Hello,
Atlanta slapped around the Dodgers pretty well on Sunday, beating them 8-1. The Dodgers and Braves split the series 2-2. LA and Atlanta continue going in opposite directions. It's about as likely as the Braves making the playoffs as the Dodgers not making the playoffs.
Yasiel Puig again was virtually the only bright spot offensively for the Dodgers. I'd say Puig is the Dodgers spark plug, but even with his help LA's offense still remains inept. LA has scored a total of 4 runs over the their last 3 games. That's not an anomaly either, not scoring runs is this team's biggest issue since at least last season. I hope the Dodgers are embarrassed by how bad their lack of offense is. This seems like it would be a good time to have a players only meeting, clear the air and hold some people responsible. Adrian Gonzalez and Puig need some help.
Puig had 3 hits and is now hitting .464 and his on base percentage is an incredible .483. The rest of the Dodgers had 5 hits. Gonzalez was 1 for 2, but he also earned two walks. He got on base 3 out of 4 times, his on base percentage improves to .378. Both Skip Schumaker and Nick Punto are hitting at least .280. Luis Cruz had one hit today, raising his batting average to .140. To climb to the Mendoza Line, he'd have to get hot. Mark Ellis had the other Dodgers hit and is hitting .258.
The Dodgers that were hitless today were Tim Federowicz, Ramon Hernandez, Juan Uribe and Scott Van Slyke. None of those players have been particularly effective hitters this season. Andre Ethier also was held hitless today, again. But today he had a good excuse, he didn't play. LA needs to figure out what they are doing with Ethier asap.
Following Sunday's games the Dodgers remain in 27th place in runs scored. However the Nationals are catching up on them, the Nationals only trail by 1 run. The 29th place White Sox have only scored 3 fewer runs, it's quite possible the Dodgers are back in 29th place in runs scored after Monday night's games. It's much more likely they fall to 29th place than rise to 26th place. If the Dodgers were to catch the Pirates tonight, the Pirates would have to be shut out while LA scores 12 runs. It usually takes 4 or 5 games for the Dodgers to score 12 runs.
Upcoming: LA has one more 3 game series in their 10 game home stand before getting a much needed day off. At this point they are 4-3 on this home stand. For the next 3 games they'll be playing the first place Diamondbacks. Currently NL West first place Arizona is 35-28 and leads the Rockies and Giants by 1.5 games. Arizona leads the last place Dodgers by 7.5 games.
One of the reasons the Dodgers are struggling is because they have 9 players and $91 million in payroll on the DL. When will they get those players back from the DL? Matt Kemp suffered a setback on his injured hamstring. Originally the Dodgers thought that he'd be back Friday, but now that looks very doubtful. Hanley Ramirez hasn't been put on the DL for the third time, yet. However all he's doing now is pinch hitting. Carl Crawford looks to be out for 2 or 3 more weeks at least. He's so fragile that I hope they don't rush him back. A.J. Ellis looks like he'll be out at least another 7 to 10 days.
And not to be too cruel, but when will Ted Lilly and Josh Beckett be back? Who cares, they've both been very ineffective this season. Both of them combined are getting paid over $30 million this season, they are obviously getting the better end of their contracts. I'm not sure why anyone would sign an older player to a long term contract.
Boston scored more runs today, 10, than the Dodgers did in their entire 4 game series with the Braves. LA only scored 9 runs in those games. Boston has scored 28 runs in their last 4 games, even in the game they lost they scored 5 runs.
Meanwhile Boston kept on rolling, they gave the Angels a 10-5 beat down. The Red Sox had figured out how to score. Significantly they've realized the more home runs they hit, the more runs they score. While the Dodgers were barely scratching together 1 run, the Red Sox were having home runs hit by David Ortiz, Mike Carp and 2 home runs by Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
The hitter with the lowest batting average in the Red Sox lineup today was Pedro Ciriaco, he's hitting .216. The next Red Sox player playing today is Stephen Drew at .234. The Red Sox have 5 hitters, hitting .299 or above. This blog would be so much more fun to write if it was Red Sox Daily.
Boston, who's running away from the rest of the league in runs scored, is now 39-25. They've won 7 of 10, 2 in a row and now lead the almost as hot second place Yankees by 1.5 games. Baltimore is in third place, 3.5 games behind the Red Sox.
Boston opens up a series with the 4th place Rays Monday night, the first game will be on ESPN on Monday at 7:00 EST.
themusicaddict
No comments:
Post a Comment