Carl Crawford Vs. The Boston Red Sox

The media seems to have turned the three game series versus the Boston Red Sox into Carl Crawford versus the Boston Red Sox. Carl Crawford basically said before the series that he really didn't enjoy his time in Boston for whatever reason and he really wanted to win all three of these games pretty badly. Just about every player would say that about his old team. This series is much bigger than a Carl Crawford grudge match. The Dodgers are now leading the National League West by 10 1/2 games over the Arizona Diamondbacks and Boston is fighting it out with Tampa Bay over the leadership of the American League East. Boston and Tampa are virtually tied for first place. Now the Dodgers have to be thinking about potential World Series matchups. The Dodgers won game one of the Boston series 2-0 behind Ricky Nolasco (10-9). He allowed 2 hits in 8 innings and Kenley Jansen closed them out in the 9th for his 22nd save. Nolasco got all the run support he needed from Hanley Ramirez who hit his 13th homerun, a two run shot to center field in the 4th with Carl Crawford on second. Crawford had two of the Dodgers three hits and stole two bases. He is playing to win all three of these games.

Better Late Than Never

Yasiel Puig was late yesterday for the Dodgers game against the Marlins, was benched and fined, and made a late game appearance and hit the game winning homerun in the top of the 8th inning. The homerun was his 12th and the RBI was his 28th. His heroics are to many to number. Chris Withrow (2-0) picked up the win with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Kenley Jansen came on to pitch a scoreless 9th and earn his 20th save.

A Streak In The Wrong Direction

The Dodgers lost their second game in a row last night for the first time in a couple of months, this one to the Miami Marlins 6-2. Hyun-Jin Ryu (12-4) pitched well enough to win (7 1/3 innings, 3 earned runs) but the offense fell short again. Juan Uribe had 3 of the Dodgers 6 hits, including an RBI. The Dodgers ran into a hot pitcher, Marlins rookie Jose Fernandez (9-5) and potential Rookie of the Year, who gave up 1 earned run in 6 innings, only giving up 3 hits and striking out 8.

The Streak Ends

A couple of Hanley Ramirez errors in the ninth inning, including a potential inning ending double play, allowed the Philadelphia Phillies to score the winning run in a 3-2 loss on Sunday afternoon. Starter Ricky Nolasco pitched a solid game, 6 innings, 2 earned runs, but reliever Brandon League absorbed the loss (6-4). The Dodgers offense consisted of Andre Ethier's solo homerun, his 9th and he scored both runs, the second on a Jerry Hairston, Jr., RBI single. The bottom half of the Dodgers lineup-Ethier, Van Slyke, and Hairston all had 2 hits- had 7 of the Dodgers 8 hits. That loss ended the Dodgers 10 game winning streak and dropped their lead in the National League West to 7 1/2 games.

Still Rolling

The Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies last night 5-0 behind Clayton Kershaw's 8 shutout innings. He improved his record to 12-7 and dropped his ERA to 1.80. The Dodgers offense was powered by Juan Uribe's 9th inning three-run homer, his 7th. That homerun kept Kershaw from pitching the 9th as he gave way to Brandon League. Kershaw even drove in his 7th run on the season with a 5th inning double. The Dodgers are 42-8 in their last 50 and are 22 games over .500 for the first time this season. They maintained their 8 1/2 game lead on the Arizona Diamondbacks.

