Dodgers Week 22: Weathering the storm

Three opponents in three cities were on the docket for the Dodgers, who used seven starting pitchers in seven games, winning four. They gained one starter back in Clayton Kershaw, but lost Tony Gonsolin to the injured list. Simiarly, Blake Treinen is back after over four months away, but Brusdar Graterol and David Price got hurt, too.

Welcome to September, the time for sorting things out for October.

Batter of the week

Justin Turner continued his months-long hot streak, hitting .500 last week with five doubles and a home run.

Pitcher of the week

Seven different Dodgers started this week, giving us a large quantity of possible candidates. We’ll go with Tyler Anderson, even in a loss. He pitched seven innings and kept the Dodgers in a game that Jacob deGrom was dominating on the other side. Anderson walked none for the ninth time this season, the team innings leader lasted at least seven innings for the eighth time.

Week 22 results

4-3 record
33 runs scored (4.71 per game)
24 runs allowed (3.33 per game)
.642 pythagorean win percentage

Year to date

92-41 record
716 runs scored (5.38 per game)
422 runs allowed (3.17 per game)
.725 pythagorean win percentage (96-37)

Magic number: 9 to clinch the NL West

Miscellany

Rare lopsided loss: One-run wins are talked about often, but great teams tend to beat the hell out of others. The Dodgers qualify, having outscored their opponents, on average, by more than two runs per game. Baseball Reference defines blowout games as decided by five or more runs, and the Dodgers are 35-6 in such games, the most blowout wins and tied for the fewest blowout losses. The first five of those defeats came by exactly five runs, which made Friday’s 7-1 loss to the Padres even more notable.

Assuming the position: Hanser Alberto pitched the final inning of that loss on Friday, but then on Saturday pitched in a more familiar role of closing out a blowout win. Saturday was Alberto’s eighth pitching appearance this year, the record for a position player in a season. Position player pitching is a regularity now, with expanded bullpens somehow always in need of constant saving. A position player can’t enter a game to pitch unless the teams are separated by at least six runs, and the typical usage — 97 of 113 such appearances this year — is mopping up a loss. But of the 16 position-player pitching games to come in a win, seven are by Hanser Alberto, the finisher. On Saturday, he not only tripled earlier in the game after taking over at third base, but also struck out Josh Bell in the ninth inning for his first career strikeout. Alberto is the first Dodgers reserve to hit a triple and strike out someone from the mound since Larry Sherry on July 9, 1960.

Double your pleasure: The first of two Justin Turner doubles on Friday gave him 30 on the year, his fifth career 30-double season. On Sunday, Mookie Betts — in the same week he set a new career high with 33 home runs — hit two doubles as well, the first of which giving him 30 doubles for the sixth time. Ending the week, Turner has 32 doubles and Betts 31, to go with Freddie Freeman’s MLB-best 43 doubles and 34 by Trea Turner. It’s the seventh time the Dodgers have at least four players with 30 doubles in a season, and the first time since 2014. The club record is five players with 30-plus doubles, set by Brooklyn in 1931. The Dodgers lead the National League with 279 doubles, on pace to set club record for doubles in a season (312, in 2017) and doubles per game (1.97, in 1930).

Transactions

Monday: Tony Gonsolin was placed on the IL with right forearm inflammation, and Michael Grove was called up for a spot start in Miami.

Tuesday: Grove was optioned, as was Phil Bickford. Heath Hembree was selected and Jake Reed recalled from Oklahoma City, and proceeded to get the win and save, respectively, in the series opener in New York. For Reed, it was his first major league save.

Thursday: Clayton Kershaw was activated off the IL to start the finale against the Mets, and Miguel Vargas was called up as rosters expanded from 26 to 28 players.

Thursday: Brusdar Graterol was placed on the IL with right elbow inflammation, after pitching only four games since returning from a previous six-week IL stint with shoulder inflammation. Bickford made a quick return.

Friday: Blake Treinen was activated off the 60-day IL after missing 4½ months with shoulder inflammation. Reed was designated for assignment.

Sunday: David Price landed on the 15-day IL with left wrist inflammation, and Ryan Pepiot was recalled to pitch bulk innings on Sunday.

Game scores

• Monday: Dodgers 3, Marlins 2 (10 innings)
• Tuesday: Dodgers 4, Mets 3
• Wednesday: Mets 2, Dodgers 1
• Thursday: Mets 5, Dodgers 3
• Friday: Padres 7, Dodgers 1
• Saturday: Dodgers 12, Padres 1
• Sunday: Dodgers 9, Padres 4

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 | Week 20 | Week 21

Up next

The Dodgers run the Terry Kennedy gauntlet, hosting the Giants for three games, including an afternoon start on Wednesday, followed by another weekend series against the Padres, this time in San Diego.