‘An out in three pitches’: What the rest of MLB can learn from the Royals’ old-school rotation
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Bradford Doolittle
WHEN A TEAM finds a successful strategy in pro sports, it has long been the expectation that its competition will shift toward that strategy. The typical refrain: “It’s a copycat league.”
If that’s the case in Major League Baseball, shouldn’t the replicating felines be conducting thorough investigations of last season’s Kansas City Royals?
The 2024 Royals were a historically remarkable team. Kansas City won 30 more games than it did in 2023. If you prorate every past team to a 162-game season for comparison, the Royals authored just the 14th year-over-year leap of at least 30 wins since 1901. It was just the fourth such leap in the three decades since the advent of the wild card. Kansas City joined the 1946 Boston Red Sox and the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays as the only teams to improve by at least 30 games, then go on to win more than one game in the playoffs.
How could such a thing possibly happen? It’s not as if the Royals were like the 2022 Baltimore Orioles — another 30-win leaper — who turned the corner after years of topping the prospect rankings. Entering the season, the prospect mavens remained very much down on the Royals’ system. Yet they broke out anyway. Wouldn’t the answer to this particular “how” question have some repercussions on baseball’s hypercompetitive, eager-to-innovate landscape?
The answers have a lot to do with the fading status of the starting pitcher — and how, when it comes to managing a rotation, there’s more than one way worth copying.
THEY TRIED. THAT’S what you heard so often about Kansas City’s success. It’s true. Despite losing 106 games the season before, the Royals went about building the best 26-man roster they could, displaying an aggression during free agency that surprised everyone. They tried, sure, but they also tried in a very specific way.
The sexy part of the Royals’ breakout was the amazing-but-expected rise of star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. But the Royals scored only 59 more runs in 2024 than the season before. The rocket fuel for the turnaround came on the other side of the ball, where K.C. slashed 215 runs off of its 28th-ranked runs allowed total of 2023.
While the bullpen performed better, the rotation accounted for most of this, cutting its collective ERA from 5.17 to 3.76. The group didn’t have a Paul Skenes ascend to the majors, nor did it have a high-profile international addition. The Royals did introduce two solid veteran free agents to the group in Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha.
“We felt like we had a lot of holes to fill and everything in this game starts and ends with starting pitching,” Royals GM J.J. Picollo told ESPN during the team’s hot start last year. “So that was clearly the No. 1 objective, trying to secure two starting pitchers.”
That’s an old-school statement, the type of thing baseball execs have been saying for eons. Still, while Lugo and Wacha had good enough track records that Kansas City was far from their only option, between them they had accounted for one All-Star appearance (Wacha in 2015) over 19 combined big-league campaigns. It’s not the kind of thing that takes a team from 106 losses to playing the New York Yankees in October.
But it did. The Royals did play into October, and everything did begin with those two signings. Lugo (16-9, 3.00 ERA over 206⅔ innings, second in AL Cy Young balloting) and Wacha (13-8, 3.35 ERA, 166⅔ innings) were outstanding. Just as important, though, were the downhill effects of their dual arrival.
“Wacha and Lugo are great,” said the budding ace the Royals already had in their deck, fireballing lefty Cole Ragans. “They are two great guys who you look up to and try to understand how they go about their game.”
Well, how do they go about their games?
The most important statistic about the Kansas City rotation might simply have been 908 — the number of innings the Royals got from their starting pitchers. That total ranked second in the majors behind Seattle, but 95% of that figure came from K.C.’s five most-used starters, the highest percentage in the majors. Lugo led the way with an AL-leading 836 batters faced.
“Lugo threw 206 innings, I think, last year,” Ragans said, correctly. “That’s where you want to be. The goal is 200 innings. You just watch him, how he goes about his business, how he thinks about pitching. He knows he can get swing-and-miss when he needs it, but he’s trying to get guys off balance and get some weak contact.”
