Dodgers win West, but Freeman exits with injury
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Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff Writer
LOS ANGELES — Freddie Freeman wore a walking boot and a smile. The moment that all but solidified another National League West title and first-round bye for the Los Angeles Dodgers — a seventh-inning two-run single from Mookie Betts, further extending Thursday’s lead — was followed by Freeman rolling his right ankle, a frightening development for a key player at the most important time of year.
But X-rays revealed no structural damage. Freeman is expected to be just fine for the playoffs.
To clinch this way, he felt, was fitting.
“We’ve worked really hard to overcome a lot of adversity — and it never ends, it seems like, this year,” Freeman said after a 7-2 win over the San Diego Padres. “I’ll do everything I possibly can to be ready.”
The Dodgers watched a dangerous, star-laden Padres team take Tuesday’s series opener with a game-ending triple play, then boisterously celebrate a postseason berth inside Dodger Stadium’s visiting clubhouse. But they came back to win the next two, riding an effective Walker Buehler and key hits from Betts and Shohei Ohtani in the finale.
When Michael Kopech, their standout new closer, got Padres catcher Kyle Higashioka to hit into an infield popup with two outs in the top of the ninth, the Dodgers collected their 95th win this season and their 11th NL West title in 12 years.
“They all feel sweet, but I’ll tell you, man, with what we’ve gone through this year, this feels a tick sweeter,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I’m just so proud of these guys, the way that we’ve fought the adversity, stuck together and found a way to win this division again. It was hard-fought. We earned it. Today sort of epitomized our season — just kind of battling from behind, fighting, scratching, clawing and willing ourselves to victory.”
The Dodgers placed a proverbial target on their backs with a historic offseason splurge that saw them sign Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Teoscar Hernandez and, with a high-profile trade that was followed by an extension, Tyler Glasnow. By the All-Star break, though, they had a major league-leading 15 players on their injured list. Immediately thereafter, the division-rival Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks surged near the top of the division.
But the Dodgers did not waver.
Yamamoto, Betts, Clayton Kershaw, Max Muncy, Blake Treinen and Brusdar Graterol all missed extended time. But the Dodgers never trailed in the NL West. They went just 11-13 in July, but they came back to go 19-8 in August. Every time it seemed as if they might be vulnerable, they responded. Every time it seemed as if they might wilt under the weight of expectations, they met them.
“We like high expectations,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “We relish them. It beats the s— out of the alternative. People care, they’re passionate about the Dodgers. They have high expectations. So do we. We think that’s a great thing. And for us, this is step one. This is what we talked about in spring training. The first step was to win the division and put ourselves in position to get the bye. We’ve done that. And now the ultimate goal is in line. We need to do all we can to put ourselves in position to win 11 games.”
The Dodgers secured a bye the past two years, only to get eliminated by a division rival — the Padres in 2022, the D-backs in 2023 — in the division series. They’ll approach this October with starting pitching concerns similar to the ones they faced last October. Glasnow and Gavin Stone have been ruled out; Kershaw seemingly won’t be an option for the initial round. It’ll be up to Jack Flaherty, acquired before the trade deadline, and Yamamoto, who missed three months with a shoulder injury, to anchor the staff.
But if Buehler can pitch the way he did Thursday — allowing just one run on five hits in an efficient five innings, despite striking out only one batter — the Dodgers could begin the playoffs with a formidable three-man staff.
Said Dodgers catcher Will Smith: “We needed him to step up, and he did.”
The Dodgers were scoreless against Joe Musgrove until Smith tied the score with a two-run homer in the seventh inning. Four batters later, Ohtani snuck a grounder through the right side to give the Dodgers a 3-2 lead. It was his 10th hit in his past 11 at-bats with runners in scoring position, raising his slash line in that situation to .545/.615/1.273 in September.
Ohtani is 20-for-29 with five home runs, 15 RBIs, seven stolen bases and three walks over his past seven games, a stretch that began with a historic performance to reach the 50/50 milestone. But as he approaches his first postseason, it’s his drastic improvements in RBI situations that has stuck out to club officials.
“It was an awesome feeling,” Ohtani, speaking through an interpreter, said of taking part in his first clinch celebration. “I’m hoping to be able to continue popping champagne.”
Freeman was leaning on crutches when the Dodgers began to spray champagne in their clubhouse. He rolled his ankle while trying to evade a tag from Padres first baseman Luis Arraez, then limped directly into the clubhouse for X-rays that came back negative.
Freeman’s ankle swelled “like a grapefruit,” he said, but he’s “optimistic” that he’ll be available by the time the division series begins in nine days. Freeman will stay in Los Angeles to receive treatment while the rest of his teammates travel to Colorado to finish their regular season this weekend.
“Once they get the fluid out,” Freeman said, “I should be able to go.”
Added Roberts: “I’m just grateful that he’s going to have a week off.”
Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson is now the majority owner of Legacy Motor Club under a restructuring in which investment adviser Knighthead Capital Management bought into the Cup Series team.
