Dodgers Week 2 In Review: As Good As It Gets

Well, that was fun. Just like in 2009, the Dodgers swept through their first homestand of the season. The Dodgers beat both the Pirates and Padres to go 6-0, including four wins in one-run games and two walk-off wins.

The Dodgers trailed in only two of their games last week, each time by just one run. In both cases, the Dodgers immediately erased the deficit in the next half inning.

No matter how many wins you may have predicted for the Dodgers this season, these first 10 games were seen as a relatively easy start to the schedule. But nine wins in 10 games can't be reasonably predicted, or expected, so the Dodgers are definitely ahead of the curve, and manager Don Mattingly is definitely happy to keep banking victories.

"You can put things on paper all you want, but you have to go out and play," Mattingly said. "I'm happy to win these games. It doesn't matter who they're coming against. You have to win X amount of games to win the division."

Now the Dodgers just have to win [X - 9] games.

Dodger Batter of the Week: For the second straight week, Matt Kemp was the man, and he really took things to new heights in his six games against Pittsburgh and San Diego. Kemp had 12 hits in 22 at-bats, including four home runs. His .615 on-base percentage was better than any of his teammate's slugging percentages outside of Justin Sellers, who slugged .667 in all of five plate appearances. Kemp's slugging percentage for the week was 1.182, and he had eight RBI and seven runs scored.

Honorable mention goes to Andre Ethier, who hit two home runs and had an under the radar .993 OPS.

Dodger Pitcher of the Week: There were so many candidates this week, but Ted Lilly gets the call this week by allowing two hits and one unearned run in seven strong innings in his first start of the year.

Honorable mention goes to Aaron Harang, who etched his name in the Dodgers record book with nine consecutive strikeouts against San Diego.

Week 2 Record: 6-0
29 runs scored (4.83 per game)
17 runs allowed (2.83 per game)
.727 pythagorean winning percentage

Season Record: 9-1
50 runs scored (5.00 per game)
33 runs allowed (3.30 per game)
.681 pythagorean winning percentage (7-3)

30/30 Watch: Matt Kemp had four home runs but had no stolen bases against the Pirates and Padres on the week, and has six homers and one steal in 10 games. Kemp is on pace for 97 home runs and 16 steals this season.

Uribe Run Watch: Juan Uribe had a relatively good week with seven hits in 18 at-bats and drove in his first run of the season on Thursday. But he has yet to score a run on the season, in 32 plate app.

First 10: Kemp (16) and Andre Ethier (15) have driven in an astonishing 31 runs combined through just 10 games, and have the top two RBI totals though 10 games since the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. Per the Elias Sports Bureau, the only Dodger ever with more RBI through 10 games was Roy Campanella, who had 17 RBI to open is 1953 MVP campaign. Kemp also had 15 RBI through 10 team games in 2010, as did Eric Karros in 1995.

Transactions: The Dodgers finalized their opening day roster with the following moves on the final day of spring training Wednesday:

• Saturday: Ted Lilly was activated from the disabled list so he could make his season debut. To make room for Lilly...
• Saturday: Todd Coffey was placed on the 15-day disabled list with right knee anterior inflammation.
  

Game Results:

• Tuesday: Dodgers 2, Pirates 1
• Wednesday: Dodgers 4, Pirates 1
• Thursday: Dodgers 3, Pirates 2
• Friday: Dodgers 9, Padres 8
• Saturday: Dodgers 6, Padres 1
• Sunday: Dodgers 5, Padres 4

Upcoming Week: The Dodgers hit the road to run the Mark Loretta Gauntlet, battling in Milwaukee and Houston.

Previous Weeks In Review: Week 1

Week 2 Stats