Dodgers Week 6: Running in place

The Dodgers finally got back into divisional play, and with it came hard-fought contests for all but one of their games in San Francisco and San Diego. Los Angeles dropped two of three against the Giants, then turned things around by winning two of three against the Padres to close out the break-even week.

Two wins against the Padres were in comeback fashion and Sunday appeared headed that way, when the Dodgers erased a 4-0 deficit to lead 5-4 in the final frame. But a walk-off grand slam by Hunter Renfroe ended LA’s chances at a winning week, disrupting the Dodgers’ reverie and plunging them into the disappointment of a 3-3 week against two lesser teams.

Four of the six games were one-run contests, and Sunday’s game was a one-run game in the bottom of the ninth. The Dodgers split their four one-run games last week, and on the season LA is 9-6 in such games.

The week took a macabre turn on Friday when Cody Bellinger‘s right shoulder briefly popped out of its socket on a dive at first base in San Diego. Bellinger didn’t start the final two games of the week and was limited to a lone pinch hitting appearance, striking out on three pitches on Sunday.

The Dodgers are 11-5 against the NL West — the best intradivisional record in the National League — and ended the week still atop the division, a single game above the hard-charging Diamondbacks, who won four straight before succumbing to Colorado on Sunday.

Batter of the week

Chris Taylor made the most of his increased playing time thanks to facing five left-handed starters (and A.J. Pollock’s injury), popping two home runs and two doubles, driving in six. He was especially effecitve during the weekend, going 7-for-13 in San Diego with three extra-base hits, including a solo home run Friday that started a comeback effort from three runs down, followed by a two-run home run Sunday that gave the Dodgers a lead before the ninth-inning letdown.

Honorable mention goes to Max Muncy, who made an impact in all three games in San Diego. To start the weekend on Friday night, Muncy singled home the winning run in the ninth inning, then followed that up with three-run home runs against left-handers on both Saturday (Brad Wieck) and Sunday (Nick Margevicius). In addition, Justin Turner hit his first home run of the season on Tuesday, headlining a solid week for the third baseman.

Pitcher of the week

Hyun-jin Ryu continued his stinginess on Wednesday night in San Francisco, allowing just a single run in eight innings while walking none (his fourth time in six starts with no walks) and striking out six.

Honorable mention goes to Dylan Floro, who did allow three inherited runners to score on Monday in San Francisco, but otherwise added another four scoreless frames to his ledger during the week. Even with those three inherited runners let in, just four of 12 inherited runners have scored against Floro this season. His 15 innings are tied (with Ryan Pressly) for the most innings in MLB of anyone with a 0.00 ERA, and opponents are hitting just .170/.214/.208 against him. Given his batted ball data, his opponents’ expected batting average is just .213 with a .283 slugging percentage, and Floro’s expected wOBA of .239 ranks in the top 7% of the league.

Week 6 stats

3-3 record
29 runs scored (4.83 per game)
25 runs allowed (4.17 per game)
.567 pythagorean record

Season to date

22-14 record
191 runs scored (5.31 per game)
156 runs allowed (4.33 per game)
.592 pythagorean record (21-15)

Miscellany

San Diego stroll: The Dodgers won two of three in their weekend at series at Petco Park, something that is becoming old hat of late. The Dodgers have won eight consecutive season series against the Padres, and in all eight of those seasons have won more games than they have lost in San Diego. Since the start of the 2011 season the Dodgers are 48-27 (.640) at Petco Park, and 101-52 (.660) overall against the Padres.

Opening frame woes: In all three games in San Diego, the Padres homered in the first inning against Dodgers pitching. That makes eight home runs allowed in the first inning by the Dodgers this season, second-most in the NL to San Francisco (10) and fourth in the majors. LA allowed runs in the first inning in each of the last four games of the week, including once against a Giants team that scored one first-inning run in their first 30 games. The Dodgers have allowed 21 first-inning runs in 36 games this season, fourth-most in the NL.

Sponsored by Onyx: San Diego spoiled a sweep by loading the bases with nobody out in the ninth inning on Sunday against Kenley Jansen, nursing a one-run lead. A strikeout and pop out gave Jansen a chance to escape before Renfroe ended things with a walk-off homer. It was the first walk-off grand slam against the Dodgers since Jordany Valdespin took Josh Wall deep at Citi Field on Apr. 24, 2013. Renfroe’s shot was the 13th walk-off grand slam allowed by the Dodgers since moving to Los Angeles, and just the fourth in the last 39 seasons.

Long balls against Kenley: The slam against Jansen on Sunday continued his disturbing trend of allowing home runs. After allowing 13 homers in 289 batters faced last year — one ever 22.2 plate appearances, by far the worst season of his career — Jansen has allowed four home runs in his 72 batters faced in 2019, one every 18 PA. The four runs charged against Jansen’s ledger was also rare:

Welcome aboard: In a week that gave us the Kentucky Derby, we also saw the third player ever from Belmont to make the majors. Matt Beaty was recalled Tuesday and singled in his first major league at-bat later that night. Beaty was 2-for-3 in his three pinch-hit appearances, including an RBI single Saturday in San Diego. Beaty’s two hits in the majors are already the most by any player from Belmont.

Transactions

Tuesday: A.J. Pollock was placed on the 10-day injured list with inflammation in his right elbow, then had surgery Thursday and will be out a while. Pollock averaged 101 games played from 2013-18, and missed five months in 2017 with a right elbow fracture. Taking his active roster spot was infielder Matt Beaty, called up from Triple-A Oklahoma City for his first big league stint.

Sunday: catcher Travis d’Arnaud was signed to a major league contract, two days after he was released by the Mets. The Dodgers will pay d’Arnaud a pro-rated share of the $555,000 major league minimum salary (with 148 days left in the regular season, that’s $439,251), with New York on the hook for the remainder of his $3.515 million contract. Beaty was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City to make roster room.

d’Arnaud actually has an option remaining but for practical purposes he doesn’t. With just over five years of major league service time, the catcher can refuse any minor league assignment. The addition of d’Arnaud fills up the Dodgers’ 40-man roster.

Game results

Monday: Giants 3, Dodgers 2

Tuesday: Dodgers 10, Giants 3

Wednesday: Giants 2, Dodgers 1

Friday: Dodgers 4, Padres 3

Saturday: Dodgers 7, Padres 6

Sunday: Padres 8, Dodgers 5

Stats

The week ahead

The Dodgers run the Ryan Langerhans gauntlet, back home for a National League East tussle against the Braves and Nationals.

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