Hello,
In the second game of their three game series, the Cubs beat the Dodgers 3-2. How can you tell LA probably won't score a lot of runs? The most sure way is because Clayton Kershaw is pitching.
Kershaw had one of his less effective outings of this season, he only pitched 5 2/3rds innings. He gave up 7 hits, 3 walks and 2 runs and drops to 13-8 on the season. As he only allowed 2 runs, his ERA increased slightly to 1.72. Due to that amazing ERA, and I'm sure voters take the lack of run support into consideration, Kershaw is being heavily mentioned in Cy Young consideration.
The Dodgers only finished with 7 hits and 2 runs. 5 of those 7 hits came from the two spark plugs of this season's Dodgers offense. Hanley Ramirez had a great game, he was 3 for 4 and is hitting .345 this season. (As I'm writing this blog, the third game of the Dodgers-Cubs series is occurring. Ramirez went deep in Wednesday afternoon's game, that's his 15th homer this season.) Yasiel Puig was 2 for 5 and barely held on to the Dodgers individual player best batting average, he's hitting .347 this season.
The other two hits were by two players who have underperformed this season. Andre Ethier and Juan Uribe had LA's other two hits. Both players are hitting around a respectable .270.
With LA losing 3 of 4 and the Diamondbacks winning Tuesday night, the Diamondbacks have climbed back to within 8.5 games. ESPN wondered this morning if the Dodgers are in trouble? As of now I say "no". They've lost 3 of 4 games, but that's not very concerning. They lost two games to Boston, the same team that put up 13 runs on the Orioles Tuesday night. For the rest of the season LA has a weak schedule. Other than playing the Reds for 3 games, LA only plays weak NL West teams the rest of the season. After an early afternoon game Wednesday, LA gets Thursday off. And last but certainly not least Matt Kemp should be coming back sooner than later.
The faltering Pirates made a much needed move and I'm excited about the trade Pittsburgh made. A team never knows when they'll be in playoff contention again, especially when that team is the Pirates. The Pirates have a chance this season and need to go for it as much as they can. I'm especially excited about the Pirates trading for Marlon Byrd. A player hitting .285, with 21 homers and 71 RBIs should be a helpful addition to the low scoring Pirates lineup, especially with Starling Marte out. I'm not quite as excited about John Buck, but he should be a decent backup to Russell Martin. Buck is hitting .215, and has 15 homers and 60 RBIs. Both players should be able to play for the Pirates Wednesday night.
In the same deal the Pirates traded away minor leaguer Dilson Herrera. Not that I'm rooting against Mr. Herrera, but it's quite likely Herrera won't ever be mentioned in this blog again. One never knows what will happen with a minor league player. Pittsburgh is also trading away the famous player to be named later. That's definitely a trade that the Pirates had to make.
Pittsburh's lineup could use a Yasiel Puig like spark to their offense. Not that Byrd and Buck will provide that completely, but even a decent upgrade in production would be very helpful. The Cardinals have busted out of their doldrums by winning 8 of 10 games and have surged into first place in the NL Central. They lead the second place Pirates by 1.5 games, Pittsburgh has only won 4 of their last 10 games. Meanwhile Cincinnati very much is still in playoff contention, they have a 82.4% chance of reaching the playoffs. The Reds have only won 5 of their last 10 games and trail the red hot Cardinals by 4.5 games.
themusicaddict
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