Los Angeles Dodgers: Breaking the wheels off of Wheeler

The Los Angeles Dodgers enter the third and final game against the New York Mets against a quality arm in the likes of Zach Wheeler.

The Los Angeles Dodgers had a much bigger win than many may have thought on Tuesday night against the New York Mets. After falling behind 4-0, the Dodgers continued the trend of coming back in games and posted 11 unanswered runs to escape with a comfortable 11-4 win.

Both the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks won Tuesday, meaning a Dodgers win kept the team sandwiched right in second place between the two. With both sides have a harder schedule in the month of September, winning games against teams like the Mets is huge for LA.

Much of the Dodgers’ early success Tuesday came from the bottom of the order to force starter Jason Vargas out of the game. Once Vargas was out, the Dodgers capitalized on a shaky New York bullpen and the rest was history.

In fact, I had a perfect prediction for my Tuesday Los Angeles Dodgers Beat the Streak post. I selected David Freese, who extended my streak. In my selection, I predicted that Freese would have his first home run as a Dodger as well as another extra-base hit and multiple RBIs.

And what do you know! Freese went 2-4 with a solo home run, a double and two RBIs. Man, I haven’t been great this season but boy was that something. I even concluded the article with “This game seems to have all the makings of a Los Angeles Dodgers outbreak where the team scores in double figures.”

Let’s get into Wednesday’s picks, shall we?

Sarah’s pick — Current streak 0: Manny Machado

My pick for today is Manny Machado. After last night, it feels like the entire lineup is hitting again and Machado played a role in that win.

Not only has he been elite at the plate, but he has been so strong at the plate since coming over from Baltimore. The Dodgers aren’t the likeliest of suitors to sign Machado this off-season, and with the return of Corey Seager on the somewhat-distant horizon, it’s not imperative that they do.

Until then, however, Machado is a Dodger and we are so happy about it. I think he’s going to get another knock tonight against the Mets, hopefully leading the Dodgers to a series win.

Jason’s pick — Current streak 1: Cody Bellinger

Tonight I am going with Cody Bellinger to have a multi-home run game off Zach Wheeler. Last season, Bellinger had six multi-home run games. This season, though, he has just one game with two long bombs.

Tonight will be a different story as Bellinger is facing someone that he has a ton of success (at least in terms of power) against in Zach Wheeler. Lifetime, Bellinger is 3-5 off Wheeler with eight RBIs. All three hits are home runs.

Tonight, Bellinger will continue that trend and Wheeler may emerge as Bellinger’s best matchup in the entire league. If that is the case, maybe Bellinger should enter the home run derby next season with Wheeler as his pitcher.