The Dodgers are 3.5 games ahead of the Diamondbacks for first place in the NL West. 3.5 games in first place seems like plenty of room to for the Dodgers to get into the postseason, but it’s not. They have to keep it going and make sure to finish the season, that way they will have some momentum heading into October. There are only 16 games remaining in the regular season and if the Dodgers keep it going they will find themselves in the postseason for the first time since 2005. Hopefully if they make it to the playoffs this year they will do better than 2005 when they were swept by the Mets in the ALDS.
The Dodgers started out the 10 game road trip in San Diego and promptly lost the first game 0-4. These however are not the same under achieving Dodgers from the beginning and middle of the season. They came back and thrashed the Padres 6-2 and 7-2 in the last two games. Not only has the offense stepped it up, but the pitching is doing incredible. It is a big surprise that they have been pitching the way they have been pitching down the stretch. That is just what the Dodgers needed, clutch pitching at the right time to take them to the promise land of October baseball.
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With 22 games left in the season it is now do or die time for the Dodgers. They currently sit 1.5 games out of first place, behind the D-Backs of course. They start a crucial three game series against those first place D-Backs and they have to sweep if not, at least win two out of the three games. If the Dodgers end up sweeping the series it will vault them into a 1.5 game lead. If they win two of three they will be only .5 games back of the D-Backs which is better than 1.5.
The end of the season is near and what better way to make up ground on the first place team than to beat the first place team. Not only is this series important because they are playing the D-Backs, but after this series the Dodgers go on a long road trip. They will be on a 10 game road trip and it is always harder to win on the road than at home. The road trip will consist of the Padres, Rockies and the Pirates.
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The Dodgers had one of their most exciting series against the Phillies. The four game series ended last night capping it off with a 3-1 win and a series sweep. Â The first game the Dodgers played Dodgers won the games 8-6, 4-3 (comeback), 7-6 (comeback) and 3-1. Â The Dodgers have caught up to the Diamondbacks and have managed to keep pace with them over these past few games. Â They are no in a tie with them and maybe if they keep their winning ways going they might be in first place all alone by the end of the week.
The two middle games of the series were by far the most nail biting games. Â In game two the Dodgers were down 3-1 after six innings and were able to mount a comeback at the end. Â The game ended when Martin scored on Andre Ethier’s walk-off single.
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Manny Ramirez has been on a tear since coming to the Dodgers. Â He is hitting .565, with four homers, nine RBIs and seven runs scored. Â He hit his fourth home run in six games with the Dodgers and since acquiring Manny at the trade deadline the Dodgers have gone 3-3. Â Still not where the Dodgers would like to be, but at least their offense is consistently scoring runs at around five runs per game in the six games since Manny has joined the team.
The Dodgers started a six game road trip with a series against the Cardinals on Tuesday. Â they started the series bad losing the first two games 4-6 and 6-9. Â They were in danger of being swept Thursday, bu luckily Kershaw, the young Dodger pitcher, saved the day and pitched a gem. Â The Dodgers won 4-1 behind Kershaw’s seven strong innings (7IP, 3H, 1ER) and Manny homered once again to lead the Dodgers to the win.
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The Dodgers were able to pull off a blockbuster trade right before the trade deadline ended and landed Manny Ramirez from the Red Sox. They sent Andy LaRoche and Bryan Morris to the Pirates.
Manny Ramirez was acquired to bring a struggling offense a decent clean-up batter and to score more runs. Something the Dodgers offense has struggled to accomplish for most of the season. Along with the great bat that Manny brings to the team he also carries a lot of baggage, something the Dodgers must be willing to put up with.
Manny is probably just a two month rental for the Dodgers for the rest of the season. He has two $20 million options for the 2009 and 2010 seasons that the Dodgers got wavied. Manny will probably be to expensive for the Dodgers and be a free agent after the season.
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The Dodgers started out the All-Star break with a win that propelled them into a NL West tie with the Diamondbacks, but since that win the Dodgers have been a mediocre .500 team. They are now, again, one game back of the Diamondbacks after losing two of three against the Rockies.
The Dodgers offensive spurts continue as the scoring machine team showed up for the first game winning 16-10 at Coors Field. They scored eight runs alone in the first inning and kept it going throughout the game, led by James Loney’s five RBI night. The next two games were a completely different team scoring four runs combined in a 1-10 and 3-5 losses.
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With only three games left before the All-Star break The Dodgers find themselves one game back (from four and a half games a couple of weeks ago) of the first place Diamondbacks. What a difference pitching makes. With the Dodgers offense being so erratic it’s the pitching that has kept them in the win column and in a first place tie with the Diamondbacks.
As of right now the Dodgers are one game back of the Arizona Diamondbacks, but they have crept up by winning seven of their last ten games.
The last series win was against the Atlanta Braves in which the Dodgers won two out of three with a 3-9 loss and 3-0, 2-1 wins at home.
The Dodgers just started a four game series against the Florida Marlins yesterday, but they lost the first game 4-5 in extra innings. The Dodgers were down 3-4 in the sixth when Russell Martin (2 for 4, HR, 2 RBI) hit a solo home run to tie the game.
