LOS ANGELES — Even with the division title clinched, there is still magic and numbers to chase.
Freddie Freeman is chasing two of them and moved closer Tuesday night with two hits, including a double. But it was two-out RBIs by David Peralta in the eighth inning and Max Muncy in the ninth that brought the Dodgers from behind for a 3-2 walk-off win against the Detroit Tigers – their fifth win in a row and their sixth walk-off win of the season.
The double was Freeman’s MLB-leading 56th of the season. He has 12 more games to become the first player with 60 doubles in a season since Charlie Gehringer and Joe Medwick did it in 1936. Only six players in baseball history have had more doubles in a season than Freeman already has and his 84 extra-base hits this season matched Shawn Green (2004) and Cody Bellinger (2019) for the most in a season by a Los Angeles Dodger.
If reaching 60 doubles might take some work, Freeman is just two hits short of his first 200-hit season after adding a single to his double Tuesday night. With two more hits, Freeman will become the only first baseman in MLB history to have at least 200 hits, 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in a season.
He is already one of only four players at any position to have 25 or more home runs, 50 or more doubles and 20 stolen bases in a season, joining Grady Sizemore (2006), Alfonso Soriano (2002) and Chuck Klein (1932).
J.D. Martinez’s numbers are more recent, less historic but bode well for the Dodgers’ postseason run.
Martinez’s solo home run in the fourth inning Tuesday was his third homer in two nights and continued his hot hitting since returning from the injured list.
In 10 games since coming back, Martinez has gone 15 for 38 (.395) with a double, four home runs and 14 RBIs.
Martinez’s homer was topped by two Tiger home runs – solo shots by Parker Meadows and Spencer Torkelson.
Ryan Pepiot entered the game in the second inning and pitched six innings, allowing just Meadows’ home run and working out of jams in the fifth, sixth and seventh.
Pepiot stranded Tyler Nevin at second base after a one-out double in the fifth. In the sixth, the Tigers had two on with two outs and Pepiot got a fly out to end the inning. In the seventh, the Tigers started the inning with back-to-back singles but came away empty.
Pepiot could be pitching his way into an expanded postseason role. Since his late start to the season due to a rib injury, Pepiot has pitched in six games for the Dodgers, three starts and three “bulk” outings. He has a 1.91 ERA, holding batters to a .171 average and most importantly walking only three in 33 innings. Poor command was Pepiot’s undoing during his big-league cameos last season.
With his mother in the stands to see him pitch in the majors for the first time, Brusdar Graterol retired the side in the eighth inning. That extended his scoreless innings streak to 21, the longest by a Dodgers pitcher this season.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Dodgers (93-57) tied the score when Martinez singled, pinch-runner Chris Taylor stole second and scored on Peralta’s double sliced down the left-field line.
In the ninth, Mookie Betts singled with one out, went to second when Will Smith was hit by a pitch and scored on Muncy’s single to right field.
More to come on this story.
