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Dodgers Week 5: Surging to the halfway point

LA was fueled last week by the big names you’d expect

MLB: Colorado Rockies at Los Angeles Dodgers Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

The Dodgers took care of business and then some last week, winning three of four games in the battle of Seagers, then sweeping the Rockies at Dodger Stadium, which has been a habit of late.

Los Angeles is at the halfway point of their season at 22-8, the best record in baseball. They’ve scored the most runs and hit the most homers. They’ve allowed the second-fewest runs. The Dodgers’ run differential (+79) is higher than the second and third-highest run differentials in MLB (Minnesota +40, Oakland +33) combined.

Batter of the week

Cody Bellinger entered the week with four home runs on the season, then he hit four home runs in seven games, including the Dodgers’ first walk-off win of the season on Saturday, even if he didn’t realize where the ball was off the bat.

Pitcher of the week

The Dodgers got a pair of gems out of their Games 1 & 2 starters last week, each striking out 11. This one goes to Clayton Kershaw, who missed his most bats in three years on Thursday in Seattle, allowing a run in seven innings.

Kershaw narrowly beat out Walker Buehler, who allowed a run in six innings Friday, and also walked none. Buehler also gets extra credit for his postgame reaction, turning around a slow start to his season.

“I was kind of tired of being shitty, to be honest,” Buehler said after Friday’s win. “Sorry for the language.”

Honorable mention goes to Tony Gonsolin, who pitched six scoreless innings on Tuesday then he and his 0.00 ERA were optioned.

Week 5 results

6-1 record
43 runs scored (6.14 per game)
24 runs allowed (3.43 per game)
.744 pythagorean win percentage

Season to date

22-8 record
171 runs scored (5.70 per game)
92 runs allowed (3.07 per game)
.757 pythagorean record (23-7)

Standings: 1st place, NL West; 4 games up on San Diego
Current wild card round playoff matchup: vs. No. 8 Colorado (13-15)

Miscellany

Kershaw milestone strikeouts

Strikeout Date Batter Team
Strikeout Date Batter Team
1 5/25/08 Skip Schumaker Cardinals
100 9/24/08 Kevin Kouzmanoff Padres
500 3/31/11 Buster Posey Giants
1,000 4/17/13 Yonder Alonso Padres
1,500 5/10/15 Drew Stubbs Rockies
2,000 6/2/17 Jonathan Villar Brewers
2487* 8/20/20 Shed Long Jr. Mariners
*passed Don Drysdale for 2nd place in Dodgers history

Passing Big D: Clayton Kershaw in his excellent performance Thursday in Seattle ran his career total to 2,493 strikeouts. His strikeout of Shed Long Jr. in the fifth inning put Kershaw ahead of Don Drysdale for second place on the all-time Dodgers strikeout list.

Unprecedented power & speed: Mookie Betts on Sunday homered in the third inning against Colorado, then singled and stole two bases in the seventh inning, and homered again in the eighth. It was the first game in Dodgers history with two home runs and two stolen bases, and just the 19th in MLB dating back to 1901.

Number one: Victor Gonzalez pitched two scoreless innings Sunday for his first major league win

Transactions

Monday: Edwin Rios was placed on the injured list with a left hamstring strain, and Adam Kolarek was recalled.

Wednesday: Tony Gonsolin was optioned to the club’s alternate site at USC, and Victor Gonzalez was recalled.

Thursday: Pedro Baez was placed on the injured list with a right groin strain, and Josh Sborz was recalled from the taxi squad.

Sunday: Will Smith was activated from the injured list, and Keibert Ruiz was optioned.

