Some Dodgers have Georgia on their minds

It was reunion time for some of the players on the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves over the weekend, emotional and predictable on several levels.

Freddie Freeman returned to Atlanta for the first time since joining the Dodgers as a free agent after the 2021 season. He won a World Series and an MVP with the Braves, and he was welcomed back ceremoniously by Atlanta.

After Sunday’s game, which the Dodgers won, 5-3 in 11 innings, Freeman told the Associated Press, ``I’m emotionally drained.”

He had quite the weekend. He went 2-for-5 with an RBI double that gave the Dodgers a 3-2 lead in the 10th inning in Sunday night’s game. He was 4-for-12 in the series, scored two runs and struck out four times. 

Dodgers closer Craig Kimbrel had a bit of a homecoming too. He spent the first five years of his MLB career with the Braves. 

But he didn’t exactly do his new team any favors. He blew the save on Sunday night, giving up a run in the bottom of the 10th inning. He did not endear himself to either Dodger fans or Braves fans, with Dodger fans lamenting having Kimbrel in their bullpen and Braves fans grateful he is no longer part of their pitching staff.

But the most dramatic reunion was centered around Kenley Jansen. The new Braves closer had a roller coaster of a career with the Dodgers, blowing saves at key points over the years, but also shutting down teams in the middle of heated pennant races. Over the weekend, Braves fans saw all Jansen has to offer, and why he lost favor in LA.

Jansen earned the save in Saturday’s game, which the Braves won 5-3. He struck out the side in the ninth inning and gave the Dodgers no shot at mounting a comeback.

It looked like Jansen was going to make it two saves in a row, striking out the first two batters he faced in the top of the ninth of Sunday’s game.

But the Dodgers put together three hits in a row, erased a 2-0 Braves lead, and tied the score. The Braves were Jansened.

Trayce Thompson, who is in the midst of his second go-round with the Dodgers, delivered the big blow against Jansen in the ninth. His two-run single tied the score, 2-2.

Chris Taylor delivered the knockout blow in the 11th inning with a run-scoring double to give the Dodgers a 4-3 lead. Trea Turner added an RBI single to give the Dodgers a little breathing room.

After the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, ``That was a heavyweight battle.’’

Indeed it was. 

When the week was all over, the Dodgers put together a 5-1 record during their six-game road trip, sweeping the Cincinnati Reds to start the week. They took two of three games against the Braves and ended their season series with a 4-2 record against the reigning World Series champions.

The only real drawback was that Tony Gonsolin didn’t win his 10th game of the season. He pitched into the sixth inning in Sunday’s game against the Braves, but left down 1-0. It wasn’t a total loss, though. Gonsolin lowered his major league leading ERA to 1.58. 

Dodgers starter power rankings:

1. Tony Gonsolin
2. Clayton Kershaw
3. Julio Urias
4. Tyler Anderson
5. Mitch White

The Dodgers (45-26) have a two-game lead over those pesky San Diego Padres in the National League West standings. They start a three-game series in Colorado against the Rockies on Monday and come home to start a four-game weekend series against the Padres on Thursday.

Anderson provides bright spot for Dodgers

It was another disappointing week for the Dodgers. They dropped two of three games to the visiting Cleveland Guardians and fell out of first place in the National League West standings, if however briefly, for a day.

The Dodgers went 3-2, in part by sweeping the lowly Los Angeles Angels in a little two-game series to start the week.

One of the bright spots of the week was Tyler Anderson, who took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Angels on Wednesday.

Shohei Ohtani broke up the no-hit bid with a one-out triple in the top of the ninth inning. Anderson, who has been a pleasant surprise in the Dodgers rotation this season, allowed five base runners before Ohtani’s triple. Two Angels batters walked, two reached on errors and one was hit by a pitch.

Anderson nearly missed a no-hitter and Clayton Kershaw flirted with a perfect game earlier this season. They were just two more stellar pitching performances to add to Dodgers history. Here is a look at some of the best pitching performances throughout franchise history.

Dodger pitchers have thrown 25 no-hitters since becoming a pro baseball team in the American Association in 1884. The first no-hitter in franchise history came on Oct. 4, 1884, but it wasn’t an “official’’ no-hitter. 

