{"id":254987,"date":"2025-09-26T01:41:30","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T01:41:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/254987\/"},"modified":"2025-09-26T01:41:30","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T01:41:30","slug":"dodgers-defeat-arizona-to-clinch-12th-nl-west-title-in-13-seasons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/254987\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers defeat Arizona to clinch 12th NL West title in 13 seasons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PHOENIX\u00a0\u2014\u00a0It was not supposed to be this difficult. It was not expected to feel so frustrating.<\/p>\n

Six months ago, the question was not whether the Dodgers<\/a> would win the National League West, but how far out of the water they\u2019d blow the competition.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t whether they\u2019d enter October in position to defend their World Series title<\/a>, but if they could set a single-season wins record along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone,\u201d first baseman Freddie Freeman<\/a> recalled, \u201cwas talking about our \u201csuperteam.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

What played out instead, of course, was a disappointing regular season relative to the club\u2019s lofty preseason expectations.<\/p>\n

The team will not win 100 games, let alone the 120 that some predicted<\/a> ahead of the year. It will not have a bye for the first round of the playoffs, having limped through much of the second half of the schedule. It did not realize the full potential of its $400 million roster, hampered by starting pitching injuries<\/a> early in the year, bullpen implosions down the stretch<\/a> and an extended funk from the lineup<\/a> in the middle of the summer. It did not play like the star-studded juggernaut or villainous evil empire or ascendant dynastic power the rest of the baseball world had labeled it to be.<\/p>\n

\"Dodgers <\/p>\n

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, left, and pitcher Clayton Kershaw, right, celebrate with teammates after the Dodgers\u2019 win over the Diamondbacks to clinch the NL West title.<\/p>\n

(Darryl Webb \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

\"Dodgers <\/p>\n

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, center, celebrates with his teammates in the locker room after the Dodgers defeated the Diamondbacks to clinch the NL West title on Thursday.<\/p>\n

(Darryl Webb \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not the route we envisioned,\u201d Freeman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hasn\u2019t been easy,\u201d manager Dave Roberts<\/a> added.<\/p>\n

Now, however, none of that matters anymore.<\/p>\n

Because as far as the regular season is concerned, the team checked the only box that matters.<\/p>\n

With an 8-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday at Chase Field, the Dodgers clinched their 12th division title in the last 13 years. They ensured that they will open the playoffs at home, even though it will start with a best-of-three wild-card round beginning next Tuesday. And most important, despite their struggles over the last couple months, they feel they are entering October playing the kind of baseball that had eluded them for much of the year, finally starting to feel like they are reaching their tantalizing ceiling.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do feel that in totality, we\u2019re playing our best baseball of the season,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cThe win-loss hasn\u2019t reflected it, but I think that\u2019s what\u2019s most important. There\u2019s just been a lot of good things and a lot of growth from a lot of players, which has been fun to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fun is not a word that has often been associated with the Dodgers this season.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Early in the year, their best starters were hurt and many of their best hitters were struggling. They still built a nine-game lead in the division in early July, only to play 10 games under .500 for the next two months, allowing the San Diego Padres to get back in the division race.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year was harder than ever, to get to this point,\u201d said third baseman Max Muncy, who missed extensive time himself with knee and oblique injuries. \u201cWe went through a lot. We had a lot of injuries. We had a lot of ups and downs.\u201d<\/p>\n

They will also begin October facing a litany of questions \u2014 none bigger than a bullpen that has been run down by a heavy workload and let down by the struggles of its most trusted veteran relievers.<\/p>\n

But with Thursday\u2019s division-clincher, they have won 12 of their last 17 games, and will enter the postseason riding some long-missing momentum.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven when it was our darkest, I just always saw our guys stay together and compete,\u201d Roberts said. <\/p>\n

\"Dodgers <\/p>\n

Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas celebrates in the locker room after the team\u2019s win over Arizona to clinch the NL West title.<\/p>\n

(Chris Coduto \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s going to make us stronger during October,\u201d echoed pitcher Blake Snell. \u201cIt\u2019s what we needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The last two days have epitomized that orthodoxy, with the Dodgers (90-69) sewing up the division with a pair of resilient victories.<\/p>\n

After familiar bullpen collapses on Sunday and Tuesday, the team got creative in an extra-innings win on Wednesday, following a strong start from Blake Snell with relief appearances by Roki Sasaki and Clayton Kershaw.<\/p>\n

Then, on Thursday, the offense set an early tone by scoring four times in the second inning (on home runs from Freeman and Andy Pages, plus a two-run single from Mookie Betts) and four more in the fourth (on a pair of two-run blasts from Freeman and Shohei Ohtani), giving Yoshinobu Yamamoto plenty of breathing room in a scoreless six-inning start.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a weird year for everybody, but we\u2019re here, we won again,\u201d said Kershaw, shirtless and beer-soaked in what was the final division-clinching celebration of his 18-year career. \u201cObviously, we\u2019ve got a lot more to accomplish. But you\u2019ve got to enjoy this moment. We are. It\u2019s a great group of guys. And we\u2019re going to have a ton of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dodgers <\/p>\n

Dodgers players and coaches pose for a team photo at Chase Field after beating the Diamondbacks 8-0 to clinch the NL West title.<\/p>\n

(Chris Coduto \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The Dodgers will have to replicate a similar blueprint in the playoffs, needing superb starting pitching, out-of-the-box bullpen management and some intangible connectivity to successfully defend their World Series championship.<\/p>\n

For much of this year, they couldn\u2019t produce those ingredients consistently.<\/p>\n

But now, it \u201cdoesn\u2019t really matter what happened to this point, how we got here,\u201d Kershaw said.<\/p>\n

Indeed, with another division crown captured and the pursuit of a second-consecutive title awaiting, the slate has been wiped clean.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have an opportunity to make history,\u201d Roberts said, acknowledging the difficulties that have come with trying to become MLB\u2019s first repeat champion in 25 years. \u201cBut that\u2019s part of it. It shouldn\u2019t be easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

For much of this year, they couldn\u2019t produce those ingredients consistently.<\/p>\n

But now, with another division crown captured and the pursuit of a second-consecutive title awaiting, the slate has been wiped clean.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have an opportunity to make history,\u201d Roberts said, acknowledging the difficulties that have come with trying to become MLB\u2019s first repeat champion in 25 years. \u201cBut that\u2019s part of it. It shouldn\u2019t be easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX\u00a0\u2014\u00a0It was not supposed to be this difficult. It was not expected to feel so frustrating. Six months…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":254988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,2977,2442,6595,1910,134496,2961,224,5337,7088,134497,22299,1424,26804,5950,134495,3007,2450,1628],"class_list":{"0":"post-254987","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-division","11":"tag-dodgers","12":"tag-freddie-freeman","13":"tag-game","14":"tag-good-thing","15":"tag-la","16":"tag-los-angeles","17":"tag-losangeles","18":"tag-lot","19":"tag-next-tuesday","20":"tag-october","21":"tag-playoff","22":"tag-roberts","23":"tag-season","24":"tag-strong-start","25":"tag-team","26":"tag-thursday","27":"tag-year"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115268058397343253","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}