Heading into the 2017 season the Los Angeles Dodgers were viewed as the heavy favorite to win the National League West title. Some selected the San Francisco Giants, while the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies were generally pegged as dark horses.
Early on, it was the Diamondbacks and Rockies who paced the division. They were passed by the Dodgers, who despite their season-worst six-game losing streak, remain atop the NL West standings and all of baseball with a 92-47 record.
The past two weeks have been particularly rough for Los Angeles. They’ve dropped 11 of 12 games and twice were swept by the Diamondbacks in a three-game series, including one at home.
Despite their recent success over the current NL West leaders, Diamondbacks catcher Chris Iannetta still championed the Dodgers as the best team, via Steve Gilbert of MLB.com:
“They’re the best team in baseball,” catcher Chris Iannetta said. “They’ve been the best team all year. They’re a great team from top to bottom. It’s one of the toughest lineups in baseball to work through. Their pitching staff is great. They’re the best team in baseball for a reason. We’re just happy to get some wins.”
Iannetta’s remarks were much more diplomatic than teammate Fernando Rodney, who openly said the Dodgers were the team he hopes to face in the playoffs and casted doubt on whether they held the same feeling, because of the Diamondbacks’ starting pitching.
The night prior to completing their first sweep at Dodger Stadium since 2013, the Diamondbacks clinched the season series, which was also a first against the Dodgers since they began their run of NL West titles.
What’s more, the Diamondbacks extended their winning streak on Wednesday to a franchise-best 13 games. Despite their run of success and the Dodgers’ skid, 10.5 games separate the teams in the NL West standings.
After getting swept, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts guaranteed his team would win the division title. “We’re going to win the division. I can assure you of that,” he predicted.
