Dodgers July In Review: Keep The Scoring To A Minimum

The Dodgers in July were rather mediocre, and no team saw fewer runs scored in their games during the month than did the Dodgers. However, they finished at 12-13 for July, and had their seventh straight non-winning month. Here are the details...

Dodger Batter of July:  All you need to know about the Dodgers offense in July is that Dioner Navarro is the batter of the month in a non-ironic sense. The catcher led the team in on-base percentage (.388) and slugging percentage (.488) in July, and also was the second Dodger ever to hit a ball into McCovey Cove in San Francisco.

Honorable mention goes to newcomer Juan Rivera, who joined the Dodgers at the All-Star break and hit .304/.327/.478 with five doubles in 49 plate appearances.

Dodger Pitcher of July:  In a month during which he made his first All-Star appearance, Clayton Kershaw easily takes home the honors. He led the team in ERA (2.02),  FIP (1.98), WHIP (1.065), and strikeouts (45), and at 4-1 was the only starter with a winning record.

Honorable mention goes to Kenley Jansen, who pitched 10 scoreless innings and struck out 17 of the 36 hitters he faced.

July Record:  12-13
77 runs scored (3.08 per game)
89 runs allowed (3.56 per game)
.434 pythagorean winning percentage (11-14)

Season Record:  48-59
393 runs scored (3.67 per game)
435 runs allowed (4.07 per game)
.454 pythagorean winning percentage (49-58)

Game of the Month: This is a close call, with a trio of 1-0 wins vying for the top spot. On back-to-back days against the San Diego, the Dodgers won a game in which they didn't have a runner at second base until  the eighth inning (extra credit for Javy Guerra's bases-loaded, tightrope save), then won a contest after waiting 26 outs before recording a base hit. But the winner for July game of the month was the duel between Clayton Kershaw and Tim Lincecum on July 20 in San Francisco. Kershaw was at his best, striking out 12 in eight scoreless innings. Lincecum was nearly as good, until Dioner Navarro made a splash in the seventh inning for the game's only run.

Pinch Hitting:  For the month, Dodger pinch hitters had a paltry three hits in 29 at-bats, with two doubles, and three sacrifices, hitting .103/.103/.172.

Runners in Scoring Position:  In July, the Dodgers hit .196/.303/.285 with runners in scoring position in 267 plate appearances.

They had a runner on third base with less than two outs 43 times (14 times fewer than any other month this year), and got the runner home 24 times, or 55.8% (the entire NL scored 450 of 851, 52.9%).

They had a runner on second base with nobody out 35 times in July, and the runner advanced 17 times, or 48.6% (the entire NL advanced the runner 335 of 603 times, 55.6%).

Upcoming Month:  The Dodgers are on the road for 16 of their 28 games in August, including a trip to see old friend Rafael Furcal in St. Louis from August 22-24. The Dodgers play 15 games against the NL West in August, though none against the Giants.

July Weeks in Review:  July 4 | July 10 | July 17 | July 24 | July 31

Previous Months in Review: April | May | June

July Stats