Sam Kimber pitched 10 no-hit innings for the Brooklyn Grays against the Toledo Blue Sox but the game ended in a 0-0 tie.

Tom Covett pitched a no-hitter in 1891 against the New York Giants, but there is no record if he was a right-handed or left-handed pitcher.

Sandy Koufax holds the Dodgers record with four no-hitters and two other Dodger pitchers have more than one no-hitter. Adonis Terry pitched two no-hitters, the first in 1886, a 4-0 win over the St. Louis Browns, and the second in 1888, a 1-0 win over the Louisville Colonels.

Carl Erskine pitched two no-hitters for the Brooklyn Dodgers. His first was in 1952, a 5-0 win over the Chicago Cubs, and his second was in 1956, a 3-0 win over the New York Giants.

Here is a look at the top-five no-hitters in Dodgers history:

Sept. 9, 1965: Sandy Koufax pitched a perfect game against the Chicago Cubs. The Dodgers won 1-0 and it is the only perfect game in Dodgers history. It was also the fourth and last no-hitter Koufax pitched for the Dodgers. Koufax struck out 14 Cubs, and recorded the most strikeouts in a perfect game.

Sept. 17, 1996: Hideo Nomo no-hit the Colorado Rockies. It was the first no-hitter in Coors Field and still the only no-hitter ever pitched in Coors Field. The Dodgers won 9-0, the largest margin of victory in a Dodgers no-hitter.

June 29, 1990: Fernando Valenzuela pitched the only no-hitter of this career against the St. Louis Cardinals. It was one of two no-hitters pitched on June 29, 1990. Dave Stewart pitched a no-hitter for the Oakland A’s against the Toronto Blue Jays on the same day.

June 18, 2014: Clayton Kershaw pitched the only no-hitter of his career. The Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies, 8-0. He struck out 15 Rockies, and didn't walk a batter. Only Nolan Ryan had more strkeouts in a no-hitter, 16, against the A's in 1991.

July 14, 1995: Ramon Martinez pitched the only no-hitter of his career against the Florida Marlins. The Dodgers won the game 7-0. Pedro Martinez, pitching for the Montreal Expos, lost a perfect game against the San Diego Padres in the 10th inning on June 3 of the same season. It would have been only the second time brothers pitched no-hitters. Bob and Ken Forsch are the only brothers to pitch no-hitters in the major leagues.

Dodger starter power rankings:

1. Tyler Anderson
2. Tony Gonsolin
3. Julio Urias
4. Andrew Heaney
5. Clayton Kershaw

The Dodgers (40-25) have a half-game lead over those pesky San Diego Padres. They start a three-game series on the road against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday and play the Braves in Atlanta for a three-game series starting on Friday.  

Dodger All Stars dim during recent woes

All Star voting started last week, but the way the Dodgers have been playing lately, it’s hard to make a case for any of them to make the National League All Star team.

The Dodgers were swept by the surprising San Francisco Giants over the weekend. The Dodgers scored only four runs in three games against the Giants. The Giants closed the gap on the Dodgers in the National League West standings. They are in third place and 3½ games out of first.

The Dodgers are still in first place in the NL West, but the race got a lot tighter after the series against the Giants.

Julio Urias was the hard-luck loser on Sunday. He dropped to 3-6 despite striking out 10 Giant batters in six innings in a 2-0 loss.

The Dodgers offense has mostly disappeared over the past two weeks. They went 2-4 last week and are 2-6 in their last eight games.

Ouch!

Still, there are some Dodgers who are All Star worthy despite the recent struggles. Here are the players on the Dodgers who should be All Stars and the players who are longshots to make the All Star team.

The locks:

Mookie Betts leads the National League in runs scored with 52 and is second in the league with 16 home runs. He is also fourth on the Dodgers with a .278 batting average.

Trea Turner leads the Dodgers with a .298 batting average, 46 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. He is third in the league in stolen bases, fifth in the league in RBIs and 18th in the league in batting average.

