Dodgers September review: Offense finished in high gear

The Dodgers put a finishing kick to their second straight National League West crown thanks to a prolific offense in the final month of the year.

The lineup kicked into high gear, scoring at least five runs in 14 of 25 games in September, including double-digit runs four times in the final 15 games. As a result, the Dodgers averaged 6.24 runs per game in September, the fourth-best offensive month for the team since the franchise moved to Los Angeles in 1958.

Dodger Batter of September: With the offense clicking on all cylinders in September, this was a tough choice. But the honor goes to Carl Crawford, who was red-hot the entire month, hitting .448/.473/.716. He narrowly beat out Matt Kemp, who won the actual NL Player of the Month with a stellar month of his own. Honorable mention goes to Justin Turner, who punctuated his stellar season by hitting a ridiculous .422/.458/.733 in September.

Dodger Pitcher of September:  Clayton Kershaw narrowly missed out on his third NL Pitcher of the Month of the year, but he'll settle for the team award thanks to a 5-0 month with a 1.95 ERA and 45 strikeouts to go with just eight walks. Zack Greinke was a solid No. 2, going 4-0 with a 2.70 ERA in 30 innings, and Dan Haren deserves credit too for matching Greinke in September innings and ERA while also having more strikeouts and fewer walks. A 27-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio will get it done every single time.

September Record: 17-8
156 runs scored (6.24 per game)
114 runs allowed (4.56 per game)
.640 pythagorean winning percentage (16-9)

2014 Record: 94-68
718 runs scored (4.43 per game)
617 runs allowed (3.81 per game)
.569 pythagorean winning percentage (92-70)

Game of the Month: With Clayton Kershaw on the mound and the offense full of runs, the Dodgers clobbered the Giants 9-1 on Sept. 24 to clinch the National League West.

Pinch Hitting: For the month, Dodger pinch hitters had five singles and four doubles in 42 at-bats, and seven walks, hitting .214/.365/.310.

Runners in Scoring Position: In September, the Dodgers were on fire with runners in scoring position, hitting .344/.395/.619 with runners in scoring position in 279 plate appearances, with 20 doubles and 15 home runs. They had 14 home runs with runners in scoring position in the previous three months combined. On the season the Dodgers led the majors with RISP in plate appearances, battin average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS.

They had a runner on third base with less than two outs 57 times in September, and got the runner home 35 times, or 61.4 percent (the entire National League scored 354 of 710 times, 49.9 percent).

They had a runner on second base with nobody out 46 times in September, and the runner advanced 30 times, or 65.2 percent (the entire NL advanced the runner 294 of 551 times, 53.4 percent).

September weeks in review: Sept. 8 | Sept. 15 | Sept. 22 | Sept. 29

Previous month in review: April | May | June | July | August

September Stats

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