So, a pretty uneventful week, huh?
Let's just jump into it.
The week started out pretty good. A two game sweep of the Diamondbacks, and a win in the first game of a two game series against Washington. With those three wins, the Dodgers went 13-0 in their first 13 home games to set a new Major League record.
Then Manny Ramírez got suspended for 50 games.
Then, maybe coincidentally (but not really), the Dodgers lost three of their next four games.
They went 4-3 during the week.
Ok, then, Round 5 of HOT, COLD, or ROOM TEMPERATURE coming up!
COLD:
- Manny Ramirez - Only three hits this week? Wow. I'm going to suggest Manny take the next 46 games off, and then come back refreshed and ready to hit. But seriously folks, I think we've discussed Manny enough this week.
- Cory Wade - 0-1 (3 games), 2 blown saves, 12.00 ERA (4 earned runs in 3 innings) - Wade has been one of the two major problems in the bullpen this week. His two blown saves this week bring him up to three in just nine appearances this season. He hasn't been nearly as effective this year as he was last year. So, what do you do with him? He's still young, and maybe he's just going through a slump. I say let him try to pitch out of it, but maybe don't use him in high pressure situations for a little. At least until he proves he's got his stuff together.
- Guillermo Mota - 0-1 (4 games), 8.44 ERA (5 earned runs in 5.1 innings) - ...and here's the other major problem this week. Mota has walked the tightrope in almost every appearance he's made this season. In 14 appearances, he's only had three 1-2-3 innings, and none of them have been in any sort of pressure situation. He capped this week off by giving up the lead in extra innings during the May 10th game (a 7-5 loss against San Francisco), twice! Simply put, Mota has not been good, and frankly, I'm not sure why he's even on the team. There has GOT to be someone better. I mean, he's a right handed short reliever for God's sake. If that isn't a replaceable spot on a major league team, then I don't know what is.
ROOM TEMPERATURE:
- James Loney - .172 (5-29), 3 runs, 4 RBIs - I wasn't sure what to do with Loney this week. He does this to me a lot. He stops hitting, yet, in some weird way, he manages to knock in and score runs with his limited chances. Eh? What are you gonna do?
- Andre Ethier - .207 (6-29), 1 HR, 3 RBIs, 5 walks, 4 runs - Ethier started the week out pretty strong but faded in the last couple games. He's currently riding an 0-10 streak, though he does have a walk in his last 11 plate appearances, so I'll give him that.
HOT:
- Orlando Hudson - .308 (8-26), 4 2Bs, 7 walks, 5 runs, 4 RBIs - Have I mentioned how pleased I've been with the Hudson pickup? He just continues to perform.
- Russell Martin - .500 (9-18), 1 2B, 2 RBIs, 8 walks, 5 runs - Boy, wouldn't it be great if Martin started hitting? His bat has been slow all year, but this week, he's been excellent. Hitting, getting on base, scoring runs. That's the All-Star Martin we all know and love.
- Casey Blake - .391 (9-23), 2 2Bs, 1 3B, 1 HR, 3 RBIs, 4 walks, 8 runs - This week is really an odd week for players labeled "HOT". Other than Hudson, the four other players that I've dubbed "HOT" this week have been strangers to said category. This includes Casey Blake, who I called out last week as being perpetually "ROOM TEMPERATURE". Well, he responded this week. Now we have to see if he can keep it up.
- Juan Pierre - .474 (9-19), 3 2Bs, 4 RBIs, 2 walks, 4 runs, 2 SBs - Pierre has really stepped up in the absence of Manny. Yes, he's still done a few infuriating things this week (he was caught stealing twice this week) and he killed a few rallies, but I have to give credit where credit is due. He's been good this week.
- Eric Stults - 2-0 (2 games), 1.23 ERA (2 earned runs in 14.1 innings), 9 Ks, 1 complete game shutout - Who would've thought the Ace of the pitching staff this week would be Eric Stults? He had a good enough start to get him a win during our 13-0 home streak at the beginning of the week (a 7-2 win, May 4th against Arizona). Then an excellent start to halt a two game skid near the end of the week (an 8-0 win, May 9th against San Francisco). Good job Stults, keep it up and you might finally stay in the majors for a full season.
Alright folks, off-day today. Big East Coast road trip coming up Tuesday. Our bullpen really needs to come around, they've cost us two games this week. Other than that, the hitting hasn't suffered too badly without Manny.
Just in case though, 4 games down, 46 to go...
Remember coming into this season how everyone was praising the Dodger's offense, but had questions about our pitching?
Turns out, our pitching has been even better than out offense so far.
Not to say the offense has been bad. In fact, coming into today, the Dodgers are among the top 10 teams in the whole league in runs scored (9th), hits (7th), RBIs (7th), batting average (7th), on-base percentage (4th), and OPS (10th). Those are some pretty good stats.
