Dodgers Week 26: Offense comes alive

The Dodgers took care of business last week against a pair of divisional foes, winning five of six games against the Rockies and Giants to maintain breathing room atop the National League West.

The offense came through in a big way, which coupled with a stingy starting rotation are building tentpoles as back-end bullpen pitchers Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates, and Michael Kopech continue to struggle.

Mookie Betts continued his late-season resurgence at the plate by having his best week yet, reaching base over half the time and slugging over .800. He drove in nine runs during the Rockies series, and scored five runs on five hits in the final two games against San Francisco. Honorable mention goes to Teoscar Hernández, who had a great week of his own with a team-best three home runs, a pair of doubles, and was secod on the team in hits, runs scored, and RBI.

Dodgers starting pitchers are operating on such a high level lately that this is a difficult situation in most weeks. This week was an easy choice, however, due to Tyler Glasnow getting two starts. He did not allow a hit but did allow a run in seven innings on Monday, the latter two numbers matching starts by Emmet Sheehan and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. But then Glasnow had another strong start on Sunday in San Francisco, allowing one run in 6 2/3 innings.

Honorable mention goes to Blake Snell, who struck out 11 in six scoreless innings on Wednesday to finish off the Rockies.

5-1 record
43 runs scored (7.17 per game)
17 runs allowed (2.83 per game)
.845 pythagorean win percentage

84-65 record
762 runs scored (5.11 per game)
641 runs allowed (4.30 per game)
.578 pythagorean win percentage (86-63)

Standing: 1st place in NL West, 2 1/2 games up on San Diego

Milestone man: Shohei Ohtani on Sunday scored his 135th run of the season, beating his own Los Angeles Dodgers record for a season. Two days earlier, he walked for the 100th time of the season, making Ohtani the first Dodger in 25 years to walk 100 times in a season. Ohtani is at 103 walks with two weeks left to play, and Jim Wynn’s LA Dodgers record of 110 walks still in sight.

Win No. 1: Rookie right-hander Edgardo Henriquez struck out all three batters he faced in a scoreless inning of relief on Saturday, earning the win over the Giants. He’s the fourth Dodgers pitcher to notch their first major league win this season, along with Jack Dreyer (April 2), Matt Sauer (April 29), and Roki Sasaki (May 3).

Tuesday: Left-hander Alex Vesia was activated off the IL, and Ben Casparius was optioned.

Wednesday: Outfielder and middle infielder Tommy Edman returned after missing over five weeks on the IL, and designated defensive replacement Justin Dean was optioned.

Saturday: After Will Smith played just once and his right hand didn’t show improvement, he was placed on the injured list, and Robinson made his way back to the majors.

The Dodgers return for their final homestand of the regular season, running the Gary Matthews gauntlet by hosting the Phillies for three games and the Giants for four. Tuesday’s game against the NL East-leading Phillies will be televised by TBS nationally, though that telecast will be blacked out in both local markets. Friday’s game against the Giants is exclusively on Apple TV+. Weekend pitching matchups are a guess.

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