MILWAUKEE — On the night the Los Angeles Dodgers moved into a tie for the best record in baseball, their manager expressed surprise. Or relief. Or a mix of both.
“It’s remarkable,” Dave Roberts said Monday. “It doesn’t feel like it.”
He’s right. These Dodgers have lost more days and production to the injured list than any team in the majors. The players who have stayed on the field have played prolonged stretches of middling baseball. Being hurt and playing poorly makes for a bad combination. So claiming that they were the “best team in baseball” (as Will Smith said after they were swept by the Padres at the end of July) sounded more like bluster than anything else.
For the first time since 2021, the Dodgers sit in mid-August facing a legitimate challenge for the division they’ve otherwise dominated for most of the last decade. Yet, in an MLB landscape that doesn’t have a single club on pace for 100 wins, that’s been good enough.
The Dodgers won, 7-2. They are 71-49, tied with the Guardians for the best record in baseball.
Gavin Stone threw the ball well. Will Smith hit the ball well, as did his teammates (including homers from Smith, Shohei Ohtani, Gavin Lux and Andy Pages).
Time of game: 2:34.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) August 14, 2024
“I think it speaks to the parity (of the sport),” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said Monday afternoon. The Dodgers are tied with the Cleveland Guardians at 71-49. The Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies are each within a hot weekend of claiming the top spot.
More than anything, the Dodgers feel, it speaks to what’s possible. Their lineup is returning to something resembling full strength, with Mookie Betts’ comeback this week the most transformative addition to the club’s chances.
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“We’re having our team look like what we want our team to look like,” Clayton Kershaw said this week. “I think you’ll see us start to take off here soon.”
The Dodgers demonstrated it in an onslaught on Tuesday night, pouring it on during a 7-2 win over a Milwaukee Brewers team in a postseason position. In a division that is torching the sport — all four of baseball’s top winning percentages since July 20 reside in the National League West — the Dodgers maintain a four-game lead.
They’ve won five in a row and, for once, have plenty to be pleased with.
Gavin Stone collected his first win since his shutout against the White Sox on June 26, going five innings and allowing his lone run on a well-located fastball that William Contreras hit out of the ballpark on the 10th pitch of the at-bat. Stone’s six starts since that dominant night in Chicago had been a slog, with a 6.91 ERA amid concern the standout rookie had hit a wall.
However, some tweaks to the 25-year-old’s direction to the plate with his mechanics resolved some of the bouts with poor command. Pitching with a lead helped Stone, too.
Shohei Ohtani continued his power assault on ballparks throughout the majors, lacing his National League-leading 37th homer of the year into the second deck at American Family Field.
Gavin Lux continues to be one of the best hitters in baseball since the All-Star break, homering yet again as he resurrects his season. He’s also oozing confidence: Lux admired his two-run shot into the second deck. He continues to take violent cuts to generate higher exit velocities.
“I think this is the best version of Gavin Lux I’ve seen,” Roberts said. “He’s owning the plate. … Right now, he’s letting his bat speak and I like that little edge. He went bridge tonight, and you watch his demeanor hitting a homer and there’s a little swagger. That’s a good thing.”
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Even Smith, whose scuffles the last two months (hitting .191/294/.341 since June 1) have dropped him to sixth in the order, put forth his best offensive night in over a month.
“He hasn’t struggled like this in his big-league career,” Roberts said.
Smith said the symptoms and diagnoses varied over recent months. His load was off. His hands weren’t finishing in the right spot. The elements of his swing weren’t timed up well. He wasn’t using his legs with the ground to generate force like the two-time All-Star is accustomed to. Most uncharacteristic, he struggled to hit fastballs.
Smith opened the Dodgers’ scoring in the second with his first home run since July 6. He blasted an inside sinker from Brewers starter Colin Rea on the ninth pitch of the at-bat to snap a power drought of 100 plate appearances. Smith hadn’t had a long ball since slugging four home runs in a stretch of four at-bats against this same Brewers club.
Tuesday, he got another inside fastball his next at-bat in the fourth inning and lofted it into the outfield for a single. When Rea tried him with an inside sinker that was left around Smith’s belt in the fifth, the catcher smoked it into left for a double to complete a three-hit night.
“That’s a good sign,” Smith said. “Just comes to getting my swing in the right positions.”
No one missed out on the fun — all nine hitters in the order reached safely at least once. Andy Pages, firmly on the roster bubble because he has minor league options, lined one to left that remained both high enough and fair enough for the rookie’s first home run since June 18.
The Dodgers’ roster should be replenished within a week, with Walker Buehler, Ryan Brasier, Max Muncy and Tommy Edman each expected to be activated within that span. More arrows are pointing upwards.
Tuesday night, it felt like it.
“We’re playing good baseball,” Smith said. “Just trying to keep it going.”
(Photo of Gavin Luxbeing congratulated by Mookie Betts after he hit a home run against the Brewers: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
Fabian Ardaya is a staff writer covering the Los Angeles Dodgers for The Athletic. He previously spent three seasons covering the crosstown Los Angeles Angels for The Athletic. He graduated from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in May 2017 after growing up in a Phoenix-area suburb. Follow Fabian on Twitter @FabianArdaya
