Hello,
Yesterday both the Dodgers and the Pirates won, continuing both of their hot streaks. Now if only Jerry Jones would step down as the alleged GM of the Cowboys, then today would be an even better day!
In LA, the Dodgers were able to complete their sweep of the Giants. They won the third and final game of the series 4-2. For the Dodgers, It continues to be the Puig and Ramirez show. Yasiel Puig bounced back from having 0 hits on Tuesday, he was 3 for 4 and improves his batting average to .435. I do love all that he brings to the Dodgers. However many times I wish he'd be happy with a single and not try to stretch it into a double. I understand that he's probably tired of LA losing and scoring so few runs and he's trying to help their offense. Sometimes he just needs to be happy with a single and live to fight another day. Since he's by far the most consistent Dodger, I'm so very glad he's in LA.
Hanley Ramirez was 2 for 3 and had an RBI, he's hitting .375 this season. Adrian Gonzalez is hitting .299, but no other Dodger is near .300. The Dodgers had 12 hits, but only 3 RBIs. what's up with that? The Dodgers are winning, but their margin of error is very low. LA needs to score even more runs to be a consistent winner. Again they are winning, but their margin of victory are razor thin. LA has the talent to score a lot of runs, I'm not sure why they haven't.
I didn't see or hear anything about Matt Kemp being sick or hurt yesterday, I wonder why he didn't start in Wednesday's game. The Dodgers desperately need him to be at least at 85% if they want to make a real run for the playoffs this season.
I was glad to see hard luck Clayton Kershaw get his first win in over a month. He only gave up 4 hits and 2 runs in his 8 innings pitched and lowered his ERA to 2.08. He has the 4th best ERA in all of MLB at 2.08. He trails the Pirates Jeff Locke just barely, Locke is at 2.06 ERA. In spite of that stellar ERA, Kershaw is only tied for 36th place in number of wins. He has the 5th most strikeouts in all of MLB with 118. He's also tied with Cliff Lee with a 4.5 Wins Above Replacement (WAR).
Thankfully Brandon League didn't pitch and Kenley Jansen earned his 6th save of the season. He pitched an inning of hitless relief and has an ERA of 2.31, which is less than half of League's ERA.
The Dodgers are still in last place in the NL West, but they are catching up to everybody else in their division. In the NL West the Dodgers are the only team that has a winning streak. First place Arizona has lost 3 games in a row, the Rockies and Padres have lost 2 in a row. The fourth place Giants have lost 4 games in a row. The Diamondbacks are the only team above .500 in this very mediocre division.
LA is now 35-42 and 6 games behind the Diamondbacks. Although they have now 5 games in a row, they are only 6-4 over their last 10 games. The Dodgers have a 6.2% chance of reaching the playoffs. That's the highest that percentage has been in a very long time.
But again the Dodgers are doing just enough to win, they aren't dominating anyone. I wouldn't say that I'm a believer yet. Honestly I think most of these wins have been smoke and mirrors. Not that I'm complaining that they are finally winning. LA needs to start looking better on the field and winning more convincingly before anyone will take them seriously.
Upcoming: LA starts a 4 game series with the Phillies tonight. The scheduled pitching matchup will be Zack Greinke (4-2, 3.79 ERA) vs. Jonathan Pettibone (3-3, 4.14 ERA). The Phillies are 3rd place in the NL East, which is about as mediocre a division as the NL West. Philadelphia is 38-41 and 7 games behind first place Atlanta. According to ESPN.com, the Phillies only have a 6.9% chance of making the playoffs.
Staying in the state of Pennsylvania, the Pirates continue their historic run. Pittsburgh is 48-30 and tied with the Cardinals for first place in the NL Central. Even more importantly those two teams are tied for the best record in all of MLB. The Pirates have won 6 games in a row and 8 of 10, they have an 80% chance of making the playoffs.
The Pirates aren't even close to being at full health. Still on the DL is A.J. Burnett, Wandy Rodriguez and James McDonald. If they can get all three players back, near to full health, I like their chances of reaching the playoffs. Also the Pirates need to show their fans that they are serious about winning by going out and getting a productive player before the trading deadline. The player doesn't need to be a superstar, but a player that will strengthen a weakness the Pirates currently have.
I've complained and whined a lot about how high the Dodgers payroll is and how little they are getting from their roster. However the Yankees are probably even in worse shape. They pay more than the Dodgers and it seems like the Yankees are about to go into the proverbial toilet. After their Thursday afternoon loss to the Rangers, the Yankees have only won half of their last 10 games. They are third place in the AL East, trailing the first place Red Sox by 4 games. With how tight the AL East is, it's conceivable that the Yankees could finish in last place. Of course it's conceivable that any of the teams in that division could finish in last place.
The Yankees continue to lose players. Mark Teixeria is out for the rest of the season, however I'm not sure the Yankees will even miss him. Kevin Youkilis is out for several more weeks. Curtis Granderson is also out, so is Derek Jeter. However Jeter looks like he could be back relatively soon. And the whole tit for tat between Alex Rodriguez and Brian Cashman has been hilarious. Cashman is absolutely right, ARod does need to shut up.
Rodriguez thinks the Yankees don't want him to return this season and perhaps ever again. Well, duh. If this was the NFL, the Yankees would probably just cut him and move on. If they can't dump his atrocious contract, I'm sure they'd like to see him suspended for 100 games. During a suspension the Yankees wouldn't have to pay him and that money wouldn't count against their salary. That would save the Yankees a big chunk of change, money they could save or use for a player that is much more productive.
themusicaddict
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