Kazmir Comes Through

I have to admit, I had my doubts about Scott Kazmir all the way through spring training. He got lit up in his first couple of spring training starts and the way Dodgers pitchers were going down with one injury or another, I thought the Dodgers may have to trade for more starting pitching. He started pitching better towards the end of spring training and being a veteran pitcher, he seems to have been able to flip the switch. I know that one great regular season outing is just the beginning of a long season but Kazmir took a step towards easing my doubts. Kazmir came as close as he could come to matching Clayton Kershaw's opening day performance allowing only one hit in six innings with five strikeouts and no walks. He only threw 75 pitches and 49 of those were strikes.

The Dodgers offense was not the offensive juggernaut that it was in the first game but they are never going to be confused with the 1927 New York Yankees. Yasiel Puig needed to get a strong start to the season and he has done just that. He hit his second triple in two games, driving in the first two runs of the game and scored the final run when Carl Crawford drove him in.

New Manager Dave Roberts moves have been minimal in his first two games. With the pitching the Dodgers have had in the first two games, he hasn't had to make many decisions. Outside of inserting a few pinch hitters, making a few pitching changes to keep the bullpen sharp, and inserting Trayce Thompson as a defensive replacement, the Dodgers are almost managing themselves. The offense has scored 18 runs in two games, the pitching has two shutouts and has only allowed six hits.

Injuries Continue To Mount

Injuries continue to change the look of the Los Angeles Dodgers opening day roster. It was announced that outfielder Andre Ethier was going to miss 10 to 14 weeks with a broken tibia after fouling a pitch off his lower leg during a spring training game. Ethier had already been announced as the starting leftfielder and his absence can stretch into July. Carl Crawford and Scott Van Slyke will probably platoon in Ethier's absence and the Dodgers also have a couple of ex-infielder's- Enrique Hernandez and Alex Guerrero- that are trying to make the conversion to the outfield. There are enough at bats to go around for everyone- for now.

Trayce Thompson, the outfielder acquired in a trade this off season, is the odd man out. He has only batted .184 this spring with two homeruns but as brittle as the outfielders are- namely Carl Crawford and Scott Van Slyke- it is only a matter of time before Thompson is called up to the Dodgers.

The Home Run Derby

Los Angeles Dodgers rookie Joc Pederson was one of eight contestants in the Home Run Derby and he did very well for the Dodgers and for himself. He made it to the final round where he lost to the Cincinnati Reds' Todd Frazier 15-14. I am not a big fan of this even especially from the perspective of the Dodgers going in to the second half of the season.

Pederson hit a total of 39 home runs on the night but remarked how tired he was after the event was over. A home run hitting contest is also a great way to mess up a swing. Pederson leads the Dodgers with 20 home runs but his average has dipped into the high .220's.

He is also starting in the All Star game so the Dodgers may need to rest him more in the second half of the season. Carl Crawford is due back shortly after the break and Andre Ethier can also provide a left handed bat in the lineup.

Looking At The Numbers

The Dodgers have been scuffling at the plate lately. I know they went through an eight game stretch in May where they only scored nine runs. The Dodgers have suffered through a stretch of three straight shutouts at the hands of the San Francisco Giants and 42 consecutive scoreless innings on the road. These games came against the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals, two of the best pitching staffs in baseball.

I decided to take a look at the overall offensive numbers of the Dodgers. What I saw really surprised me. After 60 games, the Dodgers are first in Major League baseball in OBP, tied for first in home runs with the Houston Astros, second in OPS, fifth in runs scored, and ninth in batting average.

The Dodgers have racked up these numbers in spite of outfielders Yasiel Puig and Carl Crawford missing large chunks of the season and starting shortstop Jimmy Rollins being off to the worst start of his career.

On the plus side Joc Pederson has been as advertised and Andre Ethier has shown flashes of his form of five or six seasons ago. Pederson leads Major League rookies in home runs with 17 and Ethier has already doubled his homerun output from last season. Alex Guerrero's emergence as a power hitter helped lead to Juan Uribe's trade.

Where is the consistency in the run scoring? It has always been said that good pitching beats good hitting and that is how the Giants and the Cardinals are taking it to the Dodgers this season and in last season's playoffs.. The Dodgers are also missing their third and fourth starters in Hyun Jin-Ryu and Brandon McCarthy and they have been piecing together the back end of their pitching staff since Opening Day. Right now Carlos Frias and Mike Bolsinger are doing the job and Brandon Beachy should be back in about another six weeks.

Kershaw Finally Gets Win #100

Clayton Kershaw finally got his 100th career win last night. No Dodger fan thought it would take him until the middle of May to achieve that milestone. I believed he would get that in the first week of the season. His location has been off this year and his pitch counts have been high. He threw 110 pitches last night in 6 2/3 innings and his walk ratio is much higher than it was last year.

