SEATTLE — The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched the National League West title for the 10th time in 11 seasons with a 6-2 win in 11 innings over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night.
Max Muncy‘s single off Gabe Speier (2-2) scored Mookie Betts from second base with one out in the top of the 11th to give the Dodgers the lead. Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernandez followed with two-run singles off Isaiah Campbell, and the numerous fans in Dodger blue roared their approval as Seattle fans headed for the exits.
Evan Phillips (2-4) pitched the 10th inning for L.A., and Joe Kelly got the final three outs. Afterward, the Dodgers held a brief celebration on the field filled with hugs and division-title shirts and hats.
There was debate before the season over whether the Padres might be ready to take over the NL West from the Dodgers after San Diego’s heavy offseason spending. But L.A. again proved the class of the division and wrapped up the crown with a couple of weeks remaining in the regular season.
“It’s exciting. You look back, beginning of the year, middle of the year, to see we have this opportunity tonight, it’s a credit to a lot of people,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before Saturday’s contest.
While the Dodgers will spend the final two weeks of the season solidifying their playoff position, the Mariners stumbled for a second straight night with the chance to make up ground in the American League West race.
Both the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros lost earlier Saturday, but the Mariners couldn’t get a key hit with a chance to take the lead in the eighth inning. Seattle remained 1½ games back of first-place Houston and one game behind the Rangers.
After nine scoreless innings of terrific pitching on both sides, each team got a key at-bat from a pinch hitter in the 10th.
Kolten Wong‘s sacrifice fly gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead, but Mike Ford answered with a two-out RBI single to score Josh Rojas and tie the game at 1.
Seattle had a chance to win it in the 10th, but Teoscar Hernandez grounded into a force play with the bases loaded to end the threat. The Mariners also had runners at first and second and no outs in the eighth, but J.P. Crawford, Julio Rodriguez and Hernandez all struck out.
Clayton Kershaw pitched four innings in his return to the mound for the Dodgers following an extended rest between starts. Kershaw had not started since Sept. 5, and the hope was the extra rest would help dial in some of the control issues that emerged in his previous start.
It began shakily, with Kershaw walking two of his first three batters. But he quickly settled in and allowed just two hits and struck out four, throwing 55 pitches before being lifted for Emmet Sheehan.
Sheehan was terrific in his relief stint, striking out five and allowing only one baserunner in three innings of work. Ty France singled with two outs in the seventh, snapping a string of 12 straight retired by the combination of Kershaw and Sheehan.
Jason Heyward had three doubles for the third time in his career.
Source: www.espn.com