The Los Angeles Dodgers have found a little magic between their pitching staff and hitters lately. It's come at a very opportune time as the Dodgers have been looking to extend their National League West Division lead.
On Wednesday, Sept. 10, Dodgers starter Blake Snell and shortstop Mookie Betts were the catalysts in leading Los Angeles to a 9-0 win over the Colorado Rockies and a series sweep. With this result, the Dodgers are now three games up on the second-place San Diego Padres in the NL West.
That's good news. What's even better news is watching Snell dominate on the mound. Snell recorded 11 strikeouts, a season high, while working six strong innings against the Rockies. Even he was amazed not only with his performance, but of his fellow hurlers.
"This week’s been fun," Snell said after the game. "I was definitely thinking about it. Like, ‘Damn, we got guys throwing no-nos.’ But it’s fun. Internal competition. You’re excited for everyone and their success, and you want to add to it."
As for Betts, all he did was hit a grand slam in the eighth inning and total five RBIs in the game. It looks like Betts is back in a big way.
"It's just been amazing," Betts said. "We can't ask for anything better. No other team can really ask for anything better than what our guys are doing right now, so we just have to jump on their back and ride 'em."
While Dodgers fans can go crazy over the team's offense, getting some solid pitching out of the team's rotation will make manager Dave Roberts smile brightly.
"It certainly changes a lot. You feel like you’re in every game," Roberts said. "You’ve just got to kind of get the offense going. It’s nice. Every night, you can pencil in a guy that you feel gives you a real good chance to prevent runs."
The Dodgers will take Thursday off before opening a big three-game series against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. That will be a rowdy scene all day long as the two fan bases just don't like each other.
For the standings fans, the Dodgers are 82-64 overall. They have won four straight games and are 5-5 in their last 10 games. The Dodgers are 48-26 at home while going 34-38 on the road. It's time for Los Angeles to pick it up against the Giants this weekend.