NL West weekly report: Will Venable, Ricky Nolasco red hot

A lot has happened both on and off the field in the National League West this week. Let's take a closer look.

TEAM RECAPS:

Diamondbacks: Arizona was 3-4 this week. The Diamondbacks started off the week with a 2-1 loss to the Reds. AZ then traveled to Philadelphia where it lost two of three. The Diamondbacks then went home and won two of three against the Padres.

Arizona's offense was incredible in every game this week except its first and last. After scoring one run in the first game, AZ scored three, 12, five, six and 10 runs in their next five games respectively, and scored just one in the last. Many of those runs were due in part to Martin Prado who played in four of the five games and hit one home run and knocked in 11 runs.

Rockies: Colorado was 4-3 this week. The Rockies started off with a 5-4 loss to the Phillies before winning two of three in Miami. Colorado then flew back home and and took two of three from San Francisco.

The Rockies' offense was very inconsistent like another NL West team this week. In the series finale against the Phillies, they scored five times. In their three game series with the Marlins, they scored a total of seven runs. Against the Giants, they scored a total of 14.

Giants: San Francisco was 3-4 this week. The Giants' started off the week by splitting a four game series with the Pirates. SF then traveled to Denver where it lost two of three.

San Francisco lost the first two games of its four game series in Pittsburgh. But after dropping two, the Giants won the last two. In the first two games, SF was outscored 13-6. In the final two, the Giants outscored the Pirates 10-3. That's a big difference. Overall, San Francisco's offense was more impressive than it has been lately, averaging 3.7 runs per game.

Padres: San Diego was 3-3 this week. The Padres started off the week by taking two of three against the Cubs before dropping two of three against the Diamondbacks.

San Diego's pitching staff was horrendous this week as they surrendered an average of four runs per game. But the Padres did manage to win three games because their offense scored on average 4.7 runs per game.

Dodgers: Los Angeles was 4-3 this week. The Dodgers started off the week with a 6-0 win in Miami. The Boys and Blue then came home and lost two of three to the Red Sox before taking two of three from the Cubs.

Los Angeles had an up and down week at the plate. The Dodgers averaged 3.3 runs per game, but scored in random spurts. They started off the week with six runs in one game before scoring just five in three games against the Red Sox. When Chicago came to LA, Los Angeles scored 12 runs in three games.

WHAT'S IN STORE FOR THESE TEAMS NEXT WEEK?

Diamondbacks: Day off, three games against the Giants, three games against the Blue Jays

Rockies: Day off, three games against the Reds, three games against the Dodgers

Giants: Day off, three games against the Diamondbacks, three games against the Padres

Padres: Day off, three games against the Dodgers, three games against the Giants

Dodgers: Day off, three games against the Padres, three games against the Rockies

OVERALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK:

Padres outfielder Will Venable. The 30-year-old hit two home runs and knocked in seven runs. Venable also hit .518 this week and scored seven runs. Against Chicago on Aug. 23, Venable was 3-4 with hit one home run, knocked in three, and scored twice. The 2005 7th-round pick also had three hits in three of his six games this week.

Honorary mention goes to Vin Scully for announcing that he will return next year for his 65th season with the Dodgers.

BEST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE:

Dodgers' pitcher Ricky Nolasco. On Wednesday, Aug. 28, Nolasco gave up just three hits and no earned runs in eight innings against the Cubs. The righty also struck out eleven and walked just one. Since coming to Los Angeles, Nolasco is 6-1 with a 2.20 ERA in ten starts.

OVERALL TEAM OF THE WEEK:

The Los Angeles Dodgers. No team jumped off the page this week, but since the Dodgers' pitching staff was pretty darn good once again, they deserve it. LA's pitchers surrendered on average 2.4 runs per game and had a 2.29 ERA. Despite the offense's inconsistency, an average of 3.3 runs per game plus a 2.29 ERA for the pitching staff meant the Dodgers could have a record above .500 this week (4-3).

WORST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK:

Giants' pitcher Barry Zito. On Aug. 26, Zito gave up five earned runs on nine hits in just four innings. It was the second straight start in which the lefty gave up at least five earned runs. 49 of Zito's 75 pitches were strikes, but the lefty only managed to strike out one.