Dodgers Week 7: Hyun-jin Ryu takes charge

The Dodgers asserted themselves last week with five wins in seven games against presumed playoff contenders from the National League East. LA swept the Braves in an NLDS rematch, then split four with the fledgling Nationals over the weekend.

A potentially sublime week was spoiled with by Gerardo Parra in the eighth inning in two straight games over the weekend. His grand slam Saturday robbed the Dodgers of a win, then his single on Sunday ended a no-hit bid by the nuclear hot Hyun-jin Ryu.

The 5-2 week has the Dodgers atop the NL West by four games, and owners of the second-best record and run differential (+53) in the National League, trailing only Chicago.

Batter of the week

Justin Turner found his power stroke, slamming five home runs after hitting one home run in the Dodgers’ first 36 games of the season. Turner also hit .417 (10-for-24) while driving in a team-high 10 runs.

Honorable mention goes to Cody Bellinger, who didn’t homer but was still incredibly productive, hitting .385/.484/.462. He also stole a base, and provided the defensive highlight of the week, robbing Stephen Strasburg of a base hit to temporarily preserve a no-hit bid on Sunday:

Pitcher of the week

Hyun-jin Ryu ramped up his excellence to a new level last week, such that his shutout of the Braves on Tuesday — taking a perfect game into the sixth inning — wasn’t even definitively his best start of the week. Ryu on Sunday took a no-hitter into the eight inning and settled for eight shutout frames, allowing only a single and a walk. On the week, Ryu pitched 17 scoreless innings, striking out 15 while allowing only six to reach base. Dominant.

Honorable mention goes to Walker Buehler, who went seven innings in both of his starts, including holding Washington scoreless on Saturday in a no-decision.

Week 7 results

5-2 record
36 runs scored (5.14 per game)
18 runs allowed (2.57 per game)
.780 pythagorean record

Season to date

27-16 record
227 runs scored (5.28 per game)
174 runs allowed (4.05 per game)
.619 pythagorean record (27-16)

Miscellany

Zeroing in: Ryu’s mastery of the Braves on Tuesday took just 93 pitches, recording a “Maddux” (a shutout with fewer than 100 pitches). It was the first Dodgers shutout since May 23, 2016. Before Ryu, the previous eight Dodgers shutouts were all thrown by Clayton Kershaw, though in the interim Rich Hill did pitch nine scoreless innings in Pittsburgh on Aug. 23, 2017 before losing his no-hitter (and the game) in the 10th inning.

More Ryu stats: Ryu has an active streak of 25 consecutive scoreless innings, and lowered his ERA on the season to 1.72. Since the start of 2018 the left-hander has a 1.87 ERA in 23 starts, the best in baseball of anyone with at least 20 starts. In addition:

Red hot corner: Turner’s breakout power surge on Tuesday was the 25th game of three or more home runs in Dodgers history. It also gave the Dodgers at least one three-homer game in each of the last five seasons, the only time in franchise history they’ve done that. Turner was the second third baseman with a three-homer game, joining Juan Uribe (2013).

Transactions

Friday: Five days after he was signed, catcher Travis d’Arnaud was traded to the Rays for cash considerations. d’Arnaud appeared in just one game, grounding out to shortstop on Thursday in a pinch-hitting appearance. His Dodgers career lasted two pitches.

Friday: Rocky Gale was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City to take d’Arnaud’s place on the active roster. The move was underwhelming, not that the Dodgers have such glaringly obvious alternatives — especially since Matt Beaty can’t be recalled until Wednesday unless replacing an injured player — but with the 13-man pitching staff already suppressing the Dodgers reserve options, calling up a third catcher makes the Dodgers bench somehow even shorter.

Game results

• Monday: Dodgers 5, Braves 3
• Tuesday: Dodgers 9, Braves 0
• Wednesday: Dodgers 9, Braves 4
• Thursday: Nationals 6, Dodgers 0
• Friday: Dodgers 5, Nationals 0
• Saturday: Nationals 5, Dodgers 2
• Sunday: Dodgers 6, Nationals 0

Stats

LOL, check out that bullpen ERA. Eight runs allowed, but none of them earned as a team:

Previous weeks in review: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6

The week ahead

The Dodgers run the Eric Owens gauntlet, finishing off a nine-game homestand with a rare two-game divisional series against the Padres, followed by a trip to Cincinnati to battle all those old friends. That Tuesday matchup of Clayton Kershaw vs. Chris Paddack is choice. The Dodgers’ weekend rotation is a guess, with the uncertainty of when Rich Hill will be slotted back into the rotation after getting his Wednesday start pushed back.

This is the first of two straight weeks with both Monday and Thursday off for the Dodgers, who played 43 games in the first 46 days of the season. That’s more games than every other team but the Mariners — also at 43 — who got a head start with two games in Tokyo in March.