The Latest Breaking News from Freddie Freeman

LOS ANGELES — Tommy John surgery is so common, with hundreds of pitchers from high school to the big leagues undergoing the elbow ligament replacement procedure every year, and its success rate (80% to 90%) so high that it almost seems routine.

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Dodgers cleanup batter Will Smith hit an eighth-inning grounder to the left of Miami third baseman Jon Berti with runners on first and third and one out in a tie game Friday night.

By now, the years are starting to blend together, the decade-long renaissance making one season indistinguishable from the last. October baseball is now taken for granted in this city.

LOS ANGELES — Yu Darvish pivoted on top of the mound to watch Freddie Freeman’s grounder roll through a hole on the left side of the infield, leaned back and looked briefly to the sky.

ATLANTA — There’s no way the Braves could match the package that the Padres offered to acquire Nationals superstar Juan Soto on Tuesday. The Braves no longer have the top-rated prospects necessary to pull it off. Anyway, it’s unlikely the team would want to do a deal like that. There’s…

In the now-demolished stadium where the San Diego Padres used to play, summer would turn to fall, the postseason would go on without the Padres, and the local football team would take over the field.

Walk it off!

LOS ANGELES — So far, the Los Angeles Dodgers have started the second half of their season much like they finished the first.

LOS ANGELES — Mookie Betts, Trea Turner and Freddie Freeman have batted first, second or third for the Dodgers in every game they have started this season. That includes the All-Star Game on Tuesday, in which all three represented the Dodgers on their home field. They have been the team’s…