Even with Kershaw's slow start, the Dodgers are off to a 23-12 start and a solid lead in the National League West. This is due to a great start by Zach Greinke and a surprising offense that is putting up record numbers for the Dodgers and is one of the best in baseball. This is in spite of a slow start by Jimmy Rollins (.197 BA) and injuries to two starting outfielders, Yasiel Puig and Carl Crawford.

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.

Matt Kemp Out Of LA?

Matt Kemp has been benched for the past several games by Manager Don Mattingly and it looks like Matt Kemp might be the odd man out in the Dodgers crowded Outfield, especially with Joc Pederson tearing up the Pacific Coast League. Manager Don Mattingly was quoted as saying that Matt kemp appeared to be a little bit slower this season compared to what he had been a couple of seasons ago. His production is way down, Andre Ethier has been hot as of late (although his power numbers are way down), and Kemp might be trade material. His is still relatively young but his trade value has been hurt by his past injury problems and I believe the most the Dodgers can hope for is a mid-level prospect for a team willing to take on Kemp's salary. The Dodgers would probably have to pick up a large portion of that.

* Right after writing this blog it was reported that Carl Crawford had badly sprained his ankle and would be headed to the Disabled List. Is now the time to bring up Joc Pederson?

A Hard Act To Follow

Hyun Jin-Ryu tried his best to follow Josh Beckett's no-hitter the day before but ran out of gas in the 8th inning of the Dodgers 4-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds last night. He retired the first 21 Reds to come to the plate before Todd Frazier doubled in the top of the 8th inning to break up the perfect game. That was also about the time the wheels fell off. The Reds sent 9 men to the plate in the 8th inning, scored 3 runs off of Ryu and Brian Wilson and Kenley Jansen came on to get the first four out save of his career, his 15th on the season. Jansen cannot seem to come in and just shut the door, he has to make it exciting. He escaped a two on, two out jam in the top of the ninth before retiring the final batter on a fly ball to Center. Carl Crawford carried the big bat by driving in two runs and Ryu helped his own cause by driving in a run but only because the Reds could not turn a double play. With only 5 hits in the game, the Dodgers will take runs any way they can get them.

Kershaw Come Back Strong

Clayton Kershaw came back from possibly the worst outing of his career with a strong effort against the Philadelphia Phillies in the Dodgers 2-0 win last night. He went 6 innings, gave up two hits, struck out 9 and walked 2. All of this was sandwiched around a 45 minute rain delay in the top of the 4th inning. It is unusual for a starter to go back out after that long of a rain delay but Kershaw was up to the challenge. Reliever Brandon League came in for the bottom of the 7th inning and promptle loaded the bases with no one out on a hit, an error, and a walk. Reliever J.P. Howell came in and got a line out on a sliding catch by Carl Crawford, a force out at home on a grounder to Third Basemen Chone Figgins, and a flyout. They should create a special stat when a relief pitcher comes in and gets out of a jam like that. Kenley Jansen came in to get his 14th save in the 9th inning. The DSodgers were led on offense by Yasiel Puig's 3 hits and an RBI, Dee Gordon's 3 stolen bases, and Carl Crawford hit his 4th homerun of the year in the 2nd inning.

Beckett's First Win

Josh Beckett got his first win of the season last night (1-1) over one of his old teams the Miami Marlins 7-1. He went 6 1/3 innings, giving up one unearned run, struck out 6 and walked 3. He dropped his overall ERA to 2.38. The Dodgers broke the game open with 5 runs in the bottom of the 6th. Hanley Ramirez started the scoring with a two-run double, Yasiel Puig had two hits and an RBI and improved his average to .326, and Matt Kemp and Carl Crawford also had two hits a piece. Manager Don Mattingly noted Puig's sudden consistency at the plate by saying in a postgame interview "he's growing up before our very eyes." Puig has a career high 13 game hitting streak and leads the team with 30 RBI's. His mother even threw out the first pitch last night on "Yasiel Puig bobblehead night."

Puig On The Diamond

Yasiel Puig seems to overshadow anything any other Los Angeles Dodgers' player does on or off the field. Yasiel Puig's three run homer against the Arizona Diamondbacks today overshadowed what was probably the best pitching performance in Josh Beckett's one plus years as a Dodger (5 innings, 0 runs, 7 strikeouts). The three run homer was the big blow in the Dodgers 4-1 series clinching win over the Diamondbacks. Puig also threw out Diamondback Miguel Montero at second base. The Dodgers scored all four of their runs in the bottom of the sixth inning as Carl Crawford's triple drove in Dee Gordon with the first run and Adrian Gonzalez was intentionally walked to get to Puig and he made them pay for that decision. Based on Puig's propensity for strikeouts, if I was Kirk Gibson, I probably would have made the same decision. Gonzalez has been swinging a hot bat as of late. Jamey Wright (1-0) pitched the sixth inning, giving up Arizona's lone run, to get the win and Kenley Jansen finished it off to get his 7th save. That puts the Dodgers at 12-7 on the season, one game ahead of the San Francisco Giants in the National League West.

