Dodgers Week 21: Surviving the gauntlet

The Dodgers got a little mix of everything last week, setting a season high for runs in a win in Cincinnati, then also won a pair of 1-0 games, too.

Rich Hill was finally activated, and the Dodgers got strong starts from rookie Julio Urias and Brock Stewart. The starting staff ended the week with six straight games of at least five innings, the first time in two months.

The result was winning two out of three games against playoff-bound teams in the Giants and Cubs, and a division lead for the Dodgers that increased from a half-game to a two-game cushion over San Francisco.

Batter of the week

Corey Seager continued to rake, hitting .407 (11-for-27) with a .500 on-base percentage and five extra-base hits. He narrowly beat out Adrian Gonzalez, who had three home runs on Monday in Cincinnati and drove in 13 runs during the week.

Pitcher of the week

Rich Hill made his long-awaited Dodgers debut on Wednesday against the Giants, and out-dueled Johnny Cueto with six scoreless innings in a 1-0 win over the division rivals. He narrowly beat out Julio Urias, who continued to improve with six strong innings on Saturday, holding the mighty Cubs to one run.

Week 21 summary

of Record: 5-2
36 runs scored (5.14 per game)
26 runs allowed (3.71 per game)
.645 pythagorean record

2016 to date

Record: 73-57
585 runs scored (4.50 per game)
516 runs allowed (3.97 per game)
.557 pythagorean record (72-58)

Miscellany

Back-to-back firsts ... and seconds: Andrew Toles hit his first major league home run on Monday in Cincinnati, and Rob Segedin with his first major league home run on the next pitch. Then on Tuesday at home, they each hit their second big league home runs in a win over the Giants, though this time not back-to-back. They set two records:

Transactions

Tuesday: Scott Kazmir and Brett Anderson were placed on the 15-day disabled list, and Josh Fields was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Ross Stripling, Luis Avilan and Charlie Culberson were all recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Wednesday: Rich Hill was activated from the DL, and Rob Segedin was placed on the paternity list.

Thursday: The Dodgers acquired catcher Carlos Ruiz and $1 million from the Phillies in exchange for catcher A.J. Ellis, minor league pitcher Tommy Bergjans, and a player to be named later or cash.

Thursday: Segedin was activated from the paternity list, and Shawn Zarraga was recalled from Triple-A for a night. Reliever Luis Avilan was optioned to Triple-A, and Scott Van Slyke was transferred to the 60-day DL to make room on the 40-man for Zarraga.

Friday: Ruiz was added to the active roster, and pitcher Brock Stewart was recalled from Triple-A. Zarraga was optioned to Oklahoma City, and in the most creative move of the year starting pitcher Kenta Maeda was optioned to Rookie-level Arizona League for three days before his start on Monday.

Sunday: Zarraga cleared waivers and was sent outright to the minors, removing him from the 40-man roster.

Game results

Monday: Dodgers 18, Reds 9

Tuesday: Dodgers 9, Giants 5

Wednesday: Dodgers 1, Giants 0

Thursday: Giants 4, Dodgers 0

Friday: Cubs 6, Giants 4 (10)

Saturday: Dodgers 3, Cubs 2

Sunday: Dodgers 1, Cubs 0

Upcoming week

The Dodgers run the Jerald Clark gauntlet, heading to Denver for their second three-day Colorado road trip of August to play the Rockies, then return home to open another homestand, this one starting against the Padres.

Previous weeks in review

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 | Week 13 | Week 14 | Week 15 | Week 16 | Week 17 | Week 18 | Week 19 | Week 20

Week 21 stats

Batting

Pitching