Hello,
These are the scores of the Dodgers last 8 games (as always thanks to espn.com):
1) On September 4th the Dodgers lost to the Padres 6-3
2) Loss 4-3
3) Loss 5-2
4) Win 3-2
5) Loss 4-0
6) Loss 1-0
7) Loss 3-2
8) Loss 2-1
Sarcasm alert: In the first 3 games of September the Dodgers "exploded" for 11 runs. That's 3.67 runs per game. But their offensive explosion ended on September 4th. In games from September 4th- September 13th, the Dodgers scored a total of 14 runs, an average of 1.75 runs per game. This weak Dodgers offense has become even worse over the last 4 games. In those four games they've only scored a total of 3 runs, a .75 run per game average. The Dodgers offense can't get any worse than it has been over the last 4 days, can it?
The sad thing in those last 8 games the Dodgers pitching has been great, they've only given up a total of 27 runs. That's even with Josh Beckett and Joe Blanton pitching for them. Oh what I'd give to have Hiroki Kuroda still pitching for the Dodgers. Why did they let him go again? He didn't have the best record, but he had lousy run support. That sounds very familiar.
As can be predicted the Dodgers have only won 1 of those 8 games. In spite of how bad the Dodgers have played, they are still only 2 games out of the NL Wild Card. St. Louis, the team ahead of them, is only two games ahead of them. Fortunately for the Dodgers, at least in theory, they have 3 more games against St Louis this weekend. All three games are at Dodgers Stadium as well. If LA wins those three games, they can move into the second wild card spot. Now do I expect that to happen, no not at all. This Dodgers team can't even claim to be an average team recently. This is a complete offensive collapse.
The Dodgers have 18 games left. They've 3 games against 4 teams that have a better record than them. Those teams: St. Louis, Washington, Cincinnati and San Francisco. According to espn.com the Dodgers have a 12.9% chance of making the playoffs. With the way they've been playing and their upcoming schedule, I would say their chances of making the playoffs are close to 0%.
The Pirates continue their collapse as well, that playoff race pressure really must be extreme. Pittsburgh, 72-70 for the moment, have lost 6 in a row and are already down 4-1 to the Cubs. Yes, that's the same Cubs team that's 56-87. I'd give the Pirates a 0% of making the playoffs this season. With the Red Sox and Braves collapsing last season and the Dodgers and Pirates collapsing this season I definitely should have picked mentally stronger teams.
I've completely jumped on the Orioles bandwagon and I'm hoping I don't jinx them. They seem to be a mentally tougher team than the above teams so far. The Orioles have won 13 straight extra innings games. Now that's a mentally tough team.
I'm a huge Dallas Cowboys fan and have been since the days of Tom Landry and Roger Staubach. And after about 16 years of them being mediocre, I'm glad they had a good game against New York a little over a week ago. Not only a good game, but they also actually won. I'm also glad that Tony Romo had a good game, he actually finally played up to his ridiculously large contract. So those are all good things, BUT.........
This is still the same Cowboys team that has one made the playoffs once in the last 4 years. This is the same Cowboys team that choked at the end of the last season. This is still the same Cowboys team with head case Dez Bryant, tissue soft Miles Austin and underacheiving Kevin Ogletree as their top 3 wide receivers. This is still the same Cowboys team which I was waiting for them to collapse against the Giants. This is the same Tony Romo that still has as many playoff wins as Tim Tebow, 1. This is still the same Tony Romo that let an almost sure victory literally slip between his fingers in their last playoff game in Seattle. This is still the same Tony Romo that doesn't inspire very many people with his ability.
As much of a Cowboys fan I am, I'm also realistic. Until the Cowboys make a deep run in the playoffs and Romo looks good during that run, then I'll start believing. Can this Cowboys team make a deep run in the playoffs, yes. Will they, I'm not so sure. I'd like them to finish this season before they start talking contract extension with Romo. That is what Romo seems to want to do, he's not in a rush to sign an extension. Honestly no matter how Romo plays if someone outbids the Cowboys for Romo's services, that wouldn't break my heart. Also if Romo can't get this team to postseason success by the end of this contract, it's time to let him go. By postseason success I mean, at least the NFC Championship game and the ability for Cowboys fans to expect more the next season. If that doesn't happen then Dallas needs to do what the Redskins did and go out and get a real quarterback.
My favorite play of the NFL early season:
Tomorrow a brief preview of the big BYU-Utah game Saturday night.
themusicaddict
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