Beloved Dodgers Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda said it best:

“Any team can beat any other team on any given day.”

On Saturday afternoon, the (now) 48-68 American League Central fourth place Kansas City Royals beat the (now) 79-34 National League West first place Los Angeles Dodgers by a score of 4-0 to avoid being swept in the three-game interleague series at Kauffman Stadium. In doing so, the Dodgers’ – and Major League Baseball’s – season-best 12-game winning streak came to an end.

“He was good, he’s a good young pitcher,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of 26-year-old Royals right-hander Brady Singer, who allowed no runs and only one hit in his brilliant 6.0-inning start against the best team in baseball. “It was a sinker, it was a slider off that, it was a change in there, and we just didn’t see him well today.

“And so, he’s having a good year and just couldn’t figure him out, and he kept us at bay for six innings and then we couldn’t recover,” Roberts added.

But even after Singer exited the game, the Dodgers managed only one additional hit, an eighth-inning double by Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts to go along with a fifth-inning single Dodgers designated hitter Chris Taylor.

“We knew we weren’t going to win every game but we don’t like getting shut out as an offense, plain and simple,” Dodgers All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman told reporters postgame. “But we still won the series, we gotta look at it like that sometimes.

“We’ve got a tough series going on in Milwaukee with their starting pitchers, so we gotta just turn the page and get ready for tomorrow,” Freeman added.

With Saturday’s loss, the Dodgers fell one win short of tying the Los Angeles record of 13 consecutive wins set in 1962. The all-time franchise record winning streak is 15 games set in 1924 by the (then) Brooklyn Robins.

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All of this said, it is absolutely impossible to ignore the remarkable team and individual statistics during their 12-game winning streak:

• The Dodgers outscored their opponents 91–31 during the streak.
• The Dodgers scored first in 11 of the 12 games, including the last 10 games of the streak.
• Muncy led the Dodgers hit parade, slashing .400/.450/.943 with five home runs and 13 RBI during the streak.
• Muncy was one of four Dodgers with at least 10 RBI during the streak, joining center fielder Cody Bellinger (12), catcher Will Smith (11), and shortstop Trea Turner (10).
• Betts scored in 10 of the 12 games and had 18 hits, including five doubles and three home runs.
• Sixteen different Dodgers had at least one hit during the streak.
• Fourteen different Dodgers scored at least one run during the streak.
• The streak began on July 31 with the Dodgers 7–3 win over the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. In that game, Dodgers right fielder James Outman made his major league debut and hit a home run in his first major league at-bat, becoming only the eighth Dodger in franchise history to homer in their first MLB plate appearance. He finished the day going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI.
• The final game of the streak was on Saturday, August 13, with the Dodgers 13–3 rout of the Royals; a game in which they hit a season-high six home runs.
• Dodger pitchers held opponents to three runs or fewer in 10 of the 12 games.
• Dodgers relievers David Price, Evan Phillips, and Alex Vesia each made five appearances out of the bullpen and didn’t allow a run during the streak.
• Dodgers left-hander Julio Urías allowed one earned run in 13 innings over his two starts during the streak, while striking out 14 and walking none.
• Dodger pitchers had a combined 2.25 ERA and limited opposing batters to a combined .188 batting average during the streak.
• Seven different Dodger pitchers won a game during the streak.
• During the streak, the Dodgers won their first 11 games in the month of August – the best start to a month by a Dodgers team in franchise history – surpassing the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers (April) and the aforementioned 1924 Brooklyn Robins (September), both with 10 wins.

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Yes, “Any team can beat any other team on any given day.” But you gotta love these stats, “…plain and simple.”

Play Ball!

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