Dodgers September In Review: A Strong Finish

The Dodgers in August had their best month in a calendar year, going 17-11. In September, they were even better, at 17-9, and finished the season with a winning record.

Dodger Batter of September:  Matt Kemp needed a big month to get to 40/40, and he nearly did it, ending with 39 home runs and 40 steals. In the season's final month, Kemp hit .343/.419/.667 with eight home runs. Kemp also scored 28 runs, one of the top run-scoring months ever by a Los Angeles Dodger:

Honorable mention goes to James Loney, who hit .348/.400/.587 with 11 doubles and three home runs; and to Jerry Sands, who hit .342/.415/.493.

Dodger Pitcher of September:  Clayton Kershaw finished his fine campaign by going 4-0 with a 1.30 ERA and 36 strikeouts in five September starts. He gets the nod over Ted Lilly, who was 3-1 with a 1.76 ERA. Kenley Jansen also must be mentioned, as he was third on the team with 32 strikeouts. He pitched 13 2/3 innings.

Dishonorable mention goes to Chad Billingsley, who had the fewest innings of the five starters (ignoring Nathan Eovaldi's one September start) yet still allowed the most walks and runs on the staff.

September Record:  17-9
120 runs scored (4.62 per game)
92 runs allowed (3.54 per game)
.619 pythagorean winning percentage (16-10)

Season Record:  82-79
644 runs scored (4.00 per game)
612 runs allowed (3.80 per game)
.523 pythagorean winning percentage (84-77)

Game of the Month: The final home game of the year was great, as Matt Kemp said goodbye to the Dodger Stadium fans for the season with three doubles and a towering home run against the Giants, in what could have been Hiroki Kuroda's final home start as a Dodger. But the game of the month was two days earlier, on September 20, when Clayton Kershaw dueled Tim Lincecum for the fourth time this year. Kershaw pitched into the eighth inning and left with a lead, but his 20th win hung in the balance as there were runners on first and second base with Pablo Sandoval and Carlos Beltran due up. Kenley Jansen came in, threw seven pitches, and blew both away, ending the rally, and helping to preserve the win for Kershaw.

Award Worthy: Dee Gordon hit .372/.398/.451 with 12 stolen bases in September, and his 42 hits in the month were second in baseball only to Jacoby Ellsbury's 43 safeties. Gordon was honored with the September National League Rookie of the Month honors.

Pinch Hitting:  For the month, Dodger pinch hitters had six hits in 34 at-bats, including a home run, hitting .176/.263/.265.

Runners in Scoring Position:  In September, the Dodgers hit .273/.381/.446 with runners in scoring position in 284 plate appearances.

They had a runner on third base with less than two outs 60 times, and got the runner home 29 times, or 48.3% (the entire NL scored 399 of 879 times, 45.4%).

They had a runner on second base with nobody out 43 times in September, and the runner advanced 26 times, or 60.5% (the entire NL advanced the runner 310 of 602 times, 51.5%).

September Weeks in Review:  September 4 | September 11 | September 18 | September 25 | September 28

Previous Months in Review: April | May | June | July | August

September Stats