Hello,
I would like to congratulate the Dodgers on winning the NL West, the first time since 2009. What an amazing feeling it is. I've followed this team since I can barely remember, around 35 years. I remember Reggie Jackson, Bob Welch, Kirk Gibson and all their big playoffs moments they had for and against the Dodgers. I remember when the infield was Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell and Ron Cey, I believe they were together for 9 years.
On the flip side I remember the disastrous Frank McCount era. (It's sad when an owner causes so much damage to their own team. As a Cowboys fan, I'm going through the same thing now with Jerry Jones, only his ownership has been longer and much more torturous. Jones has been living off the glory days of Jimmy Johnson and using that to justify that he knows what he's doing. Other than writing checks and staying out of the way Jones had very little to do with those Super Bowl titles.) However LA went from one of the worst all-time owners to very good owners. I'm not convinced Guggenheim Baseball Management will be amazing owners, but winning seems to be their main priority. Whereas financially engorging himself seemed to be McCourt's main priority.
On Thursday, one of the Dodgers main spark plugs produced again, that's Hanley Ramirez. Ramirez was not to be denied in this game. He was 4 for 5 and raised his batting average to .351. He also hit his 19th and 20th homers. In doing so he had his 54th, 55th, 56th and 57th RBIs. Ramirez's homer in the first inning gave the Dodgers a 3-0 lead. Then his second homer, in the 7th inning, tied the game at 6.
All that set the stage for A.J. Ellis' home run in the 8th inning, that gave the Dodgers the 7-6 lead. That ended up being the final score and the Dodgers were the NL West champs. Ellis and Ramirez had 7 of 11 Dodgers hits.
Overall the pitching ended up being decent although Ricky Nolasco had his second straight rough start. In 5 innings he gave up 9 hits, 6 runs and didn't earn a decision. The Dodgers offense bailed him out, which isn't exactly something they're known for. That's especially when their ace Clayton Kershaw is pitching. However Brandon League, J.P. Howell (who got the win and is 3-1), Brian Wilson and Kenley Jansen all did a good job. Jansen earned his 26th save of the season and now has a sparkling 1.95 ERA. He also had two more strikeouts, striking out 2 of the 3 batters he faced.
The Dodgers are 88-65 and have a 100% chance of reaching the playoffs, that feels so good to say. As of now they trail the Atlanta Braves by 2.5 games for the best record in the NL. Again the season is way too long, let's get these playoffs started. The Dodgers now play three games against the Padres then will have a much needed day off. That will be their last day off of the regular season.
I'd also like to congratulate the Boston Red Sox for clinching at the very least an AL Wild Card playoff berth. Of course Boston is shooting for a much higher goal and currently lead the Rays by 9 games in the AL East. Boston's magic number to win the AL East is 1 and they'd like to wrap up the division title asap. I also appreciate the fact that they had a quiet celebration. After dominating the AL East for so long now, the AL Wild Card should be the least of their goals. If they had earned an AL Wild Card with Bobby Valentine managing them, then that would've been worthy of celebration.
The Red Sox look to clinch the AL East tonight in a series that starts against the Blue Jays. The Red Sox also lead the A's by 2.5 games for the best record in Major League Baseball. The Red Sox could be hosting every level of the playoffs up through and including the World Series.
The roller coaster ride of John Lackey's career continues, he had a very big up yesterday. Lackey pitched a complete game, two hit shutout. He's only 10-12, but has a solid 3.44 ERA. According to ESPN he has the lowest run support of all of Red Sox pitchers.
The A's, Pirates and Braves also continue rolling towards the playoffs. It's been crazy having so many of my team be so good this season.
themusicaddict
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