Knighthead manages $9 billion of assets with a portfolio that includes investments in Hertz, World Endurance Championship sports car team JOTA Racing, Singer Vehicle Design, Revology Cars and a controlling stake of English soccer team Birmingham.
Johnson told The Associated Press that the deal announced Monday makes Knighthead “a significant minority partner” in that the private equity firm bought much of the ownership stake held by Legacy co-owner Maury Gallagher.
Gallagher retained some shares in the NASCAR team but will step down from day-to-day operations and join Hall of Famer Richard Petty as an ambassador for Legacy.
Johnson, who has been living in England for more than a year, will return to Charlotte to be hands-on in his larger role with Legacy. His wife and two daughters will follow at the end of the school year.
“I thought I was going to have three more years to understand ownership more,” Johnson told the AP of his original plan when he bought into the NASCAR team ahead of the 2023 season.
Legacy is essentially the rebuild of Petty Enterprises, one of NASCAR’s oldest and winningest race teams. Gallagher, the chairman of Allegiant Air, owned GMS Racing and, in 2021, acquired Richard Petty Motorsports, rebranding it as Petty GMS Racing.
Johnson signed on at the end of 2022, and the team was again rebranded into Legacy as it expanded to two full-time Cup cars ahead of the 2023 season. The plan was to allow Johnson to grow into his role as NASCAR team owner over five seasons, but the timeline changed when he developed a relationship with Knighthead and Gallagher decided to step back.
“I’ve had an open eye to the private equity world and trying to understand what’s out there,” Johnson said. “I know that there are some other teams with PE involvement, and I just started to get to know people. I had a head start and a few friendships out there, but ultimately the opportunity and access to Knighthead and the friendship I built was done socially, and when it was time to really engage in the PE world, we just clicked and got together to see where we could go.
“We wanted to move quick. And here we are, it’s only been a couple of months, it’s been very, very quick.”
The partnership begins immediately, and Knighthead will be part of Legacy when the NASCAR season begins this weekend with the preseason race at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem.
Tom Wagner, co-founder and co-managing member of Knighthead Capital, said the firm was drawn by “NASCAR’s rich history and Legacy MC’s ambition and innovation make it a unique opportunity.”
“We’re thrilled to collaborate … to drive the team forward, both on the track and within the wider racing community,” Wagner added.
Tom Brady has stakes in Knighthead but the deal with Legacy does not involve him at this time, Johnson said. But Johnson and Brady have discussed possibly partnering on an Indianapolis 500 entry for driver Sebastian Bourdais with Chip Ganassi Racing. Ganassi told the AP he had only one preliminary conversation with Johnson about it and there has been no further discussion.
Legacy this season will field two full-time cars: the No. 43 Toyota for Erik Jones and the No. 42 Toyota for John Hunter Nemechek. Johnson will attempt to qualify next month for the season-opening Daytona 500 and also the Coca-Cola 600 in May.
Johnson, who turns 50 in September, ran nine races last year but said he realized at the season-finale in Phoenix that Legacy needs him more in his executive role than as a driver.
He thanked Gallagher for the opportunity to become a NASCAR team owner and is eager to help Legacy improve its on-track performance while working with Knighthead to expand the brand.
“He has been an outstanding partner, mentor and friend, and I’m grateful we had the opportunity to work together,” Johnson said of Gallagher. “I’ve learned so much from him, and as his professional career takes a different path, he can worry less about being an owner and more about focusing on family and enjoying life.”
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Jesse Rogers
CHICAGO — The Cubs are finalizing a trade to acquire closer Ryan Pressly from the Houston Astros, pending medical review, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Sunday.
Pressly will waive his no-trade clause to facilitate the move, and Houston will send money to help cover his $14 million salary, the sources said.
The Astros will receive a low-level Cubs prospect who is not on Chicago’s 40-man roster, according to a source.
Pressly, 36, is likely to become the Cubs’ closer, a role he held with Houston from 2021 to 2023 before it signed Josh Hader to a long-term contract. The veteran righty has 112 saves with a 3.27 ERA during his 12-year career, which includes six seasons in Minnesota.
Pressly will join a bullpen that blew 26 saves last season, as the Cubs are looking to make a playoff push in 2025. Chicago hasn’t been to the postseason since 2020, working without an established closer over the past few years.
Righty Adbert Alzolay was ineffective last season, then he suffered a forearm injury and eventually needed Tommy John surgery. Porter Hodge, 23, finished the season as the closer, but the team wanted more experience and depth in the back end of the bullpen.
The Cubs pursued lefty Tanner Scott before he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers last weekend, according to league sources. Chicago was less interested in the other free agent closers, instead settling for Pressly, who has one year left on a three-year, $42 million contract signed before the 2023 season.
Pressly will join newcomers Eli Morgan, Cody Poteet, Matt Festa, Caleb Thielbar and Rob Zastryzny in the Cubs’ bullpen.
The trade likely will conclude the bulk of the team’s winter moves.
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