Lugo led the way, but his approach was Kansas City’s approach — even for Ragans, who has elite swing-and-miss ability. These aren’t new ideas, but they felt kind of like it during a season when pitcher injuries — and the widespread focus on max-effort pitching that likely contributes to them — dominated the headlines. The Royals simply did not participate in that narrative.
With five core starters — Lugo, Wacha, Ragans, Brady Singer (now with the Cincinnati Reds) and Alec Marsh — doing most of the work, the Royals’ rotation still managed to work deeper into games than any other team in an era of two-times-through-the-order starters. Some facts:
• Royals starters faced 23.4 batters per outing, most in the majors, making the trip into the third time through the order a standard, not a rarity.
• Kansas City tied for third in quality starts (76), which of course entails going at least six innings in an outing.
• The Royals’ starters threw just 16.2 pitches per frame, ranking 23rd in the majors.
• The Royals ranked 21st in total payroll, but 14th in payroll allotted for starting pitchers. Their core five starters accounted for 30.7% of the outpay, the second-largest percentage allocated for that group in the majors, behind Toronto (34.4%).
• Of the Royals’ 86 wins, 58 resulted in winning decisions for a core-five starter, the highest total in the majors.
• The core five started 151 of the Royals’ 162 games, another big-league-leading total.
Obviously, a lot has to go your way for this to happen. It’s not as if the Royals have figured out how to sidestep pitching injuries. But this was all very much by design, not just in roster construction, but in terms of game-by-game, inning-by-inning, pitch-by-pitch approach.
Call it a season approach, rather than a game approach. To achieve maximum results over 162 games, don’t leave it all out there in any one situation with a barrage of 100 mph fastballs and a focus on the strikeout column. Much of it has to do with managing effort, not the easiest skill to learn in the era of Statcast and Rapsodo, but it’s one even the game’s best strikeout pitchers can hone over time.
“It’s trying to rein in when somebody steps in there,” said the Texas Rangers‘ Jacob deGrom, a two-time Cy Young winner with a career strikeout rate of 11 whiffs per nine innings. Yet, after a string of injury-plagued seasons, deGrom is focused on easing up on the throttle. “When somebody steps in, it’s go time. But you have to trust that your stuff plays at maybe not 100% effort. There’s a lot of times you’ll actually locate the ball better. So it can be a plus in both ways, health wise, and maybe some location stuff.”
These are lessons taken to heart by the newest member of the Royals’ rotation, lefty Kris Bubic, who is transitioning back to starting pitching after Kansas City traded Singer over the winter.
“I don’t want to say pitching to contact,” Bubic said. “But we’re not relying on velocity. We’re relying on change of speeds, throwing a lot of strikes.”
This sentiment is borne out in the data. The Royals’ starters ranked in the middle of the pack in terms of average velocity, with Ragans’ ability to crack 100 with his four-seamer leading the way, so it’s not like they were a bunch of Jamie Moyers. But the Royals’ reliance on softer stuff resulted in the second-highest aggregate spin rate among rotations.
Forget the radar. Get in, get out.
“There’s always a philosophy of ‘an out in three pitches,'” Bubic said, repeating it like a mantra. “You want a guy out on three pitches. You want a guy out on three pitches. You just continue that attacking mindset.”
THIS WINTER’S TOP free agent starting pitchers had plenty of suitors. Based on data from Roster Resources at FanGraphs, we can estimate that about $1.38 billion in committed salary went to free agent starters — highlighted by nine-figure commitments for Max Fried, Corbin Burnes and Blake Snell.
After the Royals’ success in 2024, you might have expected a bit more activity from baseball’s also-rans and low-revenue teams, which saw how the right couple of rotation additions can not just infuse the win column but can paper over an organization’s lack of depth.
Yet it was mostly the usual suspects doing all of that spending. Teams that finished .500 or better last year accounted for 78% of the collective rotation investment. If you look at it from a revenue standpoint, the 12 highest-grossing teams (or 40% of the league) accounted for 58% of the spending on starters.
