Dodgers reach 100 wins on last day of season

The Dodgers won their 100th game of the season on the last day of the season against the Giants in San Francisco.

Kike Hernandez hit a three-run home run and the Dodgers won 5-2 to officially capture the National League West title. 

The Dodgers will be the second-seeded team in the playoffs. They have a bye in the first round and will await the winner of the playoff series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Milwaukee Brewers. The first game of the National League Division Series will be at Dodger Stadium on Saturday.

The Dodgers won 100 games for the third season in a row. They won 100 games in 2019, giving the Dodgers four 100-win full seasons in a row. There were only 60 regular season games played in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic and the Dodgers went 43-17. It was also the year the Dodgers won the World Series.

The Diamondbacks are the No. 6 seed in the playoffs, the last team to qualify for the playoffs. The Brewers are the No. 3 seed.

The Atlanta Braves are the No. 1 seed in the National League playoffs. They await the winner of the playoff series between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Miami Marlins. The Phillies, the No. 4 seed in the playoffs, won the NL pennant last season.

The Marlins are the No. 5 seed.

Freddie Freeman fell one double short of becoming the first player since 1936 to hit 60 doubles in a season. He finished with 59 doubles and set a Dodgers record for doubles in a season. Joe Medwick hit 64 doubles and Charlie Gehringer hit 60 doubles in 1936, the last time any player hit 60 or more doubles in a season.

Clayton Kershaw took the loss on Saturday, 2-1, against the Giants. It was the first time Kershaw has lost a game since May. 

He was 7-0 with a 1.96 ERA in 13 starts since May 21 before losing on Saturday. He gave up two runs on five hits in 5 ⅓ innings.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts hinted after the game Saturday that Kershaw will be the Game 1 starter in the NLDS.

“Whenever it is, I’m just excited to get to do it," Kershaw told the Associated Press after Saturday’s game. “It’ll be fun. With the way this year kind of went, I didn’t really expect to be in this spot for a lot of reasons. But it’s here and if that happens, I’ll be ready.”

Rookie Bobby Miller won the game on Sunday. He is 11-4 with a 3.89 ERA and will most likely be the starter for Game 2 of the NLDS.

Dodgers starting pitcher power rankings:

1. Bobby Miller
2. Clayton Kershaw
3. Lance Lynn
4. Emmet Sheehan
5. Caleb Ferguson

The Dodgers (100-62) will have some time for two players to recover from injuries. Chris Taylor was hit by a pitch in Sunday’s game and left with a bruise on his leg. Migual Rojas was hit in the hand by a pitch in Friday’s game and missed the next two games.

Dodgers coming in hot as season comes to a close

The Dodgers are rolling into the playoffs, securing home-field advantage in the first round and taking three of four games against those surprising San Francisco Giants over the weekend.

The Dodgers went 5-2 last week against the Detroit Tigers and Giants and are 8-2 in their last 10 games.

The Dodgers needed extra innings to beat the Giants on Sunday. The score was tied 2-2 after nine innings when Chris Taylor drove in the winning run in the 10th inning. It improved the Dodgers record to 6-6 in extra innings. But more importantly, it all but knocked the Giants out of playoff contention. They are five games out of the last wild-card playoff spot with six games left to play.

As for the Dodgers, they are closing in on a third 100-win season in a row and have wrapped up the National League West title.

The Dodgers shut out the Giants 7-0 on Saturday and set a number of records in the process.

Clayton Kershaw won his 210th game, putting him all alone in second place in franchise history in that category. He passed Don Drysdale, who won 209 games as a Dodger. Only Don Sutton has more than Kershaw with 223.

Mookie Betts drove in two runs, giving him 105 RBIs for the season, the most ever by a leadoff hitter in MLB history. He passed Charlie Blackmon who drove in 103 runs as the leadoff hitter for the Colorado Rockies in 2017.

“There’s been a lot of great leadoff hitters and for him to be number one is pretty remarkable,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told the Associated Press after Saturday’s game. “It seems like every night we’re eclipsing milestones as individuals."

Freddie Freeman went 2-for-5 and notched his 203rd hit of the season. It is the first time he passed the 200-hit mark in a single season and it is a career high in hits for Freeman.

He also hit his 57th double. He already has the Dodgers record for doubles in a season. He has seven more games to become the first player to hit 60 doubles in a season since Charlie Gehringer and Joe Medwick did it in 1936.

As for Kershaw, he should be well-rested for the playoffs. The Dodgers have been starting him on six-days rest as the season comes to a close. He is 13-4. But since Aug, 10, when he came off the injured list, he has made seven starts and has a 2.03 ERA with 27 strikeouts and 14 walks. 

The Dodgers really have nothing left to play for except to keep their players healthy before the playoffs start.

Dodger starter power rankings:

1. Clayton Kershaw
2. Bobby Miller
3. Lance Lynn
4. Emmet Sheehan
5. Caleb Ferguson

The Dodgers (96-59) have a doubleheader against the Rockies in Colorado on Tuesday and finish the season with a three-game series against the Giants in San Francisco starting on Friday.

Dodgers stumble to the finish line

The Dodgers swept the Mariners in a three-game series in Seattle over the weekend and pretty much ruined the Mariners playoff plans.

The Dodgers are limping to the end of the season despite the sweep. They have won seven of their past 10 games, but are 8-7 in September. They have lost Julio Urias for the rest of the season, and are using a patchwork starting rotation that includes Lance Lynn with a 5.94 ERA and two rookies.

The Dodgers clinched a playoff spot and won the National League West title in the series in Seattle. It is the 10th time the Dodgers have won the NL West in the past 11 seasons, and Clayton Kershaw was reveling in celebrating another title.

“You have to embrace it. You have to enjoy it. Like I've been saying, this could be the last one for a long time. Every year I say that, but you just can't take it for granted,” Kershaw told the Associated Press after Saturday’s game.

