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The signature ability of the 2017 Dodgers team was on full display during an exciting week of undefeated baseball. Another reason to not leave Dodger Stadium early, four of the Dodgers six wins came after they were behind as they came to the plate in either the seventh or eighth inning.
To have the remarkable record of 74-31 (.705), there are going to be plenty of storylines. Lately it has felt as if the Dodgers put together a month’s worth into every week. Adding four to the total over the last seven days, the Dodgers now lead the league with 31 comeback victories.
They just refuse to lose.
The last time the Dodgers were 43 games over the .500 mark at the end of the season came in 1955. The 1955 Brooklyn team (98-55-1) won the only franchise championship before the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. The 2017 version is on pace to win 114 games and shatter the 105-win team of 1953.
The last time a Dodgers team was 43 games over .500 at any point in the season came in 1962. After 149 games, the 1962 squad was 98-51 before losing 12 of the last 16 games, including two of three to the Giants in a best-of-three series. (h/t @justinmiwoods on Twitter)
Finishing the week with a sweep of the struggling Giants meant that the only team the Dodgers have a losing record against this season is the Nationals. They won’t get a chance to right that wrong until mid-September during a 10-game road trip.
It seemed impossible to find a hotter team than the 2013 Dodgers that won 42 out of 50 games that summer. With a 6-0 week, the current wrecking crew has won 41 of their last 50. But they could surpass 42-8 with four wins in their next five games since they’re 39-6 over the last 45 contests.
“I don’t know what else I can say,” manager Dave Roberts said after Sunday’s walk-off win. “How else can you describe this ball club?”
Big debuts
Edward Paredes pitched 2 1⁄3 scoreless innings of relief during the week and picked up his first major league victory in his debut Monday.
Kyle Farmer made a big impact in his first big league at-bat Sunday. With the Dodgers down 2-1 in the bottom of the 11th inning, Farmer lined a double down the right field line to score a pair and provide the walk-off victory.
Batter of the week
Corey Seager was a large part of the late-inning success for the Dodgers when he hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh Friday. It was Seager’s second homer of the night and it gave the Dodgers a 6-4 lead after entering the home half of the inning down 4-2.
Seager was 11-for-25 with two homers and three doubles with a scorching 1.281 OPS, hitting .440/.481/.800 for the week.
Pitcher of the week
Hyun-jin Ryu takes the honors in a week that saw him give up only two runs in 12 innings over two starts. The left-hander was especially brilliant Sunday when he struck out seven over seven scoreless innings against the Giants.
The Dodgers have been missing the Ryu that showed up this week and it would be a tremendous luxury if he pitched like that down the stretch.
Week 17 results
Record: 6-0
29 runs scored (4.83 per game)
18 runs allowed (3.00 per game)
Year to date
Record: 74-31
535 runs scored (5.10 per game)
350 runs allowed (3.33 per game)
.686 pythagorean record (72-33)
For all teams within the 162-game era, @Dodgers are 3rd club to win 74 of their first 105, after '98 @Yankees (77) and '01 @Mariners (76). pic.twitter.com/iUXYWh17be
— MLB Stat of the Day (@MLBStatoftheDay) July 31, 2017
Transactions
Monday: Starting pitcher Hyun-jin Ryu was activated from the disabled list and pitchers Edward Paredes and Josh Ravin were recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City. Pitchers Clayton Kershaw and Brandon McCarthy were placed on the disabled list while Trayce Thompson was optioned to Triple-A.
Friday: Relief pitcher Grant Dayton was placed on the disabled list with neck stiffness, and Catcher Kyle Farmer was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City. The Dodgers acquired right-handed pitcher Luke Farrell and transferred pitcher Adam Liberatore to the 60-day DL.
Saturday: Dodgers acquired pitcher Luis Ysla from the Red Sox and moved Adrian Gonzalez to the 60-day DL.
Game results
Monday: Dodgers 6, Twins 4
Tuesday: Dodgers 6, Twins 2
Wednesday: Dodgers 6, Twins 5
Friday: Dodgers 6, Giants 4
Saturday: Dodgers 2, Giants 1
Sunday: Dodgers 3, Giants 2
The week ahead
The Dodgers head out on a nine-game road trip starting Tuesday night in Atlanta. After three with the Braves, the Dodgers will go to New York for a weekend series with the Mets. The latest game time on the west coast will be on Sunday Night Baseball (NO BLACKOUT!) at 5:00 pm PT.
