Once Upon A Time In The West

The Los Angeles Dodgers took the National League West title last night in convincing fashion. They beat the San Francisco Giants 9-1 behind 8 strong innings from Clayton Kershaw (21-3 and a 1.77 ERA) and Yasiel Puig hit his 16th homerun. Juan Uribe also drove in three runs. There is nothing more satisfying in the world to a Dodger fan than beating the San Francisco Giants to clinch the National League West and celebrating on the field while the Giants watched. Because of the playoff structure in baseball today, the Dodgers may end up seeing the San Francisco Giants again this season.

Yasiel Puig Versus Madison Bumgarner

The Yasiel Puig versus Madison Bumgarner feud started earlier this season. Puig homered off of Bumgarner, Puig did the bat flip and the slow trot around the bases, and Bumgarner had something to say as Puig neared home plate. Last night, the feud heated up a little bit as the Dodgers edged closer to the National league West title. Bumgarner gave up a leadoff homerun to Justin Turner and he hit Puig in the ankle with an inside slider. There is no doubt in my mind that Bumgarner wanted to throw inside on him but he did not want to look obvious about it. The umpires were aware of the tension and Bumgarner did not want to get tossed from the game in the first inning. Puig's reaction was typical Puig. Bumgarner once again had something to say. Bumgarner challenged Puig but Matt kemp showed more veteran leadership by getting in front of Puig and trying to diffuse the situation. Kemp homered a couple of batters later and the Dodgers were on their way to cutting their magic number to one with four games to play.

Justin Turner

Justin Turner may have been the most important off season acquisition by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014. He was signed just prior to the beginning of Spring Training and as injuries started picking off the Dodgers infielders one by one, his ability to play more than one position greatly enhanced his value. The fact that he is hitting is a definite bonus. He is hitting a career high .333 with 7 homeruns and 41 RBI's including 2 homeruns from the leadoff position against the San Francisco Giants last night. He has been primarily playing Third base but he still doesn't look quite right earing Ron Cey's #10 jersey (I still think Ron Cey should have his number retired by the Los Angeles Dodgers). When it comes time for the playoffs, he will be an important right-handed bat off the bench and a spot starter.

The Road To 20 Wins

Clayton Kershaw was not as sharp against the Chicago Cubs yesterday when he got his 20th win as he has been in the last three months. The Dodgers staked him out to a quick 6-0 lead in the top of the first inning. The Cubs cut that lead in half in the bottom of the first inning. Kershaw's control wasn't quite what it normally is and his pitch count was very high. He threw 100 + pitches in his 5 innings of work and had at least two Cubs on base in every inning. Kershaw's final stat line was 5 innings, 3 earned runs, 9 K's, and 3 BB's. In most any other game he has pitched, Kershaw probably would have left the game with at the very least, a no decision. The Dodgers hitters had his back in this game. Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig hit three run homers, Dee Gordon had two hits in his 7th straight game, and Catcher A.J. Ellis hit two homeruns after only hitting only one all season long. Kershaw improved his record to 20-3 with a 1.80 ERA and he is only the third Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher (Sandy Koufax and Claude Osteen are the others) to post more than one 20 win season. Kershaw's accomplishment was made more difficult this season by the fact that he missed five weeks at the beginning of the season.

Puig Versus kemp

Overshadowing the Los Angeles Dodgers 11-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies last night was a shouting match between Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig. Evidently Matt Kemp took offense to the fact that Yasiel Puig did not take third base on a single by Adrian Gonzalez when he had the opportunity. Matt Kemp flied out after Gonzalez's hit and it would have scored Puig had he been on third base. The Dodgers were in the middle of their 8 run 6th inning that put the game away. Matt Kemp had hit his 22nd homerun in the 1st inning and he thought Puig should have been more aggressive on the bases. Puig has all of the physical gifts to be a baseball superstar but he does not have a hign baseball IQ and his head is not always in the game. Kemp was using his veteran leadership on the Dodgers to impress upon Puig that this is when the games count and the Dodgers now have 4 game lead on the San Francisco Giants with 12 games to play. Something tells me this is not the first altercation that Puig has had with some of the Dodgers veterans this season.

