Dodgers Week 20: More stingy pitching

The Dodgers faced adversity last week, at least in a relative sense, in that they lost more than once. I realize that’s absurd to say, but it’s the stratosphere Los Angeles is playing in, ending the week with a .700 winning percentage on the nose.

Last week they won five of seven, splitting four games in Milwaukee against a contending Brewers team then sweeping an also-ran Marlins squad at home. Both Dodgers losses came in games started by Cy Young vote-getters from last season — Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes — but then turned around to torch this year’s National League Cy Young favorite, Sandy Alcántara, on Sunday.

Even with a relatively quiet offense last week, Dodgers pitching carried the day, which has been the case all year. In seven games they allowed just over two runs a game, and they just added Dustin May to the group. It was a good week.

Batter of the week

Freddie Freeman just kept plugging along, piling up hits, including three on Sunday. Freeman leads the majors in hits (151) and doubles (40) — more on both below — and is second in the National League in batting average (.324) and wRC+ (157), and third in on-base percentage (.400).

Honorable mention goes to Gavin Lux, who homered in the ballpark closest to his Wisconsin hometown, and to Will Smith, who made the most of his five hits, driving in nine runs. Smith has 35 RBI in his last 34 games.

Pitcher of the week

Tony Gonsolin continued to roll, taking a no-hitter into the fifth inning on Wednesday in Milwaukee, settling for two hits and a walk allowed in seven scoreless innings, striking out eight. He also got some help from his teammates, who knocked out National League Cy Young Award frontrunner Sandy Alcántara in the fourth inning. The Dodgers scored six runs off Alcántara, bumping his ERA from 1.92 to 2.19, which means Gonsolin is once again the NL leader with a 2.12 ERA.

Honorable mention goes to Dustin May, who made his first major league start in 476 days, striking out nine in five scoreless innings on Saturday. The stuff was electric, with visions of October dancing in everyone’s heads.

Week 20 results

5-2 record
32 runs scored (4.57 per game)
15 runs allowed (2.14 per game)
.800 pythagorean win percentage

Year to date

84-36 record
642 runs scored (5.35 per game)
378 runs allowed (3.15 per game)
.725 pythagorean win percentage (87-33)

Miscellany

Hit kings: Freddie Freeman and Trea Turner have been atop the hits leaderboard nearly every day since the All-Star break. They’ve stood alone as first and second in the majors in hits dating back to July 26. But for almost 10 games they were also joined at the hip (as well as in the lineup), never more than one hit apart at any point from August 12 through seven innings on Sunday. Last week, they both got their 146th (sixth inning in Milwaukee), 147th (first inning Saturday), 148th (third inning Saturday), and 149th (third inning Sunday) hits in the same inning.

Through Sunday, Freeman has 151 hits to Turner’s 149. Both are on pace for over 200 hits, something only one Dodger has done this century: Adrián Béltre, with 200 on the nose, in 2004.

How long, to sing this song? Freeman’s second hit Sunday was a double, his MLB-leading 40th two-bagger of 2022. He’s the 18th Dodgers hitter with 40 doubles in a season, the first since Corey Seager in 2019. This is the 25th Dodgers season with 40 doubles. The franchise record is 52 doubles by Brooklyn’s Johnny Frederick in 1929, and the Los Angeles record is Shawn Green with 49 doubles in 2003.

Transactions

Monday: Austin Barnes was activated off the family medical emergency list, and Tony Wolters was designated for assignment after filling in as backup catcher last weekend.

Tuesday: Bannon was claimed off waivers by Atlanta.

Wednesday: Edwin Ríos was activated from the 60-day injured list after his 20-day rehab assignment was up, but stayed in Oklahoma City as he was optioned to Triple-A.

Thursday: Wolters was released.

Saturday: Dustin May was activated from the 60-day injured list after missing 15½ months with Tommy John surgery, and Reyes Moronta was designated for assignment.

Game results

• Monday: Dodgers 4, Brewers 0
• Tuesday: Brewers 5, Dodgers 4 (11 innings)
• Wednesday: Dodgers 2, Brewers 1
• Thursday: Brewers 5, Dodgers 3
• Friday: Dodgers 2, Marlins 1
• Saturday: Dodgers 7, Marlins 0
• Sunday: Dodgers 10, Marlins 3

Previous weekly reviews: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 | Week 13 | Week 14 | Week 15 | Week 16 | Week 17 | Week 18 | Week 19

Up next

The Dodgers run the Wes Helms gauntlet, playing these same two teams again, this time with the Brewers at home and the Marlins in Miami. That weekend series is a wraparound that ends next Monday. Sunday’s game is a 9:05 a.m. PT start, the final a.m. start of the season for the Dodgers and their first game on Peacock Premium, a subscription streaming service.