Dodgers June review: Powering up

The Dodgers reached their highest gear in June, with winning streaks of 10 and six games, and during the month strengthened their lead in a competitive National League West.

By winning three of every four games, the Dodgers matched their franchise record with 21 wins in June.

The offense kicked into gear with 5.61 runs per game, powered by a franchise-record 53 home runs, beating a 64-year-old mark.

The Dodgers began the month in first place, with a half-game lead over both the Rockies and Diamondbacks, and even with the great month were out of first place as late as June 20. But they ended June with a 3½ game lead over Arizona and a six-game cushion over Colorado.

Batter of June

This was a very close call, but I went with Justin Turner even though he had two-thirds of the plate appearances of Cody Bellinger. Turner hit a ridiculous .415/.519/.692 with five home runs, and had more than twice as many walks (11) than strikeouts (five). Still, Bellinger was very, very good, and hit .286/.361/.743 with 13 home runs — two shy of the franchise record for a month — and 27 RBI. Maybe Bellinger can console himself by winning the National League Player of the Month award for June.

Here’s how good the Dodgers’ offense was in June: Joc Pederson (1.149 OPS), Corey Seager (.990), and Yasiel Puig (.965) are relegated to others this month.

Pitcher of June

Clayton Kershaw was 5-0 with a 2.23 ERA and struck out 57 batters in six June starts, his fourth-most strikeouts in any month.

Also worthy of consideration was Kenley Jansen, who allowed six runners to reach base and struck out 18 in 14 scoreless innings. He saved 10 games in the month, including four saves of four or more outs. Alex Wood was also very good, posting a 2.10 ERA, but only made four starts during the month. Kenta Maeda posted a 1.71 ERA in 21 innings, in three starts and two relief appearances.

June performance

Record: 21-7
157 runs scored (5.61 per game)
96 runs allowed (3.43 per game)
.711 pythagorean winning percentage (20-8)

Season to date

Record: 54-28
428 runs scored (5.22 per game)
281 runs allowed (3.43 per game)
.684 pythagorean winning percentage (56-26)

Game of the month

In a month that saw the Dodgers stage a late comeback in a 14-strikeout game by Clayton Kershaw, and saw them beat Andrew Miller with a late home run on back-to-back days, and saw them stage a six-run, eighth-inning comeback against Cincinnati, the winner here is June 25 at home, when the Dodgers overcame a 5-0 deficit to finish off the sweep of the Rockies in a wild, 12-6 contest.

Cody Bellinger homered twice in the game, and the Dodgers scored a ridiculous five consecutive runs on wild pitches to take their first lead of the game. Kenley Jansen not only completed a four-out save — one that saw him issue his only walk of the season to date — but also hit an RBI double against Colorado closer Greg Holland. That game really had everything.

Situational stats

Pinch hitting: Dodgers pinch hitters were 6-for-35 with a home run and a double in June, hitting .171/.256/.286.

Runners in scoring position: The Dodgers hit .236/.374/.528 with RISP for June, and their 295 plate appearances with RISP ranked sixth in the majors.

Bases loaded: The team was 6-for-26 for the month, hitting .231/.371/.577 with the bases loaded in June.

The month ahead

The Dodgers have very little traveling ahead of them in July, with only seven of their 23 games in July on the road. The club has interleague series at home against the Royals and Twins, and on the road at the White Sox.

A look back

June weeks in review: May 29-June 4 | June 5-11 | June 12-18 | June 19-25

Previous months in review: April | May

Stats