Dodgers News: Freddie Freeman Looks on the Positive Side After Losing Series to Mets

L.A. star Freddie Freeman was more focused on the return of pitcher Clayton Kershaw than on the Dodgers' series loss to a potential playoff opponent.

The Dodgers lost to the Mets on Thursday, dropping their first series in over a month and making New York just the fourth team the Dodgers lost the season series to this year.

With this series representing a potential postseason preview, you might expect Los Angeles to be concerned about losing the series to their possible NLCS opponents.

If you're looking for worry, don't go looking for it by Freddie Freeman's locker. As Fabian Ardaya reports for The Athletic, Freeman is looking on the bright side.

“I don’t think you should read anything into it,” Freddie Freeman said after the series loss. “I think you should read into we got Clayton Kershaw back, and we’re going to build off that.”

Clayton Kershaw returned to make his first start since August 4, when a lower-back issue forced him to the injured list. In a game in which the Dodgers "beat ourselves," according to manager Dave Roberts, with sloppy defense and a huge baserunning blunder, the most important element of Wednesday's game came from innings two through four with Kershaw on the mound.

After struggling in the first inning — a hit and three walks, including one with the bases loaded, and just 10 of 25 pitches for strikes — Kershaw was perfect the rest of the way, finishing his five innings by retiring 13 straight Mets hitters.

Unlike last year, the Dodgers don't need anything from Kershaw over the last five weeks of the season. All they need is for him to stay healthy and get ready to be healthy and effective in the postseason. With Walker Buehler out for the year and Tony Gonsolin's future suddenly in question, having Kershaw in October is, if not imperative, at least pretty important.

So on Thursday afternoon, as the Dodgers prepared to fly home to face the Padres and Giants, the story wasn't so much about the loss to the Mets. After a month of stories about Kershaw's back, the story was finally that Kershaw's back.