Series win vs. O's 'something to build on' as Dodgers head to Arizona

LOS ANGELES -- Before the Dodgers took the field on Thursday, they were well aware of what had taken place around the league. With 29 games left in the regular season entering the day, every team in playoff contention is scoreboard watching to check in on what their opponents have done on that particular night.

For the Dodgers, they saw the D-backs and Padres, the two teams chasing them in the National League West, had lost their respective games. It was an opportunity to gain a game on both.

The Dodgers didn’t waste that chance, using a four-run fourth inning to push their lead atop the NL West to four games with a 6-3 win over the Orioles at Dodger Stadium. Los Angeles finished off the nine-game homestand with a 7-2 record.

“Great homestand, really good baseball,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “Played against teams that are in pennant races, preparing for the postseason. And I thought we showed well. I don’t think it was a litmus test or anything, but it’s still good to go out there and find ways to win baseball games. I thought we did it in different ways throughout the homestand.”

Los Angeles got on the board early with a Chris Taylor RBI single in the second inning. In the fourth, the bottom of the lineup sparked another rally as Taylor and Gavin Lux both came around to score on an Austin Barnes two-run double that just got over the head of third baseman Ramón Urías, who was drawn in on the infield grass. Mookie Betts and Miguel Rojas later tacked on RBI singles of their own, those two runs serving as the difference.

“It’s great,” Roberts said. “Obviously getting [Rojas] back and Tommy [Edman] lengthening our lineup. … Even this series, without Freddie [Freeman] and without Will [Smith] getting on track, which I think he’s showing some life, [has] just been really good.”

With the starting rotation going through inconsistencies and injuries, the Dodgers will continue to evaluate their options over the next five weeks. Bobby Miller, who has struggled in his sophomore season, is among those options.

Miller got his outing off to a strong start, holding the Orioles hitless for three innings. The young right-hander, however, ran into trouble in the fifth and paid the price as Colton Cowser hit a three-run homer to cut into the Dodgers’ lead.

“I felt pretty good,” Miller said. “It was 4 2/3 of really good pitching and then just one bad pitch. Seems to be the story of my last few outings. It’s just one bad pitch that I look back on, and unfortunately, it’s over the fence. But you know, one day, one day soon, it’ll fall.”

L.A.’s bullpen put together another strong performance against the Orioles. No moment was bigger than Blake Treinen striking out Gunnar Henderson to strand the bases loaded in the seventh inning. Four relievers combined for four scoreless innings to secure the series win.

“I really just want to be the best in baseball at whatever my [role] is,” Treinen said. “Whatever the role in the bullpen. I just want to be the best at what I do.”

Next up for the Dodgers is a highly anticipated series against the D-backs at Chase Field. The Dodgers and the D-backs have been two of the hottest teams since the All-Star break, making the NL West race one of the closest in the Majors.

“Just something to build on,” Roberts said. “So now we can look towards the Diamondbacks, and those guys obviously are playing great baseball, and it's going to be boisterous, and a lot of people, a lot of Dodgers fans, a lot of D-backs fans. So it’s going to be a great series.”