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Dodgers Week 2 review: Howie Kendrick cleans up in undefeated week

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The Dodgers ended a so-so first week with a win in Arizona, then carried that over to an impeccable second week. They beat the Mariners with two straight comeback walk-off wins then spend most of the rest of the week playing from ahead. But the result was always the same. Sweeps of the Mariners and Rockies at home gave the Dodgers a perfect week, and a seven-game winning streak.

"It's just a desire to win," Scott Van Slyke surmised. "When you win, all you are thinking is winning the next game."

Dodger Batter of the Week: Adrian Gonzalez remained hot and Yasiel Puig was very productive when his hamstrings were loose enough to play. But the best hitter in Week 2 was the cleanup man, Howie Kendrick, who delivered a walk-off single on Tuesday and was an extra-base-hit machine the rest of the time, driving in eight runs while hitting .455 (10-for-22).

"He's a guy who if you put in situations to thrive, he's going to thrive," Gonzalez said of Kendrick. "He's showing that he's such a professional hitter, he's not trying to hit home runs. He's just taking what the pitcher gives to him, and executes."

Dodger Pitcher of the Week: Brandon McCarthy was very good on Sunday, but also allowed four home runs (and struck out 10!) on Monday. The starters were okay, but the bullpen was sublime. This week's award is split between Yimi Garcia, who retired nine of 10 batters with six strikeouts, and Chris Hatcher, who rebounded to retire five of seven batters faced with five strikeouts. Garcia also picked up his first major league win, then the next night won again.

Week 2 Record: 6-0
37 runs scored (6.17 per game)
18 runs allowed (3.00 per game)
.789 pythagorean winning percentage

Season Record: 9-3
63 runs scored (5.25 per game)
46 runs allowed (3.83 per game)
.640 pythagorean winning percentage (8-4)

Miscellany

Welcome aboard: Relief pitcher Adam Liberatore made his major league debut on Friday night against the Rockies, and during the weekend pitched in two games, retiring all nine batters he faced in three innings, including three strikeouts. Liberatore is the first Dodgers relief pitcher to begin his career with his first nine batters retired since Ismael Valdes in 1994.

Great start: Adrian Gonzalez had his 13-game hitting streak snapped with an 0-for-5 game on Sunday, but prior to that set a few franchise records. Gonzalez set a new franchise record with 22 hits in the first 10 games of the season, and tied Eric Karros (1995) with 23 hits through the first 11 games of the year.

What a relief: The Dodgers bullpen last week allowed just one run on seven hits and seven walks in 20⅓ innings, with 28 strikeouts. By way of comparison, Dustin McGowan - who spent all spring with the Dodgers before getting released on April 1 on the season has also allowed seven hits and seven walks, in seven innings with two runs allowed and seven strikeouts.

Transactions

Monday: Relief pitcher Ryan Webb was released, and signed a minor league contract with the Indians

Tuesday: To make a spot start against Seattle, David Huff was added to the roster from Triple-A Oklahoma City, and infielder Darwin Barney was optioned to Triple-A.

Wednesday: One day after throwing four innings in his spot start, Huff was designated for assignment, and pitcher Ryan Dennick was claimed off waivers from the Reds.

Wednesday: Carlos Frias was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City for one night of long man insurance.

Thursday: Frias was optioned back to Triple-A Oklahoma City

Friday: The Dodgers claimed pitcher Daniel Corcino off waivers from the Reds, and designated Dennick for assignment. Corcino was optioned to Double-A Tulsa.

Friday: Adam Liberatore was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City

Saturday: Huff cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Oklahoma City; he accepted the assignment.

Sunday: Dennick cleared waivers and was sent outright to Double-A Tulsa

Game Results

Upcoming Week

The Dodgers run the Mark Wasinger gauntlet, hitting the road to battle the Giants in San Francisco and the Padres in San Diego. The rotation hasn't been announced beyond Wednesday, but this is a reasonable estimate based on what we know now.

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
20
Off

21
at SF
7:15pm
22
at SF
7:15pm
23
at SF
12:45pm
24
at SD
7:10pm
25
at SD
5:40pm
26
at SF
1:10pm
Anderson v.
(R) Lincecum
Kershaw v.
(L) Bumgarner
Bolsinger v.
(R) Petit/Vogelsong
Greinke v.
(R) Cashner
McCarthy v.
(R) Despagnier
Anderson v.
(R) Morrow
SNLA SNLA SNLA/MLBN SNLA SNLA/MLBN SNLA

Previous weeks in review

Week 1

Week 2 Stats

Player PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SB/CS BA/OBP/SLG OPS
Puig 9 8 2 5 1 0 1 2 1 0/0 .625/.667/1.125 1.792
Kendrick 26 22 6 10 4 0 2 8 4 0/0 .455/.538/.909 1.448
Pederson 24 17 3 5 1 0 1 5 7 0/3 .294/.500/.529 1.029
Gonzalez 28 26 5 9 5 0 0 7 2 0/0 .346/.393/.538 .931
Ethier 21 17 5 5 1 0 1 3 2 0/0 .294/.381/.529 .910
Rollins 27 22 6 4 2 0 0 0 5 1/0 .182/.333/.273 .606
Grandal 17 14 2 3 0 0 0 1 3 0/0 .214/.353/.214 .567
Crawford 13 13 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0/0 .231/.231/.231 .462
Uribe 16 15 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 1/0 .200/.250/.200 .450

Van Slyke 11 9 3 5 3 0 1 5 2 0/0 .556/.636/1.222 1.859
Turner 9 9 0 5 3 0 0 1 0 0/0 .556/.556/.889 1.444
Guerrero 8 7 1 2 0 0 1 4 0 0/0 .286/.250/.714 964
Ellis 8 8 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0/0 .250/.250/.375 .625
Barney 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0/0 .000/.000/.000 .000

Pitchers 15 13 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 0/0 .154/.154/.231 .385
Totals 235 203 37 63 22
0 7 36 27 2/3 .310/.391/.522 .913
Pitcher G W-L Sv IP H R ER BB K ERA WHIP FIP*
Kershaw 1 1-0 -- 6 6 3 1 1 12 1.50 1.167 3.80
Anderson 1 1-0 -- 5 6 2 1 1 3 1.80 1.400 4.97
McCarthy 2 1-0 -- 13 9 5 5 2 16 3.46 0.846 4.97
Greinke 1 1-0 -- 6⅔ 5 3 3 1 3 4.05 0.900 4.92
Huff 1 0-0 -- 4 7 4 4 1 2 9.00 2.000 9.97
Starters 6 4-0 -- 34 33 17 14 6 36 3.63 1.125 5.34
Garcia 3 2-0 -- 3 1 0 0 0 6 0.00 0.333 (1.03)
Liberatore 2 0-0 -- 3 0 0 0 0 3 0.00 0.000 0.97
Rodriguez 3 0-0 -- 2⅔ 0 0 0 1 2 0.00 0.375 2.59
Hatcher 3 0-0 -- 2⅓ 0 0 0 0 5 0.00 0.000 (1.32)
Howell 3 0-0 -- 2⅓ 2 0 0 0 4 0.00 0.857 (0.46)
Baez 2 0-0 -- 2 2 0 0 1 2 0.00 1.500 2.47
Peralta 2 0-0 1 2 0 0 0 1 1 0.00 0.500 3.47
Nicasio 2 0-0 -- 3 2 1 1 4 5 3.00 2.000 3.64
Relievers 6 2-0 1 20 7 1 1 7 28 0.44 0.689 1.25
Totals 6 6-0 1 55 40 18 15 13 64 2.45 0.964 3.82
*FIP is estimated