The Dodgers don’t have much left to play for. They are in the playoffs and will most likely be the second-seeded team. The division title is wrapped up. They have the luxury of watching other teams fight for playoff spots.

The Mariners were one of those teams. They are in the hunt for the American League West title and a wild-card playoff spot. But after the Dodgers swept them, they fell a game behind the Texas Rangers for the last playoff spot and 2.5 games behind the Houston Astros for first place in the AL West.

The Dodgers have 14 games left in the season, seven at home, seven on the road and seven against the San Francisco Giants.

The Dodgers can kill the Giants playoff hopes in the final two weeks of the season. It’s always worth it to spoil the Giants chances of making the playoffs.

The Giants are two games out of the last playoff spot behind the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs and Miami Marlins. The Giants chances of making the playoffs are already remote, but the Dodgers have plenty of chances to eliminate them officially in the next two weeks.

In the meantime, the Dodgers can coast to the end of the season. They are in such a comfortable spot, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy took the day off in Sunday’s game and they still won, 6-1.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is giving his players a chance to enjoy the moment and it’s probably the right move.

“Winning the division is something always special, but doing it by winning a baseball game and not by default makes it more special,” Roberts told the Associated Press after Saturday’s game. “Tonight we get a chance to celebrate with one another, celebrate with our fans.” 

Dodgers starting pitcher power rankings:

1. Bobby Miller
2. Lance Lynn
3. Clayton Kershaw
4. Ryan Pepiot
5. Gavin Stone

The Dodgers (91-57) start a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers at Dodger Stadium tonight and finish the week with a four-game series at home against the Giants.

Dodgers take a stormy route to the playoffs

After beating the Washington Nationals on Sunday, the Dodgers magic number to win the National League West title is six.

But it looks like the Dodgers will need more than magic to make a successful playoff run.

Injuries and pitching problems, mainly the arrest and suspension of Julio Urias, has made the staff extremely thin. Reinforcements aren’t coming any time soon either with news of Walker Buehler missing the remainder of the season recovering from surgery.

That leaves Clayton Kershaw, Bobby Miller and Lance Lynn to hold down the rotation in the playoffs. 

Ryan Pepiot and perhaps Ryan Yarbrough will fill in when needed. It’s not a promising playoff picture, and not the rotation the Dodgers had in mind for October.

It’s a sad time for the Dodgers. Even the weather in Washington, D.C., was dark and gloomy.

All three games against the Nationals were delayed by rain. The game on Saturday was delayed by four hours. The Dodgers ended up losing that one 7-6 in 11 innings.

The Dodgers went 3-3 on their road trip last week to Miami and Washington. The Dodgers lost two of three games to the Marlins and won two of three games against the Nationals. 

It was a rough road trip for the Dodgers.

“I think right now we're all emotionally (and) physically spent,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told the Associated Press after Sunday’s game. “Happy to come away with what we did on this road trip and get home and get back to some good weather.”

But it was quite a weekend for Freddie Freeman. 

The Dodgers All Star first baseman broke the franchise record for doubles in a season. He hit his 53rd double of the season in Friday’s game. The Dodgers won, 8-5. Freeman broke the Dodgers record set by Johnny Fredrickson in 1929. Fredrickson, who hit 52 doubles in the 1929 season, still holds the record for most doubles in a season by a rookie.

Freeman hit another double in Saturday’s game to give him 54 with 20 games left to play. The National League record for doubles in a season is 64, set by Joe Medwick of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1936. 

Earl Webb of the Boston Red Sox has the major league record for doubles in a season with 67 set in 1931. 

For good measure, Freeman went 2-for-4 and scored two runs in Sunday’s game to raise his batting average to .336.

James Outman hit his 19th home run of the season to improve his case for National League Rookie of the Year.

And Max Muncy hit his 34th home run of the season in Saturday’s game. It was a two-run shot in the eighth inning.

At least the hitters are providing a little sunshine for Dodgers fans.

Dodgers starter power rankings:

1. Ryan Pepiot
2. Ryan Yabrough
3. Clayton Kershaw
4. Emmet Sheehan
5. Bobby Miller

The Dodgers (87-55) start a three-game series with the San Diego Padres tonight and head to Seattle for a three-game weekend series with the Mariners.

Dodgers season takes a nasty turn

If it wasn’t bad enough for the Dodgers after losing three of four games at home to the Atlanta Braves, Julio Urias was arrested and charged with domestic violence after the series on Monday.

It’s the second time Urias has been accused of domestic violence.

In the wise words of Maya Angelou, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them.”

This couldn’t happen to Urias and the Dodgers at a worse time. What Urias is accused of is horrible, for the victim, for the team, for the Dodgers organization. 

The Dodgers said that Urias won’t be traveling with the team to Miami. The Dodgers start a series with the Marlins Tuesday. While the investigation into what happened with Urias is underway, his participation with the team is on hold.

The Dodgers pitching staff was already thin. It leaves Clayton Kershaw, Bobby Miller and Lance Lynn as the only reliable starters in the rotation. Perhaps Ryan Pepiot enters the rotation. After that is anyone’s guess.

But filling out the rotation is the least of the Dodgers problems.

The Dodgers can’t resign Urias after this. It’s a shame too. The image of him on the mound for the final out of the 2020 World Series is etched in Dodger lore. It will have a footnote now that joins the accomplishments of Trevor Bauer.

Instead of being the next Fernando Valenzuela, Urias will become the OJ Simpson of the Dodgers.

It was a rough weekend for the Dodgers. 

They lost the first three games of the weekend series against the Braves, what many saw as a preview to the National League Championship Series.

The Dodgers and Braves are by far the best teams in the National League.

Mookie Betts and Ronald Acuna Jr. put on a show in the first game. Betts hit two home runs. Acuna hit a grand slam. Each player looked like an MVP. But the Braves hung on to win 8-7.

