NL West Weekly Report: Mediocrity

The entire National League West didn't do too well this week.

TEAM RECAPS:

Diamondbacks (3-3 this week): Arizona started off with a 6-5 loss to Washington before beating the Nationals 3-1 the next day. But the Diamondbacks then lost the rubber match 5-1. Arizona then had a day off before it hosted Los Angeles. The Dodgers took game one 7-0 before the DBacks exploded. Arizona won the second game of the series 18-7, breaking multiple franchise records in the process, and the final game 5-3.

Padres (3-3): San Diego beat Cincinnati 2-1 after an off day. The second game was rained out on Wednesday, forcing the two teams to play a doubleheader on Thursday. The two NL foes split both games. The Padres then traveled to Coors Field where they dropped game one to the Rockies 3-1. San Diego won the second game 8-5 before losing the finale 8-6.

Rockies (2-3): Colorado started off its week with a two-game series in Kansas City, but it didn't go well for the red-hot Rockies. Colorado cooled off and lost both games. The Rockies then had a day off before they hosted the Padres. Colorado took game one 3-1 before dropping the second game. But the Rockies stormed back and won the third game 8-6.

Giants (4-3): San Francisco's week started off with a 4-2 win over Atlanta. The Giants then lost game two of the series 5-0 before beating the Braves in the finale by a score of 10-4. San Francisco then hosted Miami and won the first game 6-4. The Giants lost the next two games before topping the Marlins 4-1 in game four of the series.

Dodgers (3-3): Los Angeles won its first two games this week over Miami before an embarrassing loss at home in the series finale. The Dodgers lost 13-3, but that wasn't the worse loss of the week. Two days later, Los Angeles beat Arizona 7-0 in the first game of a three game series. But the Dodgers' clubhouse wasn't happy for long because the Diamondbacks beat the boys in blue 18-7 the very next day. Arizona then won the series finale 5-3.

WHAT'S IN STORE FOR THESE TEAMS NEXT WEEK:

Diamondbacks: Day off, three games on the road against the Cardinals, and three on the road against the Mets.

Padres: Day off, two games at home against the Twins, and four at home against the Cubs.

Rockies: Day off, three games at home against the Giants, and three on the road against the Braves.

Giants: Day off, three games on the road against the Rockies, and three at home against the Twins.

Dodgers: Day off, three games on the road against the Mets, and three on the road against the Phillies.

OVERALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK:

Diamondbacks' outfielder A.J. Pollock. Arizona's center fielder hit .500 in the DBacks' six games this week. Pollock hit two homers and knocked in four RBI. He walked one and struck out four times, but finished the week with a triple slash line of .500/.522/.909.

BEST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE:

Diamondbacks' first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. The slugger went 4-5 with two homers and six RBI in Arizona's 18-7 win over Los Angeles on May 17th. Goldschmidt also scored five runs and walked once.

OVERALL TEAM OF THE WEEK:

The San Francisco Giants. For the first time in five weeks, a team other than the Rockies has won this award (they won the last four in a row). The Giants have the best record in the National League at 28-17 after going 4-3 this week. San Francisco split a four game series with Atlanta before dropping two of three against Miami. The Giants scored at least four runs in all four of its wins.

WORST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE:

Dodgers' starting pitcher Paul Maholm. This award nearly went to Clayton Kershaw because he gave up two more earned runs than Maholm, but Maholm's performance had bad implications for the veteran. The lefty gave up ten runs, but only five earned, over 3.2 innings in Los Angeles' 13-3 loss on May 14th. Due to his disappointing start and Hyun-Jin Ryu's return from the disabled list, Dodgers' manager Don Mattingly announced today Maholm would move from the rotation to the bullpen.