A Streak Like No Other

The Dodgers are on a winning streak like no other in Dodgers history. They are 41-8 since they were 30-42 at their lowest point of the season. They were behind 9 1/2 games to the Arizona Diamondbacks at that point. They have now built a 8 1/2 game lead in the National League West. Their current winning streak is nine straight. They swept the Tampa Bay Rays, one of the Contenders in the American League East, last weekend. They won an improbable 7-6 game in which they were behind 6-0 and won 7-6 in extra innings when Rays reliever Fernando Rodney took a one hopper and potental game emding double play and fired it into centerfield, allowing Adrian Gonzalez to score the winning run. They beat Mets wunderkind and potential Rookie of the Year, Matt Harvey, in a sweep of the Mets. Hanley Ramirez comes back from missing nine games and stayed just as hot as he did before he got hurt. No matter who they plug into the lineup to replace hurt regulars, they hit like future Hall of Famers, Skip Schumaker and Nick Punto are prime examples of that. Schumaker had a 4 RBI game against the St. Louis Cardinals and Punto hit his second homerun of the year against the New York Mets. Punto got to celebrate his homerun with television and movie star Danny De Vito. De Vito was wearing his Nick Punto #7 Dodgers jersey and De Vito might also be one of the few people that Punto towers over.

Back With A Vengeance

The Dodgers got back on the winning track with a vengeance in a 13-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Carl Crawford knocked out Cardinals starter Shelby Miller with a line drive off his pitching elbow on the second pitch of the game and Miller's night was over. The Dodgers scored 6 runs in the second inning off of pitching replacement Jake Westbrook and they ran away with it from there. Andre Ethier and Skip Schumaker had 3 hits and 4 RBI's a piece, Carl Crawford had 4 hits and Tim Federowicz had 3.The Dodgers totalled 18 hits but only three of them went for extra bases. Dodgers starter Ricky Nolasco went 5 innings, gave up 3 runs (0 earned) to improve to 8-9 on the season, 3-1 since being acquired by the Dodgers.

All Things End Eventually

The Dodgers finally lost a road game the other night to the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 and Clayton Kershaw was once again the victim of a lack of run support. Kershaw (10-7) pitched well enough to win (6 innings, 2 runs) but Brandon League came in and did his thing to the tune of 1/3 of an inning, giving up 3 runs and 2 homeruns. The Dodgers had 9 hits but could only push across 1 run, Adrian Gonzalez driving in Carl Crawford in the 6th inning. Crawford and Nick Punto had 2 hits a piece and that was about it for the Dodgers offense. 15 road wins in a row has been the longest streak since the San Francisco Giants won 16 in a row in 1916 and I ssomehow knew it was going to end in St.Louis. That streak is very impressive nonetheless, and they still have two games left in St. Louis before returning home.

Two More To Go

The Dodgers won their 15th road game in a row over the St. Louis Cardinals last night 3-2. Zach Greinke went 6 1/3 innings and gave up 2 runs to get the win (9-3). He also drove in what proved to be the deciding run with a 7th inning single, giving him a .405 Batting Average. He shouldn't have wasted his time in the American League. Andre Ethier and A.J. Ellis drove in the other two runs in the 4th inning. Yasiel Puig was back in the lineup and went 1 for 4 with a run scored but he did strikeout twice. Paco Rodriguez came on and pitched the last two innings for his second save on the season. Rodriguez has only given up one run since June 5th. Kenley Jansen needed a day off.

Sweeping The Cubbies

The Dodgers did not exactly knock the cover off the ball (2 hits, 1 run) but it was still enough to win 1-0 and improve their road winning streak to 14 games. Catcher A.J. Ellis drove in Hanley Ramirez with the the games only run and Rookie starter Stephen Fife (4-3) pitched 5 1/3 innings in his return from the Disabled List to get the win. Kenley Jansen closed the door by striking out the side in the ninth and earned his 17th save. Chris Withrow continued his strong pitching in middle relief with 1 2/3 innings, lowering his ERA to 2.51 on the season in 11 games and 14 1/3 innings. It seems that Withrow has been on the Dodgers top prospect list since he was drafted in the First Round, #20 overall in the 2007 player draft. He had been mostly a starter in his minor league career until being converted to a full-time reliever this season in Albuquerque. The more the wins pile up, it seems the longer the Disabled List gets. The Dodgers lost Hanley Ramirez to a shoulder injury making a defensive play in the 7th inning. In the Cubs series, they lost Yasiel Puig and Ramirez and they lost Matt Kemp in the series before. They move on to St. Louis next.