There were exceptions in the Athletics and Los Angeles Angels. The low-ish revenue Arizona Diamondbacks doled out $210 million for Burnes. Still, by and large, there wasn’t a deluge of teams following in the Royals’ path. Ranking eighth in spending on starters were the Royals themselves, who committed $58 million to bring back Wacha and Michael Lorenzen.
If you love the traditional models of starting pitching, this might be disappointing. As we’ve alluded to, while the Royals didn’t reinvent the rotation wheel, they did at least show us that some of the old ways can still work. But so, too, do the new ways.
Case in point: If the Royals took a season approach to running their rotation, other teams won with a game-based approach — and none more so than the Milwaukee Brewers.
“We don’t have the firepower to give up one game, you know?” said Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy, the reigning National League Manager of the Year. “I mean, we just don’t. We’re not built that way.”
The Brewers have been one of baseball’s great innovators for years now, but much of their recent run of success has been due to a foundation of starting pitching, led by Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta. But Burnes was traded before last season and Woodruff was recovering from a shoulder injury.
Still, the revamped Brewers won 93 games and the NL Central title, and they did it by winning one game at a time in about the most anti-Royals way possible.
Only three teams used fewer starters than the Royals’ nine, but only two clubs used more than the Brewers’ 17. Only three teams got fewer rotation innings than Milwaukee, and only six teams saw their starters throw more pitches per inning.
Instead of riding a group of old-school starters and preserving them as much as possible for the long haul, the Brewers improvised their way along, day after day. And it worked.
“Of course, we want the length,” said Milwaukee pitching coach Chris Hook. “But that’s not necessarily how you put 27 outs together.”
In terms of managing effort, this approach focuses a starting pitcher in that he doesn’t have to worry about the later innings, as starters once did. Still, the notion of managing effort at all might be an individual pitcher thing, as opposed to an explicit message from an organization. Brewers starter Aaron Civale has spent his career taking a tour of some of baseball’s most cutting-edge pitching programs, moving from Cleveland to Tampa Bay to Milwaukee.
“I’ve never been instructed to not have the foot on the gas,” Civale said. “I’ve also never been instructed to have my foot on the gas. I think that if you’re a competitor and you’re at this level, you’re going pitch to pitch, and you’re trying to win that moment versus the hitter. And the hitter is doing the same thing.”
In a sense, the Brewers maintained that kind of postseason mindset from the first pitch on Opening Day. Worry about getting the win today. Then worry about tomorrow.
“It’d be great to have five dudes,” Hook said, “but I don’t think that’s the norm. Throughout the league, it’s not the norm. For us even more so, because we do things a little different in how we construct a roster.”
That roster construction works because of Milwaukee’s ability to consistently build deep, dominant bullpens, often with the considerable help of pitchers who have struggled in other organizations. It also involves finding what former manager Craig Counsell always called “out getters” — pitchers who fill a variety of roles from short, high-leverage spots to multi-inning stints in the middle of winnable games.
“It’s about winning the F’ing game tonight,” Hook said. “That’s basically Murph’s mantra, and I think that’s how we play the system.”
EVERYTHING WENT RIGHT for the Royals’ rotation in 2024, just as pretty much everything went right for the Brewers’ bullpen, at least once closer Devin Williams returned from injury. The teams went about it very differently but ultimately both approaches paid off in postseason appearances.
Now they are running it back, trying to repeat dynamics that are so hard to pin down. Can the Royals get 151 starts from five starting pitchers? Can the Brewers continue to spin almost every bullpen arm they acquire into high-leverage gold, especially after trading Williams to the Yankees in December?
Both teams pursued a bit more rotation/bullpen balance. The Royals made the bold move of moving Singer in his prime in order to acquire a much-needed leadoff hitter in Jonathan India. They also bolstered a bullpen that was spotty for much of 2024, having added high-leverage fireballers Lucas Erceg, Hunter Harvey and Carlos Estevez since the middle of last season.
