By Friday night, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was allowing himself a measured dose of optimism.
Asked whether Los Angeles was beginning to get “on a roll” after putting together consecutive victories for the first time in weeks, Roberts didn’t overstate it. “I’ll take the two wins,” he said, adding that the Dodgers’ offense appeared to be “starting to do some good things.”
A day later, that cautious confidence felt a little more justified.
The two-time defending champions are not exactly back to peak form, and their record over the past two months still sits at an even .500.
Yet after a long stretch of uneven baseball, the Dodgers may finally be finding a spark. On Saturday, they rallied from behind against the Washington Nationals, then survived a tense ninth inning to secure a 6-5 victory — a hard-earned win that gave Los Angeles the kind of momentum it has been searching for.
For much of the evening, the night was shaping up to be a frustrating dud.
Shohei Ohtani was out of the lineup again. Max Muncy (sick) and Dalton Rushing (discomfort in the same right elbow where he already has a slightly torn ligament that he’s been playing through) were scratched a couple hours before first pitch.
The offense scored two first-inning runs, then went quiet. Tyler Glasnow was not sharp in a six-plus-inning, four-run start, turning the early lead into a two-run deficit by the time he exited.
The Dodgers, however, pride themselves on winning the “big moments.”
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And Saturday, none was bigger than when Tommy Edman stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh.
Two runners were aboard, after a walk from Alex Freeland and single from Kiké Hernández. The Nationals had turned to their historically wretched bullpen, which is on pace to set an MLB record in blown saves.
Right on cue, Edman took advantage.
Former Dodgers prospect Clayton Beeter threw him an elevated slider in a 2-and-1 count. Edman –– who had already electrified the crowd earlier in the night with a leaping catch at the wall in center field –– turned on it from the left side of the plate and launched a go-ahead three-run home run, igniting a scene of ecstasy at Chavez Ravine that was equal parts celebration and relief.
After all, the Dodgers are running out of time to get themselves right.
Each of their previous potential second-half turning points –– like consecutive sweeps of the Rockies and Pirates last month, or even their series win over the Tigers last week –– have proven to be false starts.
Each time they’ve seemed to be gaining traction, their offense goes cold, or their pitching hits a snag, or they have another injury setback that dampens the mood around the team.
For a while on Saturday, they were threatening to fall victim to all three fates. Even in the ninth, when what had grown to a 6-4 lead was suddenly in danger again with the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position against Tanner Scott, danger loomed.
By the end of it, however, they were officially back on the upswing as winners of three-straight games.
This time, they need it to be a real catapult over the rest of the season.