Hello,
The Dodgers finally broke their 6 game losing streak yesterday in their 7-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Let's be honest though. The Dodgers won this game due more to young pitcher Jake Arrieta's meltdown than any Dodgers offensive explosion. Arrieta only gave up two hits in his 4 innings of pitching. However he walked five Dodgers and hit one Dodger batter. Four of those six Dodgers later scored.
Matt Kemp did have 3 more hits, raising his batting average to .235. He also added another RBI, but mystifyingly he still hasn't hit a home run this season. When he finally starts hitting does that mean he'll hit a bunch of home runs in a short amount of time? Adrian Gonzalez remains the best player that came over in the big Dodgers-Red Sox trade last season. He was 2 for 4 and is now hitting .385 this season and leads the Dodgers in most of the important offensive stats.
At 8-10, the Dodgers remain fourth place in the NL West. They are 5 games behind the 13-5 Rockies. It was clear before this season started that the quality of this team didn't live up to the hype. LA had a nice start, but reality quickly showed it's ugly face. But it's clear now that this is an costly but poorly built team. It's probably at least one more year before the Dodgers truly challenge to even make the playoffs. The only thing I can see that will change that is that whn Hanley Ramirez comes back, he makes a huge difference. Either that or that the Dodgers make a big move. I wouldn't put this Dodgers management group past making a big move. However if they make a big move, I hope it's more suited towards next season going forward. I'd rather the Dodgers to be awesome next season than good this year and next. The win now philosophy rarely works very well.
It was an ugly victory, but obviously the Dodgers will take any sort of victory now. The Dodgers now have Monday off before going to New York to open a three game series tomorrow. The Wednesday night game will be on ESPN.
Meanwhile the Braves came into Pittsburgh the hottest team in MLB. They were 13-2 and absolutely cruising. The Braves won the first game of the series 6-4. However this season's Pirates are determined to finally finish above .500 and the Pirates won the final 3 games of the series. Pittsburgh's pitching staff was outstanding in the final 3 games of the series, they only gave up 3 runs in the final 3 games.
Atlanta and Colorado are tied for best record in MLB now at 13-5. The Braves lead NL East second place team Washington by 3 games. The Pirates started out the season 1-5, but have played better of late. The Pirates have won 9 of their last 12 games and have broken through .500 to go to 10-8. Their record is good enough for them to be tied for second place in the NL East with St. Louis. Both the Pirates and the Cardinals are 1/2 game behind the Reds.
themusicaddict
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