Dodgers MVPs are M.I.A. in NLDS sweep
Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman were the Dodgers' most valuable players. In the Division Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, they were missing in action.
The Dodgers' 1-2 hitters were far from a 1-2 punch in their three-game sweep at the hands of the Diamondbacks. Betts went 0-for-11 with a walk. Freeman was 0-for-10 with two walks. They combined to score two runs, both coming when Betts and Freeman walked ahead of Will Smith's two-run triple in Game 1 – after the Dodgers were already down 11-0.
Betts had a tremendous regular season, scoring 126 runs and driving in 107 while hitting 39 home runs and covering right field, second base and even shortstop for the Dodgers. Freeman was almost as good, hitting .331 and scoring 132 runs, with 29 homers. But despite the two slugging .579 and .567, respectively, this summer, neither one could manage an extra-base hit in three postseason games.
They weren't the only Dodgers hitters to struggle. The team scored only two runs in each of the Division Series games, while Arizona scored more than two runs in four different innings. It might not have made a difference after Clayton Kershaw melted down in Game 1 and Lance Lynn gave up four homers in one inning Wednesday, but it was a rough series for the two stars.
It's the second year in a row that the Dodgers have lost in the Division Series. Last year, Freeman hit .357 with four extra-base hits against the San Diego Padres while Betts struggled, going 2-for-14.
They'll have a long time to think about it. Once again, the Dodgers are going home two weeks into October.
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