The third game was another nailbiter. The score was tied 1-1 after nine innings. The Braves took a 4-1 lead in the 10th inning on a three-run home run by Orlando Arcia and won their sixth game in a row, 4-2.

The Dodgers won the fourth game of the series on Sunday night, 3-1, and avoided the sweep. Miller earned the win going seven innings and giving up three hits in only his 17th career start. He’ll need a lot more starts like that if the Dodgers are to make a deep playoff run.

“After getting our teeth kicked in a little bit after the first three games, we really needed this one today," Miller told the Associated Press after Sunday’s game. “I was really locked in. I had a great feeling going into this game. Probably the most locked in I've ever been so far. ... That’s a big goal for me, to dominate a team for the second time."

It looks like it’s going to be a rough September for the Dodgers.

Dodger starter power rankings:

1. Bobby Miller
2. Clayton Kershaw
3. Ryan Pepiot
4. Emmet Sheehan
5. Lance Lynn

The Dodgers (82-49) head to Miami to start a three-game series with the Marlins. They then travel to Washington for a three-game weekend series with the Nationals.

Mookie Betts finds his groove on the road

Mookie Betts made the most of his return to Boston in a weekend series against the Red Sox.

He had seven hits, drove in four runs and hit his 35th home run, tying a career-high he set last year.

He hit .467 in the three games against the Red Sox, his first games in Fenway Park since being traded to the Dodgers. 

“I’m sure he’s going to sleep well tonight. I’m sure he’s physically and emotionally exhausted,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told the Associated Press after Sunday’s game. “But, man, he’s a pro and he does a great job of compartmentalizing. It’s fun when you have expectations for a superstar and he delivers. And he did.”

Betts raised his batting average to .315 and has entered the conversation for MVP. When he was playing for the Red Sox, Betts won the 2018 American League MVP, the same year the Red Sox beat the Dodgers in the World Series.

Now he’s leading the Dodgers to another playoff push.

It’s no coincidence the Dodgers are 21-4 in August, the same time Betts started turning it on at the plate. The Dodgers took two of three games against the Red Sox in Boston, went 4-2 last week on the road against the Cleveland Guardians and Red Sox, and are 17-3 in their last 20 games.

It took two days for the Dodgers to win the second game of the series against the Guardians. Clayton Kershaw started the game on Wednesday and went two innings before it was suspended because of rain. The game was completed on Thursday with Ryan Pepiot picking up the win. 

Betts ended up with five hits in the game too, a 6-1 win for the Dodgers.

Betts went 3-for-5 and drove in three runs in Sunday’s game against the Red Sox. The Dodgers won 7-4. 

He had another three-hit game Saturday against the Red Sox, going 3-for-6 with an RBI in an 8-5 loss.

In Friday’s game, Betts was 1-for-4 and scored two runs. The Dodgers won that game, 7-4.

He and Freddie Freeman combined for 14 hits in the three games against the Red Sox. 

The Dodgers have four more games to play in August and have a 12-game lead over those annoying Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League West standings.

Dodger starting pitcher power rankings:

1. Clayton Kershaw
2. Caleb Ferguson
3. Lance Lynn
4. Bobby Miller
5. Julio Urias

The Dodgers (80-49) can put some more distance over the Diamondbacks in the standings this week. The Dodgers start a three-game series against the Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium tonight. They end the week at home with a four-game series against the Atlanta Braves. 

Dodgers celebrate Fernando, win eighth game in a row

The Dodgers swept the visiting Colorado Rockies in a four-game weekend series and have put together an eight-game winning streak.

The Dodgers went 6-0 against the Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks last week, have won 12 of their past 13 games and are 20-9 since the All Star break.

And for those keeping score at home, the Dodgers are 32-17 since Pride Night on June 16.

It all adds up to an 8.5-game lead in the National League West standings over those surprising San Francisco Giants.

It’s been a successful stretch since the trade deadline too, with new additions making valuable contributions. The most valuable might be Amed Rosario. He hit a solo home run in Saturday’s 4-1 win over the Rockies.

In addition to sweeping the lowly Rockies, the Dodgers celebrated Fernando Valenzuela over the weekend. His No. 34 was retired on Friday night. Saturday night was his bobblehead night. Sunday was 1981 World Series ring day. 

Valenzuela was on two World Series championship teams for the Dodgers. He was the ace of the staff in 1981, a strike-shortened season that ended with Valenzuela winning the Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year. The Dodgers and New York Yankees met for the third time in five years in the World Series, with the Yankees winning the first two in 1977 and 1978. The Dodgers won the World Series in six games in 1981.

Valenzuela was also on the 1988 World Series championship team for the Dodgers, although he was not as effective in that season.

Another one of his noteworthy moments, and there were many, was when he threw a no-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1990. There were reminders of all Valenzula’s greatest moments as a Dodger at the stadium all weekend.

While the Dodgers were celebrating their past heroes, the current Dodgers were putting on a show.

Tony Gonsolin and Julio Urias made encouraging starts in the final two games of the series against the Rockies.

Gonsolin started Saturday’s game and made one bad pitch. It was his first pitch. Ezequiel Tovar hit a lead-off home run to give the Rockies a short-lived 1-0 lead. 

Gonsolin settled down after that, allowing only two more hits in six innings and won his eighth game of the season.

Urias started on Sunday and matched a career high in strikeouts with 12. He improved to 10-6 in an 8-3 win over the Rockies, won his third game in a row and his fifth game in his past seven starts.

He has given up six runs and struck out 27 batters in his past 24 innings pitched. 

It’s a good sign for the Dodgers if Gonsolin and Urias return to the form that made them all stars last season.

“If I’ve learned anything this year, it’s if you get hit in the face you just keep going,” Gonsolin told the Associated Press after Saturday’s game.

