Hello,
The Dodgers pounded out 14 runs in their drubbing of the Blue Jays in Toronto, winning 14-5. The newly re-injured Matt Kemp wasn't missed at all. LA has won all 4 of it's post All-Star break games. They have one more game against the Blue Jays in this series before returning to the friendly confines of Chavez Ravine.
Exactly one month previous Monday, July 22nd the Dodgers were a pathetic 31-42 and only won 4 of their previous 10 games. They were fifth place in the NL West and 9.5 games out of first place in their division. One month ago LA was trailing the fourth place Padres by 5.5 games, according to ESPN their chances of making the playoffs was 2.2%. If someone would have told me that this Dodgers team would be in first place only month later, I would have looked at the person like they had gone stone cold crazy. I didn't realize that Dodgers team would have the heart and desire to win 21 of their next 26 games.
But I do know that this team can fall back again and just might. The Dodgers have 64 more games remaining, that's 64 more chances to live up to their payroll or return to disappointment. Which will the Dodgers do? They are 4-0 since the All-Star break and have scored 23 runs in their last two games. After being near the bottom of the runs scored stat for most of the season, LA has jumped all the way to 20th place.
The Dodgers cranked out 16 hits, 14 runs but only had 2 home runs. The hero of this game was A.J. Ellis. Ellis had one of the two Dodger home runs, which was his fifth of the season. He was 4 for 6 and is hitting .267 this season. He also added 5 RBIs and has 32 this season. Carl Crawford had his second game in a row in which he had three hits, he raised his batting average to .284. Crawford also had 2 more RBI's, he'll be crucial for the rest of the season in whether the Dodgers have success or struggle.
Kemp has been ruled out for the rest of the series with the Blue Jays, he may go back on DL in the near future. Other than that the Dodgers appear to be fairly healthy, the players that are currently injured aren't really missed. Give me Chris Capuano over either Josh Beckett or Ted Lilly any day.
Upcoming: Tuesday night's scheduled pitching matchup is Chris Capuano (3-6, 4.63) vs. Todd Redmond (1-1, 4.32). For now the Dodgers are sticking with the 5 pitcher rotation. When LA's short series is over with Toronto the Dodgers return home for 6 straight games. They play the very tough Reds for 4 games and then welcome their traditional nemesis the Yankees for two more games.
I'd like to thank the Cubs for two things, thanks to them trading stud pitcher Matt Garza to an American League team. Second of all thanks for beating the Diamondbacks 4-2, it was that win that put LA in first place. I get this feeling that the Diamondbacks aren't a very good team, but then again I don't think any team in the NL West is great.
Ryan Braun rightfully will be suspended for the rest of the season for his role in Biogenesis mess. As MLBN pointed out, how much punishment is it for Braun to sit out the rest of the season? Especially since he plays for a last place team and he's been battling injuries this season. How many more games was he going to play anyway? This is obviously a deal the MLBPA worked out for him and I think they got him a hell of a deal.
When Alex Rodriguez gets suspended I think they should put a twist on his punishment. They should make him play during his suspension. He's not going to be that much help anyway and the Yankees would still have to pay him. That's a perfect punishment for him and the Yankees for agreeing to this ridiculous deal.
themusicaddict
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