But I started to wonder.
Where does our pitching stand in the league? Especially after these last four games. Following the well-pitched performances of Eric Stults and Randy Wolf, and Chad Billingsley's excellent performance on Monday, Clayton Kershaw added his own dominating 13 strikeout, one run, 7.0 inning performance last night. That brought our team ERA down to 3.23.
That's right, our team ERA is 3.23, good for 4th in the league. The 28 earned runs we've given up ranks us 5th in the league. We're tied for 4th in the league in strikeouts (72) and tied for 5th in the league in walks allowed (28).
Here's the best part. Our team batting average against is .186. .186! That puts us first in the league... by far. Seattle is 2nd with a .212 BAA.
So I guess here's what I'm saying: I'm excited!
Our hitting is hot. Our pitching is hot. We're hot. 4 game winning streak. 1st place in the West.
That ain't bad...
This race for the 5th starter is slowly starting to come to an end.
After already eliminating Jason Schmidt and Jeff Weaver as possible 5th starters earlier this Spring Training, Shawn Estes was eliminated early this week.
The big four contenders left were: Eric Stults, Claudio Vargas, Eric Milton, and James McDonald.
Stults (12.96 ERA in 8.1 innings) and Vargas (8.22 ERA in 15.1 innings) have had awful Springs so far. Stults has apparently had some bad personal issues off the field, but unfortunately, the fact remains, he's been really bad.
So it's really come down to Milton and McDonald. Well, both pitchers pitched today. Let's see how they did:
James McDonald - 3.0 innings, no runs, three strikeouts, lowered his ERA to 4.70. Not bad.
Ok, how 'bout Milton?
Eric Milton - 2.2 innings, six earned runs, raised his ERA to 7.27.
Wow Milton, you trying to catch Vargas there? This comes after Milton gave up eight runs (one earned) in his last appearance.
So were does that leave us?
Well, Pedro still hasn't signed anywhere. But other than that, it's starting to look more and more like we ought to turn it over to McDonald.
He's young, he's got some good stuff, and most importantly, he's our best option.
And I'm pretty comfortable with that.
Player: Eric Stults
2008 Stats: 2-3, 3.49 ERA, 30 Ks, 1 CG shutout (7 starts)
2008 Analysis: Stults came up mid-season to make a handful of starts for the injured Dodger pitching staff and he wasn't too bad.
He had three quality starts (including the complete game shutout of the Chicago White Sox on June 25th) and four shorter outings (though none he never gave up more than four runs in an outing).
The interesting thing is that Stults made as many starts for the Dodgers as Greg Maddux, and for the most part, out-dueled him. He had the same amount of wins, fewer losses, a lower ERA, more strikeouts, and more complete game shutouts.
That's not bad for a kid who's really, sadly becoming a AAAA player.
2009 Outlook: It is a bit hard to pencil in Stults name in the 2009 starting rotation, even as a 5th starter. It's really a kinda tough predicament.
He's not been bad. In fact, he's shown signs of quality and he's left handed, which is a plus for any rotation. Still, there's a certain untangable about him that makes me feel uneasy about giving him 30 or so starts at the major league level.
Then again, the way this offseason is heading, who's to say who the Dodgers will have lined up for the 2009 season. Stults might very well find himself in the position by default ...which I guess I wouldn't have too much of a problem with...
The Dodgers are out slugged by the Padres and fail to complete the three game sweep.
Jake Peavy got the win, he's 10-11. Eric Stults took the loss, he's 2-3. Trevor Hoffman picked up his 29th save.
The pitching was a bit shaky today. The Dodgers used five different pitchers and each gave up at least one run. Eric Stults started. He went 4.2 innings and gave up three runs. Takashi Saito and Jonathan Broxton pitched an inning each (the 8th and 9th respectively) and each gave up a run.
The Dodgers had a bit of an odd game offensively. 16 different players had at-bats. 
Chin-lung Hu went 2-3 with a stolen base, an RBI, and a run scored. Jason Repko went 1-1 and drew two walks. Andre Ethier went 1-2 with a walk and an RBI. Matt Kemp went 1-3 with a walk, a homerun, an RBI, and a run scored. Juan Pierre went 2-3 with an RBI. Finally, Blake DeWitt had an odd game. He went 0-1 and scored two runs without collecting a hit or walk. He came in as a pinch runner and was brought home, then later was hit by a pitch and came around to score again.
The important event today happened before the game. The Arizona Diamondbacks lost so the Dodgers clinched the NL West before today's game even started. The Dodgers will travel now to San Francisco to begin their last series of the season. The three game weekend series begins Friday at 7:35 L.A. time.
Also: With the loss, the Dodgers fall back to seven games over .500 (83-76).
