The Dodgers won four of six games against the Padres and Brewers last week, a stretch that left their week’s dodger score tilted toward momentum after a difficult slate of opponents.
That result mattered at the box score level: Teoscar Hernández drove much of the offense, collecting 18 hits and three home runs over the last two weeks, while Shohei Ohtani entered the weekend riding an eight-game hitting streak and a 235 wRC+ across his last 10 games before being held hitless on Sunday.
Those numbers are the evidence behind the verdict. Winning four of six against two of the National League’s better clubs is not a routine week; the Dodgers successfully completed a gauntlet that, on paper, should have tested their lineup and depth and instead yielded a winning balance.
Context sharpens the result: the sequence came against opponents widely considered among the league’s stronger teams, which makes the four-of-six outcome more meaningful than a similar mark against weaker competition. The offensive burst from Hernández, in particular, provided the kind of short-term thrust teams hope for when they face clustered challenges against high-end pitching staffs.
There is a clear friction point. Ohtani’s eight-game run and 235 wRC+ over 10 games painted him as a central element of the Dodgers’ recent pop, yet he was held hitless on Sunday. That blank spot complicates the tidy view that the offense is humming: one premium bat cooled at a critical moment even as other contributors supplied production.
Beyond individual lines, the week’s work matters because it came against the two opponents the Dodgers just faced. The wins didn’t come in isolation; they were earned across a demanding mini-schedule. Teoscar’s 18 hits and three homers over two weeks stand out as the clearest tangible payoff from that gauntlet, the kind of sustained output that can carry a club through tighter stretches when other stars plateau.
The wider league picture underscores why the stretch is notable now. Elsewhere over the weekend, the Braves lost consecutive games for just the third time this season as they dropped two straight to the Nationals despite holding an 8 1/2 game lead in the NL East. In the American League, the Rays split a rain-shortened series against the Yankees — their five-game win streak ended and Tampa Bay remained 3 1/2 games ahead of New York; the Rays sit with a 104 wRC+, eighth in the majors. Those outcomes remind that momentum is fragile across the majors and that a small hot streak can separate clubs in tight divisions.
The unanswered question is immediate and consequential: can the Dodgers turn a four-of-six week against tough NL opposition into sustained progress, or was it a temporary lift buoyed by a surge from Hernández and brief bursts from others while Ohtani cooled on Sunday? The next series will be the clearest test of whether this was a turning point or simply a helpful blip, and until the Dodgers’ next opponent and results are known, the answer remains the pivotal open item for the club.
