It was a statement, a reminder and a warning all wrapped into one.
The Dodgers might not have been playing their best baseball entering this weekend’s World Series rematch against the New York Yankees.
But in a ceaseless offensive onslaught in the opening two innings on Saturday, things seemed to suddenly, profoundly and perhaps permanently change.
The Dodgers didn’t just beat the Yankees in a nationally televised late-afternoon contest to clinch a weekend series win at Dodger Stadium. They executed a slaughter in broad daylight. Four runs scored in the first inning. Six more came around in the second. And by the end, their 18-2 victory did more than set up the chance for a sweep in Sunday’s series finale.
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It sent a shot across the bow to the rest of the baseball world, signifying that for all the Dodgers’ shortcomings of late, they might finally be clicking into top gear.
Granted, the Dodgers haven’t exactly been struggling to hit the ball. Entering Saturday, they were second in the majors in runs scored, second in OPS and first in batting average. They had been getting monster production from Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernández and Will Smith. And, largely on the strength of their lineup, they were leading the National League West, still on a near 100-win pace in their pursuit of a second consecutive World Series title.
Still, over much of the last month, it had felt as if something was missing.
The team’s injury-ravaged pitching staff had put a strain on their recent play, leading to an 11-12 slide entering this weekend’s marquee Yankees matchup.
And their offense was picking up only so much of the slack, weighed down by early slumps from Mookie Betts, Max Muncy and Michael Conforto, as well as inconsistent performances from other bottom-half hitters.
Michael Conforto, left, celebrates with Hyeseong Kim after scoring on an RBI double by Tommy Edman in the second inning Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
It led to a malaise epitomized by a lack of signature moments. Not since knocking off the Detroit Tigers at the start of the regular season had the Dodgers won a series against a legitimate title contender. They were just 10-9 overall against opponents with winning records.
Manager Dave Roberts downplayed that notion Friday.
“We know that we have a good ballclub, and I don’t think that us not winning series against X amount of teams with winning records is an indictment on our ballclub,” he said. “I don’t think we’re thinking too much about that.”
Then again, with the Yankees coming to town as winners of 16 of their previous 20 games, this still felt like something of a litmus test — even if Betts was out with a fractured toe and the pitching staff remained far less than full strength.
Read more: Mookie Betts dealing with fractured toe, won’t start against Yankees this weekend
“We try to win each and every game, of course,” Ohtani said in Japanese on Friday night, “but I think it’s a special atmosphere.”
Two games in, it has produced a couple of special results.
After coming from behind to steal Friday night’s opener, the Dodgers (36-22) wasted no time Saturday putting their foot firmly on the Yankees’ neck.
In the bottom of the first, Ohtani, Freeman, Smith and Muncy all singled within the first five at-bats against rookie Yankees starter Will Warren, scoring two runs. Conforto later added a sacrifice fly, before Tommy Edman hit a hard ground ball that got past third baseman (and former Dodgers farmhand) Jorbit Vivas for a run-scoring double, punctuating an inning in which the Dodgers batted around.
In the second, the Dodgers sent all nine batters to the plate again. After walks from Hernández and Freeman, Muncy hit a three-run homer to right, chasing Warren from the game with his 200th career long ball. Edman doubled home another run with two outs. Then Hyeseong Kim got the Dodgers to double digits, hitting his second home run of the season
Max Muncy hits a three-run home run in the second inning for the Dodgers on Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
By the time the Yankees (35-22) recorded their first hit on Austin Wells’ leadoff single in the third, it was already 10-0.
As starting pitcher Landon Knack cruised through six strong innings with the big lead — he gave up his lone run on a fourth-inning solo blast from Aaron Judge, his first of two long balls on the day — the Dodgers kept adding on.
In the fifth, Freeman plated a run with his 525th career double, tying Willie Mays and Ted Williams for 46th most all-time.
Then, Muncy went deep again, continuing his recent surge by belting another three-run homer high off the right-field foul pole, tying a career-high with seven RBIs on the day.
Over his last 19 games, Muncy is now batting .300 with five home runs, 24 RBIs and a .991 OPS.
And he isn’t the only Dodgers hitter heating up. Edman snapped a recent cold streak with three hits. Kim also had three hits, plus two stellar defensive plays: doubling off a runner at second base with a diving effort from shortstop in the third inning, then throwing out Judge at second with a perfect throw from deep center after shifting to the outfield. Andy Pages maintained his strong form with a solo home run in the seventh. Dalton Rushing hit his first career home run in the eighth.
The Dodgers’ biggest stars, meanwhile, have continued to dominate.
Ohtani, coming off his second live batting practice as a pitcher before the game (he threw 29 pitches over two simulated innings), had two hits, moving his OPS to 1.062.
In the National League, only Freeman has a better mark in that category, finishing Saturday at 1.078 (to go along with his NL-leading .374 batting average) after his own two-hit showing.
Couple all that with the impending returns of pitchers such as Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, Michael Kopech, Kirby Yates and Blake Treinen — all of whom could be back within the next month or two, and in some cases sooner — and the Dodgers are starting to look more like the juggernaut they were supposed to be all along.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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