Tony Gonsolin is tied with five other pitchers for the league lead in wins with seven. His 1.58 ERA is second in the league and he has become the ace of the Dodgers staff in the first half of the season.

Tyler Anderson also has a league-leading seven wins and a respectable 3.07 ERA in nine starts for the Dodgers. More importantly, he has emerged as one of the more reliable starters in the Dodgers rotation and in the National League.

On the bubble:

Gavin Lux leads the Dodgers in on-base percentage (.375) and is second on the team in batting average (.296).

Freddie Freeman is second on the team in hits with 68 and second in OPS at .817.

Clayton Kershaw is 4-1 with a 2.12 ERA and leads the team with a 0.86 WHIP. 

The longshots:

Chris Taylor is batting .255 with six home runs, but he might be the most versatile player in the National League. He plays left field, second base, shortstop and has become the de facto designated hitter for the Dodgers. He plays wherever the Dodgers need him.

Will Smith is batting .248 with a .418 slugging percentage and a .771 OPS, and has seven home runs, which might not put him among the league leaders, but they are pretty good power numbers for a catcher. 

Dodger starters power rankings:

1. Tony Gonsolin
2. Tyler Anderson
3. Julio Urias
4. Clayton Kershaw
5. Walker Buehler

The Dodgers (37-23) have a half-game lead over those pesky San Diego Padres in the NL West standings. The Dodgers start a two-game Freeway Series against the Angels on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium and end the week with a three-game series at home against the Cleveland Guardians starting on Friday.

Dodgers find production from unlikely sources

Some unlikely Dodgers are putting together some impressive streaks.

Tyler Anderson has a 26-inning scoreless streak.

Tony Gonsolin has a six-game winning streak.

Trea Turner put together a 26-game hitting streak.

All have led to the Dodgers climbing to the top of the National League West standings.

But which streak is the most impressive?

Anderson’s scoreless inning streak is clearly the most surprising. Anderson was not even in the regular rotation for the Dodgers when the season started. He was a back-up plan, an emergency starter, a bullpen opener if the Dodgers ran into any injury problems.

Instead, he has turned into the most unhittable pitcher in the rotation. The Dodgers have a history of producing pitchers with lengthy scoreless inning streaks. Don Drysdale and Orel Hershiser put together streaks that nearly reached 60 innings. And Fernando Valenzuela tossed eight shutouts in his Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Award winning season in 1981.

Anderson extended his scoreless inning streak on Friday against the visiting New York Mets. He pitched six shutout innings, giving up three hits and striking out five, in a 6-1 win. Anderson improved to 7-0 and lowered his ERA to 2.59.

Most impressive.

Not to be outdone, Gonsolin won his sixth game of the season and has emerged as the ace of the Dodgers staff after the first 54 games of the season. On a team with Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler and Julio Urias, that’s not an easy feat.

Gonsolin was not expected to carry the Dodger starters. But he has become the team’s stopper, providing quality starts when the team needs to snap a losing streak or needs a big win.

His latest gem was against the Mets on Thursday. The Dodgers were coming off an embarrassing three-game sweep against the Pittsburgh Pirates. All Gonsolin did was toss six shutout innings, gave up two hits, and struck out five in a 2-0 win to start the weekend series against the Mets.

Gonsolin lowered his ERA to a National League-leading 1.59 after the game against the Mets.

While Gonsolin and Anderson have emerged as the top pitchers on the Dodgers, Turner has become the team’s best hitter.

He singled twice in Saturday’s game against the Mets to extend his hit streak to 26 games. He had a 27-game game hit streak that spread over the end of the 2021 season and the start of the 2022 season.

And even though the Dodgers lost to the Mets, 9-4, on Saturday, Turner kept the Dodgers in the game with timely hitting.

The Dodgers are finding production from some unlikely sources and it bodes well for the rest of the season.

Dodger starter power rankings:

1. Tyler Anderson
2. Tony Gonsolin
3. Julio Urias
4. Walker Buehler
5. Mitch White

The Dodgers (35-19) have a two-game lead over those pesky San Diego Padres in the NL West standings. They start a three-game series in Chicago against the White Sox on Tuesday and head to San Francisco for a weekend series against the third-place Giants on Friday.