Dodgers Week 7 In Review: Treading Water

The Dodgers had their chances against Pittsburgh and Arizona, but wasted mostly great pitching, treading water at 3-3 on the week. The Dodgers are three games under .500, but somehow only four games out of first place in the NL West. It seems like the Dodgers are just hanging around, biding time, waiting for San Francisco and Colorado to falter.

Dodgers' starting pitchers put up a 1.98 ERA in the week, averaging 6.83 innings per start, and the bullpen chipped in with two walks (both by Vicente Padilla) and 19 strikeouts in 12 innings. Yet, the defining game of the week was Saturday, when the Dodgers allowed just one hit and one run, but lost to Arizona.

Dodger Batter of the Week: There were some players bunched at the top for the Dodgers offensively, but I'm giving this award to Aaron Miles. His entire week was built on batting average, with 10 singles and no walks, hitting .435/.435/.435. Miles winning the award is more symbolic, a sign of just how poor the Dodgers' offense has been. Honorable mention goes to Matt Kemp and Rod Barajas, who hit the only two home runs for the Dodgers this week.

Dodger Pitcher of the Week: Clayton Kershaw was magnificent Friday, striking out 11 Diamondbacks in seven scoreless innings, retiring the final 14 batters he faced. Kershaw takes the award narrowly over Hiroki Kuroda, who also threw seven scoreless innings, on Wednesday in Pittsburgh. Honorable mention goes to Chad Billingsley, who allowed four total runs in two starts, but finished the week 0-2.

Week 7 Record:  3-3
18 runs scored (3.00 per game)
15 runs allowed (2.50 per game)
.583 pythagorean winning percentage

Season Record:  19-22
145 runs scored (3.54 per game)
174 runs allowed (4.24 per game)
.417 pythagorean winning percentage (17-24)

Transactions:

• Wednesday: Hong-Chih Kuo was placed on the disabled list with what was termed an anxiety disorder, essentially the yips. The timetable for Kuo's return is unknown. To take Kuo's place, the Dodgers recalled left-handed reliever Scott Elbert from Triple A Albuqerque.
  
• Friday: For the fourth time, Juan Castro became a Dodger, as his contract was purcahsed from Triple A. To make room for Castro on the active roster, infielder Ivan DeJesus was optioned to Albuqerque, and to make room for Castro on the 40-man roster, catcher Hector Gimenez was transferred to the 60-day disabled list
• Sunday: The Dodgers placed reliever Blake Hawksworth on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 11, with a strained groin. Right-handed reliever Javy Guerra was recalled from Double A Chattanooga to take his place.

Game Results:

• Monday: Pirates 4, Dodgers 1
• Tuesday: Dodgers 10, Pirates 3
• Wednesday: Dodgers 2, Pirates 0
• Thursday: Dodgers at Pirates, postponed (rain); makeup date TBD (likely July 14)
• Friday: Dodgers 4, D-Backs 3
• Saturday: D-Backs 1, Dodgers 0
• Sunday: D-Backs 4, Dodgers 1

Upcoming Week: The Dodgers finish their homestand with the always weird back-to-back two-game series that always accompany the start of interleague play. The Dodgers face a pair of old friends this week in Randy Wolf and Edwin Jackson, and also face four southpaws in their seven games.

Previous Weeks In Review: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6

Week 7 Stats