Things weren't looking good for the Dodgers, coming out of Saturday's 5-2 loss to the Cardinals. Bobby Miller, in his return to the majors since struggling earlier this season, continued to struggle. Freddie Freeman ended the game with a defensive play that jammed his finger, knocking him out of today's season finale.
And yet, the Dodgers came away with a clutch 2-1 victory Sunday, which was neither expected nor easy. Shohei Ohtani broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning with his 39th home run, and Miguel Rojas tacked on an RBI single to make it 2-0 LA. And even though Lars Nootbar took Daniel Hudson yard in the eighth--AND the Dodgers' 6-9 hitters (Kevin Kiermaier, Kiké "Black Hole" Hernandez, base stealers' best friend Austin Barnes, and Nick Ahmed) went a combined 0-for-14 with 4 Ks--the Dodgers had just enough to eke out a victory for Clayton Kershaw, who went six scoreless in his best start of the year (4 H, 1 BB, 2 Ks, 70 pitches).
Kudos to Michael Kopech as well for picking up his 11th save of the year with a shutdown ninth, overcoming not only the Cardinals but also Barnes, who made an error with one out, throwing wild of first.
Don't get me started on Barnes (who has had one hit for the entire month of August, now appearing in eight games). I've been advised I need to be more optimistic.
And indeed, there was room for optimism following the Dodgers' victory today, after the Rays beat the Diamondbacks in extras (8-7 final, in 12), and the Rockies held on to beat the Padres 3-2. The Snakes were swept this weekend in Tampa, and the Padres lost two of three in Colorado. That leaves the Dodgers three games on San Diego and four games on Arizona, with 37 games to play.
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