The Los Angeles Dodgers awkwardly celebrated Freddie Freeman's career milestone after a gut-wrenching loss.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a leading contender in the National League. The St. Louis Cardinals are seven games below .500, desperately trying to dig themselves out of an early-season hole before it's too late. Watching the two teams on Thursday night, that dynamic felt inverted.
There was no denying the Dodgers' fight. After going down 9-2, LA put together a significant comeback attempt that ultimately fell short due to St. Louis' dominant power display. The Cards hit seven home runs on the evening (highlighted by an impressive back-to-back-to-back stretch off Julio Urías in the third inning). After the Dodgers cut the lead to one in the seventh inning, St. Louis tore loose for seven runs in the eighth to put LA to bed.
Lost in the Cardinals' historic night was a personal milestone for Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, who hit his 300th career home run. After the game, things were a little awkward in the locker room.
The Dodgers celebrated Freddie Freeman on the heels of an eight-point loss
Dodgers celebrating Freddie Freeman's 300th career home run, following the 16-8 loss to the Cardinals
by u/Waaaaaaaaaasuup in Dodgers
The MLB is a long season. If you play 162 games, there's just no way to win them all. Upsets are inevitable. Slow nights are inevitable. There's every reason to celebrate such an important milestone while moving past an individually poor night; the Dodgers will bounce back, and Freeman will only hit his 300th home run once.
That said, there's still comedy to be gleaned from the moment. How often do we get champagne toasts after eight-point defeats? The expressions of Freeman's teammates don't exactly match the excitement one might expect if the result of the game had been different.
Ultimately, this is a marginal bump in the road at worst for LA. It's a good rallying point for the Cardinals, who desperately need to string together a few wins, but the Dodgers have a 2.5-game lead for first place in the NL West. This loss will be long forgotten in a few months' time. Freeman's 300th homer, however, is a milestone he and the Dodgers fanbase will remember forever.