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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 |
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
Víctor González consigue su primer triunfo de Grandes Ligas tras lanzar dos entradas en blanco con dos ponches pic.twitter.com/79W9axMv22
— Jesus Quiñonez (@JesusQuinonezTV) August 23, 2020
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
- Monday: Dodgers 11, Mariners 9
- Tuesday: Dodgers 2, Mariners 1
- Wednesday: Mariners 6, Dodgers 4
- Thursday: Dodgers 6, Mariners 1
- Friday: Dodgers 5, Rockies 1
- Saturday: Dodgers 4, Rockies 3
- Sunday: Dodgers 11, Rockies 3
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 |