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So far the Dodgers have lost two of the three series during their home stand. The Indians won the first two games 4-6 and 2-7, but the Dodgers came back and won the rubber match 4-3. The Dodgers only won the middle game against the White Sox 5-0, but lost the first and last games 1-6 and 0-2. There’s no explanation necessary, the scores speak for themselves. The continuing problem seems to be the offense and Torre can’t seem to find any solutions to fix the offense. If things continue the way they are then it’s assured the Dodgers will head into the break with a losing record and an even bigger gap between them and the Diamondbacks.
The good news is that hot streaks can start at anytime, just ask the 2007 Rockies, it might happen to the Dodgers. They should have plenty of motivation heading into the last series against the Angels. They were beaten bloody when they went to visit Anaheim and the Angels only seem to be getting stronger as the season moves along. The Dodgers won’t have an easy time with the Angels though as they will face two of the Angels best pitchers. The first game will pit them against Joe Saunders who has a MLB tying best eleven wins . They will then face John Lackey in the final game of the series and he has gone 5-1 with a 1.65 era in only eight games this season.
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After getting swept in Detroit it didn’t look very good for the Dodgers heading into the next series against the Reds. Good thing the Reds were in a funk of their own. The Dodgers ended up sweeping the series 3-1, 6-1 and 7-4, thanks to great pitching. The Dodger pitchers Billingsley, Lowe and Stults gave up only six runs in the three games. The Dodgers offense finally came alive for more than one game and scored sixteen runs.
The series against the Reds ended a nine game road trip for the Dodgers. They are back home in L.A. to start a nine game home stand against three American League teams. They face the struggling Cleveland Indians tonight for the start of a three game series. Then they will host the red hot Chicago White Sox, who lead the AL Central, for a three game series. The last series against the AL is a good one, as the Los Angeles Angels come to the face the real L.A. team. The Angels will be at Dodger Stadium for the last three games series. As expected many Angel fans should be there, but nothing good comes out of visiting fans being in Dodger Stadium. Especially since the Angels are doing so well and the Dodgers continue to struggle. We shall see what happens.
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The Dodger started a nine game road trip on Tuesday against the last place Padres. The Padres have done better going into the three game series, but still not enough to really worry the Dodgers.
The Dodgers started the series well, winning 7-2 led by Russell Martin driving in three runs, including the game winner. Kershaw pitched decent, but earned a no decision in the game. The next two games the Dodgers lost 1-4 and 0-9, as the trend continued and the offense disappeared. I guess you can say that the Dodgers offense is like Big Foot, coming out once in awhile and then never heard from again for awhile. The Dodgers pitching has been pretty consistent, it’s the offense that is killing them. The only run the Dodgers scored in the last two games was off a DeWitt homer and then they were shut down in the last game by Peavy.
The Dodgers head to Detroit next to face the Tigers in a three game series. The Tigers are coming off a series sweep of the White Sox and are going into the series pumping on all cylinders, more than can be said for the Dodgers. After Detroit they get an off day and head into Cincinnati to face the Reds in the last three game series of the road trip.
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The Arizona Diamondbacks are struggling as of late, losing twelve of their last 16 games. It should be a great time for the Dodgers to catch up to them, but the Dodgers have been struggling themselves. They have lost eleven of their last fourteen games coming into Fridays second game against the Cubs. The Dodgers continue to stay within striking distance of the D-Backs, but can’t seem to get past the hump. They keep hovering at around three to four games back, but can get no closer.
Their latest series didn’t help them get any closer. They ended up losing three of the four games against the Mets. Winning only the second game of the series 9-5. It looked as if the offense was clicking after that game and they would have some momentum, but it was not to be. The struggling offense started, well, struggling again. They lost the remaining games 2-3 and 1-6. The Dodgers were out scored 16 to 22 in the series.
The Dodgers came back to Dodger Stadium after the 1-6 road trip to face the Rockies. It seemed like all the Dodgers needed was to be in front of their home crowd because they were clicking again and won the first game of the series 8-2. It seems as though when the Dodgers score runs it takes a lot out of them because all of a sudden the next games the offense was gone, once again. They lost the next two games 0-3 and 1-2.
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The Dodgers didn’t fair well in the Windy City. They got blown out of town by the Cubs, getting swept in the three game series in Wrigley Field. They lost 1-3 in the first game, 1-3 in the second and 1-2 in the rubber match against the Cubs. The offense has been non-existent in the last six games for the Dodgers. They have scored a total of seven runs in those six games. Not very good and even if they got great pitching, not nearly enough run support to win any games.
After being swept by the Cubs last series the Dodgers we’re looking for some better luck against the Mets on Thursday. They didn’t get it. The Dodgers dropped the first game of the four game series in Queens 4-8 and have lost six of the last seven games. The upside for the Dodgers is that they scored four runs; which is a offensive outburst for them. The bad news is that Brad Penny gave up five earned runs in four innings, so the Dodgers were behind from the start of the game. They still have three more games against the Mets and who knows maybe a win might come out of it.
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The Dodgers are 3.5 games ahead of the Diamondbacks for first place in the NL West. 3.5 games in first place seems like plenty of room to for the Dodgers to get into the postseason, but it’s not. They have to keep it going and make sure to finish the season, that way they will have some momentum heading into October. There are only 16 games remaining in the regular season and if the Dodgers keep it going they will find themselves in the postseason for the first time since 2005. Hopefully if they make it to the playoffs this year they will do better than 2005 when they were swept by the Mets in the ALDS.