Dodgers starting pitcher power rankings:

1. Julio Urias
2. Tony Gonsolin
3. Clayton Kershaw
4. Lance Lynn
5. Bobby Miller

The Dodgers (71-46) start a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday. They have a weekend series with the Miami Marlins at home starting on Friday. 

Dodgers break the Sunday curse

The Dodgers won on Sunday. Normally that isn’t big news, but this year is different. It’s different for a lot of reasons for the Dodgers. But losing on Sundays has become a habit for this team.

The Dodgers lost 10 games in a row on Sunday before beating the San Diego Padres 8-2. It capped another impressive week for the Dodgers. The went 5-1 in six games against the Padres and Oakland A’s and maintained their lead in the National League West standings by four games over those surprising San Francisco Giants.

The Dodgers have been on quite a roll lately. They are 6-4 in their last 10 games and improved to 7-2 against the Padres this season.

It looks like all those off-season moves by the Padres aren’t working out too well.

As for the Dodgers, their recent moves are working out just fine, maybe a little better than expected.

Lance Lynn, making his second start since being traded to the Dodgers from the Chicago White Sox, looked impressive Sunday. He gave up one run on four hits in six innings to earn his second win for the Dodgers. In his two starts with the Dodgers, he is 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA. He has pitched 13 innings, given up four earned runs on nine hits, and has 13 strikeouts and three walks. He has however given up four home runs in two games, which was a problem before he was traded. On the bright side, they have all been solo home runs.

Lynn told the Associated Press his first two starts with the Dodgers “have been fun.”

“The offense has given me runs early and the defense has played great behind me,” he said, adding getting off to a big lead is a chance “to get yourself in a groove.”

The other new Dodger making an impact is Amed Rosario. The Dodgers new second baseman from the Cleveland Guardians hit a two-run home run in Sunday’s game against the Padres. He has two home runs, a double and eight RBIs in his last six games. But more importantly, he gives the Dodgers a regular and healthy second baseman, something they haven’t had all season.

This Dodgers team is different. It has some familiar faces, some surprising newcomers and some grizzled veterans who are all making contributions. It might not be the best team the Dodgers have put on the field in recent years, but it is playing better than most of them lately. 

Dodgers starting pitcher power rankings:

1. Lance Lynn
2. Julio Urias
3. Tony Gonsolin
4. Bobby Miller
5. Michael Grove

The Dodgers (64-46) wrap up their four-game series with the Padres today. They head to Arizona for a two-game series against those annoying Diamondbacks on Tuesday before ending the week with a four-game weekend series against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium.

New faces aren’t paying dividends just yet

The Dodgers are making moves and bringing back some familiar faces as the trade deadline approaches this week.

It hasn’t translated to wins yet, but some of the new acquisitions are making an impact already.

The Dodgers traded for Kike Hernandez and Joe Kelly, two key players from the 2020 World Series team, and look like they are trying to put that band back together.

One player the Dodgers didn’t land was Max Scherzer. The former Dodger from the record-setting 2021 team was traded from the New York Mets to the Texas Rangers.

There are still some big names reportedly available as the trade deadline approaches Tuesday. Justin Verlander and Jack Flaherty are two players who have been rumored to be on the block. Either one would give the Dodgers rotation a boost. 

The Dodgers did reinforce its starters by adding Lance Lynn. They also traded for Amed Rosario, a shortstop from the Cleveland Guardians. They sent Trayce Thompson to the White Sox and Noah Syndergaard to the Guardians in the deals. With the moves, the Dodgers addressed holes in the rotation, the bullpen and the infield. 

“I would argue we've raised the floor and the ceiling," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told ESPN. “With [Hernandez], there's a familiarity, there's something that we feel like we can tap into, essentially give him some opportunities versus [left-handed pitchers], use the versatility on defense. And I think that with Joe, familiarity, and I mentioned the culture part of it. I think there are some things with Lance -- the sequencing, the strikeout rates, there are certain things that can raise that ceiling. And then with Amed -- his buy-in, his athleticism. He's now the fastest player on our ballclub, so that speed element, the ability to move around the diamond, to lengthen our ballclub versus left-handed pitching has raised the ceiling."

Hernandez went 2-for-4 in his first game back with the Dodgers, an 8-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday.

Rosario had an impressive debut going 2-for-4 with an RBI single in a 6-5 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Friday.

Kelly earned the win in relief in Saturday’s 3-2 win over the Reds.

The Dodgers struggled all week for the most part with their new players. They went 2-4 in six games at home against the Blue Jays and Reds. They are 2-5 in their last seven games, which includes a loss to the Texas Rangers.

The Dodgers lost again on Sunday to the Reds, 9-0. They have lost 10 Sunday games in a row. It is one of the weirdest streaks in the league.

Despite the rough week, the Dodgers are still in first place in the National League West standings. They have a two-game lead over those surprising San Francisco Giants and a four-game lead over those annoying Arizona Diamondbacks.

Lynn makes his first start for the Dodgers on Tuesday at home against the Oakland A’s. He hasn’t had a great season with a 6.47 ERA and a major league leading 28 home runs allowed in 119 ⅔ innings pitched with the White Sox. But he is still an upgrade from Syndergaard.

Dodger starting pitcher power rankings:

1. Emmet Sheehan
2. Julio Urias
3. Tony Gonsolin
4. Bobby Miller
5. Michael Grove

The Dodgers (59-45) start a three-game series against the A’s on Tuesday and head to San Diego for a four-game weekend series against the Padres that starts on Friday.

The Dodgers are on fire

Nothing’s been hotter than the Dodgers since the All Star break. Not the San Fernando Valley, not the deserts in Palm Springs, not even the edges of the Antelope Valley. The Dodgers are the hottest team in the league and perhaps the hottest group in all of sports.

