Dodgers Week 11 In Review: Running The 1975 World Series Gauntlet

The Dodgers started out the week on a high note, but ran into their mortal enemy, the designated hitter, dropping all three in Boston in an all-too-familiar pattern.  In their last 45 games in American League parks, the Dodgers have lost 35 times.

Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier have completely disappeared of late, and both had a sub-.500 OPS for the week. The offense was carried by a pair of aging outfielders, and a hot shortstop until he had to leave for the most unfortunate of reasons.

Chad Billingsley went on the disabled list, spreading the starting rotation even thinner, but Vicente Padilla came back, which will be a good thing, in time.  But for this week, it was Kuroda and Kershaw and not much else.  Any week when Jonathan Broxton faces just one batter is not a good week.

Dodger Batter of the Week:   Manny Ramirez started five games this week, and hit home runs in three of them, to win the award for the second straight week.  He hit .429/.478/.857 to lead the club.  Honorable mention goes to Rafael Furcal, who had six hits in 11 at-bats before heading home to the Dominican Republic to be with his dying father, who sadly passed away Sunday.  Garret Anderson had a great week, hitting .357/.357/.714.

Dodger Pitcher of the Week:  Hiroki Kuroda had a great week, allowing just two runs in 12 innings, and it seems the only thing that kept him from pitching more innings was a long rain delay in Cincinnati.  Honorable mention goes to Clayton Kershaw, who was routinely great in his one start, striking out seven in 7 1/3 innings.

Week 11 Record:  2-4
29 runs scored (4.83 per game)
26 runs allowed (4.33 per game)
.550 pythagorean winning percentage

Season Record:  38-31
321 runs scored (4.65 per game)
316 runs allowed (4.58 per game)
.507 pythagorean winning percentage (35-34)

Who Needs a DH?:  Dodger pitchers have struggled at the plate all season, at the bottom of the league in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS.  They entered the week with a league-worst two runs batted in from their pitchers, but doubled that total in the Cincinnati series.  Reliever Ramon Troncoso got a bases-loaded walk on Tuesday, and starter John Ely hit in an RBI single on Thursday.  It was the first major league RBI for each pitcher, and the first bases-loaded walk by a Dodger pitcher since Brad Penny was walked by Kyle Lohse of the Reds on May 12, 2007.

An Exclusive Five-Hit Club:  On Tuesday night, in a game that was delayed for 164 minutes due to rain, Rafael Furcal's bat brought the thunder in Cincinnati.  Furcal got hits in his first five at-bats, had one double and would have had another had Ramon Troncoso been familiar with running the bases on Furcal's line drive off the wall.  It was the third five-hit game of Furcal's career, and his second as a Dodger.  Furcal grounded out in the ninth, but he became just the seventh Los Angeles Dodger to bat in a nine-inning game with a chance for six hits:

Power & Speed; Wait, What?:  On Saturday, Manny Ramirez stole a base in the second inning off knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, which was his third steal since joining the Dodgers, and his first since August 29, 2008.  Four innings later, Manny took Wakefield deep for his first home run against the Red Sox since September 13, 2000, when he was with Cleveland.  This marked the eighth game in Manny's career that he had both a home run and a stolen base, and his first since April 17, 2004.  Ramirez joins James Loney and Matt Kemp (twice) as the only Dodgers with a homer and stolen base in the same game this season.

Three-Run Homer Mania:  We have had fun with Ely Mania this year, with the early success of rookie sensation John Ely.  Little did we know how much he had in common with previous Dodger manias.  Ely gave up a three-run home run this week to Reds' pitcher Bronson Arroyo, the first three-run home run by a pitcher allowed by a Dodger since May 7, 1995, when Bill Swift took Hideo Nomo deep in the midst of "Nomo Mania."  Dating back to 1981, the only other Dodger to give up a three-run home run to a pitcher was the subject of the biggest mania of them all, Fernando Valenzuela.  Valenzuela gave up a three-run shot to Dennis Cook on May 19, 1990, and gave up a three-run shot to Calvin Schiraldi on September 23, 1989.

Mr. Zero:  Travis Schlichting was called up again this week when Chad Billingsley went on the disabled list, and proceeded to put up goose eggs on the scoreboard.  After pitching four extra innings to earn his first major league win two weeks ago against the Diamondbacks, Schlichting pitched a scoreless inning against the Reds on Thursday, followed by 2 2/3 more scoreless innings in Boston on Friday.  Schlichting came into the game in the fifth inning on Friday after the first eight batters reached against Carlos Monasterios and Ramon Troncoso, and he retired eight of the 11 batters he faced.  On the season, Schlichting has not allowed a run in 7 2/3 innings, a nice comeback for someone who this offseason dealt with Gilbert's Syndrome, that caused him to lose 30 pounds.

Transactions: 

• Wednesday:  Chad Billingsley was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right groin one day after feeling pain again during a bullpen session in preparation for his scheduled Thursday start.  Reliever Travis Schlichting was recalled from Triple A Albuquerque to take his spot on the active roster.
  
• Thursday:  Rafael Furcal was placed on the bereavement list, as he flew home to the Dominican Republic to tend to an ailing family member.  Chin-Lung Hu was recalled from Albuquerque to take his spot on the roster.
• Saturday:  Carlos Monasterios, who was pressed back into the starting rotation with the injury to Billingsley, was placed on the 15-day disabled list himself with a blister on his right index finger one day after giving up six runs in four innings in Boston.  This created a roster spot for Vicente Padilla, who was activated from the disabled list after missing two months with an inflamed radial nerve in his right arm.

Game Results:

• Tuesday:  Dodgers 12, Reds 0
• Wednesday:  Dodgers 6, Reds 2
• Thursday:  Reds 7, Dodgers 1
• Friday:  Red Sox 10, Dodgers 6
• Saturday:  Red Sox 5, Dodgers 4
• Sunday:  Red Sox 2, Dodgers 0

Upcoming Week:  After running the 1975 World Series gauntlet, going on the road to play both the Reds and Red Sox, the Dodgers return to southern California.  This week they face the 2009 ALCS participants, playing the Angels in Anaheim and the Yankees at Dodger Stadium.  Say, did you buy that mini-plan yet?

Previous Weeks in Review: Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10

Week 11 Stats

*FIP is estimated