The Longest Bunt In Dodgers History

Juan Uribe's failure to get a bunt down in the bottom of the eighth inning worked out pretty well for the Dodgers. Uribe's two-run homerun to deep Left Field gave the Dodgers a 4-3. Kenley Jansen closed the door in the top of the ninth inning to clinch the Dodgers 3-1 series win over the Atlanta Braves. Carl Crawford hit two homeruns, giving him three in the four game series, to provide the rest of the Dodgers offense. Clayton Kershaw pitched 6 innings, giving up 2 unearned runs, on only three days rest. Ronald Belisario gave up a run to leave the Dodgers trailing 3-2. Brian Wilson, the Beard, Mohawk and all, got credit for the victory. Yasiel Puig's hustle double on a hard roller down the first base line to lead off the eighth set up Uribe's heroics. Say what you want about Puig but he didn' even slow down on that hit to Right Field. For most anyone else, that would have been a leadoff single or a 9-3 putout at Second Base. The Dodgers take on the Cardinals-pirates winner in the NLCS.

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.

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.

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.

North Of The Border

The Los Angeles Dodgers broke out the bats last night in a 14-5 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. They had three four run innings (2nd, 6th, and 7th) fueled by Catcher A.J. Ellis' career night at the plate. Ellis went 4 for 6 with one home run, 5 RBI's, and 3 runs scored. Skip Schumaker, playing rightfield, had his first homerun on the season in the 7th inning with two on and Carl Crawford had 2 RBI's. Hyun-Jin Ryu did not have his best game of the year and it was his first game action since July 10th. He went 5 1/3 innings and gave up 9 hits and 4 runs. That is the beauty of run support. You don't have to be at your best every game when your team is scoring a lot of runs. Ryu improved his record to 8-3. The Dodgers are 4-0 since the All-Star break and moved into sole posession of first place.

The Kershaw Leap

In Football there is the Lambeau Leap and in Baseball, there is now the Kershaw Leap. In the top of the fifth inning with the Dodgers holding a commanding 9-1 lead, one of the Washington Nationals hit a screaming line drive towards third base. Nick Punto, all 5'9" of him, leaped high into the air to snag the line drive. The replay showed Clayton Kershaw leaping high into the air at the same time Punto did like he was going to catch the line drive himself. His eyes were glued on Punto the entire time and it was like he was willing Punti to catch the ball. That kind of passion displayed by Kershaw was just a natural display of a desire to win in a game, for all practical purposes, that was already over. He dispalyed that same sort of passion when he struck out twice, swinging at bad pitches. The Dodgers scored 7 runs in the top of the second on the strength of a lead off solo home run by Matt Kemp his 5th, fresh off the Disabled List, and a three-run home run by Hanley Ramirez, his 10th, both off hanging sliders from Nationals' starter Jordan Zimmerman. Matt Kemp ended up 3 for 4 with 3 RBI's, but twisted his ankle making the final out of the top of the 9th. It was a meaningless play in what ended up being a 9-2 win and now Kemp is going to miss even more time. Clayton Kershaw (9-6) pitched 7 innings, allowing 2 hits (both long, solo home runs by ex-Dodger Jayson Werth) and struck out 9 with no walks. Kemp, Carl Crawford, and Mark Ellis all had three hits and Kemp and Ramirez had 3 RBI's a piece. The Dodgers handed Jordan Zimmerman his first home loss on the season.

A Juan Uribe Sighting

Juan Uribe appeared as a major contributor on the stat sheet last night for the first time since he has been a Los Angeles Dodger. Seeing him stuffing the stat sheet is as about as rare as a Big Foot sighting or seeing my ex-wife cooking in the kitchen. Uribe had a double, a bases clearing triple that chased Giants starter Matt Cain, and his 5th homerun and totaled 7 RBI's. He fell a single short of the cycle, a rarity for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Only two others in Dodgers history- Wes Parker in 1970 and Orlando Hudson in 2009- have hit for the cycle. More importantly for me is that was the 4th win in a row over the San Francisco Giants and their 11th win in 13 games. Hyun-Jin Ryu went 6 2/3 IP and only gave up 2 runs and improved his record to 7-3. He also drove in a run. The bottom third of the Dodgers batting order Uribe, A.J. Ellis, and Ryu) accounted for 9 of the 10 Dodger RBI's. He had pitched in 5 straight games without a decision. Isn't run support a beautiful thing? The sudddenly brittle Matt Kemp hurt his shoulder in his first at bat of the game but finished the at bat, drawing a walk. He was removed after that for precautionary reasons and Carl Crawford, in his first game back from the Disabled List, finished the game for him. Since the game was not in doubt in the ninth inning, the Dodgers gave Brandon League an inning to work and he pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth.