While the Los Angeles Dodgers lost 11 consecutive games and were mired in a stretch where they dropped 16 of 17, they closed the regular season by winning 12 of 18 games, including eight of the last 10.
Los Angeles finished with the best record in baseball and thus clinched home-field advantage through the World Series. But their late slide led to some pundits predicting the Arizona Diamondbacks would win the National League Division Series.
Instead, the Dodgers looked the part of the team that went on a 43-7 stretch as they swept the Diamondbacks. Arizona led for only three of 27 innings played during the series.
Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi attributed the team’s play to a brief period of rest and successful week of workouts leading up to the NLDS, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“And really, the days we had off the workouts we had I thought really re-focused us. The coaching staff, the front office, the players were talking about how to prepare for this series. It was good for us to be able to press the reset button. Guys came out ready to play. It’s easy for those layoffs to become an excuse where guys feel like they’re rusty. But our guys were obviously ready from the first pitch.”
A disciplined and patient approach paid dividends for the Dodgers, as they taxed Diamondbacks starter Robbie Ray in Game 2 and Zack Greinke in Game 3. Taijuan Walker struggled out of the gate in the series opener, allowed four runs and only completed one inning in his playoff debut.
Los Angeles scored 20 runs over the series, tallied 31 hits and worked 16 walks. They once again were led by Justin Turner, who went 6-for-13 with a home run, five RBI, .533 on-base percentage and .692 slugging.
Yasiel Puig batted .455/.538/.727 with one double, one triple and four RBI. He had multi-hit performances in Games 1 and 2, and though he went hitless in Game 3, Puig walked twice.