The Dodgers went 4-2 last week and are 6-3 in their last nine games. That is the same record since the All Star Game. The Dodgers took two of three games against the New York Mets, the Baltimore Orioles and the Texas Rangers all on the road. For those keeping score at home, the Orioles lead the American League East standings and the Rangers are in first place in the American League West. 

On the strength of their hot streak, the Dodgers increased their lead in the National League West standings to four games over those annoying Arizona Diamondbacks and those surprising San Francisco Giants. 

The Dodgers lost to the Rangers 8-4 on Sunday and are 0-9 in Sunday games. It’s the only blemish on an otherwise impressive season so far.

The Dodgers outscored the Rangers 31-16 in the three-game series in Texas, including a 16-3 thrashing on Saturday. 

Max Muncy hit a milestone grand slam in Sunday’s loss to the Rangers. It was his third grand slam of the season, tying an LA team record. It was also the 10th grand slam of the season for the Dodgers, which leads the National League.

Despite the loss, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was happy with the way his team played on the nine-game road trip.

“This road trip was a fantastic road trip. Really proud of the way we played,” Roberts told the Associated Press after Sunday’s game.

Mixed in the road trip was a concerning loss for Julio Urias. He was the starter against the Orioles on Wednesday. It was a getaway day game at Camden Yards and turned into the worst outing of the year for Urias.

He gave up eight runs on eight hits and two walks in five innings and dropped to 7-6. The Dodgers lost the game 8-5. It was the most earned runs he's given up in a start in his career.

The start of the game was also delayed 41 minutes because the grounds crew didn’t put the tarp on the infield overnight. It rained the night before the game and it took longer than expected to prepare the field for the game.

No one is accusing the Orioles of any shenanigans, but it does seem a little suspicious the Orioles created a rain delay that might or might not have messed up Urias’ preparation routine.

Regardless, the Dodgers head home with a little cushion in the standings and a lineup that is breaking records at the plate.

Dodgers starting pitcher power rankings:

1. Bobby Miller
2. Michael Grove
3. Tony Gonsolin
4. Emmet Sheehan
5. Julio Urias

The Dodgers (57-41) start a nine-game homestand with a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays Monday. The Cincinnati Reds and Oakland A’s will also visit Dodger Stadium over the next two weeks. Grove is scheduled to start Monday’s game.

Dodgers and Betts in the middle of their own heat wave

The Dodgers came out of the All Star break and nearly swept the Mets in New York over the weekend, taking two of three games and losing Sunday’s game in extra innings.

The Dodgers won the first two games of the series and extended their winning streak to six games. They are 6-1 in their past seven games and 14-6 in their past 20 games.

At the All Star break, the Dodgers were tied with those annoying Arizona Diamondbacks for first place in the National League West standings.

After Sunday’s games, the Dodgers have a 1.5 game lead over the Diamondbacks and the second best record in the National League. Only the Atlanta Braves have a better record.

One of the reasons for the Dodgers recent surge is Mookie Betts. He has been the hottest hitter in the league for about a month. He’s been hotter than the San Fernando Valley. He’s been hotter than a climate change denier. He’s been the equivalent of a solar flare on the baseball field in July.

Betts almost outhit the whole Mets team in the first two games of the series. He had six hits in the first two games. The Mets had seven, and only scored one run.

Betts went 4-for-4 with a walk against the Mets on Saturday, a game the Dodgers won 5-1. It was a tie game until the eighth inning when Dave Peralta drove in the go-ahead run for the Dodgers. The Dodgers scored three more runs in the ninth inning. Betts hit a home run in the third inning, his eighth home run in his past 13 games. 

He has hit 10 home runs since June 23. After Saturday’s game, he was hitting .410 with 21 RBIs in his previous 17 games. 

He added an RBI single in Sunday’s game, driving in the only run of the game for the Dodgers, and has at least one RBI in five straight games.

The Dodgers lost to the Mets, 2-1, on Sunday, wasting a strong start by rookie Bobby Miller. But Betts didn’t cool off.

“I think this lineup top to bottom, they all swing it really well. And I think it was just a matter of time before we started clicking and started rolling,” Los Angeles pitcher Tony Gonsolin told the Associated Press after Saturday’s game.

No hitter has been better than Betts. He raised his batting average to .286 and has 27 home runs and 65 RBIs after Sunday’s game. Not bad for a leadoff hitter.

Dodger starting pitcher power rankings:

1. Julio Urias
2. Tony Gonsolin
3. Bobby Miller
4. Michael Grove
5. Emmet Sheehan

The Dodgers (53-39) head to Baltimore to start a three-game series against the Orioles on Monday. The Dodgers end the week with a three-game series in Texas against the Rangers starting on Friday. Sheehan is scheduled to start Monday’s game against the Orioles. 

Dodgers fit to be tied in first half

The Dodgers head into the All Star break tied for first place in the National League West standings. Given the hurdles the Dodgers faced in the first half of the season, it’s quite an accomplishment to be at the top of the NL West.

The Dodgers are actually a fraction of a percentage point ahead of those annoying Arizona Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks have played two more games (91) than the Dodgers (89) at the break, and have one more win and one more loss than the Dodgers. The Diamondbacks lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday while the Dodgers had the day off after a two-game series against the Los Angeles Angels.

It all adds up to a tie for first place between the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks in the NL West.

The Dodgers are a season-high 13 games over .500, have a four-game winning streak and went 5-1 against the Pirates and Angels last week.

Considering the Dodgers have three starters, Clayton Kershaw, Noah Syndergaard and Dustin May, on the injured list, and every starter from the opening day roster has spent time on the IL, it’s amazing they are playing this well.

One of the players who has been playing extremely well is Mookie Betts. He set some records in the game Saturday against the Angels. He hit his 10th leadoff home run, tying a record for the most leadoff home runs in the first half of a season. Bobby Bonds hit 10 leadoff home runs in the first half of the 1973 season for the San Francisco Giants. It was Betts’ 26th home run of the season. He set the Dodgers franchise record for most leadoff home runs in the first half. It was also his 46th career leadoff home run, tying him for seventh all time with Jimmy Rollins of the Philadelphia Phillies.

