Dodgers Complete Sweep of Rockies Behind Betts’ Big Night
(Aaron Schneider) It took the Dodgers 10 innings to beat the Rockies, 6–4, on Wednesday night and complete a three-game sweep.
On the 19th local time, the Dodgers completed a three-game sweep, improving their record to 77–51 and moving within 1.5 games of the Milwaukee Brewers (78–49) for the best record in baseball.
LA’s biggest offensive inning came from a Mookie Betts homer in the fourth with nobody on, followed by a two-run shot by Kike Hernandez. The two also teamed up for the Dodgers’ first run in the second, when Betts singled, took third on a single, and came home on Kike’s RBI single. Betts added an RBI single in the 10 th to seal the game after a Freddy Freeman sac fly had scored Andy Pages.
The Rockies had fought to tie the game in the seventh, as a two-run homerun by Mickey Moniak followed a Jake McCarthy walk. It was Moniak’s 20 th homerun of the season, and third hit on the night. The Rockies had managed two runs in the fourth on a TJ Rumfield single, Connor Norby double, and a two-RBI double by Adael Amador, giving him six RBI in five games since coming off injured reserve. Still, the Rockies wasted other opportunities, as Brett Sullivan got himself caught stealing after a walk in the second, leaving Norby on third after he had doubled and advanced on a fielder’s choice.
Dodger starter Roki Sasaki topped 100mph on multiple occasions tonight, holding the Rockies to two runs over 5 innings, with six strikeouts and a walk. It was his 22nd start of the season, and despite a middling 6-5 record, he is only getting stronger, winning two and losing none with a 2.31 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 35 innings over his last six starts.
Rockies starter Kyle Freeland provided three and two-thirds of five strikeout, one walk ball, but perhaps started to show the wear of his workhorse 24 th start of the year and all-time lead in Rockies innings at 1381 and games started at 253. He left with neck tightness in the fourth.
Betts and Hernandez did more than just drive the Dodger offense; they are the only two players who passed on the White House World Series celebration in July, winning accolades from an LA fanbase built across multiple decades of uniquely representative rosters – from Jackie Robinson to Fernando Valenzuela to Chan Ho Park and today’s Shohei Ohtani. Over the past year, their global fanbase had questioned the commitment of Dodger owner Mark Walter to that tradition for his ties to private prison operator GEO Group, ultimately driving Walter to divest his holdings and commit more than a million dollars to the families of those deported by ICE.
Superstar Shohei Ohtani went 0-4 with a walk and a big ninth inning strikeout. Still, his homer last night and two the night before brought him to 30 on the year, leading the NL in OPS (1st), slugging percentage (1st), on-base percentage (2nd), average (7th), home runs (30, T-5th), extra-base hits (57, T-4th) and runs scored (82, 6th).
