The Blue pulled off three big comeback wins this week, but the offense continues to struggle after a 7-2 loss tonight at Dodgertown to finish the week 4-3.
The Dodgers looked like they were well on their way to losing a series at home to the lowly Arizona Diamondbacks early in the week, before they pulled off comeback number one.
After losing the opening game to Arizona, 3-2, they had to face Dan Haren in the second game. Haren was staked to a 5-0 lead when Justin Upton smacked a second inning grand slam off Randy Wolf. When Haren would leave the game later in the evening, his team led 5-1 after an Andre Ethier solo home run. Then the D-backs pen took over, and so did the Dodgers. They rallied in the eighth inning for five runs, capped by a bases-clearing double by James Loney, and held on to win 6-5. They won the series with a 1-0 win the following night.
On Thursday, the defending World Champion Phillies arrived, and took the first game of a four-game series, 3-0. Then came the second comeback win. On Friday night, trailing 3-2 in the ninth inning with two out against Philly closer Brad Lidge, the Dodgers put runners at first and second before Pedro Feliz booted a Russell Martin grounder to third to load the bases. Andre Ethier then smacked the first pitch he saw from Lidge for a two-run double into the right field corner to win the game.
Then yesterday, with a 2-1 lead, Brad Lidge was summoned yet again, and this time Rafael Furcal hit a pinch-hit, game-tying home run to right off Lidge, to send the game into extra frames. Andre Ethier then hit a walk-off solo home run in the 12th inning, his second of the game, and the Blue came out victorious again, 3-2, capping off the third comeback win of the week. The Phils would salvage a split with the win tonight.
Despite a pretty decent week that saw them maintain the league's best record at 39-20, and the best home record in the league at 22-8, the Dodger offense has been sputtering of late. With the exception of the 8-0 win last Sunday in Chicago, and the 6-5 win comeback win on Tuesday, the offense has not scored more than four runs in a game since the team left Denver on May 27th. This isn't too much of a concern, as Manny Ramirez is due back in about three weeks from his 50-game suspension, but it is hard to not notice when the team had been averaging roughly 5.5 runs per game up to that point. The pitching, for the most part, has still been fairly consistent.
Andre Ethier appears to ahve finally shaken off his May struggles since Manny's suspension, hitting three home runs this past week. For Ethier, by the way, his two walk-off hits this weekend marked his second and third of the season, and his sixth overall in the past two seasons combined, the most by any one hitter in baseball during that time. Matt Kemp continues to hit the ball well, but the rest of the lineup has struggled a bit the last 10 games, including Juan Pierre and Orlando Hudson at the top of the order.
Hopefully a day off tomorrow will help, as some guys could use the rest. The Dodgers haven't had very many off days in recent weeks, and with a few guys ailing a bit, the off day would be a great help. After the day off tomorrow, the Dodgers have two games at the Ravine against San Diego before another off day Thursday to travel to Texas, where they'll restart their interleague schedule with three games in Arlington against the Rangers, who currently have the best record in the AL.
The Dodgers looked like they were well on their way to losing a series at home to the lowly Arizona Diamondbacks early in the week, before they pulled off comeback number one.
After losing the opening game to Arizona, 3-2, they had to face Dan Haren in the second game. Haren was staked to a 5-0 lead when Justin Upton smacked a second inning grand slam off Randy Wolf. When Haren would leave the game later in the evening, his team led 5-1 after an Andre Ethier solo home run. Then the D-backs pen took over, and so did the Dodgers. They rallied in the eighth inning for five runs, capped by a bases-clearing double by James Loney, and held on to win 6-5. They won the series with a 1-0 win the following night.
On Thursday, the defending World Champion Phillies arrived, and took the first game of a four-game series, 3-0. Then came the second comeback win. On Friday night, trailing 3-2 in the ninth inning with two out against Philly closer Brad Lidge, the Dodgers put runners at first and second before Pedro Feliz booted a Russell Martin grounder to third to load the bases. Andre Ethier then smacked the first pitch he saw from Lidge for a two-run double into the right field corner to win the game.
Then yesterday, with a 2-1 lead, Brad Lidge was summoned yet again, and this time Rafael Furcal hit a pinch-hit, game-tying home run to right off Lidge, to send the game into extra frames. Andre Ethier then hit a walk-off solo home run in the 12th inning, his second of the game, and the Blue came out victorious again, 3-2, capping off the third comeback win of the week. The Phils would salvage a split with the win tonight.
Despite a pretty decent week that saw them maintain the league's best record at 39-20, and the best home record in the league at 22-8, the Dodger offense has been sputtering of late. With the exception of the 8-0 win last Sunday in Chicago, and the 6-5 win comeback win on Tuesday, the offense has not scored more than four runs in a game since the team left Denver on May 27th. This isn't too much of a concern, as Manny Ramirez is due back in about three weeks from his 50-game suspension, but it is hard to not notice when the team had been averaging roughly 5.5 runs per game up to that point. The pitching, for the most part, has still been fairly consistent.
Andre Ethier appears to ahve finally shaken off his May struggles since Manny's suspension, hitting three home runs this past week. For Ethier, by the way, his two walk-off hits this weekend marked his second and third of the season, and his sixth overall in the past two seasons combined, the most by any one hitter in baseball during that time. Matt Kemp continues to hit the ball well, but the rest of the lineup has struggled a bit the last 10 games, including Juan Pierre and Orlando Hudson at the top of the order.
Hopefully a day off tomorrow will help, as some guys could use the rest. The Dodgers haven't had very many off days in recent weeks, and with a few guys ailing a bit, the off day would be a great help. After the day off tomorrow, the Dodgers have two games at the Ravine against San Diego before another off day Thursday to travel to Texas, where they'll restart their interleague schedule with three games in Arlington against the Rangers, who currently have the best record in the AL.
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