecutive scoreless seven-inning outings in Cincinnati — those other question marks might not feel so daunting.
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marks → keep → Cincinnati
Both pitchers have sterling postseason track records: Yamamoto with a 7-1 record and 2.25 ERA in 10 playoff outings (including last year’s World Series heroics) and Skubal with a 2-1 record and 2.04 ERA in six October appearances of his own (all with the Tigers the last two years).
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pitchers → have → Tigers
Either could anchor a pitching staff on their own capable of making a run to the Fall Classic.
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Either → anchor → Classic
Together, they give the Dodgers arguably the best 1-2 punch in the majors.
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they → give → majors
This week, they delivered the club’s first pair of back-to-back scoreless seven-inning outings since 2022 when Tyler Anderson and Clayton Kershaw did it.
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Anderson → deliver → it
Granted, dominating the Reds in mid-September is not the same as producing gems in the playoffs.
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dominating → grant → playoffs
But with so many other concerns mounting at the moment, Skubal and Yamamoto at least represent a pillar of potential pitching excellence to lean on, one that could compensate for other shortcomings in the Dodgers’ three-peat bid.
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that → mount → bid
The Dodgers’ big-league club hasn’t been the only one popping bottles in beer-soaked clubhouse celebrations recently.
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club → pop → celebrations
This year, all four of the organization’s minor-league affiliates also clinched places in their respective playoffs, with Triple-A Oklahoma City completing the quad-fecta by winning the second-half title in the Pacific Coast League on Wednesday.
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City → clinch → Wednesday
It marks the first time the Dodgers have had four affiliates make the playoffs since 2019 (and that year included their now-defunct rookie-ball outpost in Ogden, Utah).
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year → mark → Ogden
It’s also the latest reminder about the strength of depth they boast in their highly touted farm system.
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they → ’ → system
“I know people don’t care about minor-league win percentages, but we kind of do,” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes told the California Post earlier this season.
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Gomes → know → Post
“I think it’s a good proxy of how well your farm system is performing and how to understand what it takes to win.
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it → think → what
Three of the club’s affiliates have already been eliminated, with Double-A Tulsa, High-A Great Lakes and Single-A Ontario all losing in their division championship series.
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Tulsa → eliminate → series
OKC, meanwhile, will begin its postseason push next week in the best-of-three PCL Championship Series against the Athletics’ Las Vegas affiliate.
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OKC → begin → affiliate
If they win that, they will remain in Vegas for the Triple-A National Championship Game against the winner of the International League.
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they → win → League
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Who should Dodgers hope to see in the first round of the playoffs?
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Dodgers → hope → playoffs
With the NL West crown secured, the Dodgers still have work to do over the season’s final nine games.
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Dodgers → secure → games
Given their injury problems, they’ve never needed a first-round bye so badly.
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they → give → bye
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
