Hello,
In the Dodgers first of a 3 game series against the Rockies, the Dodgers prevailed 7-5. LA has played 53 games so far this season, this is only the 15th time the Dodgers have scored at least 5 runs. That's 28% of the time. Obviously the more runs a team scores the more likely a team is to win. To absolutely no one's surprise the Dodgers are 12-3 in games in which they scored at least 5 runs. In two of three of those losses the Dodgers scored exactly 5 runs, their other loss was a 10-9 beat down at the hands of the Giants.
Also with the Dodgers scoring 7 runs yesterday and the White Sox being shut out the Dodgers are now in 28th place in the MLB in runs scored. We're # 28! We're # 28! is a chant you'll never hear from a team with such a high payroll. To be fair to the White Sox, the Dodgers have played one more game. LA has now scored 187 runs this season and are now only 5 runs behind 27th place Philadelphia. Next on the hit list is the 26th place Nationals, who lead the Dodgers by 6 runs.
Starting for LA on Friday was Clayton Kershaw, who by his normal standards had a brutal day. Even though Kershaw is one of the most dominant pitchers in MLB, the Dodgers are only 7-5 in games he's started. (Thanks Root Sports) That's more a reflection on the Dodgers inept offense than the excellent Kershaw. In 7 innings pitched he gave up 8 hits, 3 earned runs and 2 walks and earned a no decision. He also had 5 strikeouts and his ERA edged up slightly to 1.85. In strikeouts Kershaw is tied for 9th place in MLB with Justin Verlander. Kershaw is tied for 3rd place in MLB ERA at 1.85, he's tied with Mets wunderkind Matt Harvey. They trail Patrick Corbin (1.71) and Clay Buchholz (1.73). Kershaw should be near the top of that list the whole season and near the top of the Cy Young voting at the end of the season.
Again with the Dodgers offense being so inept this season, Kershaw had to help himself with the bat. Kershaw was 2 for 3 with the bat and is hitting .241 on the season. Sadly for the Dodgers he has a better batting average than Ramon Hernandez, Skip Schumaker and Luis Cruz. Also he's right behind Andre Ethier, who's hitting .247.
While Kershaw continues to amaze, the Dodgers do have more than a couple of pitching concerns. A pitcher that should concern the Dodgers is their alleged closer Brandon League. He blew yet another save last night. League gave up 2 hits including the game tying homer to Todd Helton in the bottom of the 9th inning. That was his 3rd blown save of the season and his ERA climbed to 5.31. League also has a 1-2 record this season, but he does have 11 saves.
Ultimately the Dodgers had just enough in their 7-5 victory over the Rockies. Unbelievably Luis Cruz delivered the game winning RBI. Getting out but hitting the game winning RBI is the perfect metaphor for Cruz's season. Even when he succeeds, he fails. Cruz, who's hitting all of .116 this season, has the lowest batting average of any player with at least 50 at bats. (Thanks again to Root Sports.) His game winning RBI was an infield rocket that allowed Carl Crawford to score. Juan Uribe then hit a run scoring single that gave the Dodgers their 7th and final run.
The Dodgers are now 23-30 on the year and remain in last place in the not very strong NL West. The Dodgers, who've struggled all season, are on a relative hot streak. They've won 3 of their last 5 games and 5 of their last 10 games. According to ESPN, their chances of making the playoffs have soared all the way to 4.4%.
Another pitcher the Dodgers should be concerned about is today's starting pitcher Zack Greinke. To this point Greinke is 2-1 with a 4.38 ERA. But after his stupid fight with the Padres Carlos Quentin, he hasn't been the same pitcher. In his first game back from the injury, May 15th against the Nationals, he was good enough to improve his record to 2-0. However in his last two games he has really struggled.
On May 21st, against the Brewers, he only lasted 4 innings. Greinke gave up 9 hits, 5 earned runs and 3 walks. The Dodgers only scored 2 runs in that game and Greinke's record dropped to 2-1. On May 27th, against the Angels, again he only lasted 4 innings. He gave up 10 hits, 4 earned runs and 1 walk. However that was one of the 15 games the Dodgers scored at least 5 runs. LA scored 8 runs in their win which gave Greinke a no decision.
Obviously a 2-1 record, 4.38 ERA and a stupid fight isn't what you want when you pay someone $21,000,000. Also Greinke has only pitched 13.1 innings in his last 3 starts.
I'd also like to congratulate the Chicago Cubs, winners of 5 straight games. They are now 23-30, the exact same record as the Dodgers. The Cubs are now 4th place in the NL Central, 12 games behind the first place Cardinals. Chicago has a 14.7% chance of making the playoffs.
Meanwhile Baltimore had a tremendous 9th inning comeback against the Detroit Tigers and closer Jose Valverde. The Orioles were down 5-3 going into the 9th inning. Nick Markakis hit his 7th home run of the season, which cut the Tigers lead to 5-4. Adam Jones (3.19 BA) singled and went to third base on a single by Chris Davis (3.56 BA). Valverde got Matt Wieters and J.J. Hardy to pop out. That left two Orioles on base with two outs and Chris Dickerson coming to bat. Dickerson then hit his 4th home run of the season, a 3 run walk off homer.
The Orioles have the 9th best record in MLB and are 31-24. In spite of those things they only have the third best record in the top heavy AL East. They are 1.5 games back of the Red Sox and a .5 games behind the second place Evil Empire. Baltimore has a 38.8% chance of making the playoffs.
themusicaddict
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