Originally published by DodgerBlue.com
The Los Angeles Dodgers recently endured a tough road trip and are just 5-7 during the month of June. Dating back to May 16, they have gone 12-15, which included dropping five of nine series.
The Dodgers had also lost three consecutive series going into their matchup with the Chicago White Sox, and they were once again in position to add another following a blown game by the bullpen on Wednesday.
The day following the loss, the Dodgers held a team meeting to address the need to play better, and they followed that with a walk-off victory thanks the heroics of Chris Taylor and Freddie Freeman to win the series against the White Sox.
“I think it was emphasized by us before the game that we needed to play a little bit better,” Freeman said of the clubhouse conversation.
“Ultimately we needed Chris in that moment to get us going, but hats off to our team. Guys that were in there yesterday came back; Yency (Almonte), Caleb (Ferguson), and Evan (Phillips) had two huge innings. Michael Grove grinding five innings out. Just an overall good team win.”
Although the meeting came after arguably one of their most frustrating losses, the games leading up to that also played a part in the decision to hold a team chat as the Dodgers have not played well overall.
“Just 3-7 for us, even though we did lose on some walk-offs, is not how we want to go about it,” Freeman said. “So just some conversations that we had, and I’m kind of glad that we backed it up.”
Freddie Freeman: Dodgers series win can build momentum
After walking off against the White Sox, the Dodgers can use that win to put some momentum together as they begin a weekend set with the San Francisco Giants.
“Yeah, a series win is huge. You can build off those,” Freeman said. “And obviously, to do it in front of the home fans, you could feel them getting antsy there at the beginning of the game and kind of erupted with Chris’ grand slam.
“It’s good to be home, good to play some good baseball the last couple days and ultimately get a series win to carry that into a big weekend.”
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