Lucky 13

The Dodgers won their franchise record 13th road game in a row last night with a 3-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs. Just when I was ready to write Dodgers starter Chris Capuano off, he comes up with his second great start in a row. He scattered 6 hits over 6 1/3 inning, struck out 5 and walked 1. He improved his record to 4-6. The Dodger offense was supplied by Carl Crawford's 3 hits and a 2 RBI single in the 6th inning and Yasiel Puig and Andre Ethier had 2 hits a piece. Puig left the game in the 8th inning after making another sliding catch and the Dodgers are calling it a left thumb "contusion." It is not known if he will miss any time. Brandon League, Ronald Belisario, and Paco Rodriguez got the game to closer Kenley Jansen who saved his 6th game in the 13 game winning streak and his 16th overall.

Scattered And Smothered

I had to borrow this headline from the Waffle House menu. Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu gave up 11 hits but only 2 runs in 5 1/3 innings in yesterday's 6-2 win over the Chicago Cubs but he hung around long enough to get his 10th win on the season. The Dodgers offense was led by Nick Punto's 2 RBI's and Yasiel Puig, who was on base 4 out of the 5 times he was at the plate. He had 2 singles, a walk, and was hit by a pitch and drove in a run. Puig also threw himself all over Wrigley Fields' outfield grass making one sliding catch, barely missed on an all out sprint into the right center field gap in which the ball popped out of his glove, and a missile of a throw from right field to Juan Uribe at third that almost nailed a sliding Junior Lake. A lot of people in baseball and in the press are questioning Puig's attitude and his respect for the game but you really cannot question his effort between the foul lines. He is raw and he makes his share of mistakes but the potential is unlimited. Manager Don Mattingly and Second Baseman Mark Ellis were not around to see the end of the game as they got tossed by Home Plate Umpire Alan Porter for arguing balls and strikes in the top of the fourth inning. Porter's strike zone was inconsistent all game and he called Ellis out on a pitch that was outside. Even the Cubs announcers commented that Porter gave Ellis a quick hook and Mattingly even a quicker one. In Mattingly's argument with Porter in defense of Ellis, the replays looked like Porter and Mattingly came in contact with each other. It looked to me like Porter initiated the contact. I am sure Major League Baseball's League Office will be taking a look at that one.

11 In A Row

The Dodgers notched their 11th consecutive road victory last night 6-4 over the Chicago Cubs. All four of the Cubs runs came via solo home run- 2 each by Junior Lake and Anthony Rizzo. Dodgers starter Ricky Nolasco gave up 3 of the home runs but stuck around long enough to get the win, (7-9 overall and 2-1 with the Dodgers) by lasting 5 innings, giving up 4 hits, 3 runs, and he had 6 strikeouts. He was pulled in the top of the sixth for pinch-hitter Jerry Hairston, Jr. who delivered a two-run single and the go ahead runs. He probably inherited that skill from his father. Adrian Gonzalez later drove in Hairston from third after a Yasiel Puig double and Puig added an insurance run in the ninth with his 11th homerun. Four Dodgers relievers combined to pitch 4 innings of one run baseball. J.P. Howell, Chris Withrow, Paco Rodriguez (who gave up Anthony Rizzo's second home run), and Kenley Jansen, who struck out the side in the ninth for his 15th save. Hanley Ramirez drove in the first two Dodgers runs with a third inning double.

Can I Get A Little Run Support?

I would love to see what Clayton Kershaw's record would be if he could get a little bit of run support. As it is, He pitched 8 shutout innings against the New York Yankees last night, striking out 5 and scattering 5 hits, and lowering his ERA to 1.87. The Yankees scored 3 runs in the top of the ninth, only one earned, and Ronald Belisario absorbed the loss (4-6). Yankees starter and former Dodger Huroki Kuroda, matched Kershaw pitch for pitch and the Dodgers only had 6 hits of their own, 2 each by Andre Ethier and A.J. Ellis. The Dodgers move on to play the Chicago Cubs next.