It will be a battle of West Division champions when the Seattle Mariners close the regular season with a three-game series at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers beginning Friday night.
Whether it ends up being more than that — a World Series preview, perhaps? — remains to be seen.
The Dodgers (90-69) popped the champagne Thursday after clinching their fourth straight National League West title and 12th in the past 13 years with an 8-0 victory at Arizona.
“There was no doubt in my mind that this team wasn’t going to get it done,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Freddie Freeman homered twice and Shohei Ohtani and Andy Pages also went deep for the Dodgers, who scored all eight of their runs in the opening four innings. Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched six scoreless frames.
“This is what I’m going to miss,” said Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who has announced he will retire after this season. “Pitching, all that stuff is great. I love that, too. But getting to do this with a group of guys that all are working towards a collective goal for as long as we are, that’s what you miss. The camaraderie, the bonding, everybody going through something hard and coming out on the other side. That’s really special. You don’t get that anywhere else.”
While the defending World Series champion Dodgers are locked in as the NL’s No. 3 seed and will face the third wild-card team in a best-of-three first-round series, the Mariners (90-69) clinched the AL’s No. 2 seed and a first-round bye. They still have an outside shot at the league’s top playoff berth, as they’re a game behind Toronto and the New York Yankees — although they don’t have the tiebreaker with either of those clubs after losing the season series against both.
“It does feel good. We were hoping to get that,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said of the bye. “Now we are in a position to get some guys some rest that we think need some rest. We can kind of get back physically to where we need to be, and then get ready as that week goes on so that we’re ready to go.”
Eugenio Suarez had three hits, including his 49th homer of the season, as the Mariners defeated Colorado 6-2 Thursday for their seventh consecutive victory and 17th in the past 18 games. They’ve also tied a franchise record, set in 2001, with 11 straight wins at home.
The Dodgers will call upon right-hander Emmet Sheehan (6-3, 2.86 ERA). The Mariners have not named a starter as of Friday morning.
Sheehan pitched seven scoreless innings of one-hit ball Sunday but didn’t get a decision in a 3-1 loss to visiting San Francisco. He didn’t walk a batter and matched his career-high with 10 strikeouts. Sheehan has made one previous appearance against the Mariners, pitching three scoreless innings of relief in 2023.