“Seems like every swing he's barreling up the ball,” Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman told the Associated Press after Saturday’s game. “Sometimes breaks can come at the wrong time, but I think Mookie found something in his swing and he's been able to lock it in. For 30, 35 games now, it's been that special.”

The Dodgers hit five home runs against the Angels on Saturday and won the game, 10-5. Freeman hit his 17th home run, Max Muncy hit his 21st, JD Martinez hit his 22nd and David Peralta added a pinch-hit solo home run in the seventh inning.

The Dodgers hit five home runs against the Angels in the game on Friday night too. Hitting has not been a problem for the Dodgers. They have a plus-76 run differential, second best in the National League behind the Atlanta Braves, and have scored 494 runs in 89 games. The Braves lead the National League with 499 runs in 89 games.

But pitching has been a problem.

Kershaw, the Dodgers best starter in the first half of the season, is on the injured list and it’s not clear when he will return to the rotation. May is probably out for the season and Syndergaard looks like he’s headed to the bullpen when he is healthy enough to return. 

On a positive note, it looks like Chris Taylor, the Dodgers super sub, is ready to rejoin the team when the Dodgers head to New York for a series against the Mets after the All Star Game in Seattle.

Dodger starting pitcher power rankings:

1. Tony Gonsolin
2. Julio Urias
3. Bobby Miller
4. Michael Grove
5. Emmet Sheehan

The Dodgers (51-38) have five players in the All Star Game. Betts, Freeman and Martinez are starters. Catcher Will Smith is a reserve. Kershaw was selected to the team but is injured. The All Star Game is Tuesday in Seattle. The Dodgers head to New York for a three-game weekend series against the Mets on Friday. 

Dodgers cool off when it’s time to heat up

Just when it looked like the Dodgers were going to turn the corner and start a winning streak, they lost two of three games to one of the worst teams in the American League.

The Dodger bats cooled off at the worst possible time. The Dodger pitchers didn’t offer much relief either. It was a missed opportunity against the Kansas City Royals over the weekend.

The Dodgers ended the series with a 9-1 loss to the Royals on Sunday. Dodgers starter Tony Gonsolin struggled. The Dodger batters managed only six hits in the game, half of them from David Peralta. And the Royals won their first series since May 17.

“We just didn't play well and they played better, quite frankly,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told the Associated Press after the game. “Those guys just outplayed us. It's a different brand of baseball as far as putting the ball in play, hitting behind runners, stealing bases. They were excellent in situational hitting. To be quite honest, we didn't keep up. That's how they won the series.”

Gonsolin had one of his worst outings of the season. He gave up four runs on six hits in 3⅔ innings. He has given up 15 runs in his last 14⅓ innings. He is definitely going through a cold stretch.

It wasn’t much better for Julio Urias in Saturday’s game against the Royals. He made his first start since coming off the injured list and was rudely greeted with a five-run first inning by the Royals. 

The Dodgers battled back, scoring three runs in the second inning, but eventually lost 6-4.

Urias was making his first start since hurting his hamstring on May 18, but it was nothing to celebrate.

He gave up five runs on six hits in only three innings. Urias, who had the lowest ERA in the National League last year, saw his ERA rise to 4.94 after Saturday’s game.

The Dodgers went 3-3 in six games last week, taking two of three games against the Colorado Rockies to start the week. It was actually a productive week in the standings for the Dodgers. They jumped over the surprising San Francisco Giants for second place in the National League West standings, and are within striking distance of those annoying Arizona Diamondbacks, three games out of first place.

But the Dodger definitely blew a chance to make up more ground against a Royals team that has won only 25 games all season.

Another bright note was Clayton Kershaw took a no-hitter into the sixth inning against the Rockies on Tuesday, leading to a 5-0 shutout for the Dodgers. Kershaw won his 10th game of the season and was selected to the National League All Star team. But he left the game with soreness in his shoulder. He is supposed to start against the Pittsburgh Pirates tonight, but he might miss it because of the injury. 

Dodgers starting pitchers power rankings:

1. Clayton Kershaw
2. Bobby Miller
3. Emmet Sheehan
4. Tony Gonsolin
5. Julio Urias

The Dodgers (46-37) start a four-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Dodger Stadium today. The Los Angeles Angels visit for a two-game weekend series on Friday. The All Star Game is July 11 in Seattle and the Dodgers are sending five players to the game. Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and JD Martinez are starters. Will Smith and Kershaw were added as reserves.

Dodgers almost perfect against Angels, Astros

The Dodgers shut out the Los Angeles Angels twice, won two of three games against the visiting Houston Astros and nearly went undefeated in five games last week.

It was quite the turnaround.

The Dodgers have developed a bad habit this season of blowing leads, ruining quality starts and destroying the confidence of their best pitching prospects.

There was some of that going on in the games against the Angels and the Astros. But the Dodgers came up with some clutch hits, timely offense, and even some much-needed bullpen help to go 4-1 last week.

But the most important play of the weekend was the balk that made Astros reliever Ryne Stanek go ballistic.

The Dodgers were down 7-3 against the Astros in Saturday’s game. They had a 3-0 lead earlier, but it turned into one of those games that the Dodgers like to lose. 

However, the Dodgers scored two runs in the seventh inning to cut the lead in half and scored three runs in the eighth inning to take the lead.

Perhaps these Dodgers are showing signs of life after all.

James Outman hit an RBI double in the eighth inning to tie the score. It was a ground-rule double when the ball got stuck in the fencing in the right field wall. But it was Stanek’s balk that gave the Dodgers the lead. 