Still, the investment to bring back Wacha and Lorenzen, and the decision to move Bubic to the rotation after a highly successful campaign as a reliever, shows that starting pitching very much remains the focus in Kansas City.
“You want to take that baton,” said Bubic, who added a second slider in order to diversify his arsenal in a way that will allow him to navigate opposing lineups as many times as possible. “They pass that baton to you and you want to fulfill those same expectations: Make a quality start, pitching deep into games.”
The Brewers, meanwhile, committed just $5.25 million in new salary to its rotation, the bulk of that coming late in the spring when veteran Jose Quintana signed after strangely lingering on the free agent market all winter. They also acquired starter Nestor Cortes in the Williams deal. But Milwaukee will remain unlikely to climb high on the leaderboard for rotation innings.
Maybe the Royals’ turnaround didn’t spur a neoclassic movement in starting pitching, but at least they showed that a season approach can still work. Insomuch as that’s the case, some of the old ways live on. But every new season is a blank slate.
“The starters carrying those innings, going deep into those games, was immensely important last year,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “I don’t know how to predict it going forward.”
Sports
Who are MLB’s teams to beat this October — and who could take them down? Execs, insiders weigh in
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Jesse Rogers
The MLB playoffs are just around the corner and shaping up to be a wide-open affair. For the second consecutive season, there is not a single team on pace to win 100 or more games. That means there is plenty of parity across the majors, which is bound to carry over to October.
With that in mind, we asked 19 baseball players, executives and scouts: Who is the team to beat in the National League? And who is the team to beat in the American League?
There was little uniformity to their answers, though most agreed on one thing: a sleeper team that people in both leagues agreed could make a run in October. Here’s how those in the game view the upcoming postseason.
The NL’s team to beat is …
(Phillies, 5; Dodgers, 4; Padres, 2; Mets, 1)
Voting was as tight as you might imagine, considering the Brewers are mixed in with the defending champion Dodgers and high-priced Phillies. Those teams dominated our poll, leaving few votes for anyone else.
All three teams can slug their way to the World Series, but the Dodgers have a distinct advantage in the power game, outhomering both Philadelphia and Milwaukee by a wide margin this regular season. However, Philly employs easily the best closer of the three — a crucial element that could help finish off those tight October games.
Still, it was the Brewers who won our poll because they’ve played at such a high level in all areas while also possessing a deep and healthy starting staff.
Why the Brewers
NL player: “They seem like a team that has a really solid plan and cohesive approach. And they seem like they’re on the same page. I just like how they play. And they’ve done it all year; why can’t they keep it going?”
NL scout: “They still have to figure out the back end of their pen, but in a short series, they have the luxury of sending one of their good starters to the bullpen. And they might just run into enough home runs to keep pace in October.”
NL exec: “Getting the bye will be huge for them. They’ve been knocked out in those short series several times; this will let them breathe a bit. Plus, their starting staff is so good. If I’m Milwaukee, I want the longer series.”
Biggest threats to Brewers
NL player: “It’s simple for me. They still have good pitching, and they’ve been there before. Playoffs are about home runs, and they can hit them.”
NL player: “Their lineup is a little top-heavy, but they have enough at the bottom that can do the job. If those guys show up, then that lineup is really good. Their pen is incredible with [Jhoan] Duran.”
NL exec: “It’s their last hurrah, right? They have older players, some of whom will be free agents at the end of the season. I just can’t see [Bryce] Harper going his career without a ring, and this is their best chance, even without [Zack] Wheeler.”
NL player: “When we played them, they didn’t have a good series, but they seem to turn it on when they need to. That’s the sign of a champion. I think their offense will have a big October and lead them like it did last year.”
NL exec: “Talent will win out, and they have the potential for healthiest pitching staff all year in October.”
