Dodgers rack up hits in unusual win over Twins

MINNEAPOLIS — They don’t homer, they don’t win.That’s normally the case for the Dodgers.Tuesday was an exception.In their 12-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins, the Dodgers built their lead in unorthodox fashion.They piled up hits.Of their 17 hits, only one was a home run and it didn’t come until the ninth inning when Alex Call launched a sinker by reliever Taylor Rogers over the left-field wall at Target Field.How unusual was this?The Dodgers are 7-17 in games in which they don’t homer.In games they do?They’re 44-12.Freddie Freeman led the Dodgers’ balanced attack, as he was 3-for-4 with a walk and was involved in the team scoring in three separate innings.Freeman doubled in the third inning and scored when Tommy Edman reached base on a throwing error by Twins second baseman Luke Keaschall.The run tied the game at 2-2.A single by Freeman drove in the second of the three runs the Dodgers scored in the fourth inning to move in front, 5-2.Freeman doubled again in the sixth inning to drive in Andy Pages and extend the Dodgers’ lead to 6-2.Justin Wrobleski provided the majority of the pitching, limiting the Twins to two runs and five hits over seven innings.

Wrobleski improved his record to a team-best 9-2 and lowered his earned-run average to 2.71.What it meansThe Dodgers’ record of 51-29 is the best record in baseball.Last year, the Dodgers finished the regular season with the third-best record in the NL, which complicated their World Series title defense.Because they weren’t one of the two NL teams to receive a first-round bye, they had to play the Cincinnati Reds in a best-of-three wild-card round.In each of the next three rounds of the postseason, including the World Series, their opponents had home-field advantage.This year, they could do what they did in 2024 when they enjoyed a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the postseason.Who’s hotJourneyman Chuckie Robinson started at catcher in place of Dalton Rushing, who was te...