After becoming the first team to reach 100 wins this season, the Los Angeles Dodgers looked to finish off their road trip by completing a sweep of the San Francisco Giants. However, inclement weather throughout the Bay Area threatened the finale, which was selected for an ESPN Sunday Night Baseball national broadcast.
First pitch started without issue, but rain nearly immediately began to fall. There was a steady downpour in the fourth inning as Justin Turner broke the scoreless tie with an RBI double, and the game entered a delay.
The grounds crew chief spoke with home-plate umpire Mike Muchlinski before signaling for the tarp to be unrolled. However, it wound up remaining in left field as groundskeepers instead worked to apply dry dirt to the infield and pitcher’s mound.
The tarp was rolled back up and play resumed after a 21-minute delay. There was more rain throughout the night but the Dodgers came away with a 4-3 win in 10 innings without any additional delays.
Freddie Freeman noted field conditions weren’t optimal but he was thankful the Dodgers and Giants were able to complete the game, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“The field started getting mushy pretty quickly,” Freeman said. “I heard third base was pretty bad because some water seeped under it. … The rain itself was not too bad. But it just accumulated over those first four innings. I’m just glad we got it in.”
Had the game been rained out, it’s plausible the Dodgers would’ve needed to return to San Francisco on Monday, Sept. 26, which also is an off day for the Giants. There have only been six rainouts at Oracle Park since it opened on April 11, 2000, with the last coming April 6, 2018.
Freeman went 1-for-3 with one run scored, one RBI and two walks in the Dodgers’ win. He leads MLB with 186 hits, which is seven more than Trea Turner. They are on track to become the first set of teammates to finish in the top two of total hits during the same season since Brett Boone and Ichiro Suzuki did so for the 2001 Seattle Mariners.
Freddie Freeman reaction to Dodgers 100 wins
The 2022 Dodgers became the fastest team in franchise history to clinch the National League West, and in reaching 100 wins shortly after, Freeman couldn’t help but marvel at the season they’ve had thus far.
He attributed the club’s success to stellar pitching and the clubhouse having a collective focus each night.
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