Dodgers Week 7 In Review: Simply The Best

The Dodgers lost Matt Kemp to the disabled list on Monday, the worst possible way to open the week. But the Dodgers managed to rebound to win five of their seven games during the week without their superstar outfielder.

On Saturday, manager Don Mattingly said, "I don't care what lineup I put out there, I feel like we're going to win." After watching last week there might just be reason to believe him.

The Dodgers capped their week with a home sweep of the formidable Cardinals, and improved their home record to 19-4 on the season. The Dodgers have the best record in baseball at 28-13 and hold the largest division lead in the game at seven games over San Francisco in the National League West.

Dodger Batter of the Week: The team got contributions from many hitters on the week, but Bobby Abreu narrowly edges out Adam Kennedy for the weekly award. Abreu hit .381 with six runs, a double, a triple, and three walks. Kennedy hit .350 with two doubles, a triple, and three walks of his own.

Honorable mention goes to James Loney and Andre Ethier, who combined for nine RBI, and to Elian Herrera, who reached base six times in 14 plate appearances in his first week in the majors.

Dodger Pitcher of the Week: All Clayton Kershaw did was make two starts with a combined 16 innings and no runs allowed, including his fourth career shutout on Saturday against the Cardinals.

Honorable mention goes to Aaron Harang, who threw seven scoreless innings of his own on Thursday in San Diego.

Week 7 Record: 5-2
32 runs scored (4.57 per game)
21 runs allowed (3.00 per game)
.684 pythagorean winning percentage

Season Record: 28-13
183 runs scored (4.46 per game)
138 runs allowed (3.37 per game)
.626 pythagorean winning percentage (26-15)

Welcome Aboard: 27-year old utility man Elian Herrera was hitting .358 with a .381 on-base percentage with Triple A Albuquerque, and he got the call to join the Dodgers on Monday when Juan Uribe was placed on the disabled list with a left injury. Herrera made his major league debut Tuesday in a pinch hitting appearance, then started Wednesday and delivered an RBI double in his first at-bat in San Diego. Two batters later, Herrera scored his first major league run.

Walk-Off Winners: When A.J. Ellis walked with the bases loaded in the ninth inning against St. Louis on Friday, he delivered his first walk-off RBI of the season, and third of his career. It was the fourth walk-off win for the Dodgers this season, with Ellis joining Andre Ethier (April 13), Dee Gordon (April 15), and Matt Kemp (April 28) as walk-off RBI collectors this season.

Transactions:

• Monday: Juan Uribe was placed on the disabled list with a left wrist injury, and infielder Elian Herrera had his contract purchased from Triple A Albuquerque. To make room for Herrera on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers designated outfielder Trent Oeltjen for assignment. By Friday, Oeltjen accepted his outright assignment to Triple A and returned to the Isotopes.
• Monday: After the game against Arizona, the Dodgers placed Matt Kemp on the disabled list with a left hamstring strain, and recalled Jerry Sands from Triple A.
• Saturday: Mark Ellis had to have emergency leg surgery and will miss at least six weeks. He was placed on the disabled list, and Ivan De Jesus was recalled from Triple A Albuquerque.

Game Results:

• Monday: Dodgers 3, Diamondbacks 1
• Tuesday: Diamondbacks 5, Dodgers 1
• Wednesday: Padres 4, Dodgers 2
• Thursday: Dodgers 8, Padres 1
• Friday: Dodgers 6, Cardinals 5
• Saturday: Dodgers 6, Cardinals 0
• Sunday: Dodgers 6, Cardinals 5

Upcoming Week: The Dodgers run the Steve Finley Gauntlet this week, heading to Arizona for three games before returning home to face Houston.

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

Week 7 Stats