Throwback: Dodgers Season 2024 Updates (September)

Dodgers win the NL West, Shohei keeps rolling, as the Dodgers take 2 of 3 vs. Rockies and Padres in final homestand of 2024, 9/20-9/26/24

COL 4 – LAD 6, W 92-62, 9/20/24: Shohei Ohtani led the Dodgers to another win, continuing his one of a kind season. The Dodgers elected to go with a bullpen game tonight but it got off to a rough start. LA was behind 2-0 before cracking through with a 3 run 5th. Andy Pages got LA on the board with his 11th homer of the season and Shohei put the Dodgers in front with a go-ahead, 2-run home run. It was Shohei’s 52nd of the season. The Rockies tied it in the 6th but Teo quickly responded with his 30th home run of the season. The Dodgers tacked on some insurance runs in the later innings, scoring 2 more in the 7th on a sac-fly from Mookie and a single from Teo. Shohei stole his 52nd base of the season and came in to score on the single by Teo. Michael Kopech closed out the win for LA, as the magic number is down to 5.

COL 6 – LAD 3, L 92-63, 9/21/24: It was a tough loss for the Dodgers as their division lead continues to shrink. Walker Buehler was on the mound for this one and allowed 4 runs over 5 and ⅓ innings. A positive was that he was able to strike out 9 batters. In terms of the offense, LA tried to chip away. Mookie launched a 2 run homer in the 3rd and Hunter Feduccia logged his 1st career RBI to tie the game at 3 in the 4th. But Buehler gave up a homer to McMahon in the 5th as LA fell behind 4-3. Charlie Blackmon’s 2 run blast off Daniel Hudson in the 9th sealed this one as LA dropped the game 6-3. The Dodgers will look to win the series tomorrow with their lead in the division down to 3 games.

COL 5 – LAD 6, W 93-63, 9/22/24: The Dodgers battled back all game long to win a thriller over the Rockies. LA fell behind 3-0 early and were playing from behind all game. Yoshinobu Yamamoto went just 3 innings and allowed 4 runs in that span. The bullpen kept LA in the game though, allowing just 1 run over the next 6 innings of the game. Teo got LA on the board in the 4th with his 31st homer of the season. Kike had a big swing for LA in the 7th, launching a 2 run homer to cut the lead to 2. Then Freddie made it a 1 run game with an RBI single. With LA down 5-4 in the 9th, with the top of the order due up, the Dodgers had one last chance to strike back to win the game. Shohei crushed one to right center to tie the game at 5! It was his 53rd of the season! Shohei also stole 2 more bases adding to his total, reaching 55 stolen bases on the year! Then, Mookie came up with a chance to win the game and launched a walk-off home run to win the game! It was Mookie’s first walk-off home run as a Dodger! The Dodgers were able to keep the division lead at 3 games with the highly anticipated series against the Padres on the horizon.

SD 4 – LAD 2, L 93-64, 9/24/24: The Dodgers began their series against the Padres with a very underwhelming performance. Landon Knack had a disappointing outing and the offense did little to help. Knack allowed 4 runs over 4 innings. The offense scored 1 in the 1st on an error but stranded 7 runners and went just 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position. The bullpen kept them in the game though, including the debut of hard-throwing reliever, Edguardo Henriquez, who struck out 2 in a scoreless inning of work. Henriquez touched a 100 a couple of times tonight as well. The Dodgers tried to mount a comeback in the 9th. Kike hit an RBI single to make it a 4-2 game, putting runners on 1st and 2nd with no out. But the unthinkable happened. Rojas hit a ground ball to 3rd, Machado stepped on 3rd for one, threw to 2nd to record the 2nd out, and Cronenworth whipped it to 1st, turning a game-ending triple play. The Padres clinched a spot in the postseason with the win and celebrated on the field. Hopefully this lights a fire under the Dodgers, with a must-win game tomorrow.

SD 3 – LAD 4, W 94-64, 9/25/24: Shohei Ohtani led the way as the Dodgers came through with a huge win to tie the series with the Padres. Teoscar Hernandez got the Dodgers on the board in the 1st with an RBI single but the Padres responded with 2 in the 2nd. But the bottom of the order kick started the Dodger offense in the 4th. The Dodgers continued to find success scoring with 2 outs. Tommy Edman doubled and Gavin Lux drove him in with a game-tying single to make it a 2-2 game. Then Rojas walked and Shohei put the Dodgers in front with an RBI double. But the Padres kept fighting back, tying the game in the 5th on a mammoth home run from Tatis. Flaherty finished the game with 5 innings, allowing 3 runs. Gavin Lux and Andy Pages set the table for Ohtani in the 6th, both drawing walks. Shohei came up and hit a clutch RBI single to put the Dodgers back in front! Shohei was fired up, screaming the whole way down the 1st base line. The bullpen shut the door, showing how special this bullpen could be. Phillips, Treinen, and Kopech shut the door on a big win, giving the Dodgers a chance to win the Division with a win tomorrow. 

