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Dodgers July review: Offense fills Clayton Kershaw void

Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

The Dodgers were without the best pitcher on the planet with Clayton Kershaw missing all of July, and the relievers averaged a whopping 4.43 innings per game during the month.

But thanks to an offense that led the National League in runs per game during July, the Dodgers put up the best record in the NL for the month, and gained four games on San Francisco in the National League West.

Yasmani Grandal led the team in home runs and OPS, while Justin Turner continued his power surge, surrounded by hot months by Howie Kendrick and Corey Seager, and a solid July from Adrian Gonzalez.

Joc Pederson missed a month and still had a .906 OPS. Yasiel Puig, when healthy, put up an .806 OPS that ranked seventh among the regulars. When an .806 OPS is seventh, you know the team is humming.

Brandon McCarthy returned from Tommy John surgery, and Bud Norris was acquired, forming half of an evenly matched quartet with Kenta Maeda and Scott Kazmir.  As starters that group all had 26... and 27... innings, and all four had between 31-33 strikeouts in July.

The result was a 15-9 record, the club's best winning percentage for any month this season.

Dodger Batter of July: Catcher Yasmani Grandal is finally fully healthy again and it shows. He hit eight home runs and walked 13 times in July, putting up an 1.120 OPS.

Dodger Pitcher of July: After missing 15 months, Brandon McCarthy rejoined the staff and hit the ground running, putting up a 2.39 ERA in five starts, with 32 strikeouts and eight unintentional walks.

July Record: 15-9
126 runs scored (5.25 per game)
94 runs allowed (3.92 per game)
.631 pythagorean winning percentage (15-9)

July National League West Standings
Club W-L Pct GB RS RA
Dodgers
15-9 .625 --- 126 94
Colorado 15-12 .556 118 106
San Diego 12-14 .462 4 118 117
San Francisco 11-13 .458 4 90 95
Arizona 7-17 .292 8 99 158

2016 Record: 59-46
464 runs scored (4.42 per game)
390 runs allowed (3.71 per game)
.579 pythagorean winning percentage (61-44)

National League West Standings through July 31
Club W-L Pct GB RS RA
San Francisco
61-44 .581 --- 473 419
Dodgers 59-46 .562 2 464 390
Colorado 52-53 .495 9 536 528
San Diego 45-60 .429 16 457 511
Arizona 43-62 .410 18 466 558

Game of the Month: On July 29 at home, the Dodgers allowed seven runs in the top of the seventh inning to fall behind 7-3. But a pair of two-run home runs in the bottom of the inning tied the score with nobody out, then the Dodgers scored the go-ahead run later in the frame, in a 9-7 win over Arizona.

Pinch Hitting: Dodgers pinch hitters have been terrible all season, and July was no different. Pinch hitters during the month were just 6-for-42 with a home run and five walks, hitting .143/.229/.214.

Runners in Scoring Position: In July, the Dodgers hit 276/.358/.474 with runners in scoring position in 271 plate appearances, with 11 doubles and 11 home runs. It was their best month of the season with RISP, and their most opportunities.

Bases loaded: The Dodgers were 6-for-27 with the bases loaded in July, with two grand slams and 16 RBI, hitting .222/.241/.481.

The Month ahead: The Dodgers play 15 of their 28 games in August at home, including the Red Sox, Giants and Cubs making trips to Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers begin and end their month with a three-game series in Denver against the Rockies.