When the inning ended, Stanek started yelling at anyone in an umpire uniform. He was thrown out of the game. Astros manager Dusty Baker was thrown out of the game. The Astros were in disarray, and the Dodger fans loved every second of it.

It gave the Dodgers a four-game winning streak and put them in position to go undefeated for the week.

Clayton Kershaw started the winning trend by tossing seven shutout innings against the Angels in Anaheim on Tuesday. He won his ninth game and lowered his ERA to 2.72.

“I just don't see a better competitor out there than Clayton Kershaw,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told the Associated Press after Tuesday’s game. “Right now, he's the only one standing from (the rotation on) opening day. For him to realize that, but not put any added pressure on yourself, it's a skill.”

The Dodgers followed Kershaw’s gem with a bullpen game. Brusdar Graterol opened, pitched two innings, and seven relievers held the Angels scoreless. The Angels were shut out only once in their first 74 games and the Dodgers did it to them twice in two days.

To make it even more impressive, the Dodgers beat Shohei Ohtani in the game on Wednesday.

That set up a weekend series against the Astros. 

Rookie Emmet Sheehan started the first game of the series and won the first game of his career. He was the hard-luck pitcher in his first start against the San Francisco Giants last week. He was pulled after six innings of no-hit baseball and leading 4-0 only to see the Dodgers blow the lead and lose 6-5 in extra innings.

It was a much different story in Friday’s game against the Astros. 

Sheehan won a nail-biter, 3-2, and benefited from fellow rookie Michael Busch’s RBI double in the fourth inning that gave the Dodgers the lead.

Even though the Dodgers ended the week with a lone loss, they showed plenty of fight. Trailing 4-1 inm Sunday's game, the Dodgers scored three runs in the eighth inning, two on a home run by Will Smith, and tied the score. The game went into extra innings and the Dodgers lost 6-5 in 11 innings. But they made the Astros earn every run.

Dodgers starting pitching power rankings:

1. Clayton Kershaw
2. Emmet Sheehan
3. Brusdar Graterol
4. Tony Gonsolin
5. Bobby Miller

The Dodgers (43-34), still in third place in the National League West standings, head to Colorado to start a three-game series with the Rockies on Tuesday. The Rockies lost to the Angeles, 25-1, on Saturday, but also won two of three games against the Angels over the weekend. The Dodgers travel to Kansas City for a weekend series against the Royals starting on Friday. 

Dodgers bullpen blows another lead, ruins no-hitter

It was another rough week for the Dodgers.

They went 2-4 and are 4-8 in their past 12 games. They are 12-18 in their past 30 games.

They were swept by the San Francisco Giants for the first time at Dodger Stadium in 11 years.

They dropped to third place in the National League West standings, behind those annoying Arizona Diamondbacks and those surging Giants.

The losses to the Giants over the weekend were historic. They were shutout 15-0 on Saturday, the Dodgers biggest home loss in 125 years. It was the worst loss in Los Angeles Dodgers history since being shut out 18-0 by the Cincinnati Reds in 1965.

To make matters worse, the Pride Night game on Friday drew hundreds of protesters. Catholics and Christians blocked the entrance to the stadium at Sunset Boulevard, but it didn’t affect attendance at the game. An announced crowd of a little over 49,000 was at the game, which honored the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group of cross-dressing nuns who do charity work in Los Angeles and throughout the state, and also drew the ire of Christians nationwide.

Reports of angry protesters at the game were greatly exaggerated. The protesters didn’t get much farther than the parking gates.

The Dodger fans in the stands for the game, however, left more upset than the protesters.

Emmet Sheehan made his major league debut and pitched six no-hit innings before Dodgers manager Dave Roberts took him out and handed the game over to the bullpen.

“It was a special moment he'll remember forever,” Roberts told the Associated Press after the game. “He delivered. It was fun to watch. We made some nice plays behind him. I wish we could have ended it with a win.”

Roberts isn’t the only one who wishes the Dodgers could have won the game for Sheehan.

Sheehan left with a 4-0 lead. The Giants scored two runs in the seventh-inning on a two-run home run by Wilmer Flores. They scored three runs in the eighth inning to take a 5-4 lead before the Dodgers scored a run in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the score and send the game to extra innings.

But the Giants scored two runs in the top of the 11th inning to break the tie. The game ended on a wild play in the bottom of the 11th inning.

With Michael Busch on second base and one out, Mookie Betts hit an infield pop up that the Giants let drop near the mound. The throw to first base ended up in right field and Betts sped around the bases to third.

But Busch stopped midway between third base and home on the errant throw and was caught in a rundown. Betts and Busch both ended up at third base with Busch being tagged for the second out in the inning. 

Instead of scoring a run and cutting the lead to 7-6 with a runner at third and one out, the Dodgers still trailed 7-5 with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning.

Miguel Rojas grounded out to end the game.

It wasn’t the first time the Giants ruined a no-hit bid by a Dodgers pitcher.

In 2016, Ross Stripling took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Giants only for the Dodgers to lose 3-2 in 10 innings.

The Dodgers bullpen in 2023 is developing a bad habit of blowing leads and ruining quality starts. But the game on Friday night was particularly painful.

Dodgers starting pitching power rankings:

1. Tony Gonsolin
2. Emmet Sheehan
3. Clayton Kershaw
4. Michael Grove
5. Bobby Miller

The Dodgers (39-33) start a two-game series in Anaheim against the Angels on Tuesday and host the Houston Astros for a weekend series starting on Friday.

Dodgers pitching problems prove to be troublesome

 

The Dodgers dropped two of three games against the Cincinnati Reds, dropped two of three games against the Philadelphia Phillies and dropped out of first place in the National League West standings.

It was a rough week for the Dodgers.

They went 2-4 in six games on the road. Their pitchers are also dropping like flies. Noah Syndergaard was the latest Dodgers pitcher to land on the injured list, depleting an already thin Dodgers rotation.

