The Los Angeles Dodgers are racking up hits and runs in droves as they look to complete a three-game sweep of the Athletics on Wednesday night at West Sacramento, Calif.
The Dodgers scored 18 runs over the first two games and piled up 31 hits — 17 in Monday’s 9-4 victory and 14 in Tuesday’s 9-3 triumph.
Tommy Edman was the star on Tuesday, going 4-for-5 with a homer, four RBIs and two runs. It was his sixth career four-hit game.
“I had good pitches to hit and I was ready,” Edman said afterward. “I also had a lot of runners on base when I was up.”
The victory also marked the 1,000th in the regular season for Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who is in his 11th season with the club. Roberts is the fastest in major league history to reach 1,000.
Roberts is the fourth manager in Dodgers’ history to reach 1,000. Walter Alston (1954-76) won a franchise-best 2,040 games while managing both in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, followed by Tommy Lasorda (1,599 from 1976-96) and Wilbert Robinson (1,375 from 1914-31).
Roberts (1,000-606) has a career winning percentage of .623, counting one game as interim manager for the San Diego Padres in 2015.
“This is a team accomplishment,” Roberts said while addressing players, coaches and other staffers in the locker room. “It’s not even the guys in this room. It’s so many players from 11 years ago. There are guys people bring to my attention. I’ve never heard of these guys but I guess they played for me.”
Edman said he was in awe of Roberts’ milestone.
“It’s really an honor to just be part of this team,” said Edman, in his third season with Los Angeles. “That’s such a crazy accomplishment — 1,000 wins is just unbelievable if you think about it.”
The Athletics have lost four straight games and eight of their past 10.
Worse, they have looked overmatched against the Dodgers in this series.
“They’re a really good team,” A’s outfielder Colby Thomas said. “They don’t make little mistakes. We just have to play better.”
Thomas had two hits, including a homer, in Tuesday’s loss. He was in a 6-for-45 funk (.133) before the stellar outing.
“Obviously, results are great,” Thomas said. “It’s nice to get results, I’ve been getting a lot of work in the cage so it was nice to see those results. It felt awesome to be honest with you.”
The Dodgers will go with a bullpen game Wednesday after scratching right-hander Shohei Ohtani and pushing his start back to Friday against the San Diego Padres.
Ohtani has allowed 11 runs (nine earned) in 18 2/3 innings over his past three starts but Roberts said that neither performance nor injury had anything to do with the decision. Ohtani also has been dealing with left knee soreness.
“I think it’s mostly schedule-driven,” Roberts told reporters prior to Tuesday’s game. “We talked to Shohei, and he agreed to whatever we felt, knowing it’s best for him. So again, upside, downside — there’s no downside with him losing starts. Get more rest. No downside was the thought. That was the whole driver.”
Roberts didn’t formally name an opener for Wednesday’s game.
Right-hander J.T. Ginn (6-4, 3.15 ERA) will start the finale for the Athletics.
Ginn, 27, is 4-1 over his last six starts. He just split a pair of decisions in two turns against the Los Angeles Angels, allowing three earned runs in each game.
Ginn has never faced the Dodgers. The only current Los Angeles player he has faced is catcher Chuckie Robinson (1-for-2).
–Field Level Media
