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While it’s important not to overreact over a regular season series, since the Dodgers will be judged how they do in October, not September. But what the weekend series between the Dodgers and Braves at least served as a reminder that the two best teams in the National League has a very clear number one.
Atlanta won three out of four games with their historically good offense and a starting rotation more stable than the Dodgers.
Bobby Miller provided hope for the future, and the present, with his stellar outing on Sunday. The Dodgers have another four weeks to sort things out for October, but if they have at least four healthy and reasonably productive starting pitchers by the time the playoffs roll around, they’ll be in better shape than in the last two Octobers.
Before the Braves series, the Dodgers did sweep the Diamondbacks last week to tighten their hold on the National League West, which Los Angeles leads by 14½ games over both Arizona and San Francisco.
Batter of the week
Jason Heyward had three multi-hit games during the week, and drove in two runs with an extra-base hit in all three games against Arizona.
He beat out another strong week by Mookie Betts, who finished off his supernova August on Thursday, then went hitless in the first two games of September before another three-hit game on Sunday.
Pitcher of the week
Bobby Miller won both of his starts, including pitching seven innings for the first time in shutting down the best offense in baseball. None of the other five Dodgers starters went more than five innings, while the rookie Miller pitched six and seven innings in his two starts.
Honorable mention to reliever Ryan Brasier, who pitched perfect innings in all three appearances this week. He’s retired his last 15 batters faced, dating back to August 23 in Cleveland.
Week 23 results
4-3 record
38 runs scored (5.43 per game)
24 runs allowed (3.43 per game)
.699 pythagorean win percentage
Year to date
84-52 record
762 runs scored (5.60 per game)
596 runs allowed (4.38 per game)
.611 pythagorean win percentage (83-53)
Miscellany
Extra, extra, read all about it: Max Muncy hit two home runs and two doubles this week. His eighth-inning home run on Thursday gave him nine consecutive games with an extra-base hit, dating back to August 23 in Cleveland. Nine straight games with an extra-base hit tied a Dodgers franchise record, joining Brooklyn first baseman Jack Fournier (August 20-26, 1925) and Los Angeles catcher John Roseboro (June 3-11, 1961). The Fournier streak was notable for happening over only seven days, including doubleheaders on three consecutive days.
Transactions
Monday: Gavin Stone was optioned one day after his spot bulk appearance, and the itinerant Tyson Miller joined the Dodgers bullpen for a second time.
Wednesday: Ryan Pepiot was called up to start the series finale against Arizona, and Miller was designated for assingment.
Thursday: The Dodgers regained a second pitching Miller, activating Shelby off the 60-day IL after missing 59 games. He took the 40-man spot vacated by Tyson Miller. Pepiot was optioned.
Thursday: Jonny DeLuca was simultaneously activated off the IL and optioned to OKC.
Friday: Kolten Wong and Emmet Sheehan were called up as active rosters expanded from 26 to 28 players.
Friday: Old friend Jon Weisman returned to the Dodgers as vice president of communications.