SD 2 – LAD 7, W 95-64, 9/26/24: The Dodgers stormed from behind to defeat the Padres and win the division. Walker Buehler turned in an impressive outing, allowing just 1 run over 5 solid innings, keeping the Dodgers in striking distance. Evan Phillips got in a jam in the 6th though, and allowed another run to score, putting the Dodgers down 2-0. Joe Musgrove was cruising for the Padres. Going into the 7th, Musgrove had pitched 6 shutout innings with 6 strikeouts, but the Dodgers offense came back in a big way. Max Muncy led the inning off drawing a walk. Then Will Smith came up and launched a game-tying 2 run home run to get LA back into the game! This sparked what would be a 5 run inning for LA. Kike singled, Pages reached on catcher’s interference, setting the table for the top of the lineup. Then Shohei Ohtani came up and came through in the clutch again, putting the Dodgers in front with a go-ahead single! Mookie kept the rally going, driving in 2 more with an RBI single. Andy Pages gave the Dodgers some insurance with a 2 run homer in the 8th, making it a 7-2 game. Michael Kopech closed out the win as the Dodgers won their 11th division title in the last 12 years.

Dodgers sweep Rockies in final roadtrip of the season, capping off an exciting 2024 season, 9/27-9/29/24

LAD 11 – COL 3, W 96-64, 9/27/24: Following an intense series win over the Padres, the Dodgers came into their final series of the season short-handed. Freddie Freeman and Miguel Rojas did not travel with the team to Colorado, both dealing with nagging injuries. LA still managed to blow out the Rockies. Shohei Ohtani led the charge for LA going 4 for 5. Teo got the scoring started for LA with a 2-run homer in the 1st, his 32nd of the season, tying his career high for homers in a season. Then LA broke this one open in the 2nd, scoring 3 on singles from Chris Taylor and Shohei Ohtani. Taylor also stole home. Pages launched his 13th homer of the season in the 4th to make it 6-1. In the 6th, the Dodgers cracked double digits again, scoring 3 on Shohei’s 54th homer of the season. Edman also brought a run in on a sac-fly. Kiermaier drove in a run in the 8th on a single to make it 11-3. Meanwhile, the Dodgers went with a bullpen game, allowing just 3 runs while striking out 13. LA will go for the series win tomorrow. 

LAD 13 – COL 2, W 97-64, 9/28/24: Yoshinobu Yamamoto was strong in his final tune-up for the Postseason as the Dodgers took the series over the Rockies. The Dodger offense exploded once again to support Yamamoto, scoring 13 runs. Kike started the scoring with a 3-run bomb in the 2nd. Mookie scored in the 3rd on a passed ball and Kiermaier singled in a run in the 4th. Teo set a new career-high with his 33rd home run of the season in the 5th, breaking the game open with a 3-run bomb. LA scored 3 more on RBI singles from Smith, Taylor, and Lux. Yamamoto pitched 5 innings, striking out 6, and allowed just 2 runs. Justin Wrobleski ate the final 4 innings of the game, striking out 4 over 4 scoreless frames. LA will look to sweep tomorrow. LAD 2 – COL 1, W 98-64, 9/29/24: The Dodgers took the win in their final game of the season, finishing the 2024 season with the best record in baseball. LA used the final game as a bullpen game with Anthony Banda as the opener. Banda pitched a clean 1st for LA before handing the ball to Landon Knack, who received the bulk of the innings. Knack struck out 4 in 4 innings of work. The 1 run allowed being a solo home run from Sam Hilliard. Rockies outfielder, Charlie Blackmon was honored after playing in his final game of his career and was subbed out after logging a base hit in his final career at-bat. Alex Vesia and Evan Phillips followed, each pitching a scoreless inning out of the pen, but LA was still being shut out. But Chris Taylor came up in the 8th and tied the game with his 4th home run of the season. Taylor has had the worst season of his career this year so hopefully this swing can give him some confidence in the Postseason. Then, Austin Barnes and Shohei Ohtani both hit singles. Then Shohei orchestrated the double steal, as LA had runners on 2nd and 3rd with James Outman up to the plate. Outman had been called up on the final day of the season with Kevin Kiermaier injured due to a fractured finger. Rockies reliever, Seth Halvorsen balked, allowing Barnes to come in and score the winning run, as LA took a 2-1 lead. Michael Kopech pitched a scoreless 8th and Edguardo Henriquez shut the door, logging his first career save. LA finished the 2024 season with 98 wins and will get 5 days off before taking on the winner of the Padres, Braves series in the NLDS.