Week 17 schedule
| Mon, Jul 31 | Tue, Aug 1 | Wed, Aug 2 | Thu, Aug 3 | Fri, Aug 4 | Sat, Aug 5 | Sun, Aug 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon, Jul 31 | Tue, Aug 1 | Wed, Aug 2 | Thu, Aug 3 | Fri, Aug 4 | Sat, Aug 5 | Sun, Aug 6 |
| Off | at Braves | at Braves | at Braves | at Mets | at Mets | at Mets |
| 4:35 p.m. | 4:35 p.m. | 4:35 p.m. | 4:10 p.m. | 1:05 p.m. | 5 p.m. | |
| Maeda v. | Stewart v. | Wood v. | Darvish v. | Hill v. | Ryu v. | |
| Sims | Teheran | Newcomb | deGrom | Lugo | Matz | |
| SNLA | SNLA | SNLA | SNLA | SNLA, Fox | ESPN |
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 | June 19-25 | June 26-July 2 | July 3-9 | July 10-16 | July 17-23
Week 17 batting
| Player | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | HBP | SH | SF | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | BABIP | Player |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | HBP | SH | SF | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | BABIP | Player |
| Seager | 25 | 5 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 0.440 | 0.481 | 0.800 | 1.281 | 0.500 | Seager |
| Pederson | 15 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0.333 | 0.412 | 0.867 | 1.278 | 0.273 | Pederson |
| Puig | 20 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0.400 | 0.400 | 0.650 | 1.050 | 0.389 | Puig |
| Grandal | 16 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0.313 | 0.313 | 0.500 | 0.813 | 0.333 | Grandal |
| Taylor | 26 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 0.308 | 0.333 | 0.462 | 0.795 | 0.444 | Taylor |
| Bellinger | 22 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0.227 | 0.320 | 0.364 | 0.684 | 0.250 | Bellinger |
| Turner | 22 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 0.227 | 0.370 | 0.227 | 0.598 | 0.263 | Turner |
| Forsythe | 19 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 0.158 | 0.227 | 0.158 | 0.385 | 0.273 | Forsythe |
| Starters | 165 | 24 | 50 | 9 | 1 | 7 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 37 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 181 | 0.303 | 0.359 | 0.497 | 0.856 | 0.355 | Starters |
| Farmer | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 2.000 | 3.000 | 1.000 | Farmer |
| Utley | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0.571 | 0.625 | 0.714 | 1.339 | 0.667 | Utley |
| Barnes | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0.125 | 0.364 | 0.125 | 0.489 | 0.125 | Barnes |
| Hernandez | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0.200 | 0.200 | 0.200 | 0.400 | 0.333 | Hernandez |
| Bench | 26 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 0.308 | 0.400 | 0.385 | 0.785 | 0.286 | Bench |
| Pitchers | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Pitchers |
| Offense | 199 | 29 | 58 | 11 | 1 | 7 | 29 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 45 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 222 | 0.291 | 0.347 | 0.462 | 0.809 | 0.347 | Offense |
Week 17 pitching
| Pitcher | G | GS | W | L | Sv | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | IBB | SO | HBP | ERA | WHIP | FIP | Pitcher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pitcher | G | GS | W | L | Sv | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | IBB | SO | HBP | ERA | WHIP | FIP | Pitcher |
| Ryu | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12.0 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 1.50 | 1.17 | 2.15 | Ryu | |
| Maeda | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5.0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1.80 | 1.40 | 2.75 | Maeda | |
| Hill | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5.7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1.59 | 0.71 | 5.44 | Hill | |
| Stewart | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.7 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 | 1.64 | 2.88 | Stewart | |
| Wood | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7.0 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5.14 | 1.14 | 3.58 | Wood | |
| Starters | 6 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.3 | 30 | 14 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 26 | 0 | 2.16 | 1.17 | 3.18 | Starters |
| Morrow | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3.00 | 1.00 | 1.48 | Morrow | ||
| Avilan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 1.65 | Avilan | ||
| Baez | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.33 | 1.82 | Baez | ||
| Fields | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2.3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7.71 | 1.71 | 11.72 | Fields | ||
| Paredes | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.29 | Paredes | ||
| Stripling | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.43 | 1.43 | Stripling | ||
| Jansen | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0.00 | 1.25 | 1.15 | Jansen | |
| Dayton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27.00 | 9.00 | 42.15 | Dayton | ||
| Ravin | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.30 | 3.45 | Ravin | |
| Bullpen | 22 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 22.7 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 21 | 1 | 1.59 | 0.88 | 3.50 | Bullpen |
| Totals | 28 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 56.0 | 43 | 18 | 12 | 5 | 16 | 2 | 47 | 1 | 1.93 | 1.05 | 3.31 | Totals |