If not Milwaukee, Philadelphia or Los Angeles, then who?
Truth be told, these insiders responded before the latest Mets free fall became so dramatic — New York was on an eight-game losing streak that ended with an extra-innings win over Texas on Sunday. But, hey, anyone can get hot at the right time, right? The Mets proved that last year. But they have to prove they can even get into the October party before they can think about making a deep run.
The Padres are hard to figure out, but that doesn’t make them less dangerous than any other contender. Some days, their offense goes into hibernation, but they can shut anyone down in the late innings. Their bullpen is that good and could take them far despite the loss of Jason Adam.
NL player: “I like San Diego. They’re hungry. They made all the right deadline moves. And they have the experience of getting close but not going all the way.”
NL exec: “There’s a lot to like about San Diego, but they can still be pitched to even with their deadline additions. It’s like they disappear sometimes. If they survive a wild-card round and get some home games, Petco [Park]’s energy could wake them up. Still a great bullpen.”
NL player: “The Mets are really good. I know they’ve struggled, but I’m banking on them getting hot like they did last postseason. Sometimes you get your worst baseball behind you, then find your groove. I like the Mets to do that.”
NL scout: “Their lineup 1-9 has to carry them. I’m not sure how they’ll piece it together on the mound, but sometimes you find rookie magic in an arm or two. If two of [Nolan] McLean, [Jonah] Tong and [Brandon] Sproat can come through, why not the Mets?
The AL’s team to beat is …
(Tigers, 5; Yankees, 3; Red Sox, 3; Astros, 2)
The voting was even tighter in the AL than in the NL — four teams received three or more votes — but it was the Blue Jays who edged out the competition with just one more vote than Detroit.
Home-field advantage could make the difference for the AL’s top two teams, both of whom dominate at home but hover around .500 on the road. The Tigers play so well at Comerica Park, where they are able to run rampant on the bases and go first to third on teams. And, of course, they feature Tarik Skubal at the top of their rotation. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays can get the newly renovated Rogers Centre rocking as hard as any stadium in the majors. That top seed in the AL is up for grabs down the stretch — and one of these two teams is highly likely to get it.
Why the Blue Jays
AL player: “They’re one of the most rounded teams in the AL. They have some experience, especially in the rotation, and have a little bit of everything in the lineup. That’s tough to contend with in a series. I just think they have the most complete team.”
AL scout: “As good as [Bo] Bichette, Vlad [Guerrero Jr.] and [George] Springer have been, it’s the contributions from guys from the left side of the plate like [Nathan] Lukes and [Addison] Barger which make Toronto really dangerous. They have some balance, which has eluded them.”
AL exec: “I love their team, but I question their bullpen. It hasn’t been very stout in the second half. Tommy Nance might be a guy to lean on.”
Biggest threat to Blue Jays: Detroit Tigers
AL player: “Detroit is high up on that list [of teams to beat]. They know how to win. That’s the biggest thing. They proved that last offseason. And they’ve turned that park into a nice home-field advantage. I know they go first to third better than anyone. That’s a key, playing in that ballpark.”
AL scout: “Sometimes seeing a team play a lot you can get a more negative opinion than what their record is, and sometimes it can be a more positive opinion than their record. With the Tigers, it’s the latter. And they already have a pretty good record.”
AL exec: “I’ve tried to fill out playoff rotations without a true ace. It’s really tough. So having Tarik Skubal makes all the difference for me. Unless he runs out of gas, Detroit is my pick.”
If not Toronto or Detroit, then who?
A case can be made for any of the wild-card entrants — depending on where Houston finishes, as it remains in a tight division battle with Seattle — to pull off an October upset with big-game experience oozing from the Astros and Yankees lineups. New York can also slug, of course, while the return of Yordan Alvarez makes Houston’s offense ever so dangerous again.
