Dodgers Strike Late for an Extra-Inning Comeback Win Over Braves
The Los Angeles Dodgers are considered to be strong contenders for the World Series this season, and for many, they will have only emphasized that point further with their recent win against the Atlanta Braves.
Indeed, it went right down to the wire in a series where two of MLB’s best, most evenly-matched franchises went up against each other for the final time in the 2022 regular season. So down to the wire, in fact, the game went into extra innings where the Dodgers pulled out the win.
Dodgers secure impressive comeback victory over the Braves
Playing at Truist Park in Atlanta, Dodgers fans would have been forgiven if they did not feel that their team would be able to start the road series against the Colorado Rockies in the best way – which they subsequently have failed to do as they have lost Game One and Game Two.
The team was down to its last strike with nothing on the scoreboard, however, the 2020 World Series Champions managed to rally back and score in three consecutive innings to hand them an unexpected 5-3 victory across 11 innings on a wonderful Sunday night for the Californians.
FINAL (11): #Dodgers 5, Braves 3 pic.twitter.com/NzF4fnkru1
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 27, 2022
It was certainly one of the most impressive comebacks to have been experienced by Los Angeles for the year thus far, with the victory being the second series win for the franchise over the 2021 World Series Champions. Moreover, with it being the first extra-inning game that the team had managed to win in six attempts this season thus far, the snapping of that horrible streak will have been welcomed by all.
Winning the series will have enhanced the Dodgers’ favorites tag
The entire series saw the Dodgers only allow nine runs in the three games that were played over the weekend. This would have to be considered very impressive considering the two franchises are well versed with each other.
The Braves and Dodgers have both met in the two last National League Championship Series, with each of them having gone on to win the series, the pennant, and then the subsequent World Series. Naturally, this impressive feat will have further enhanced reasons and confidence in why the Dodgers are favored to come out as champions this season.
Of course, there is plenty to look out for when utilizing an online sports betting site, especially for MLB odds and markets that have been made available, but there is no denying that the Dodgers will always be an attractive proposition for many.
The New York Yankees are a favorite when thinking of the American League, while the New York Mets have the best win percentage of .627 in the National League, as of writing. Nonetheless, with the Dodgers currently top of the NL West, there will be a sure-fire favorite for the remainder of the season provided they do suffer an embarrassing collapse.
Are the Dodgers actually going to make the World Series?
Of course, there may be some that may be wondering whether we are already talking too soon about the possibility of appearing in the World Series this year, especially with some of the problems that are currently be experiencing on the field.
Qualifying for the postseason should not be a problem given the strong start to the MLB season, although there is no denying that we have hit a rocky (pun intended) patch in recent games.
As highlighted, the game against the Braves saw an inspired fightback that did not look likely at one moment in time, while it seems a hangover was being experienced when we took to the field against the Colorado Rockies in Games One and Two recently.
A franchise that has been poor this season – not the worst, mind – the Rockies are currently bottom of the NL West and have now climbed to a record that reads 33-42; a .440 win percentage. They are an organization that we should not really be struggling against, especially as we held a 45-26 (.633) record prior to the two games that had ended in defeat.
Nonetheless, we witnessed something that has been all-too-familar in recent years. In fact, the defeat on Tuesday was the fourth defeat at the hands of Colorado in five games this season and one that Clayton Kershaw took the blame upon himself for.
Kershaw knows he needs to be better
Everyone knows just how good Kershaw can be. He is a three-time National League Cy Young Award winner, a former league MVP and a five-time ERA champion, and a guarantee to enter the MLB Hall of Fame once he decides to retire.
However, something else we all know about the star pitcher is the fact that he has had his issues with injury over the last few seasons, too. However, we had seen something that baseball fans had not seen for over five years – Kershaw being as bad as he was on Tuesday night against the Rockies.
“I sucked today” – Clayton Kershaw. Alright, we keep it movin’ ? GO DOYERS
— Jackie (@misszjackie) June 29, 2022
After giving up six runs on nine hits against the bottom-placed NL West franchise, as well as walking four and striking out four over four innings, it was the first time Kershaw had given away six or more earned runs in a start since June 19, 2017, when he played against the Mets.
He admitted that while he would not “overthink it”, he had “sucked” and had not “been that bad in a long time”.
Verdict
At the time of writing, Game Three is on the horizon, and while it will not have too much of an impact on whether the Dodgers get to the postseason, a win is needed to keep some momentum and confidence around the team as we head into the second half of the season.
Following on from the Rockies, the Los Angeles Dodgers will go up against the San Diego Padres, who are currently just 1.5 games behind because of those defeats. A total of four games will be played before the Dodgers welcome the Rockies to Dodger Stadium in another three-game series, where they will want to ensure they have better fortunes moving forward.
