Hernández: The Dodgers have the best record in baseball

With a 6-1 annihilation of the downtrodden Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, the Dodgers extended their advantage in the National League West to eight games.Eight games,

despite downturns by Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.Advertisement Eight games, despite injuries to

Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell.Eight games, despite being less than three weeks gotten rid of from sharing the division lead with the San Francisco Giants.Almost everything that could go wrong this season for the Dodgers has gone wrong, and they are ahead of the second-place San Diego Padres by 8 games and the third-place Giants by nine. The Dodgers have actually looked absolutely nothing like the 120-win juggernaut they were expected to be, and they have the very best record in the significant leagues.Read more: Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Dodgers cruise past the White Sox”I still believe our finest baseball leads us,”supervisor Dave Roberts said.Advertisement Three months stay in the routine season, more than enough time for the Dodgers to

become whole, sufficient time for them to change into baseball’s version of the

Mongol army.Roberts said the

Dodgers are”not really playing our best baseball,”and he’s ideal. They haven’t steamrolled their challengers as much as they have actually outgutted them.” We have not been at full strength all year,”Roberts said.

“A great deal of groups can state the exact same thing. However to our credit, nobody has made any excuses about that.”The Dodgers and Giants were even in the standings on June 13.

The Dodgers won 13 of their next 16 games. The Giants lost 12 of their next 16, their smash hit trade for Rafael Devers shocking the division but not in the method they wanted.Advertisement From mid-May to mid-June, the Dodgers played 26 successive games versus teams with winning records, but the Giants and Padres stopped working to make the most of that. Roberts’ team emerged from that stretch in top place and has continued to increase its division lead since.What ought to be disconcerting

for the Giants and Padres– as well as the New York Yankees and Mets, and any other aspiring contender– is that the Dodgers have handled to distance themselves from the competitors without looking particularly imposing.Their win over the White Sox on Tuesday night marked the rare game in which they controlled every element of the game, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto giving up just one run in seven innings, the offense scoring 4 runs in the first inning, Shohei Ohtani introducing his 30th homer in the fourth, and Jack Dreyer and Anthony Banda each pitching a scoreless inning in relief.They need more games like this but not just to win the department or secure a first-round bye in the playoffs. They require them to produce the momentum required to make another championship run.Advertisement “Something I’ve found out,”Roberts said, “is the most important thing is when you’re [in the playoffs], you’ve got to be playing your finest baseball because anything can take place.”Ohtani has resumed pitching, albeit in a restricted capability. As much talk as there was about how his mound return impacted his striking, Ohtani still homered seven times last month.The Dodgers aren’t counting on Ohtani to make 7-or eight-inning starts in the postseason, however they think he could contribute 4 or five innings at a time without jeopardizing his offensive production.Betts was stayed out of the lineup on Tuesday, Roberts categorizing the day of rest

as “more of a psychological day. “Betts hasn’t discovered much of an offensive rhythm this season, but his track record indicates he is bound to break out of his slump.Advertisement”He’s an easy guy to bank on,”Roberts said of the eight-time All-Star. The very same could be said of Freeman.Read more: Clayton Kershaw moves three strikeouts far from 3,000 as Dodgers finish sweep of Rockies The Dodgers likewise got uplifting news on the injury front.Roki Sasaki played catch on Tuesday and was clocked at 91 miles per hour, a sign that his season might not be over.Snell and reliever Blake Treinen will pitch live batting practice sessions on Wednesday, marking their very first time facing hitters since landing on the hurt list. A day later on, Glasnow is scheduled to make what might be his last start of a minor league rehabilitation project, with the Dodgers enthusiastic he can throw about 75 pitches over five innings. If management continues to have doubts whether Snell or Glasnow will be offered in October, it can constantly make a

relocation before the July 31 trade deadline.Advertisement As the team with the very best record in baseball, the Dodgers technically have nowhere to go however down. In truth, they can only improve from here.

This is their floor. By the time the playoffs come around, they should be a much better team than they are now.Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.