Winning With Class

The Los Angeles Dodgers finally took the National League West with an 8-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants. The Dodgers exorcised a few demons from this season in the form of Madison Bumgarner and AT & T Park in San Francisco. Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers had not beaten Bumgarner or won a game in San Francisco this season.

The Dodgers also won with class. The San Francisco Giants posted a message congratulating the Dodgers on winning the National League West with a hashtag of respecttherivalry on their scoreboard after the game and Kershaw and Adrian Gonzalez gave credit to the Giants for being a good team, competing until the end, and having a good season.

Kershaw pitched one of his best games of the season, pitching a one hit shutout and striking out 13. He also had a 13 pitch at bat against Bumgarner in the fifth inning in which Kershaw fouled off pitch after pitch before grounding out to second base. In describing the at bat bat after the game Kershaw admitted that he did not stand a chance against Bumgarner but wanted to make him work. Kershaw was congratulated by his teammates in the dugout after his at bat.

Justin Ruggiano and A.J. Ellis hit back-to-back homeruns in the sixth inning to finish off Bumgarner and Kershaw closed it out and that was how the west was won. I was surprised to learn that it was the first time that the Dodgers had won three division titles in a row and winning it in San Francisco made it even better for any Dodgers fan.

Giant Slayers

Zack Greinke matched Madison Bumgarner pitch for pitch and Rookie Joc Pederson hit a Bumgarner fastball in the bottom of the seventh inning to lead the Dodgers to a 2-1 win over the San Francisco Giants and a 5 1/2 game lead in the national League West. I am surprised that Pederson started against Bumgarner because of the agonizing slump he has been in but Mattingly's "hunch" paid off. That and the fact Kike Hernandez is hurt. The Dodgers much beleaguered bullpen shut the door, Luis Avialn finishing out the eighth inning on seven pitches and Kenley Jansen nailing down his 28th save.

Pederson had been in a 6 for 63 slump but he decided to employ one of the oldest hitting strategies of "see the ball. Hit the ball" and it paid off against one of the toughest left hands in the league. It was only the second homerun a left handed batter had hit off Bumgarner all season and only the fourth homerun Pederson has hit off a left hander.

Taking Down The Giants

The Dodgers are in first place in the National League West, they are playing in Chavez Ravine, and should be favored to win this series. However, the Giants have owned the Dodgers this season. The Dodgers won game one 5-4 in 14 innings and as much grief as I have given the bullpen, they pitched seven innings of one run baseball. Chris Hatcher pitched his longest, and best, outing of the year. He pitched three innings of shutout baseball but he did make it exciting, giving up three hits but he held tough. That game was Hatcher's to win or lose and he won it.

Zach Greinke is the Dodgers MVP but first baseman Adrian Gonzalez is quietly having another very good season. He leads the Dodgers in homeruns and RBI's and is batting about .290. He is the most consistent hitter the Dodgers have and has come up big in clutch situations all year.

The Dodgers have been no hit twice in the past nine days and they face the ace of the Giants staff Madison Bumgarner. After being no hit twice in the past nine days, I am hoping the baseball gods smile on the Dodger bats and bring them to life. I do not know if it is possible to "sit on" a slider but that is Bumgarner's out pitch. The Dodgers counter with Zack Greinke but he has not been as dominant as he was about a month ago. He always seems to raise his level of pitching against the other teams ace so it's ace vs. ace.

The MLB Postseason

The MLB Postseason got off to a roaring start a few days ago with the Kansas City Royals taking out the Oakland A's 9-8 in 12 innings. The National League playoffs started last night with the San Francisco Giants behind the pitching of Madison Bumgarner blasting the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-0. Bumgarner is to be feared in the playoffs but one pitcher cannot win a five or a seven game series.

It is great to see some of powerhouse teams of the 1970's and '80's back in the postseason. The Oakland A's, Kansas City Royals, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Baltimore Orioles are all making appearances. The Kansas City Royals are making their first appearance in the playoffs since 1985. I read somewhere that is the longest streak of non-playoff seasons in the four major sports. I like to see the small market teams have some success.

I like the fact that the New York Yankees stayed home so I do not have to hear any more of the Derek Jeter love fest going on with the media (except Keith Olbermann). I also kind of like the fact that the Boston Red Sox are staying home this year. I was getting tired of them as well.

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.

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.

Madison Bumgarner Owns The Dodgers

Madison Bumgarner beat the Dodgers again last night 4-2 but he had a lot of help from the Dodgers. They committed almost as many errors as they had hits (3 to 4) and only had Tim Federowicz's two run homer two show for run support behind Stephen Fife (3-3). Fife went 4 1/3 innings and only gave up one earned run but the errors helped to end his day early. Yasiel Puig had his worst game as a pro going 0 for 4 with 4 strikeouts. It will be interesting to see how he handles that and how he adjusts his next game out.

An Important Road Trip

The Dodgers won all three series on their 10-game road trip and went 7-3 and put themselves back in first place in the National League West. Chad Billingsley won his sixth straight decision in impressive fashion last night with 7 innings of shutout baseball versus the Atlanta Braves. Mark Ellis was the offensive star hitting a bases loaded double in the top of the ninth inning to seal the deal. They face the Giants at Dodger stadium tonight. I do not think it is a series that will decide the NL West right now but the Dodgers cannot afford to get swept and give the Giants any kind of momentum either. The Dodgers have who they want opening the series tonight in Clayton Kershaw. He faces off against Madison Bumgarner, a really tough, young left-hander. I have a Madison Bumgarner bobblehead courtesy of the Hickory Crawdads from a couple of years ago and if I thought it would help the Dodgers, I would turn it into a voodoo doll and start sticking pins in it but I will settle for a couple of Matt Kemp homeruns. A grand slam from Hanley Ramirez would be nice as well.