Dodgers shut out Diamondbacks to reach 100 wins

PHOENIX — The Dodgers kept it 100 Sunday afternoon.

Trea Turner and Corey Seager each hit the 100th home run of their big-league careers as the Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-0 for their 100th win of the season.

It is the third time in the past four full seasons that the Dodgers have won at least 100 games and the ninth time in franchise history.

“That we’ve been really good for a long time,” said Corey Seager of the significance of three 100-win seasons. “We’ve had a lot of guys come through here and play really well for us and we’ve had a really good core. To go out and compete and grind every year to win 100 games, you know, it’s not easy. Going out there and competing and staying locked in and not giving in on ABs, not giving in in August, not giving in when guys get hurt — it’s a testament to those guys in that locker room.”

It also puts them in exclusive company among defending World Series champions.

Since baseball went to a 162-game regular season in 1961, only seven defending champions have won 100 games the season after winning the World Series — the 1963 Yankees (104-57), the 1971 Orioles (101-57), the 1976 Reds (102-60), the 1978 New York Yankees (100-63), the 1990 A’s (103-59), the 2018 Astros (103-59) and the Dodgers. Only the ’63 Yankees (.645) had a better winning percentage than the Dodgers’ current .641 mark this season.

But — keeping it 100 — none of those other teams finished in second place in their division.

The Dodgers remain there, two games behind the first-place Giants after they rallied — of course they did — for four runs in the ninth inning of a tie game to win at Coors Field Sunday. The Giants’ magic number to clinch the division title is now down to five as the final week of the regular season begins.

“It’s something to be proud of. But we understand we’ve still got to win six more ballgames,” said Dave Roberts, the first manager in franchise history to lead the team to three 100-win seasons.

“You can’t get lost in the body of work and what we’ve done each year, the consistency, knowing the goal is to win a championship each year. You’ve still got to give yourself that chance. … There’s a lot to be said for the organization. I’m proud of it. You take a moment to enjoy, to relish it.”

Turner’s 100th came in the first inning when he and Seager hit home runs on back-to-back pitches from Diamondbacks starter Humberto Mejia. It was Turner’s third consecutive at-bat with a home run after he finished Saturday’s loss with homers in his final two times up.

Seager caught up with him two innings later when he hit his second home run of the game and 100th of his career in the third inning off Mejia.

“I just tried to stay on the fastball. He threw me a couple on the plate and I put good swings on them,” Seager said.

“(One hundred home runs) is pretty cool. It’s a milestone. It’s really exciting. You celebrate tonight then back to business on Tuesday.”

That was the extent of the offense on another slow day in the desert. The Dodgers scored just nine runs in the three-game series at Chase Field where the Diamondbacks have the highest home ERA in the National League (5.01 before Sunday), second only to the Baltimore Orioles in MLB.

It was more than enough, though, as Julio Urias combined with four relievers on a seven-hit shutout.

Urias went the first five innings, allowing five hits and a walk to earn his MLB-leading 19th win of the season. Urias will get one more start during the regular season (Saturday against the Milwaukee Brewers) with a shot at becoming the first 20-game winner in the National League since Max Scherzer did it with the Washington Nationals in 2016.

The Dodgers haven’t had a 20-game winner since Clayton Kershaw went 21-3 while winning the NL Cy Young and MVP awards in 2014.

“Yeah, it would be incredible,” Urias said through an interpreter. “To be a starter, to be a starter full-time for the first season and be able to contribute with wins I think that’s very important.”

The Dodgers have won each of Urias’ 10 starts since the start of August and 25 of his career-high 31 starts this season.

“The body of work, winning 19 games right now, is special,” Roberts said. “The object of the game is to win and wins matter for a starting pitcher. So I’m proud of him.”