Dodgers August in review: Treading water

After spending a majority of days in July in first place, the Dodgers in August tasted a lot of third place in the National League West, ending the month in second place, one game back of Arizona. The Dodgers in August were tied or alone in first place for eight days, though not since August 11.

Dodgers starting pitching had their best month of the season with a 2.53 ERA to lead the majors, but the bullpen had its worst month (4.62 ERA). Kenley Jansen suffered through a terrible month, including a health scare in Denver, but recovered to save the final game of the month, snapping a career-worst string of four consecutive outings scored upon.

“He might not say how big it was but to go up there and get a save, and to see the ball coming out with the characteristics we’re used to, It was big for Kenley,” manager Dave Roberts said.

The offense averaged just a tick under five runs per game in August, but the problem was that 41.7% of their runs were scored in their four biggest games, while averaging just 3.35 runs in the 23 other games.

The result was a month just one game over .500, barely treading water in both the National League West and NL wild card races.

Batter of August

Justin Turner was on fire, walloping 11 doubles and six home runs, hitting .402/.491/.722 with 20 RBI, including two 5-RBI games during the month. Turner led the majors in August in both batting average and on-base percentage.

Pitcher of August

Walker Buehler was magnificent, turning in his best month in the majors with a 1.53 ERA in five starts, and struck out 35, one off the team lead. Buehler’s best start of the month was seven scoreless innings against a red-hot Cardinals team on Aug. 22.

Right behind Buehler was Clayton Kershaw, who posted a 2.06 ERA and averaged seven innings per start for the month.

Record: 14-13
132 runs scored (4.89 per game)
97 runs allowed (3.59 per game)
.637 pythagorean winning percentage (17-10)

Record: 73-62
638 runs scored (4.73 per game)
512 runs allowed (3.79 per game)
.599 pythagorean winning percentage (81-54)

The Dodgers also end the month 2½ games back of Milwaukee for the second wild card spot, and a half-game ahead of Colorado and Philadelphia.

Game of the month

The Dodgers had wins of 21-5, 12-1 and two 11-1 victories in August, plus they won another game one pitch after a 20-minute power delay at Dodger Stadium. But for me the game of the month was the series opener on Aug. 9 at Coors Field, when both the Dodgers and Rockies feasted off each other’s bullpen. A four-run seventh inning give Colorado a lead, but LA hit five home runs off Rockies relievers to pull out an 8-5 victory.

Situational stats

Pinch hitting: Dodgers pinch hitters for in August were 9-for-32 with two doubles, four home runs and six walks, hitting .281/.385/.719. Max Muncy hit two of the three pinch home runs during the month, including joining Joc Pederson for two pinch homers in one inning on Aug. 9, for the first time by a Dodgers team since 1982.

Runners in scoring position: The Dodgers for the month with RISP hit .245/.325/.415. They ranked ninth in MLB in August with 270 plate appearances in those situations.

Bases loaded: The Dodgers in August were 3-for-20 (.150) with one home run (by Cody Bellinger) with a walk and a hit by pitch with the bases loaded, driving in 10 runs.

August months in review: July 30-Aug. 5 | Aug. 6-12 | Aug. 13-19 | Aug. 20-26

The month ahead

The Dodgers play 27 games over the final 30 days of the regular season, and 16 of those are away from home. That includes the second-longest road trip of the season, a 10-game trek through Colorado, Cincinnati and St. Louis. Los Angeles plays five games against the Diamondbacks in the final month, and six games against Colorado in a divisional-heavy September schedule.

Stats