Hello,
Due to timely hitting and some great relief pitching LA was able to complete their 3 game sweep of the NL West leading Arizona Diamondbacks. LA has won 15 of 18 games and has surged to within 1.5 games of the Diamondbacks. For long-time Dodgers fans like myself, this has been a fun stretch. The stretch might become more fun if the Dodgers make one more trade, a move where they'd end up with a Chase Utley, Cliff Lee or Matt Garza.
LA continues to win without Matt Kemp, on DL until after the All-Star break, and an ineffective Carl Crawford. They've been able to overcome all their injuries so far, the fact that they are even relevant right now is crazy. The fact that they're playing so well lately is amazing. Don Mattingly doesn't get a lot of love from the media, many complain about him not doing a good job with his pitching staff. Well he's doing something right, perhaps the media should cut him some slack.
LA beat Arizona on Wednesday night 7-5 in 14 innings. The story of LA's victory is timely hitting and great pitching. The Dodgers were down 2-0 when Scott Van Slyke came up to bat. He got the Dodger scoring going with a sacrifice hit in the 4th inning which drove in Hanley Ramirez. In the top of 5th inning Ramirez doubled to drive in Mark Ellis and Yasiel Puig, which put the Dodgers ahead 3-2. In the bottom of the 5th inning the Diamondbacks responded with 3 runs to jump back in front 5-3. The Diamondbacks were not to score again.
In the top of the 7th, Mr. Consistent, Adrian Gonzalez hit a solo home run to bring the Dodgers to within 5-4. The score remained 5-4 going into the 9th inning and the Dodgers were down to their last chance to score. Mark Ellis grounded out and Puig struck out, quickly the Dodgers were down to their final out. Gonzalez was up and he earned a walk. Still two outs, but at least the Dodgers had the game tying run on base. Jerry Hairston Jr. ran for Gonzalez. Next up the now hottest Dodger, Ramirez, had a single. Two outs, two on base with A.J. Ellis coming up. Ellis has had some big hits of late and he had another big hit. He singled and Hairston scored and the game was tied at 5.
Then neither team could mount much offense until the top of the 14th. That's when the Dodgers had more timely hitting, Ramirez hit a solo shot. Next A.J. Ellis hit a solo homer and the Dodgers lead 7-5 going into the bottom of the 14th inning. Don Mattingly went with Kenley Jansen for two innings and he earned the win. Jansen is now 3-3 on the season and has a very small 2.38 ERA. Mattingly's move of having Jansen pitch more than usual worked out you of the unhappy media.
Hyun-Jin Ryu didn't have his best outing as a Dodger but their relief pitching was amazing. In the final 9 innings of the game 6 Dodgers pitchers held the Diamondbacks to only 2 hits and 0 runs. That's very good use of the relief staff by Mattingly. The relievers had to be that good for the Dodgers to win as it took the Dodgers offense so long to finally score the winning runs. This was a great win and a true team effort.
Yasiel Puig is struggling with all the pressure placed on him. Those pressures are starting to catch up with him on the field. On Wednesday Puig was 1 for 7 as his batting average drops to .394, which is the lowest I can remember all season. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I'm grateful for the offense, hustle, grit and the shot in the arm Puig has brought to LA. If I was a complete LA sports fan I would be glad for all he has brought to the city, especially after a season of the whiny Dwight Howard.
The now hottest Dodger is Mr. Hanley Ramirez, he was 3 for 6 and is hitting .409. He has 8 homers and 24 RBIs. A.J. Ellis was 3 for 6 and is hitting .271 this season, he has 4 home runs and 27 RBIs. Gonzalez was 2 for 4 and his batting average is exactly .300. Gonzalez has 14 home runs and 58 RBIs this season. With all the injuries and Puigmania etc. going on, Gonzalez has been the lone constant in this turbulent Dodgers season.
Carl Crawford didn't start, but came into the game as a pinch hitter. He then stayed in the game and hit 0 for 4 as his batting average continued to plummet to, he's hitting .271. He's gone from hitting around .300 all season and being one of the Dodgers best offensive players to struggling mightily. Is he really the best players the Dodgers have at his position?
LA finally returns to .500 with a 45-45 record. LA is within 1.5 games of the Diamondbacks and have a 30.6% chance of reaching the playoffs. The Dodgers are in second place, but they only lead the third place Rockies by 2 games. The Dodgers and Rockies start a 4 game series on Thursday, the Rockies are going to try and do what the Dodgers did to the Diamondbacks. Colorado wants to go into LA and smack around the Dodgers and show that they are also a power in the NL West.
Thursday's scheduled pitching matchup is Chris Capuano (2-6, 5.19 ERA) vs. Drew Pomeranz (0-2, 9.72 ERA). I'd read with the Dodgers acquiring Ricky Nolasco, that Capuano was no longer going to start. In the Dodgers rotation slot the last time it came up, LA went with Stephen Fife. It seems LA feels they have a better chance of winning with Capuano. With two starting pitchers who are struggling look for tonight's game to be high scoring. These 4 game are LA's final games before the All-Star break.
The Pirates bounced back for a 5-0 victory last night, preventing Oakland's series sweep. This is also the first time the Pirates have ever beat the A's, like ever (as Taylor Swift would say). Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano had another outstanding effort. In 7 innings, he only gave up 4 hits and no runs. He added 6 strikeouts and Liriano has a minuscule .200 ERA. All-Star Andrew McCutchen was 2 for 3 and is hitting .303. He also had his 47th RBI.
Pittsburgh is 54-36, although they have only won 4 of their last 10 games. They remain 1.5 games behind St. Louis. The Cardinals are 55-34 and have won 5 in a row. St. Louis vs. the sacrificial lamb Chicago Cubs is Sunday Night Baseball. Pittsburgh has Thursday off and they welcome the slightly better than terrible Mets (40-48). That three game series starts Friday.
Lastly congratulations to David Ortiz, Red Sox designated hitter extraordinaire. Ortiz doubled in his first at bat, which gave him 1,689 hits as a DH. He later added his 19th homer of the season, which is his 1,690th hit as a DH. He has the most hits for any DH ever, breaking the record held by Harold Baines. On Wednesday Ortiz was 2 for 3 in this game and is hitting .331. He also now has 65 RBIs. Good luck to many more years of great performance David Big Papi Ortiz.
themusicaddict
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