Finishing With A Flourish

The Los Angeles Dodgers just finished taking two out of three from the second place San Francisco Giants and they took the last two with style. After getting blown out in the first game 9-0 after Hyun-Jin Ryu left in the first inning with shoulder stiffness, the Dodgers took the last two games, 17-0 and 4-2. The 17-0 victory featured the hitting and pitching of Zach Greinke who pitched 7 shutout innings and hit a two run homer. He improved his record to 15-8 with the win. The rubber game of the series featured the pitching of Clayton Kershaw (8 innings, 2 ER, 8 K's, 2 BB's, and a 19-3 record) and the hitting of Matt Kemp (his 20th HR and now 74 RBI's). The Dodgers left San Francisco with a three game lead with thirteen games to play and left with what they needed. They face the bottom feeding Colorado Rockies next and need to take at least two games in this series.

Haren Clutch Again

Dan Haren continued his hot pitching last night against the San Diego Padres in the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0 win. He pitched 7 innings of shutout baseball, allowing just 4 hits, striking out 5 and walking 1. He improved his record to 13-10 with the win and dropped his ERA to 3.99. Haren was backed by the bat of Carl Crawford who went 4 for 4 with 3 doubles and 2 RBI's. The Dodgers have a road series with the San Francisco Giants coming up this weekend. The Dodgers send Hyun Jin Ryu to open the series against current Dodger nemesis Madison Bumgarner. Bumgarner is having an outstanding season with 17 wins and a 3.02 ERA and has laways been tough on the Dodgers.

Larry, Curly, And Moe

When I was growing up I loved watching The Three Stooges. I remember in one short they did, it showed them playing football in typical Three Stooges style. Last night the Dodgers had a play in which three errors were committed on the same play, allowing two runs to score. It is a play The Three Stooges would have been proud of. It is also a play that almost took out Clayton Kershaw. The Dodgers won 9-4 and Kershaw pitched 8 innings and only gave up 3 runs, only one earned. Ordinarily, the two unearned runs would have done Clayton Kershaw in as far as a win goes but behind Hanley Ramirez's 4 hits and 2 RBI's and 3 hits including a three run homer from Carl Crawford. the Dodgers coasted to another victory. Kershaw is now 18-3 with a 1.67 ERA. He probably has about 4 more starts left in the season to get to 20 wins.

Adrian Gonzalez Sweeps Up

The Dodgers got their badly needed sweep of the bottom feeding Arizona Diamondbacks yesterday with a 7-2 win. This victory was due in large part to the 2 homerun and 6 RBI's that Adrian Gonzalez had. That puts him up to 100 RBI's on the season and he leads the Dodgers in that offensive category by a long shot. Zach Greinke went 6 innings and gave up to runs to earn the victory his 14th. Matt Kemp hit his 19th homerun to account for the other run.

The September Call Ups

I look forward to September 1st every year. That is when Major League Baseball teams can expand their rosters to 40 players. The Dodgers called up seven players. With the Dodgers being in such a tight pennant race, ordinarily the pitchers would only get an inning at garbage time or the hitters would get a pinch hitting appearance just to get their feet wet. Because of injuries this year the Dodgers need these players to play a key role down the stretch to win the National League West. The Dodgers recalled Pitchers Yimi Garcia and Carlos Frias. Frias already has one start under his belt, pitching 6 scoreless innings against the Washington Nationals in a game the Dodgers lost in extra innings 8-5. He had an earlier call up when he got into 8 games, all in relief. The Dodgers recalled Infielders Erisbel Arruebarrena, Miguel Rojas, and Alex Guerrero. Infield depth has been a problem for most of the season and Miguel Rojas has gotten a lot of playing time this year. The Dodgers also recalled Catcher Tim Federowicz who made the team out of Spring Training but he wasn't hitting. He tore up the Pacific Coast League when he was sent down and Starter A.J. Ellis has been below the Mendoza Line all year long. Federowicz had the opportunity to stake his claim to the starting catching job and he may have one more chance. Ellis's big advantage is he is a great defensive catcher, calls a great game, and has the confidence of the entire Dodgers pitching staff. The most interesting call up was Prize Prospect, Outfielder Joc Pederson. Pederson was the first 30/30 player in the Pacific Coast League in 80 years and only the 4th one in the PCL's storied history. The Dodgers didn't waste any time putting him into the lineup as he has started several games since his call up.