Game results

Week 5 batting

Player AB R H 2B HR RBI SB BB BA OBP SLG OPS
Player AB R H 2B HR RBI SB BB BA OBP SLG OPS
Smith 3 2 1 0 1 1 0 1 0.333 0.500 1.333 1.833
Bellinger 23 5 7 1 4 6 0 6 0.304 0.448 0.870 1.318
Pederson 12 3 4 1 1 1 0 1 0.333 0.467 0.667 1.133
Betts 24 8 6 1 3 5 3 4 0.250 0.357 0.667 1.024
Muncy 20 4 5 0 2 3 0 5 0.250 0.400 0.550 0.950
Seager 26 3 8 2 2 7 0 1 0.308 0.333 0.615 0.949
Hernández 17 3 4 1 2 5 0 0 0.235 0.235 0.647 0.882
Taylor 18 3 4 1 1 1 1 5 0.222 0.391 0.444 0.836
Barnes 15 3 5 0 0 1 1 2 0.333 0.389 0.333 0.722
Turner 21 2 5 0 0 2 0 4 0.238 0.385 0.238 0.623
Pollock 26 4 6 2 0 3 0 0 0.231 0.222 0.308 0.530
Starters 205 40 55 9 16 35 5 29 0.268 0.364 0.546 0.910
Beaty 12 3 4 1 0 3 0 1 0.333 0.429 0.417 0.845
Ruiz 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.250 0.250 0.250 0.500
Bench 16 3 5 1 0 3 0 1 0.313 0.389 0.375 0.764
Offense 221 43 60 10 16 38 5 30 0.271 0.366 0.534 0.900

Week 5 pitching

Pitcher G Record IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA WHIP
Pitcher G Record IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA WHIP
Gonsolin 1 0-0 6.0 2 0 0 0 0 3 0.00 0.333
Kershaw 1 1-0 7.0 4 1 1 1 1 11 1.29 0.714
Buehler 1 1-0 6.0 4 1 1 0 0 11 1.50 0.667
May 1 0-0 5.0 2 1 1 1 2 1 1.80 0.800
Urías 1 0-0 1.7 4 1 1 0 1 5 5.40 3.000
Stripling 2 0-0 7.0 14 9 8 5 2 4 10.29 2.286
Starters 7 2-0 32.7 30 13 12 7 6 35 3.31 1.102
Kolarek 4 0-0 4.7 0 0 0 0 0 5 0.00 0.000
Gonzalez 2 1-0 4.0 1 0 0 0 1 3 0.00 0.500
Ferguson 3 1-0 3.3 0 0 0 0 1 5 0.00 0.300
Treinen 2 1-0 2.7 1 0 0 0 1 2 0.00 0.750
Jansen 3 1-0, Sv 2.3 1 0 0 0 1 2 0.00 0.857
Graterol 1 0-0 1.0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0.00 1.000
Floro 3 0-0 4.3 5 1 1 0 0 2 2.08 1.154
Alexander 2 0-0 1.7 0 1 1 0 2 1 5.40 1.200
McGee 2 0-0 1.3 1 1 1 0 1 3 6.75 1.500
Baez 2 0-0 2.0 2 2 2 2 0 1 9.00 1.000
Santana 2 0-1 2.0 4 5 5 2 2 3 22.50 3.000
Bullpen 26 4-1, Sv 29.3 16 11 10 4 9 27 3.07 0.852
Totals 33 6-1, Sv 62.0 46 24 22 11 15 62 3.19 0.984

Previous reviews: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4

The week ahead

The Dodgers run the Royce Clayton gauntlet, hitting the road for three games in San Francisco followed by a weekend in Arlington to see the new Globe Life Field. But first, a day off on Monday after the stretch of 17 gamedays in a row. Sunday sure looks like a perfect landing spot for Alex Wood’s return from the injured list, provided his four-inning simulated game on Monday goes well.

Two nationally televised games are on the docket this week: Tuesday on FS1 and Wednesday on ESPN, the latter with Karl Ravech, Eduardo Perez, and Tim Kurkjian on the call.

Week 6 schedule

Mon, Aug 24 Tue, Aug 25 Wed, Aug 26 Thu, Aug 27 Fri, Aug 28 Sat, Aug 29 Sun, Aug 30
Mon, Aug 24 Tue, Aug 25 Wed, Aug 26 Thu, Aug 27 Fri, Aug 28 Sat, Aug 29 Sun, Aug 30
Off at Giants at Giants at Giants at Rangers at Rangers at Rangers
6:45 p.m. 6:45 p.m. 5:05 p.m. 5:05 p.m. 4:05 p.m. 11:35 a.m.
Urias v. Kershaw v. Buehler v. May v. Stripling v. TBD v.
Cueto Gausman Webb Minor (L) Lynn Gibson
SNLA/FS1 SNLA/ESPN SNLA SNLA SNLA SNLA