Dodgers Week 6: Penn is mightier

The Dodgers had their worst week of the season, and saw their pitching depth stretched to its breaking point. But amazingly it could have been even worse after two disappointing series against Pennsylvania teams.

They dropped two of three to the lowly Pirates, snapping a 16-game winning streak over the Bucs. Then the Dodgers came home and got bludgeoned by Bryce Harper and the Phillies for three games. A four-run deficit had Los Angeles staring down the barrel of its first four-game home series sweep at the hands of the Phillies in 37 years, but managed to salvage a comeback win on Sunday.

Clayton Kershaw hit the injured list with inflammation in his lower back, Julio Urías had his worst career start, and even Walker Buehler allowed five runs in five innings in his start. Overall, the pitching was just plain bad, allowing nearly as many home runs last week than they did in the first 26 games of the season.

The most silver of linings amid the pitching disaster was the Dodgers offense was able to flex its comeback muscle, erasing a six-run deficit Thursday and tying Friday’s game in the ninth. They lost both of those games, but completed the deed on Sunday when Gavin Lux atoned for an earlier error with a walk-off double.

They’ve split the first ten games of the schedule gauntlet, with 21 games still coming in next 21 days to further test their mettle.

Batter of the week

After a rough start to the season, Justin Turner broke out last week with a pair of four-RBI games, driving in 10 runs for the week. He had three doubles on Tuesday in Pittsburgh and hit a game-tying home run in the ninth inning on Friday. Turner for the week had six extra-base hits, surpassing his total (five) for the first 25 games of the season.

Pitcher of the week

A rough week for the pitching staff left this wide open, so we’ll go with Yency Almonte, who impressed in his Dodgers debut after starting the week in Triple-A. He pitched two perfect innings in his Los Angeles debut, with four strikeouts. The control waned a bit on Sunday with three walks in his one inning, but he kept Philadelphia scoreless thanks to pitches like this.

This might be unfair to Tony Gonsolin, who gets honorable mention with five scoreless innings in his start on Tuesday, though he did walk four.

Week 6 results

2-5 record
40 runs scored (5.71 per game)
44 runs allowed (6.29 per game)
.457 pythagorean win percentage

Year to date

21-12 record
174 runs scored (5.27 per game)
104 runs allowed (3.15 per game)
.719 pythagorean win percentage (24-9)

Miscellany

Double debut week: Ryan Pepiot on Wednesday in Pittsburgh and Michael Grove Sunday in Los Angeles gave the Dodgers two starting pitchers making their major league debuts in the same week. Excluding a pair of recent debuts from pitchers with previous professional experience, it was the first time the Dodgers had two actual rookie starting pitchers debut in the same month since 1955 in Brooklyn. Though they were a bit shaky in their first starts, Pepiot (five walks, seven baserunners in three innings) and Grove (three walks, four unearned runs, seven baserunners in 3⅔ innings) had 0.00 ERAs.

A series to remember: What a difference some playing time meant for Edwin Ríos, who entered the week having played in only nine of the Dodgers’ first 26 games, including just five starts. He was 5-for-23 with a home run, two RBI, and three runs scored in those games. After the team’s run of facing left-handed starting pitchers ended, Ríos started the last two games against the Pirates, but also hit a pinch-hit home run in the series opener. In three games at PNC Park, Ríos beat or matched his previous season totals, going 5-for-10 with two home runs, seven RBI, and three runs scored.

Double trouble: The Dodgers tied a Los Angeles franchise record with eight doubles in Tuesday’s win in Pittsburgh, including three from Justin Turner to tie the all-time franchise record for one player (just a few days after Freddie Freeman did the same). The Dodgers hit a whopping 22 doubles during the week, and it wasn’t all because of Tuesday. In the other six games during the week, the team averaged 2.33 doubles per game. To put that in perspective, the most doubles per game by any Dodgers team for an entire season is 1.97, by the 1930 Brooklyn team.

Transactions

Wednesday: Ryan Pepiot was called up from Triple-A to make his major league debut, and Robbie Erlin was designated for assignment.

Thursday: Yency Almonte was called up from Triple-A, and Pepiot was optioned.

Friday: Clayton Kershaw was placed on the injured list with inflammation in a pelvic joint on his right side, and Garrett Cleavinger was recalled.

Sunday: Michael Grove was recalled from Triple-A. Shane Greene was also called up, with Cleavinger and Reyes Moronta optioned. Victor González, who had elbow surgery earlier in the week, was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Game scores

• Monday: Pirates 5, Dodgers 1
• Tuesday: Dodgers 11, Pirates 1
• Wednesday: Pirates 5, Dodgers 3
• Thursday: Phillies 9, Dodgers 7
• Friday: Phillies 12, Dodgers 10 (10 innings)
• Saturday: Phillies 8, Dodgers 3
• Sunday: Dodgers 5, Phillies 4

Previous weekly reviews: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5

Up next

The Dodgers run the David Dellucci gauntlet, finishing up the homestand with four games in three days against the D-backs, then an off day before a 10-game road trip begins in Philadelphia. Pitching matchups, especially for next weekend, include assumptions.