He joined Julio Urias and Dustin May on the injured list. It’s only a matter of time before Clayton Kershaw heads to the injured list. That leaves the Dodgers using bullpen games, relief pitchers and minor leaguers to fill the gaps.

One of those minor leaguers has been a pleasant surprise.

Bobby Miller is doing things as a starter Dodger fans haven’t seen since the days of Kenta Maeda and Fernando Valenzuela.

Miller pitched six shutout innings against the Phillies on Saturday, improved to 3-0 and lowered his ERA to 0.78. The Dodgers shut out the Phillies 9-0. Fellow rookie Andre Jackson pitched three shutout innings to complete the shutout and earn a save. 

Miller joined Maeda in 2016 as the only Dodger starters since at least 1901 to pitch five or more innings and allow one run or zero runs in each of his first four appearances.

Miller is reminding Dodger fans of Valenzuela, who won his first eight starts and pitched five shutouts in 1981.

“When you play for this club, we’re not about development — we’ve got to win,” Roberts told the Associated Press. “It doesn’t matter the age, the service time — if you’re going out there and performing, then you earn those opportunities.”

Roberts and the Dodgers don’t have much of a choice right now. Miller is definitely making the most of his opportunities. But he wouldn’t have those opportunities if May, Urias and Syndergaard were healthy.

The Dodgers are basically down to three reliable starters: Miller, Kershaw and Tony Gonsolin.

Reliever Victor Gonzalez started the game against the Phillies on Friday. He lasted two-thirds of an inning before giving way to Michael Grove.

The Dodgers kept it close, but the Phillies won the game in the ninth inning on a walk-off home run by Kyle Schwarber, a .177 hitter by the end of the weekend. Caleb Ferguson gave up the game-winning home run to Schwarber and the Phillies won 5-4.

The Dodgers used eight pitchers in the game against the Phillies on Sunday. That strategy didn’t work either with the Dodgers losing 7-3. This time Ferguson started and gave up a run on three hits in his one inning of work.

The Reds won their two games in walk-off fashion against the Dodgers. The Reds scored three runs in the ninth inning to win 9-8 on Tuesday. Matt McClain drove in the winning run with an RBI single off — guess who – Ferguson.

Will Benson hit a walk-off home run for the Reds against the Dodgers on Wednesday. The Reds won that game, 8-6, after the Dodgers blew a four-run lead.

The Dodgers are definitely going through a rough patch and are now 3.5 games behind those annoying Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West standings.

Dodgers starting pitcher power rankings:

1. Bobby Miller
2. Clayton Kershaw
3. Tony Gonsolin
4. Victor Gonzalez
5. Noah Syndergaard

The Dodgers (37-29) start a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday. Gonsolin is scheduled to start the first game. Maybe the Dodgers can start the homestand on a winning note. The San Francisco Giants come to LA to start a three-game weekend series on Friday. The Friday night game is Pride Night at Dodger Stadium.  

Dodgers-Yankees rivalry is one for the history books

The Dodgers lost two of three games to the New York Yankees over the weekend reviving a rivalry that started in the 1940s.

After winning the first game of the weekend series at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers lost the next two. Sunday’s game was a heartbreaking 4-1 loss behind a masterful performance by Dodgers rookie starter Bobby Miller.

He pitched six scoreless innings giving up only one hit and struck out seven. He became the first Dodger starter since at least 1901 to give up only one hit in a game in his first three starts. He left the game after the sixth inning with the score tied 0-0.

The Yankees scored three runs in the final two innings to break a 1-1 tie and win the game.

The series included eight home runs by the Yankees and an incredible catch by Aaron Judge who broke through the bullpen fence in right field after catching a line drive off of JD Martinez in the eighth inning of Saturday’s game.

The Dodgers and Yankees have played in 11 World Series. The first time was in 1941. The Yankees won in five games. The Dodgers and Yankees met four more times in the World Series, with the Yankees winning five times in a row. The Dodgers finally broke the Yankees streak in 1955 with a team that included Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe. 

The Dodgers won only three of the World Series they played against the Yankees. The second time was in 1963. The third time was in 1981, the last time the Dodgers and Yankees played each other in the World Series. The rivalry has become more of a regular season affair since interleague play started.

When I was in sixth grade, and the Dodgers were in the World Series against the Yankees in 1981, the Dodgers helped me get out of history homework for almost the entire year.

My sixth-grade history teacher, Mrs. Dent at Pinecrest Elementary School in Van Nuys, assigned us to keep a timeline in the classroom. It was a string of current and news events she posted on note cards in the classroom. We were supposed to bring in one a week for all of sixth grade.

Mrs. Dent was from New York and a proud Yankees fan. When the Yankees won the first game of the World Series in 1981, she brought in her own card that read, “Yankees win World Series.” I challenged her. The Yankees only won Game 1. They did not indeed win the World Series, just one game.

She refused to believe me and kept up the card in the timeline.

When the Yankees won Game 2, and she realized the Yankees had to win four games to win the World Series, she took the card down.

I made a deal with her. I said if the Dodgers win the World Series, I wouldn’t have to add to the timeline for the rest of the year. My last contribution would be “Dodgers win World Series.” If the Yankees won, she could put her card back up and I would go back to adding weekly news events to the timeline.

The Dodgers won the next four games in a row and their fifth World Series in franchise history. And I didn’t have to do that history homework assignment for the rest of the year.

Dodgers starting pitcher power rankings:

1. Clayton Kershaw
2. Bobby Miller
3. Tony Gonsolin
4. Michael Grove
5. Noah Syndergaard

The Dodgers (35-25) are tied with those annoying Arizona Diamondbacks for first place in the National League West standings. The Dodgers are in Cincinnati to start a three-game series against the Reds on Tuesday. They move on to Philadelphia for a three-game series against the Phillies over the weekend.