The Red Sox, on the other hand, have made the postseason only once (2021) since winning the World Series in 2018. However, they feature a balanced lineup with playoff leadership in the form of Alex Bregman. Plus, Aroldis Chapman is about as good as it gets on the closer front.
AL exec: “I think their bullpen will get hot, and [they] have enough power bats to get through a weaker field in the AL.”
AL player: “It’s the Red Sox. They are playing good baseball. They have formidable pitching starting with [Garrett] Crochet and their lineup is cohesive and looks like they have a good time together. They know how to win with Bregman there.”
AL player: “Everyone is forgetting that Yordan Alvarez missed most of the season. He’s a difference-maker. And when we played them, Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown were as good as any two pitchers. Houston is my pick.”
Everyone’s October sleeper pick: Seattle Mariners
Until recently, the Mariners hadn’t shown the league their best hand, ending up in the sleeper category because of it. Those we spoke to said Seattle simply has more upside available to it than any other team.
AL player: “A team that can get really hot that isn’t playing its best baseball is Seattle. That pitching staff is legit. [Cal] Raleigh hit 50 [home runs] but they have other guys that are built for that moment — the spotlight moment. Randy Arozarena and [Eugenio] Suarez are two of them. They’re built to win late.”
NL player: “It’s one of those lineups where everyone is waiting for them to put it all together. Their rotation is very talented, and they have one of the best closers in the league. I think they’re one of those teams that, if they get hot at the right time, no one can beat them.”
AL exec: “Seattle has one of its best teams we’ve seen there in years. If there is a real sleeper in this entire playoff field, it’s the Seattle Mariners.”
AL exec: “Seattle is my ‘surprise’ team. I think a bad year for pitching in Seattle could get flipped on its head in the postseason with their starters picking it up.”
A number of teams are starting to shift their focus to October as the final month of the 2025 MLB regular season continues.
The Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs have both clinched postseason berths, with the Brewers closing in on the NL Central title. The Philadelphia Phillies have locked up the NL East title and the Los Angeles Dodgers are headed back to October, again.
And in the biggest twist of the 2025 season, the Cleveland Guardians have rocked the American League playoff picture with a September surge, emerging as a serious contender in both the AL Central and wild-card races entering the final week.
Beyond division races, there are many storylines to watch as the regular season comes to an end and playoffs begin: Where do current playoff matchups stand? What games should you be paying attention to each day leading up to October? Who will be the next team to clinch a postseason berth? And what does the playoff schedule look like?
We have everything you need to know as the regular season hits the homestretch.
Key links: Full MLB standings | Wild-card standings
Who’s in?
Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers clinched the season’s first playoff spot for a second consecutive year on Saturday with a Mets’ loss to Texas.
Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies clinched a spot in the postseason on Sunday with the Giants’ loss to the Dodgers. On Monday with a win over the Dodgers, they clinched the NL East title for the second straight year.
Chicago Cubs
The Cubs clinched their spot in the postseason on Wednesday with a win over the Pirates. It’s their first playoff appearance in a full-length season since 2018.
The Dodgers clinched their 13th consecutive playoff appearance on Friday when the Phillies beat the Diamondbacks.
Who can clinch a playoff spot next?
The Blue Jays, Yankees, Mariners and Padres all have at least a 97% chance of making the postseason, as well.
What are this October’s MLB playoff matchups as it stands now?
American League
Wild-card round: (6) Guardians at (3) Tigers, (5) Red Sox at (4) Yankees
ALDS: Guardians/Tigers vs. (2) Mariners, Red Sox/Yankees vs. (1) Blue Jays
National League
Wild-card round: (6) Mets at (3) Dodgers, (5) Padres at (4) Cubs
NLDS: Mets/Dodgers vs. (2) Phillies, Padres/Cubs vs. (1) Brewers
Breaking down the AL race
The Blue Jays have taken control of the race for the AL’s No. 1 seed. While Toronto sits atop the AL East, the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees are duking it out for wild-card seeding. And the Seattle Mariners are attempting to separate themselves from the Houston Astros in a two-team AL West race. Meanwhile, the Cleveland Guardians are in hot pursuit of the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central while also playing themselves into a tight race for the final wild-card spot.
