CINCINNATI — There will be no extra work for the Cincinnati Reds’ visiting clubhouse staff – at least not yet. If any champagne was spilled on Monday night, it was by accident not by jubilation.
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The Dodgers clinched a postseason berth with their 4-1 victory over the Reds. They shared a champagne toast in the clubhouse afterward as has become their custom in recent years to acknowledge achievements (both team and individual) along the road to their ultimate goal. But the carpet stayed dry.
“Yeah, it’s different than anything I’ve experienced for sure,” said Tarik Skubal, who pitched them to the win with seven scoreless innings. “But I think it just speaks to the people in this room and what they expect out of this team. That was cool. A little toast and move on. Forget it happened. We’ve got more to accomplish this season.”
Skubal made the postseason with the Detroit Tigers as a wild-card team each of the past two seasons, achievements punctuated with the beer-and-champagne showers of novices. The Dodgers have now made the postseason in 14 consecutive seasons, tying the Atlanta Braves for the longest postseason streak in MLB history.
“It’s hard to say it ever feels routine, but it is the expectation here,” said third baseman Max Muncy, who has been a part of the past nine postseason teams, the most of anyone in the current dry clubhouse. “I always laugh whenever we clinch a postseason spot, we just do a nice little toast. The guys that haven’t been here, they kind of see that and they expect a little bit more. That happens when you clinch the division. So for us, it’s not easy and you don’t necessarily – it’s not a given. We don’t take it for granted. But it is the expectation here.”
That celebration could come very soon. Monday’s victory over the Reds shaved the Dodgers’ magic number to clinch their 13th NL West division title during this run to three (with the San Diego Padres still playing on Monday night).
“It’s really impressive. I didn’t appreciate that it was the most by any team,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who addressed the team during the post-game toast. “Any team, any organization can win in a given year where things line up. But to do it every single year when you’re expected to do this says something about the entire organization.”
What Roberts said to the most recent postseason qualifiers amounted to “the best has to be yet to come.”
“The message was, we’ve accomplished a lot up to this point, all the while not playing our best baseball,” Roberts said. “So let’s get some of these guys healthy. A lot of guys contributed. A lot of guys that aren’t in the room still contributed to where we’re at. And let’s finish strong. And we’ve got another month and a half of baseball to play.”
Skubal has started to show the Dodgers his best.
He was a Reds menace for his second consecutive start. He faced them at home in his previous start, holding them to two runs on four hits in 7⅓ innings while striking out just five (his low in eight starts with the Dodgers).
This time, he struck out nine, overpowering them mainly with his fastball. That pitch got nine of his 14 swings-and-misses. He used his changeup more as the game wore on and got four misses on nine swings.
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“I talked with Doc about this. I think a lot of the struggles have been me vs. me,” Skubal said. “Thinking too much out there not competing the way I know how to compete. Just thinking too much about pitch selection at times and trying to be too fine and not challenging guys.
“It’s hard to hit in this league. When you have the stuff I have, sometimes I try to be too perfect with things instead of just attacking guys over the middle of the plate and letting my stuff play especially early in games, behind in the count, not trying to be too fine. More often than not they’re going to get themselves out. I think it’s been a little me vs. me and trying to find the rhythm of who I know I am.”
Skubal’s struggles were only struggles by his standards. In his first four starts with the Dodgers he had a 3.38 ERA). In his past four starts, Skubal has allowed just five runs over 26 innings (a 1.73 ERA). The Dodgers have won his past five starts.
“I think with Tarik, some of it is kind of familiarizing himself with the pitching coaches, the catchers,” Roberts said. “You look at his seven, eight starts, he’s had a handful of different catchers. So it’s hard to get in that rhythm, that trust. But I think the last couple have been his best.”
The Reds made Skubal sweat just once on Monday. With one out in the fifth, Juan Brito singled and Skubal walked JJ Bleday. It was the only time the Reds had two baserunners in an inning against Skubal.
A wild pitch moved the runners into scoring position, but Skubal struck out Ke’Bryan Hayes and Hector Rodriguez to strand them. Skubal rolled through the next two innings on just 15 pitches, allowing him to get through seven innings on 90 pitches.
“Any time you can pitch efficiently, get through the seventh in less than 100 pitches and feel good enough to go back out for the eighth I’m always going to take that,” Skubal said.
The Dodgers didn’t have a big game on offense either, managing just three hits of their own. But they made more out of them.
Kyle Tucker’s solo home run leading off the second inning gave them the lead. Teoscar Hernandez added a two-run home run in the fourth and their third hit, a two-out single by Kiké Hernandez, drove in another run in the seventh.
The Dodgers took their shutout into the ninth inning when Elly De La Cruz broke it all to pieces with a 457-foot home run off of Evan Phillips. De La Cruz has homered in each of the four games the Reds and Dodgers have played over the past 10 days.
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