Hello,
In the final game of the Dodgers-Rockies three game series Colorado avoided the sweep by winning the final game 9-5. That ended a run of LA winning 10 of their last 11 games. Now that it looks like this hot streak is over, how will the Dodgers respond? Will they revert to playing terribly like they have most of the season or will this recent hot streak be a sign of the future?
There were some encouraging signs in this game for the Dodgers, this was the first time all season the Dodgers scored at least 5 runs in 4 straight games. LA had a chance to move to second place all by themselves, but instead ended up in third all by themselves. That's a good sign because they'd been in last place most of the season.
I'm hopeful that while the Dodgers continue to wait for Carl Crawford to return, some of their other bats are rounding into shape. Adrian Gonzalez, Mr. Consistent, was 4 for 5 and is hitting .304 this season. He has 13 home runs and 53 RBIs. Gonzalez also hit a home run in each game of this series.
Yasiel Puig played in spite of his injury yesterday, well of course he played. He was 1 for 5 and he's hitting .430. Matt Kemp has hit home runs in back to back games, meaning he has 4 home runs this season. Hopefully those two home runs and him going 2 for 5 today means he's returning to being the dangerous hitter he was early last season. I'm trying not to get ahead of myself as he's still only hitting .254. Hanley Ramirez was 1 for 4, is hitting .404 and has a 15 game hitting streak.
Chris Capuano isn't ready to play in MLB, he may be someday though. He was brutal today in his 4.1 innings, giving up 7 hits, 5 earned runs. Capuano dropped to 2-6 on the season and also has a very high 5.19 ERA. Meanwhile another Dodger pitcher that continues to struggle is the Dodgers alleged closer for this season, Brandon League. Every time he pitches he looks like a worse and worse signing by Ned Colleti. But one good thing about Colleti is at least he wouldn't trade for Carlos Marmol. What? You mean he did? Oh my. Anyway League only lasted 1/3rd of an inning today, he gave up 2 hits, 2 earned runs and a walk. His ERA soars to 6.37 ERA.
I hope the Dodgers are furiously working behind the scenes to add either Matt Garza or Ricky Nolasco to their team soon. Both Nolasco and Garza had solid outings in their last games. In fact Garza has been on fire of late. Imagine if the Dodgers would have had Garza pitching tonight instead of Capuano.
Upcoming: LA now travels to play a 3 game series in San Francisco. The Giants have been terrible of late, terrible is the perfect word. The Giants have lost 3 games in a row and 9 of their last 10 games. I have a feeling the Giants were a bit relieved that their game was rained out today. The defending World Series champs have sunk to the bottom of the NL West. San Francisco has only scored 20 runs in their last 10 games. The scheduled pitching matchup for Friday's game is Hyun-Jin Ryu (6-3, 2.83 ERA) vs. Matt Cain (5-4, 4.29 ERA).
The Red Sox continued streaking, finishing off a 3 game sweep of the Padres, in the 8-2 win. Boston had 18 hits in this game as they continue to be MLB's most prolific offense. Red Sox players that had multiple hit games were Jacoby Ellsbury, Shane Victorino, Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz, Mike Napoli, Ryan Lavarnay and Jose Iglesias. However only 3 Red Sox players struck out. I'd take a 6 to 1 hits to strike outs any day as a manager.
While the Red Sox have the best record in the AL, San Diego is tied for last place in the NL West with the Giants. I'm glad someone else is now looking up at the Dodgers. Meanwhile the Red Sox have the best record in the AL. Also they are 53-34, they've won 4 in a row and 8 of 10. Boston leads the second place Orioles by 4.5 games.
On Friday the Red Sox start a 10 game West Coast road trip, but the only good team they will play is the A's. I expect the Red Sox to win at least 6 of the 10 games. This road trip will take them to the All-Star break. First up they play a 3 game series against the Angels, 41-44, where surprisingly the over paid Josh Hamilton actually had a big hit last night. Next up is a 4 game series in Seattle, the Mariners are only 37-48. Boston closes the road trip against the very good A's, who are 50-36 and leading the AL West. That should be a fun series to go into the All-Star break.
The Pirates seem to be cooling down a little bit as they lost to the Phillies 6-4 on the 4th. However the Pirates have still won 8 of their last 10 games and have the best record in MLB. Pirates rookie Gerrit Cole suffered his first lost as a MLB starting pitcher. He's 4-1 and has a too high ERA of 3.94. Cole pitched 5.1 innings, giving up 8 hits and 3 earned runs.
themusicaddict
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