And what about when these teams get to the postseason? Here’s what their chances are for every round:
Breaking down the NL race
The Brewers were the first MLB team to seal its spot in October, and the Phillies — who then sealed an NL East title — clinched next. A group of contenders have separated themselves atop the NL standings with the New York Mets clinging to a lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds for the final playoff spot, and there is intrigue in the NL West as the Dodgers attempt to fend off the Padres for the division crown.
And what about when these teams get to the postseason? Here’s what their chances are for every round:
Game of the day
Looking for something to watch today? Here’s the baseball game with the biggest playoff implications:
Playoff schedule
Wild-card series
Best of three, all games at better seed’s stadium
Game 1: Tuesday, Sept. 30
Game 2: Wednesday, Oct. 1
Game 3: Thursday, Oct. 2*
Division series
Best of five
ALDS
Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 4
Game 2: Sunday, Oct. 5
Game 3: Tuesday, Oct. 7
Game 4: Wednesday, Oct. 8*
Game 5: Friday, Oct. 10*
NLDS
Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 4
Game 2: Monday, Oct. 6
Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 8
Game 4: Thursday, Oct. 9*
Game 5: Saturday, Oct. 11*
League championship series
Best of seven
ALCS
Game 1: Sunday, Oct. 12
Game 2: Monday, Oct. 13
Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 15
Game 4: Thursday, Oct. 16
Game 5: Friday, Oct. 17*
Game 6: Sunday, Oct. 19*
Game 7: Monday, Oct. 20*
NLCS
Game 1: Monday, Oct. 13
Game 2: Tuesday, Oct. 14
Game 3: Thursday, Oct. 16
Game 4: Friday, Oct. 17
Game 5: Saturday, Oct. 18*
Game 6: Monday, Oct. 20*
Game 7: Tuesday, Oct. 21*
World Series
Best of seven
Game 1: Friday, Oct. 24
Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 25
Game 3: Monday, Oct. 27
Game 4: Tuesday, Oct. 28
Game 5: Wednesday, Oct. 29*
Game 6: Friday, Oct. 31*
Game 7: Saturday, Nov. 1*
* If necessary
Shohei Ohtani launched his 53rd home run to tie for the National League lead as the Los Angeles Dodgers erased an early four-run deficit Saturday night in a 7-5 victory over the San Francisco Giants.
Ohtani pulled even with Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber when the Japanese star connected for a 403-foot shot to left field in the sixth inning. It was Ohtani’s 29th homer at Dodger Stadium this season, a franchise record. He topped his own mark of 28 last year, when he finished with a career-high 54 on the way to winning his third MVP award and first in the National League.
“I think that the home run title will be great. But I think it’s just a byproduct of taking good at-bats, and he’s playing to win,” Roberts said. “If there’s a walk that’s needed and they’re not pitching to him, he’s taking his walks. And if they make a mistake, he’s making them pay.”
Ohtani also scored his career-high 140th run of the season.
Another remarkable season by the two-way star had the rest of his clubhouse touting the case for a third straight MVP award.
“I haven’t looked up any deep numbers or anything like that, but I think [the MVP is] Shohei,” said starter Tyler Glasnow, who rebounded from a four-run first inning with four scoreless innings to get the win. “He pitches and hits. I think it’s obviously Shohei, in my mind.”
Max Muncy‘s two-run homer in the first inning pulled Los Angeles to 4-2. Michael Conforto also went deep and Tommy Edman hit a tiebreaking shot for the playoff-bound Dodgers, who won their fourth straight and lead the NL West by four games over the San Diego Padres with seven to play.
The Giants stayed four games behind the New York Mets for the last NL wild card, with the Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks also ahead of the Giants.
Jack Dreyer pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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