Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman made his 2,000th hit, with a double in the eighth inning of a 6-5 loss to the Houston Astros in 11 innings Sunday night.
Freeman’s sharp line drive to right field was his second double of the game and drove in Mookie Betts, making him the 295th player in major league history to reach the mark.
“It’s special,” Freeman said. “I seem to get these milestones in losses. … But, no, just seeing how happy my dad, my stepmom, my wife, my kids were for me, it just makes it special.”
“And obviously the fans have embraced my family and I since the day we got here, so they made another special memory for the Freeman family again. Dodger fans usually never disappoint, so another special day. One I’ll never forget. Took long enough, but I’m glad it happened at home.”
Freddie Freeman is the seventh player to reach 2,000 hits in Dodgers in his 1,801 total games. 441 of his 2,000 hits are doubles — including his league-leading 27 this season.
Dave Roberts, Dodgers manager, felt Freeman had been pressing to reach the milestone at home as he went hitless in seven at-bats through the first two games of the weekend series.
The 33-year-old spent his first 12 seasons with Atlanta after the Braves chose him in the second round of the 2007 draft. He had 1,704 hits in 1,565 games for the Braves before the Orange County native joined the Dodgers as a free agent before the 2022 season.
Freeman’s hit sparked a rally — cutting the Dodgers’ deficit to two, right before Will Smith’s home run tied it and ultimately forced extras — and came 38 days after his 300th career home run went for a grand slam. Freeman is now the 98th player in baseball history to accrue at least 300 homers and 2,000 hits.
Freeman had the second-highest batting average in May. However, his performance dropped in June – with his batting average dropping 30 points, from .346 to .316.
“I’ve been grinding quite a bit this whole month, and I just haven’t felt good,” Freeman said. “Unfortunately, that’s baseball. It’s just kind of how the ebb and flows of a season go.”
During the first four games this week, had only two hits in 14 at-bats, then was retired in his first two plate appearances Sunday, his career total stood still at 1,998.
