Dodgers Daily: June 30th, 2013: Puig Has 4 Hits, LA Wins 8 of 9 & Get A Day Off, Pirates, Orioles Continue To Roll

Hello,

In the final game of their 7 game home stand the Dodgers defeated the Phillies 6-1. 6-1 is the record LA had on this home stand.

Yasiel Puig had his first 4 hit game, just after I said he was cooling down. On Sunday afternoon he was 4 for 5 and raised his batting average to .436. Puig had 44 hits in the month of June, that puts him in the historic company of none other than Joe DiMaggio. DiMaggio had an unbelievable 48 hits in his first calender month in MLB. (Thanks to Arash Markazi for some of this information.)

Matt Kemp was 2 for 4 and raised his batting average to .254. Saturday's hero, A.J. Ellis, had another good game. He was 3 for 4 and raised his batting average to .257. Hanley Ramirez and Puig have been carrying this team for the last few days, they desperately need to get more help from Kemp, Ellis and many others.

Stephen Fife pitched a hell of a game for the Dodgers. In 7 solid innings, he only gave up 4 hits and a walk as he lowers his ERA to 2.83. Fife even had a single in one of his at bats, helping his own cause. Speaking of Dodgers starting pitchers, it seems that Ted Lilly pitched in a rehab assignment Sunday night. That was in Rancho Cucamonga and he may be back with the Dodgers soon. That's good, but does it really matter? If Lilly can contribute, then great. But I hope the Dodgers don't actually rely on Lilly. I'm hoping that the Dodgers trade for a #4 starter or that Fife or Chris Capuano round into that #4 starter. Lilly would be good as a 5th starter to give the other pitchers more rest, assuming he has any thing left in the tank.

The Dodgers have won 8 of 9 and yet remain in last place in the NL West. However they've shrunk the Diamondbacks lead and the whole NL West has shrunk. The Diamondbacks went into Atlanta and were swept by the Braves. Arizona has lost 6 of their last 10 games, but still maintain a tenuous hold on first place. The NL West may be the worst division in MLB, only the Diamondbacks have a winning record. It's one of the reasons with the Dodgers winning 8 of 9 is enough for them to be players in the division again. As of now the Dodgers have a 7.4% chance of reaching the playoffs.

The Dodgers are 38-43 and 4 games behind the Diamondbacks. LA has Monday off and then start on a streak of 13 straight NL West games to close their schedule before the All-Star Break. The Dodgers are 2 games behind the Rockies, the team they are start a 3 game series against on Tuesday. Dodgers-Rockies end their series on July 4th.

I hate to be the naysayer once again, but this Dodgers team still doesn't seem to be built on a solid foundation. The win streak is nice, but how much of that success is sustainable? It seems too much of the Dodgers success is predicated on a team full of injury prone players. It seems only a matter of time until they resume playing terribly.

The Pirates maintain the best record in MLB. Would you have even thought that was possible before the season started? They are 51-30 and have won 9 game in a row and they have a 88.1% chance of reaching the playoffs. They've surged to the top of the NL Central. The Cardinals have been struggling of late, but are only 2 games back.

Also congrats to the Orioles for sweeping the Yankees. The Orioles have won 4 games in a row as the Yankees continue to fade. The Orioles are solidly in second place in the AL East, having a 47-36 record. They trail the Red Sox by 2.5 games. The Yankees have slipped to 4th place, are 42-39 and 6.5 games behind Boston. While Alex Rodriguez has been having Howardish levels of drama, Chris Davis is battling for the Triple Crown. Yes, it's a good time to be an Orioles fan and a Yankees hater.

Colorado's Michael Cuddyer had a hit in his 27th consecutive game. However the Pirates Pedro Alvarez was 0 for 6 and failed to extend his 12 game hitting streak. Chris Davis hit his 31st home run of the season. And what else can be said about Detroit's Miguel Cabrera, other than he's simply amazing? In his last 10 games, he has hit 6 home runs, had 11 RBIs and scored 9 runs. In those 10 games, he had 18 hits and had at least one hit in each game. He only had 8 strike outs.

Cabrera again is battling for the Triple Crown. He's hitting .373, first in MLB. He has 25 home runs, second in MLB. He's 6 home runs behind Davis. He also has 82 RBIs, he's first in that category as well. Although his once big RBI lead has shrunk to only 2 over Davis. Those two are far ahead of the third place Paul Goldschmidt, who has 67 RBIs.

A lot of people are focusing on where Dwight Howard is going to end up and how much money he's going to make. Can you imagine how much Cabrera is going to sign for in his next contract? He can actually play!

themusicaddict