Dodgers Week 22: A tale of two sweeps

In simplest terms, the Dodgers stayed afloat last week, splitting six games in extreme fashion by getting swept by a good team then sweeping a terrible one.

The weekend bounce back came at the hands of the lowly Padres, who served as the plankton for a Dodgers team that sank their playoff hopes to the ocean floor with that Cardinals series.

Kenley Jansen returned to a fractured bullpen only to find out he was the broken one, allowing at least one home run in all three of his appearances. After that unprecedented stretch, Jansen spent his Sunday working on regaining his lost command.

“You can’t control life. Everything was going so well,” Jansen said Saturday. “The reality hits your mind and starts to slow you down. You just have to get back to it.”

The Dodgers will try to get back to it, trailing by 2½ games in both the National League West and wild card races, a step back from last week.

Batter of the week

The extra-base hits continued to flow for Justin Turner, who hit .333 (9-for-27) with four doubles and a home run, and drove in nine runs, including a 5-RBI game for the second consecutive Sunday. Honorable mention goes to Manny Machado, who homered three times and drove in seven, and to Max Muncy, who homered twice in limited duty.

Pitcher of the week

Walker Buehler continued his stellar rookie season with seven scoreless innings on Wednesday against the Cardinals, with nine strikeouts to give him 102 on the year in 94⅓ innings. Buehler narrowly beat out Rich Hill, who struck out eight as Dick Mountain in six scoreless innings against the Padres on Friday.

Week 22 results

3-3 record
29 runs scored (4.83 per game)
21 runs allowed (3.50 per game)
.780 pythagorean record

Season to date

70-61 record
623 runs scored (4.76 per game)
502 runs allowed (3.83 per game)
.598 pythagorean record (78-53)

Miscellany

Thirtysomethings: On Saturday Dodger Stadium gave away replica No. 30 jerseys for manager Dave Roberts, then during the game both Manny Machado and Max Muncy hit their 30th home runs of 2018. Muncy is the 23rd different Dodger to hit 30 home runs in a season.

Double digits: Justin Turner’s home run on Friday was his 10th of the season, giving the Dodgers a franchise record-tying nine players with at least 10 home runs, matching the 2004 team. The major league record of 11 players with 10+ home runs is held by four teams, including the 2017 Astros. The National League record is 10 players, last set by the Diamondbacks, Mets and Nationals last season. Manny Machado has seven home runs and fellow trade acquisition Brian Dozier has three home runs.

Photo: Gary Vasquez | USA Today Sports

A tale of two scorchers: The Dodgers saw two opponents nailed by hard line drives last week, and the differing outcomes of each play illustrated the results of each series. On Tuesday against St. Louis, Joc Pederson reached base after smashing a 110-mph line drive that caromed off the chest of Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez, but as Martinez was writhing around on the ground Kike Hernandez was caught off second base and tagged out to kill the rally.

On Saturday against the Padres, Hunter Renfroe hit a sure game-tying single in the eighth inning against Clayton Kershaw, only to see his 106-mph shot nail teammate Wil Myers in the back. Renfroe got a single for his efforts but Myers was out to end the frame.

“I got bailed out there at the end,” Kershaw said. “He hit that hard, that was definitely going to score some runs. It was fortunate, there’s no other way to take it.”

Transactions

Monday: Kenley Jansen returned from the 10-day DL after missing 10 games, and Zac Rosscup was placed on the DL with left calf irritation.

Tuesday: J.T. Chargois hit the disabled list with nerve irritation, and Pat Venditte was called up for the eighth time.

Friday: Right forearm tightness landed Daniel Hudson on the 10-day disabled list for a second time, and Yimi Garcia was activated from the DL.

Friday: With his rehab assignment nearly complete, Juilo Urias was activated from the 60-day disabled list and optioned to Class-A Rancho Cucamonga, more of a procedural move with the left-hander set to join the Dodgers in the first few days of September. To make room on the 40-man roster, Josh Fields — another planned September addition — was transferred to the 60-day DL.

Game results

• Monday: Cardinals 5, Dodgers 3
• Tuesday: Cardinals 5, Dodgers 2
• Wednesday: Cardinals 3, Dodgers 1
• Friday: Dodgers 11, Padres 1
• Saturday: Dodgers 5, Padres 4 (12)
• Sunday: Dodgers 7, Padres 3

The week ahead

The Dodgers run the David Dellucci gauntlet with a pair of games in Texas, followed by a chance at some divisional climbing with four home games against the Diamondbacks. The Dodgers shuffled their rotation last week in part to line up their best four starters against Arizona next weekend. There are only four more games with 25-man roster limits, before things get weird in September.

Previous weeks in review: Mar. 29-Apr. 1 | Apr. 2-8 | Apr. 9-15 | Apr. 16-22 | Apr. 23-29 | Apr. 30-May 6 | May 7-13 | May 14-20 | May 21-27 | May 28-Jun 3 | Jun 4-10 | June 11-17 | June 18-24 | June 25-July 1 | July 2-8 | July 9-15 | July 16-22 | July 23-29 | July 30-Aug. 5 | Aug. 6-12 | Aug. 13-19

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