Shohei Ohtani hit his 54th home run of the season, Freddie Freeman homered twice, and the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched their 12th National League West title in 13 years with an 8-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night at Chase Field.
Oddsmakers listed Los Angeles as -140 moneyline favorites entering the game, with Arizona at +120. The over/under was set at 8.5 runs, and the Dodgers nearly covered it on their own, while Arizona was shut out for the 10th time this season.
Ohtani provided the signature moment of the night in the fourth inning. With a runner on base, he drove a pitch deep to right-center field, sending it into the swimming pool beyond the wall. The two-run shot extended the Dodgers’ lead to 6-0, giving Ohtani 101 runs batted in. It also tied his career high for home runs in a season, matching the total he hit last year when the Dodgers won the World Series. The 30-year-old also leads Major League Baseball with 144 runs scored.
Freeman supplied power early, homering in the second inning off Arizona opener Jalen Beeks. Andy Pages followed with a long ball of his own against reliever Nabil Crismatt, giving Los Angeles back-to-back homers for a quick 2-0 lead. Mookie Betts later added a two-run single to a four-run second inning. Freeman’s second homer came in the fourth, giving him 23 on the season with three runs batted in on the night. Page’s home run was his 27th of the year.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto improved to 12-8 on the mound after allowing just four hits across six scoreless innings. The right-hander struck out seven, surpassing 200 strikeouts for the season and finishing with 201. His 2.49 earned run average placed second in the National League behind Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes, who posted a 1.97 ERA: three relievers combined with Yamamoto to complete a five-hit shutout, the Dodgers’ 10th of the year.
The win capped a dominant stretch against division opponents, as Los Angeles finished 36-16 against the NL West. It also marked the club’s fourth straight division title and extended a consistency unmatched in the league over the past decade.
For Arizona, the loss carried significant postseason implications. The Diamondbacks, now 80-79, fell 1 1/2 games behind the New York Mets for the final wild card position and one game back of Cincinnati. Despite a respectable 43-38 record at home, Arizona has struggled down the stretch and now faces an uphill climb with just three games remaining, all against the San Diego Padres.
Thursday’s crowd of 34,952 brought Arizona’s season attendance to 2,393,773, its highest since 2008. The Diamondbacks’ fans will now watch closely as their team attempts to salvage a playoff spot in the final weekend.
Los Angeles continues its push into October with right-hander Emmet Sheehan (6-3, 2.86 ERA) scheduled to start Friday in Seattle. Arizona will send Zac Gallen (13-14, 4.70 ERA) to the mound in San Diego, where he will be opposed by Yu Darvish (4-5, 5.51 ERA).
