Dodgers Week 4: Max Muncy & James Outman homers, Clayton Kershaw milestones

The gravitational pull of a .500 record continues to ground the Dodgers, but that didn’t stop Max Muncy and James Outman from putting several baseballs into orbit. Coupled with a double dose of Clayton Kershaw, the up-and-down Dodgers ended a week with a winning record for the first time this season.

Roster moves happened every day except Sunday, with the Dodgers missing their starting catcher, the starting shortstop plus his backup for half the week, and also lost a starting pitcher to a groin strain, which hindered their ability to gain any sort of traction.

But they ended the week strong at Wrigley Field, winning three out of four games over the Cubs, including wins on Saturday and Sunday that marked the first winning streak for Los Angeles since April 3-6. It snapped a string of alternating decisions — last week the pattern was WLWLWL, but this week was LWLWLW before Sunday’s triumph.

Batter of the week

In 90 percent of most weeks, James Outman claims this award easily. He hit a game-winning grand slam, had a four-hit game, hit four home runs and drove in nine runs. But Max Muncy has been a supernova for two weeks, including five home runs last week to grab the major league lead, while reaching base nearly 60 percent of the time with an 1.815 OPS.

Muncy also hit five home runs last week. His 10 home runs is tied for most by Dodger in a 13-game span, joining Pedro Guerrero (1985), Shawn Green (2001, and again in 2002), and Cody Bellinger (2017). Any time you hit like 1985 Pedro Guerrero, good things are happening.

Pitcher of the week

Clayton Kershaw had his best start of the year Tuesday against the Mets, striking out nine in seven scoreless innings to earn his 200th win, just the third Dodgers pitcher to do so. Then he worked around two unearned runs in the first inning to pitch six innings (which Kershaw’s done in all five starts this season) on Sunday for win number 201. With only three hits and a walk allowed on Sunday, Kershaw in his career has allowed 2,611 walks plus hits in 2,612 innings, with a WHIP under 1.000 for the first time since September 1, 2018.

Week 4 results

4-3 record
36 runs scored (5.14 per game)
35 runs allowed (5.00 per game)
.513 pythagorean win percentage

Year to date

12-11 record
121 runs scored (5.26 per game)
102 runs allowed (4.43 per game)
.578 pythagorean win percentage (13-10)

Miscellany

An 80-grade milestone win: Kershaw’s 200th win was also his finest-pitched game of the season. Game score is a stat invented by Bill James as a shorthand way of measuring a starting pitcher’s effectiveness. Kershaw’s game score on Tuesday was 80, his highest of the season. For reference, the average game score in the majors this season is 50. Kershaw had the 10th game score of at least 80 or higher in the majors this season. Through Sunday, 17 starts have game scored at least 80, just 2.6 percent of all starts.

It’s the highest game score by a Dodgers pitcher this season. Kershaw has 47 game scores of at least 80 in his illustrious career, topped by his 15-strikeout, no-walk no-hitter in 2014 that netted him a 102 game score.

Homer bunches of Outman: The Dodgers rookie was a cereal killer of baseballs at Wrigley Field, homering twice on Thursday night, then again on Saturday afternoon. Outman is just the fifth Los Angeles Dodgers rookie with more than one multi-homer game in a season. The other four — Cody Bellinger, Mike Piazza, Corey Seager, and Frank Howard — won National League Rookie of the Year.

Mookie in the middle: It was a busy week for Mookie Betts, who welcomed his son into the world, then got to live out a lifelong dream. With Miguel Rojas landing on the injured list and Chris Taylor sidelined for a few days with a left side injury, the Dodgers shortstop depth chart consisted of the contents of MacGyver’s pockets. Betts, who was drafted as a shortstop, played three innings at the position on Thursday, his first time at short since the Arizona Fall League in 2013, and his first chance in the field produced a highlight-reel double play. “That was like a dream came true,” Betts told reporters after the game.

Betts made his first major league start at shortstop on Sunday, and in between played an inning there on Friday. In that Friday game, Betts played the first six innings in right field before moving to second base in the seventh, then shortstop in the eighth. Betts is only the second Dodger to play right field, second base, and shortstop in the same game, along with Enrique Hernández on April 11, 2019.

Transactions

Monday: Justin Bruihl was recalled from OKC, giving the Dodgers three left-handers in the bullpen. Andre Jackson was optioned.

Tuesday: Luke Williams was selected from Triple-A as the shortstop depth chart further depleted, and pitcher Daniel Hudson was transferred to the 60-day injured list to make room. Mookie Betts was placed on the paternity list.

Wednesday: Miguel Rojas suffered a left hamstring strain and landed on the IL, with switch-hitting utility man Yonny Hernández recalled from Triple-A.

Thursday: Betts returned from the paternity list after two games, while reliever Evan Phillips was placed on paternity leave. Jackson was added to the bullpen, and Hernández was optioned back to Oklahoma City.

Friday: Michael Grove was placed on the injured list after straining his right groin in Thursday’s start at Wrigley Field. Jake Reed was called up to the Dodgers after various waiver claims in between his last stint and now, an annual tradition. Ryan Pepiot’s left oblique strain has been slow to heal, and he was moved to the 60-day IL.

Saturday: Victor González was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City, and Reed was designated for assignment after allowing six runs while recording two outs the day before.

Game results

• Monday: Mets 8, Dodgers 6
• Tuesday: Dodgers 5, Mets 0
• Wednesday: Mets 5, Dodgers 3
• Thursday: Dodgers 6, Cubs 2
• Friday: Cubs 13, Dodgers 0
• Saturday: Dodgers 9, Cubs 4
• Sunday: Dodgers 7, Cubs 3

Previous reviews: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3

The week ahead

The Dodgers run the Owen Wilson gauntlet — Wow! — heading to Pittsburgh to play the Pirates before returning home to face the Cardinals. Thursday’s 9:35 a.m. PT start at PNC Park is one the Dodgers earliest game times this season.

Nothing official yet from the team, but with Tony Gonsolin already joining the team in Chicago after one rehab start, it’s pretty clear he’ll start the middle game in Pittsburgh, filling the rotation vacancy caused by Michael Grove’s groin strain.

Friday’s Dodgers-Cardinals game at Dodger Stadium is exclusively broadcast on Apple TV+. No SportsNet LA for that game, but there will be a SportsNet LA broadcast of Saturday’s game, along with an FS1 telecast that will not be blacked out in Los Angeles.