The Dodgers had their first losing month of the season, going 14-15 in August, but all is not as bad at it appears. The division lead got as small as two games over the Rockies, but a late surge allowed the Dodgers to expand back to a 5½-game lead entering the final month (plus four days) of the season.
The Dodgers outscored their opponents by 33 runs in month, the third best run differential in baseball for August, behind the Yankees (+52) and Braves (+43).
Dodger Batter of the Month: The award for August is shared by Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp. Ethier led the club in hits (38), doubles (11), batting average (.333), on base percentage (.411), OPS (1.034) and wOBA (.438). Kemp led the club in runs (22), home runs (9), runs batted in (27), stolen bases (6), and slugging percentage (.634). The two have been the club's two best hitters all season, and August was no exception.
Dodger Pitcher of the Month: Randy Wolf had a spectacular month, averaging seven innings in his seven starts, and had a 2.76 ERA and 3.01 FIP for the month. Wolf had a personal four-game winning streak in the middle of the month that was snapped on Monday night.
August Record: 14-15 (.483)
131 runs scored (4.52 per game)
98 runs allowed (3.38 per game)
.630 pythagorean winning percentage
| August NL West Standings | |||||
| Club | W-L | Pct | GB | RS | RA |
| Rockies | 16-12 | .571 | --- | 146 | 124 |
| Giants | 16-12 | .571 | --- | 123 | 117 |
| Diamondbacks | 15-14 | .517 | 1½ | 144 | 137 |
|
Padres |
15-14 | .517 | 1½ | 126 | 141 |
| Dodgers | 14-15 | .483 | 2½ | 131 | 98 |
Overall Record: 78-54 (.591)
635 runs scored (4.81 per game)
501 runs allowed (3.80 per game)
.607 pythagorean winning percentage
| NL West Standings (thru August 31) |
|||||
| Club | W-L | Pct | GB | RS | RA |
| Dodgers | 78-54 | .591 | --- | 635 | 501 |
| Rockies | 72-59 | .550 | 5½ | 654 | 582 |
| Giants | 72-59 | .550 | 5½ | 530 | 496 |
| Diamondbacks |
60-72 | .455 | 18 | 602 | 626 |
| Padres |
57-76 | .429 | 21½ | 517 | 665 |
Favorite Game of the Month: Andre Ethier's three-run walk-off home run to beat Atlanta was great, but I'm going with the final game in Colorado as my favorite game of the month. Facing the prospect of leaving Denver with only a two-game lead, the Dodgers used some timely hitting to get Vicente Padilla a win in his first start as a Dodger, and the best bullpen in baseball slammed the door on the Rockies, securing a 3-2 Dodger win and a four-game lead.
Bench Production: After nearly three months of nothing from pinch hitters, August was a good month for Dodger pinch hitters, as they hit .349/.391/.419 for the month, with 15 hits in 43 at-bats. Juan Pierre led the way, garnering eight hits in 16 pinch at-bats, hitting .500/.529/.625 in that role for the month.
Welcome Aboard: Ronnie Belliard, acquired Sunday from Washington, homered in his first plate appearance as a Dodger on Monday night, making him the first Dodger to homer in his first Dodger plate appearance since Garey Ingram on May 19, 1994 against the Rockies.
Hello & Goodbye: Jason Schmidt was transferred to the 60-day disabled list on August 27, effectively ending his Dodger career. Charlie Haeger made his Dodger debut on August 17 against the Cardinals.
Upcoming Month: I'm counting the four days of October in the final month, and the Dodgers have a relatively easy schedule for the home stretch, which includes 15 home games and 15 road games. Outside of a home and away series with the Giants and the final three games at Dodger Stadium against the Rockies, the Dodgers play 21games against teams with a winning percentage of .455 or lower.
