Dodgers Week 12: The undefeated

This is about as good as one can reasonably expect to see a baseball team play. The Dodgers had a signature week in what they hope will be a signature season last week, winning all seven games they played against the Mets and Rockies.

The Dodgers are ripping teams apart at the moment, winners of 10 straight games and 16 of their last 17. They outscored their opponents last week by 40 runs. Forty!

They have had a three-run inning (or more) in their last nine straight games, the Dodgers’ longest streak since coming to Los Angeles. The pitching was for the most part brilliant, but even when it wasn’t the offense was able to sweep things under the rug.

Ace allows four home runs in a game for the first time ever? No problem, double-digit runs will cover that. Down 5-0 after Brandon McCarthy has a cutter-specific recurrence of the yips? No worries, here’s a 12 spot that included three home runs and an insane five straight runs scored on wild pitches.

It is impossible to have a winning streak like this without getting some help, after all.

But when things are going right, they are really going right. The bullpen allowed three total runs in seven games last week, but nearly matched that by driving in two runs themselves.

Kenley Jansen even walked a batter this week, his first of the season, and the Dodgers still went 7-0.

The Dodgers allowed a total of 18 runs during the week, and on offense hit 20 home runs. It was a week to behold.

The Dodgers started the week tied for second place in the division, one game back of Colorado. The end the week atop the National League West, leading the Diamondbacks by 2½ games and the Rockies by 4½.

Batter of the week

This is the toughest pick of the year, by far. When you have Yasmani Grandal sixth on the team with a .783 slugging percentage for the week, the offense was in its highest gear. Cody Bellinger continued to set records, hitting five home runs while driving in 12. Joc Pederson is healthy and on fire, and had a .615 on-base percentage among his other exploits. Justin Turner hit .455 with four extra-base hits and six walks, and easily could have won it.

But I’m going with Corey Seager, who had a three-home-run game — the second of his career — and was 9-for-16 (.563) with seven RBI on the week before missing the final two games of the week with a hamstring strain. This wasn’t exactly a revolutionary pick, though Seager’s OPS for the week was 1.776.

The offense had four different multi-homer games during the week, including two by Bellinger, one by Grandal, and Seager’s three-homer game.

Pitcher of the week

I could have went with Clayton Kershaw for winning both of his starts, but he allowed a career-high four home runs against the Mets, so he’s out. The Dodgers had five different relievers pitch exactly three scoreless innings, with four of them allowing no more than one baserunner.

But for this week I’ll go with Alex Wood, who struck out seven in six innings against the Rockies for his eighth win, and the only reason he allowed a run was because a routine single to left field was misplayed into an RBI double.

Week 12 results

Record: 7-0
58 runs scored (8.29 per game)
18 runs allowed (2.57 per game)
.895 pythagorean record

Year to date

Record: 51-26
406 runs scored (5.27 per game)
268 runs allowed (3.48 per game)
.681 pythagorean record (52-25)

Miscellany

We all remember the craziness that came with the Dodgers’ 42-8 run in 2013. But the way the Dodgers are playing now is not too far off that, and nearly as rare. To wit:

Transactions

Monday: Relief pitcher Sergio Romo was activated off the disabled list, and pitcher Josh Fields was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Wednesday: Relief pitcher Brandon Morrow was recalled from Oklahoma City, and pitcher Brock Stewart was optioned to Triple-A.

Friday: Relief pitcher Chris Hatcher was placed on the disabled list with thoracic inflammation, and pitcher Ross Stripling was recalled from Triple-A.

Sunday: Franklin Gutierrez was placed on the disabled list with an episode of ankylosis spondylitis, and utility man Mike Freeman was recalled from Triple-A.

Game results

Monday: Dodgers 10, Mets 6

Tuesday: Dodgers 12, Mets 0

Wednesday: Dodgers 8, Mets 2

Thursday: Dodgers 6, Mets 3

Friday: Dodgers 6, Rockies 1

Saturday: Dodgers 4, Rockies 0

Sunday: Dodgers 12, Rockies 6

The week ahead

The Dodgers this week run the Phil Nevin gauntlet, starting with a four-game home-and-home Freeway Series against the Angels, followed by three games against the Padres in San Diego. The opponents pitching rotation after Tuesday is an educated guess.

Previous weeks in review: Apr. 3-9 | Apr. 10-16 | Apr. 17-23 | Apr. 24-30 | May 1-7 | May 8-14| May 15-21 | May 22-28 | May 29-Jun 4 | June 5-11 | June 12-18

Stats