Game results
- Monday: Dodgers 7, D-backs 4
- Tuesday: Dodgers 9, D-backs 1
- Wednesday: Dodgers 7, D-backs 0
- Thursday: Braves 8, Dodgers 7
- Friday: Braves 6, Dodgers 3
- Saturday: Braves 4, Dodgers 2 (10 innings)
- Sunday: Dodgers 3, Braves 1
Week 23 batting
| Player | AB | R | H | 2B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | AB | R | H | 2B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Heyward | 21 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 0.429 | 0.455 | 0.762 | 1.216 |
| Betts | 26 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 31 | 0.346 | 0.452 | 0.692 | 1.144 |
| Muncy | 24 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 28 | 0.292 | 0.357 | 0.625 | 0.982 |
| Outman | 21 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 28 | 0.333 | 0.464 | 0.476 | 0.940 |
| Smith | 26 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 28 | 0.346 | 0.393 | 0.500 | 0.893 |
| Freeman | 27 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 30 | 0.222 | 0.300 | 0.481 | 0.781 |
| Peralta | 20 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0.300 | 0.300 | 0.400 | 0.700 |
| Rojas | 17 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 0.235 | 0.278 | 0.294 | 0.572 |
| K. Hernández | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 0.071 | 0.188 | 0.071 | 0.259 |
| Starters | 196 | 32 | 58 | 8 | 11 | 32 | 0 | 23 | 221 | 0.296 | 0.367 | 0.505 | 0.872 |
| Wong | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.333 | 0.333 | 1.333 | 1.667 |
| Taylor | 10 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 0.400 | 0.600 | 0.600 | 1.200 |
| Barnes | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0.286 | 0.375 | 0.429 | 0.804 |
| Busch | 10 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0.200 | 0.273 | 0.500 | 0.773 |
| Rosario | 12 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 0.250 | 0.308 | 0.333 | 0.641 |
| Bench | 42 | 6 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 50 | 0.286 | 0.400 | 0.524 | 0.924 |
| Offense | 238 | 38 | 70 | 12 | 13 | 37 | 4 | 31 | 271 | 0.294 | 0.373 | 0.508 | 0.881 |
Week 23 pitching
| Pitcher | G | Record | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pitcher | G | Record | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA | WHIP |
| Pepiot | 1 | 1-0 | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0.00 | 0.600 |
| Kershaw | 1 | 1-0 | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1.80 | 1.200 |
| Sheehan | 1 | 0-0 | 4.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 2.25 | 1.500 |
| B. Miller | 2 | 2-0 | 13.0 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 3.46 | 1.000 |
| Urías | 1 | 0-1 | 5.0 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 9.00 | 2.200 |
| Lynn | 1 | 0-1 | 4.3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 14.54 | 2.077 |
| Starters | 7 | 4-2 | 36.3 | 34 | 19 | 19 | 14 | 28 | 4.71 | 1.321 |
| Yarbrough | 1 | 0-0. Sv | 4.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.00 | 1.000 |
| S. Miller | 3 | 0-0 | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 | 0.333 |
| Brasier | 3 | 0-0 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 0.000 |
| Graterol | 3 | 0-0. Sv | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.00 | 1.000 |
| González | 2 | 0-0 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 | 0.000 |
| T. Miller | 1 | 0-0 | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 | 0.500 |
| Ferguson | 2 | 0-0. Sv | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 0.500 |
| Phillips | 1 | 0-0 | 1.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 0.000 |
| Varland | 2 | 0-0 | 3.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3.00 | 2.667 |
| Vesia | 3 | 0-1 | 4.0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4.50 | 1.500 |
| Bullpen | 21 | 0-1, 3 Sv | 27.7 | 19 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 21 | 0.98 | 0.867 |
| Totals | 28 | 4-3 | 64.0 | 53 | 24 | 22 | 19 | 49 | 3.09 | 1.125 |
Previous 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 | Week 22
The week ahead
The Dodgers run the Bob Natal guantlet, back to the Eastern time zone with three road games each against the Marlins and Nationals.
The weekend rotation in Washington D.C. is a guess for both teams. Presumably Emmet Sheehan will get another start, unless roster shenanigans happen to get Ryan Pepiot or Gavin Stone back before their 15 days on option are up. The Nationals have off days Monday and Thursday, and MacKenzie Gore starts the week on the bereavement list. They can shuffle their rotation how they see fit.
Week 24 schedule
| Mon, Sep 4 | Tue, Sep 5 | Wed, Sep 6 | Thu, Sep 7 | Fri, Sep 8 | Sat, Sep 9 | Sun, Sep 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon, Sep 4 | Tue, Sep 5 | Wed, Sep 6 | Thu, Sep 7 | Fri, Sep 8 | Sat, Sep 9 | Sun, Sep 10 |
| OFF | at Marlins | at Marlins | at Marlins | at Nationals | at Nationals | at Nationals |
| 3:40 p.m. | 3:40 p.m. | 3:40 p.m. | 4:05 p.m. | 1:05 p.m. | 10:35 a.m. | |
| Kershaw v. | Lynn v. | Urías v. | Sheehan v. | Miller v. | Kershaw v. | |
| Luzardo (L) | TBA | Garrett (L) | Gore (L) | Irvin | Gray | |
| SNLA | SNLA | SNLA | SNLA | SNLA | SNLA |
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