July weeks in review: July 3 | July 11 | July 18 | July 25Aug. 1

Previous months in review: April | May | June

July Stats

Player PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SB/CS BA/OBP/SLG OPS
Grandal 82 68 12 22 1 0 8 14 13 1/0 .324/.439/.691 1.130
Turner 110 99 18 31 8 0 7 21 9 2/0 .313/.373/.606 .979
Kendrick 106 93 16 32 9 0 3 11 11 0/2 .344/.425/.538 .962
Pederson 41 36 7 10 1 0 3 10 4 1/0 .278/.350/.556 .906
Seager 101 95 15 33 10 1 1 10 6 0/0 .347/.386/.505 .891
Gonzalez 102 89 13 28 5 0 3 16 12 0/0 .315/.392/.472 .864
Puig 72 60 9 17 5 0 1 10 8 1/1 .283/.389/.417 .806
Utley 86 79 14 20 6 0 2 7 6 0/0 .253/.306/.405 .711
Van Slyke 55 48 5 13 2 0 0 2 3 1/1 .271/.345/.313 .658
Starters 755 667 109 206 47 1 28 101 72 6/4 .309/.382/.508 .891
Hernandez 5 4 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0/0 .250/.400/.500 .900
Toles 43 38 5 12 3 0 0 1 5 1/0 .316/.395/.395 .790
Barnes 4 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0/0 .250/.250/.500 .750
Taylor 40 36 6 8 2 1 1 7 4 0/0 .222/.300/.417 .717
Culberson 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0/0 .333/.333/.333 .667
Thompson 38 35 1 5 2 0 1 3 3 0/0 .143/.211/.286 .497
Ellis 23 21 0 3 1 0 0 0 2 1/0 .143/.217/.190 .408
Walters 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0/0 .000/.000/.000 .000
Venable 8 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0/0 .000/.000/.000 .000
Bench 169 154 14 31 10 1 2 12 15 2/0 .201/.272/.318 .590
Pitchers 58 48 3 4 0 0 0 5 1 0/0 .083/.102/.083 .185
Totals 977 869 126 241 57 2 30 118 88 8/4 .277/.349/.451 .800

:

Pitcher G W-L Sv/BS IP H R ER BB K ERA WHIP FIP
McCarthy 5 2-1 -- 26 13 8 7 9 33 2.36 0.835 2.64
Kazmir 5 3-1 -- 27 27 11 11 3 33 2.52 1.150 3.22
Norris 6 3-1 -- 27⅔ 25 14 13 7 32 4.23 1.157 3.58
Maeda 5 2-2 -- 27 25 14 14 4 31 4.61 1.061 3.21
Urias 2 0-0 -- 7⅓ 11 6 6 2 7 7.36 1.773 2.16
Ryu 1 0-1 -- 4 8 6 6 2 4 11.57 2.143 4.96
Starters 24 10-6 -- 121 109 59 57 27 140 4.24 1.124 3.17
Baez 13 2-0 -- 13 3 0 0 2 14 0.00 0.341 1.95
Frias 1 0-0 -- 4 2 0 0 1 3 0.00 0.750 2.50
Dayton 1 0-0 -- 2 0 0 0 0 2 0.00 0.000 2.75
Howell 12 0-0 -- 10 7 1 1 5 9 0.90 1.200 3.95
Avilan 9 0-0 -- 7 1 1 1 4 11 1.23 0.682 1.89
Jansen 13 0-0 8/2 13 7 2 2 2 20 1.35 0.675 1.90
Stripling 3 0-0 -- 8⅔ 6 2 2 2 6 2.08 0.923 2.56
Blanton 14 1-0 -- 13 12 6 6 4 14 4.05 1.200 2.27
Coleman 14 1-0 -- 11 13 5 5 2 8 4.09 1.364 3.80
Liberatore 11 1-0 -- 8 5 4 4 4 13 4.32 1.080 1.93
Norris 1 0-1 -- 1 2 1 1 1 0 6.75 2.250 13.00
Hatcher 7 0-1 -- 7 10 7 7 3 9 8.22 1.696 3.77
Fien 7 0-1 -- 4⅔ 8 6 6 3 4 11.57 2.357 13.32
Relievers 24 5-3 8/2 106 76 35 35 33 113 2.96 1.025 3.21
Totals 24 15-9 8/2 227⅓ 185 94 92 60 253 3.64 1.078 3.19