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Zack Greinke came within one out of a shutout on Monday night, and in doing so likely completed one hell of a month of August. He won all five starts in August while putting up a 1.23 ERA. But Greinke will face stiff competition for National League Pitcher of the Month honors, even from his own team.
| August NL Pitcher of the Month Candidates | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pitcher | Team | G | W-L | IP | BB | K | ERA | WHIP | Next start |
| Jose Fernandez | Mia | 5 | 3-0 | 33 | 9 | 41 | 0.82 | 0.848 | Fri at AtL |
| Mat Latos | Cin | 4 | 3-1 | 30 | 6 | 24 | 0.89 | 0.890 | Tue at StL |
| Clayton Kershaw | LA | 4 | 3-1 | 30 | 8 | 27 | 0.90 | 0.833 | Tue vs. ChC |
| Alex Wood | Atl | 4 | 1-0 | 24 | 5 | 23 | 1.11 | 0.822 | Tue vs. Cle |
| Zack Greinke | LA | 5 | 5-0 | 36 | 8 | 30 | 1.23 | 0.982 | 9/1 vs. SD |
| Marco Estrada | Mil | 4 | 2-0 | 24 | 3 | 21 | 1.88 | 0.708 | Sat vs. Ana |
| Cole Hamels | Phi | 5 | 1-0 | 38 | 3 | 29 | 1.89 | 0.921 | Wed at NYM |
| Ricky Nolasco | LA | 5 | 4-0 | 30 | 5 | 24 | 2.08 | 0.989 | Wed vs. ChC |
| Dillon Gee | NY | 5 | 2-1 | 34 | 6 | 22 | 2.10 | 1.165 | Fri at Was |
| Dan Haren | Was | 6 | 3-0 | 34 | 5 | 28 | 2.12 | 0.882 | Sat vs. NYM |
| Joe Kelly | StL | 5 | 4-0 | 28 | 13 | 17 | 2.20 | 1.360 | Tue vs. Cin |
Kershaw won the award in July and starts Tuesday night against the Cubs. The last Dodger to win two Pitcher of the Month awards in one season was Orel Hershiser, who won in April and September 1988. The only Dodgers to win the award, which has been given out since 1975, in consecutive months were Burt Hooton (August, September 1975) and Don Sutton (April, May 1975).
Greinke has won the award once in his career, in the American League in April 2009 when with the Royals. Kershaw has won two monthly honors in his career, including July 2011.