The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-6 on Thursday afternoon, and that means they are now headed to the playoffs as they clinched their division, the National League West.
The Dodgers spent a ton of money on the roster they currently have, and in the beginning of the year they were viewed as a huge disappointment, when they got off to a shaky start. They were, at one point, last in their division and 9.5 games back of first place. But after going on a historic run over a 50-game span, the Dodgers took a strangle hold on the NL West and never let go.
It could be argued, very strongly, that Hanley Ramirez has been the MVP of the Dodgers this season despite only playing in 81 games before the Dodgers clinched. Ramirez was a big reason the Dodgers won the clinching game, as he was a big reason for their run to the playoffs. Ramirez went 4-5 with two home runs and four RBI's in the clinching game. For the season, Ramirez has 20 home runs and 57 RBI's in just half a season. Ramirez, though, doesn't think the journey ends here for the Dodgers.
"I want to keep going, I think that we've got a couple of more steps to do. We've got to keep working and stay together all the way through to the end," said Ramirez, according to USA Today.
Another huge part of the Dodgers turning their season around was rookie sensation Yasiel Puig. Puig has played in 94 games for the Dodgers and in that time has hit 17 home runs, driven in 37 runs, stolen 11 bases and hit .336. Those numbers are outstanding for anyone, especially a rookie, but Puig is prone to mental lapses, and not making the best baseball play. Puig made another base-running blunder today, that ended up costing the Dodgers a run. This is something that just can't happen if the Dodgers want to advance through the postseason.
ESPN doesn't seems too worried about Puig's most-recent blunder, as they point out that the Dodgers have time to work out some of these issues, as their next meaningful game won't be played for another two weeks.
The Dodgers became the first team into the playoffs in 2013, and remain the only division winner crowned so far. The Red Sox are on the verge of joining them (they clinched a playoff birth Thursday night) and there will be more to follow. All of the other divisions are all but set, and it's just a matter of time before the division winners are crowned, but the Dodgers are the first to be able to take a sigh of relief.
Photo credit to Wikimedia Commons