Previous Monthly Reviews: April | May | June | July
August Stats
| Player | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SB/CS | BA/OBP/SLG | OPS | wOBA |
| Ethier | 114 | 18 | 38 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 21 | 11 | 2/0 | .333/.411/.623 | 1.034 | .438 |
| Kemp | 112 | 22 | 35 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 27 | 6 | 6/3 | .313/.342/.634 | .976 | .405 |
| Manny | 103 | 16 | 31 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 0/1 | .301/.405/.476 | .881 | .362 |
| Hudson | 88 | 9 | 26 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 1/1 | .295/.354/.409 | .763 | .336 |
| Blake | 95 | 14 | 21 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 1/0 | .221/.306/.411 | .717 | .309 |
| Loney | 90 | 8 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 1/0 | .222/.327/.333 | .660 | .300 |
| Martin | 88 | 10 | 21 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 1/0 | .239/.295/.330 | .624 | .282 |
| Furcal | 119 | 16 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 0/1 | .218/.277/.286 | .563 | .251 |
| Starters | 809 | 113 | 218 | 45 | 3 | 30 | 107 | 83 | 12/6 | .269/.341/.444 | .785 | |
| Belliard | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | .250/.250/1.000 | 1.250 | .502 |
| Pierre | 41 | 8 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0/1 | .366/.413/.439 | .852 | .365 |
| Abreu | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0/1 | .250/.455/.250 | .705 | .308 |
| Loretta | 42 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 1/0 | .238/.283/.262 | .545 | .253 |
| Ausmus | 22 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0/0 | .227/.227/.227 | .455 | .202 |
| Castro | 20 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | .200/.200/.250 | .450 | .196 |
| Bench | 137 | 15 | 37 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 8 | 1/2 | .270/.315/.328 | .643 | |
| Pitchers | 61 | 3 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 1/0 | .180/.194/.262 | .456 | |
| Totals | 1007 | 131 | 266 | 50 | 4 | 32 | 127 | 92 | 14/8 | .264/.329/.417 | .747 | .345 |
| Pitcher | G | W-L | Sv | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | ERA | WHIP | FIP |
| Weaver* | 2 | 0-0 | -- | 8.1 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 2.16 | 1.320 | 4.83 |
| Kuroda | 3 | 2-0 | -- | 17.1 | 18 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 2.60 | 1.154 | 3.21 |
| Wolf | 7 | 4-1 | -- | 49.0 | 38 | 16 | 15 | 12 | 41 | 2.76 | 1.020 | 3.01 |
| Billingsley | 5 | 2-2 | -- | 28.0 | 25 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 3.21 | 1.214 | 3.73 |
| Padilla | 1 | 1-0 | -- | 5.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3.60 | 1.400 | 2.09 |
| Kershaw | 6 | 0-2 | -- | 32.1 | 25 | 13 | 13 | 18 | 47 | 3.62 | 1.330 | 2.66 |
| Haeger | 3 | 1-1 | -- | 16.1 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 3.86 | 1.102 | 6.09 |
| Stults | 1 | 0-1 | -- | 5.0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 5.40 | 1.200 | 5.69 |
| Schmidt | 1 | 0-1 | -- | 3.2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9.82 | 2.182 | 5.27 |
| Starters | 29 | 10-8 | -- | 165.0 | 141 | 63 | 61 | 56 | 145 | 3.33 |
1.194 |
3.62 |
| Sherrill | 14 | 0-0 | 1 | 14.1 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 0.63 | 1.326 | 4.35 |
| Belisario | 10 | 1-0 | -- | 9.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 0.96 | 0.857 | 4.70 |
| Kuo | 14 | 0-0 | -- | 11.2 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 20 | 2.31 | 1.114 | 1.81 |
| Broxton | 14 | 0-1 | 5 | 14.2 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 19 | 2.45 | 1.159 | 4.39 |
| McDonald | 13 | 1-2 | -- | 17.1 | 19 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 16 | 2.60 | 1.500 | 3.38 |
| Weaver* | 3 | 1-0 | -- | 9.1 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 2.89 | 1.179 | 3.47 |
| Mota | 12 | 0-2 | -- | 11.2 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 4.63 | 1.457 | 5.49 |
| Troncoso | 13 | 0-2 | -- | 10.0 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 6.30 | 1.500 | 2.89 |
| Elbert | 3 | 1-0 | -- | 3.2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7.36 | 1.091 | 5.82 |
| Relievers | 29 | 4-7 | 6 | 102.0 | 91 | 35 | 33 | 39 | 94 | 2.91 | 1.275 | 3.77 |
| Totals | 29 | 14-15 | 6 | 267.0 | 232 | 98 | 94 | 95 | 239 | 3.17 |
1.225 |
3.68 |
*Jeff Weaver's stats were split into their starting and relieving duties.
Thanks to Baseball-Reference.com and Fangraphs for help with the data.