Photo credit: @LosDodgers on Twitter. 

POST-GAME BRIEFING

The Dodgers closed out the regular season today with a flourish, blanking the Angels 5-0 en route to a 43-17 regular-season record, by far the best in the Majors. 

Opener Victor Gonzalez pitched a 1-2-3 first, and Dustin May picked up in the second, giving up no runs in four innings and striking out five. The offense, however, got a little bit weird. Leadoff hitter AJ Pollock started the scoring early, launching a solo shot off Angels starter Patrick Sandoval in the bottom of the first. In the bottom of the third, the Dodgers tacked on two runs on…zero hits. Austin Barnes, Joc Pederson, and Pollock all walked to load the bases. Corey Seager hit into a double play, scoring Barnes. The next batter, Justin Turner, skied a ball into short right. Three Angels fielders surrounded it, but none of them managed to glove it, and Pederson scored. 

The rest of the game was pretty quiet, with the exception of Pollock’s second homer of the day – a two-run bomb – in the bottom of the seventh. Gonzalez earned the win, and the Dodgers charged into the postseason riding a four-game winning streak. 

Oh also, reliever Adam Kolarek played right field in the eighth inning, because why not.

SCORING PLAYS

BOTTOM 1st: AJ Pollock solo home run (1-0 LAD) 

BOTTOM 3rd: Corey Seager grounds into a double play, run scores (2-0 LAD)

BOTTOM 3rd: Justin Turner reaches on a fielding error, run scores (3-0 LAD)

BOTTOM 7th: AJ Pollock 2-run home run (5-0 LAD)

PLAYER OF THE GAME

DLD’s player of the game is AJ Pollock, who had himself a day, going 2-for-3 with a walk and 3 RBIs on two dingers. 

AJ POLLOCK AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/riC95DUWwC

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 27, 2020

PLAY OF THE GAME

DLD’s play of the game is Pollock’s first homer in the bottom of the first, which put the Dodgers on the board and assured them the win (since the Angels couldn’t scrape together a single run this afternoon). 

Lead us off, AJ! pic.twitter.com/7XIs4hqBoq

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 27, 2020

UP NEXT

With the regular season done, the Dodgers can focus solely on the postseason (and the Brewers, their first-round opponent). As a reminder, the newly created Wild Card series is a best-of-three contest between seeded teams (1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, etc.) As the 1 seed, the Dodgers will play all games at Dodger Stadium. The winner will move on to the standard division best-of-five series. 

Per Dave Roberts earlier today, the Dodgers will hand Game 1 to Walker Buehler. In the postseason, Buehler has started six games, earning a 1-1 record with a 2.72 ERA and a 0.853 WHIP. The Brewers, who only punched their ticket today, have understandably not yet announced a starter. The first game of the Dodgers’ postseason will air on either ESPN or TBS on Wednesday, September 30, time TBD.

Amanda Powers is an editor and writer for Dodgers Lowdown. Follow her on Twitter @geekpowers.