SAN FRANCISCO –– The game had no impact on the standings.
asserted
game → have → standings
No real significance other than the fact that it fell on the final day of the regular-season schedule.
asserted
it → fall → schedule
Yet, the Dodgers and Giants still needed to find a winner on Sunday.
asserted
Dodgers → need → Sunday
Thus, with Game 162 tied after nine innings, they played on into the 10th.
asserted
they → tie → 10th
Only then, in their final tune-up before the start of the postseason, did the Dodgers properly punctuate their campaign, exploding for four runs in the top of the 10th –– including three on a home run from Andy Pages –– to secure a season finale 5-1 win at Oracle Park.
asserted
Dodgers → punctuate → Park
The victory did come with some meaning for the Dodgers, giving them a 100-win season for the first time in three years.
asserted
victory → come → years
Hundred-win seasons aren’t as rare for the franchise as they used to be, with the Dodgers having recently accomplished it in 2017, 2019 and three-straight years from 2021-2023.
asserted
Dodgers → use → 2021
Still, it was an unexpected feat from this year’s team, which had to close on an 18-5 run in recent weeks to get back to a triple-digit win total.
“It doesn’t change anything as far as kind of our standing going forward in the postseason, but it’s still a nice feather in the cap to win 100 games,” said manager Dave Roberts, who also joined Bobby Cox and Joe McCarthy as the only managers in MLB history with six 100-win seasons.
asserted
who → have → seasons
“There’s a lot of things that we had to go through this year, and we just continue to remain steadfast and play on.
asserted
we → ’ → that
And so, yeah, that’s something to be proud of.”
asserted
that → ’ → ?
The bigger news Sunday was what happened in Philadelphia.
asserted
what → happen → Philadelphia
After flirting with what would have been a stunning late-September collapse this week, the Phillies managed to survive Game 162 and beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3, clinching the National League’s final wild-card spot to set up a wild-card series against the Atlanta Braves this week.
asserted
Phillies → flirt → Braves
Why that matters to the Dodgers:
asserted
that → matter → Dodgers
That series will begin next Saturday at Dodger Stadium, after the second-seeded Dodgers get a bye week.
asserted
Dodgers → begin → week
“Obviously when you start the season, those two teams were probably picked to be one-two in the East,” Roberts said.
asserted
Roberts → start → East
“They’re very familiar with one another, so it’s going to be a good series.
asserted
it → ’re → one
Obviously, the Phillies had to play to the end, but like I said, there’s a lot of familiarity, and all bets are off when you play within the division.
asserted
you → have → division
So we just sit back and … get to watch.”
asserted
we → sit → ?
The Dodgers have recent playoff history against both NL East clubs.
asserted
Dodgers → have → clubs
They knocked the Phillies out of the playoffs in last year’s NLDS on Orion Kerkering’s infamous walk-off throwing error.
asserted
They → knock → error
They played the Braves three times in four years in 2018, 2020 and 2021, winning the first two (including a three-games-to-one comeback in the 2020 NLCS en route to their first championship in more than three decades) before losing in 2021 during the Braves’ own run to a title.
asserted
They → play → title
This time, they won’t exactly be rooting to face one or the other.
asserted
they → root → one
They go into October instead focused on themselves, and trying to build upon a strong finish to what wasn’t always the easiest of seasons.
asserted
what → go → seasons
“I just think as a group we played better baseball again [lately], and that’s what you want going into the postseason,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said.
asserted
Freeman → think → postseason
Guys started to swing the bat better.
asserted
Guys → start → bat
Some of us still need to use these five days to figure it out.
asserted
Some → need → it
But a lot of good things happened over the course of the end of the season.”
asserted
lot → happen → season
The Aporia
