The Dodgers are N.L. West Champs
SteemSports Presenter:@mateonav53
SteemSports Editor:@scottybuckets
The NL West tiebreaker game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies looked like it'd be played to a stalemate. Then the middle innings rolled around, and the Dodger's bats woke up to surge ahead of their divisional rivals 5-0. Colorado hit back-to-back homers in the ninth inning to rally late, but Dodger closer Kenley Jansen managed to clean up the mess he made to bring the NL West crown back to Los Angeles for the sixth year in a row.
LA got an incredibly promising pitching performance from their 24-year-old hurler Walker Buehler. Manager Dave Roberts let him throw for 6.2 innings, and in that time he only surrendered one hit and three walks to go with three strikeouts in a shutout performance. The young bull really seems to be hitting his stride for LA at just the right moment. They're going into their NLDS series with the Atlanta Braves with confidence in their bats and an ardent faith in their starting pitching.
The Dodgers did it with the long ball, as they've done all year long. Cody Bellinger hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning off Rockies starter German Marquez while Max Muncy followed him up with his own two-run homer off of Marquez in the fifth. A Walker Buehler single added an insurance run in the sixth inning.
The lead felt pretty safe until Kenley Jansen gave up back-to-back homers to Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story in the ninth inning. Fortunately for Dodger fans, he was able to retire the next three batters to claim the big afternoon victory. Jansen has had a couple postseason meltdowns dating back to as recent as last year's World Series. He can look so dominant at times, but other instances he will just get too deep into his own head.
Dodgers long-time pitching coach Rick Honeycutt came out to the mound to talk to Jansen after he gave up those two homers, and it appeared he told him to just not throw any more cutters because that's what they were sending into the seats. Jansen proceeded to just hurl it hard and fast, and that put the ball in play in just the right spots for outs on the board. Even though he pulled this one out today, one can't help but feel a little shaky when forecasting his upcoming playoff appearances. Last year Kenley only gave up six home runs the entire season, and this year he more than doubled it with thirteen.
Colorado has a history of often falling just short to the Dodgers, whether it be in the standings or in an actual tiebreaker face-off like today. This loss is another stinging reminder of that history to the baseball fans of Colorado. I was actually present in-person when the Dodgers took the divisional crown from the Rockies back in 2010 in the second to last game of the season in Dodger Stadium. Colorado could've claimed the divisional crown if they just beat the Dodgers two times in the last two games of the season, but LA pulled it out in front of their home fans like we just saw today.
Even though the Rockies didn't get the win today in Los Angeles, they've been playing some solid baseball to surge back from the middle of the NL West standings into the top of the playoff hunt. They've won a sizzling 8 of their last 10 and will visit the Chicago Cubs for the NL Wild Card Game tomorrow at 6:05 PM Mountain Time / 7:05 PM Central. The entire season for both ball clubs will come down to at least nine innings under the lights of Wrigley Field. The brackets are set, and the playoffs have truly arrived. Tune in to the MLB postseason for more high-intensity games!
Thank you for following @steemsports and you can find me @mateonav53
Good Report, The Dodgers should be in the world series, they have a good team ...
Thanks! Yea they just sealed the deal against the Braves today I'm really hoping they make it back this year!
Congratulations! Your post has been selected as a daily Steemit truffle! It is listed on rank 21 of all contributions awarded today. You can find the TOP DAILY TRUFFLE PICKS HERE.
I upvoted your contribution because to my mind your post is at least 8 SBD worth and should receive 173 votes. It's now up to the lovely Steemit community to make this come true.
I am
TrufflePig, an Artificial Intelligence Bot that helps minnows and content curators using Machine Learning. If you are curious how I select content, you can find an explanation here!Have a nice day and sincerely yours,
TrufflePig