Dodgers clinch seventh straight NL West crown

BALTIMORE — The Dodgers are dancing. Once more.

Los Angeles beat the Baltimore Orioles 7-Three on Tuesday night time at Camden Yards to clinch their seventh straight Nationwide League West pennant.

Within the divisional period (since 1969), solely the Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees have strung collectively extra consecutive crowns. The Braves received 14 straight NL East titles from 1991 to 2005 (there was no postseason within the strike-shortened 1994 marketing campaign). The Yankees had been AL East champs 9 years operating, from 1998 via 2006.

In addition to constructing on their spectacular streak of pennants on Tuesday, the Dodgers additionally grew to become the primary MLB crew to safe a spot within the 2019 postseason.

Not like final 12 months, once they beat the Colorado Rockies in a Sport 163 tiebreaker to earn a sixth straight division title, the Dodgers bought it completed early this time round. By nabbing the crown of their 146th contest of the season, they tied the 2016 Chicago Cubs for the fourth-fastest clincher this century. The three groups forward Los Angeles — the 2002 Braves, the 2017 Nationals, and the 2008 Angels — all did not advance within the playoffs, whereas the ’16 Cubs went on to win the World Sequence. Regardless of that latest historical past, supervisor Dave Roberts is a fan of front-loading.

“I might relatively the early one versus the late one,” mentioned Roberts, who’s guided Los Angeles in every of the final 4 seasons, previous to Tuesday’s win. “We did the late one final 12 months, and 163 was aggressive. I like this one, simply so you’ll be able to actually get it previous you, get guys relaxation, put guys into rolls and positions you may face within the postseason.”

Previous to this 12 months, the earliest clinch in the course of the Dodgers’ present string got here in 2013, once they claimed the division of their 153rd recreation. From a calendar perspective, L.A.’s clincher is tied for the sixth soonest within the wild card period, in line with the Elias Sports activities Bureau. The 2008 Angels and 2017 Nationals additionally clinched on September 10. The 1998 Yankees, who did it on August 30, had been the earliest.

As little suspense as there’s been within the NL West this 12 months, there was simply as little on Tuesday night time at Camden Yards. The visiting Dodgers jumped out to an early lead, scoring 4 runs within the high of the primary, three of which got here courtesy of shortstop Corey Seager’s 15th dwelling run of the season. Seager additionally hit a two-run blast within the third, whereas extremely touted rookie Gavin Lux launched a towering solo shot within the fifth, the primary roundtripper of his profession.

Proper-hander Walker Buehler picked up the win, pitching seven scoreless frames to enhance to 13-Three on the season. He walked none and fanned 11, within the course of reaching 200 strikeouts for the primary time in his profession. With the division already determined, Los Angeles will now flip its consideration towards gaining dwelling subject benefit all through the playoffs.

“It is actually essential contemplating how we have performed at dwelling,” mentioned Roberts, whose membership has a .737 dwelling profitable proportion (56-20) that ranks second within the majors behind the Houston Astros. “However there’s nonetheless a price with the whole lot, and I believe the primary factor is maintaining guys wholesome, maintaining guys sharp, and never attempting to redline simply to win by any means mandatory. If we play to our potential and play the way in which we’re able to, that ought to deal with itself.”

With the victory over Baltimore, the Dodgers moved to 94-52. They started the day with a three-game lead over Atlanta for greatest file within the Nationwide League, and had been two video games behind the Yankees and Astros for baseball’s greatest mark. They had been 17.5 video games forward of the second-place Arizona Diamondbacks, and have held a minimum of a share of first for all however six days this 12 months.