Flash Comes Through

Dee Gordon came through in the clutch last night against the Arizona Diamondbacks, driving in pinch runner Roger Bernardina with the go ahead run in the bottom of the 8th inning in a 5-2 Dodgers victory. Gordon later scored, along with pinch hitter Jeff Turner, on Hanley Ramirez's Ground Rule Double to provide the final margin. The Dodgers got off to a quick start scoring the first two runs of the game on Adrian Gonzalez's Home Run (20th) and giving him 94 RBI's on the season. Dodgers starter Hyun Jin Ryu tired in the Top of the 7th inning with the Dodgers holding a 2-0 lead and allowed the Giants to tie it at 2. Brian Wilson was the beneficiary of the Dodgers three run outburst and got credit for the win (2-3). Kenley jansen came on and closed the door for his 41st Save. Gordon was the star of the game as he had 3 of the Dodgers 7 hits and scored 2 runs.

Consistently Inconsistent

Dan Haren has had an inconsistent season but over his last 4 or 5 starts, he has started putting it together like he did at the beginning of the season. He beat the Arizona Diamondbacks last night 2-1 as he pitched 6 innings of one run baseball and the Dodgers got an RBI from Hanley Ramirez and Matt Kemp hit his 18th homerun to give Haren all the runs he would need for his 12th victory. Kenley Jansen had a shut down 9th inning for his 40th Save. This is a series that the Dodgers really need to sweep. The Dodgers are trying to fight thru a slew of injuries and I have always said that Manager Don Mattingly seems to be at his best when he is mixing and matching the lineups to give the Dodgers what they need. These injuries have especially affected the pitching staff. Starters Ryu and Greinke have both missed starts and they just announced that Josh Beckett would more than likely miss the rest of the regular season. They are having to get major innings out of several rookies and castoffs to fill out their pitching staff and help maintain a very slim lead over the San Francisco Giants.

Clayton Kershaw Versus Greg Maddux

One of the great things about baseball is it's history. You can compare players from the past and the present until the end of time and probably never come up with a definitive answer. Hank Aaron and Willie Mays, Pete Rose and Ty Cobb, Bob Feller and Nolan Ryan, and the list goes on and on.

You most often hear Clayton Kershaw compared to Sandy Koufax in Dodger history. What I would like to do is compare the season Greg Maddux of the Atlanta Braves had in 1995 (a 19-2 record with a 1.63 ERA). Kershaw is currently at 17-3 with a 1.70 ERA after getting the win last night with 8 innings of one run baseball versus the Washington Nationals. Maddux was a control pitcher and Kershaw is a power pitcher, notching his 200th strikeout last night, his 5th straight season of 200 strikeouts.

The thing I remember the most about Maddux's season was how generous the umpires were when it came to Maddux's strike zone. He could have thrown the ball into the third base dugout and the umpire would have called it a strike. The umpires generosity eventually led to a more stringent strike zone a couple of seasons later. Kershaw has just been dominant. He gave up his first homerun to a left handed batter last night when Bryce Harper of the Nationals hit a solo homerun. To this point I believe that Kershaw's season has been more dominant than Maddux's 1995 season. I can only imagine the season that Kershaw would be having with a Maddux style strike zone.

Update: Kershaw finished the season with a 21-3 record and a 1.77 ERA. He also won the National League's Cy Young Award as well as the Most Valuable Player Award. Maddux won the Cy Young Award in 1995 but finished in 3rd place in the MVP race in 1995.