Opinion: There's not much to say about this game, as will probably be the case for the next three games as well. 
The starting lineup was different, but it didn't really matter because the scrubs were all in by the 5th inning. We're just getting everyone out there and getting them some playing time. We are going to see a lot of playing time for Jason Repko and Chin-lung Hu this weekend, and that's fine because we have nothing to gain by winning the next three games, but the possibility of losing a starter to injury before the playoffs is horrifying. That said, it would be nice to go into the playoffs with at least 85 wins, not at the cost of losing someone, but just for some pride and a nice even number. The important thing, though, is that we are in the playoffs, and for now, I'll just celebrate that.
The Arizona Diamondbacks lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 12-3 earlier today to fall behind 4.5 games with only three games to go. 
This allows the Dodgers to clinch the National League West.
As such, Eric Stults will replace Greg Maddux today. The lineup is also being juggled around so Joe Torre can see who he'll want to put on the playoff roster. Rafael Furcal and Jeff Kent are batting 1st and 2nd respectively.
In any case, congratulations to the Dodgers on their first division win since 2004 and first playoff appearance since 2006.
The Dodgers, after having an offensive explosion yesterday, failed to mount any offense against the Rockies and lose the 2nd game in the series.
Ubaldo Jiménez got the win, he's 6-9. Clayton Kershaw took the loss, he's 0-3.
Clayton Kershaw was called back up to start today's game, and there's no better place for a 20-year old rookie making his first start in 20+ days than Coors Field. Kershaw made it only through three innings, giving up five runs on 10 hits and three walks. Jason Johnson came in and provided solid relief, going four innings and giving up just one run. Ramon Troncoso, though, pitched an 8th innings where he gave up four runs on six hits to allow the Rockies a total of 10 runs on the day.
The Dodger offense, meanwhile, was shut down for the most part by Jiménez. Jiménez went the full nine innings, giving up just one run (on a Matt Kemp 9th inning homerun to make the score 10-1) on four hits and two walks. Only two Dodgers reached base twice: Kemp on the homerun and walk, and Andy LaRoche on a single and a walk. The only other offensive output came on a Russell Martin pop-fly single and an 8th inning Nomar Garciaparra double. Overall, Jiménez got 18 Dodgers to groundout out, while striking out another four Dodgers on only 114 pitches. A bad offensive night for the Dodgers after a great one yesterday.
The Arizona Diamondbacks won their game today to move into sole possession of 1st place in the NL West. The Dodgers will try tomorrow at 12:05 L.A. time to win the rubber match of the three game series.
Also: As an update to yesterday's story, Eric Stults was sent back to Triple-A when Kershaw was called up for today's start... Matt Kemp's homerun, which was a monster shot over the wall in dead-set center field, was his 11th on the season, tying him for the team lead with Andre Ethier.
The Dodgers have an offense outburst against the Rockies to get the win in the first game of the three game series and move back within one game of .500.
Brian Falkenborg got the win, he's 2-2. Kip Wells took the loss, he's 1-2.
As far as pitching goes, the Dodgers were not impressive throughout the game. Starter Eric Stults went only 3 and 2/3 innings giving up three runs on six hits and three walks. In total, the Dodgers used five pitchers in the game, and each one gave up at least one run and other than when Stults set the Rockies down 1-2-3 in the 1st inning, the Rockies managed to get at least one baserunner every inning.
They also managed to score at least one run in each of the last seven innings.
The pitching performance would have been much harder to take if not for the Dodger offense. The collected season highs in both runs (16) and hits (18). Every position player in the starting line-up collected a hit. Every player in the starting line-up, including Stults, knocked in at least one run (except Andruw Jones, who failed to collect any RBIs on the day, but including Ángel Berroa, who knocked in two runs after his first 73 at-bats in which he went without an RBI) as well as scored a run. The two best offensive performances would have to go to Jeff Kent (who went 3-3 with a walk, two RBIs, and three runs scored) and James Loney (who raised his batting average back to .300, going 3-6 with five RBIs and two runs scored).
The Arizona Diamondbacks also won today, so the Dodgers will remain tied for 1st place in the NL West
Also: Clayton Kershaw will be called-up for tomorrow's game, which starts at 6:05 L.A. time. No word yet as to who's spot he will take on the roster.
The Dodgers offense was shut down for most of the game and go down for the second straight game to the Marlins.
Chris Volstad got the win, he's 2-0. Eric Stults took the loss, he's 2-2. Kevin Gregg picked up his 19th save.
Eric Stults got into trouble earlier, giving up three runs in the first inning on two homeruns but settled down and kept the Marlins scoreless over the next five. Cory Wade pitched two scoreless innings and Brian Falkenborg pitched a scoreless 9th to keep the Marlins offense to three runs.
The offense of the Dodgers, however, was held in check by Chris Volstad, making his first career starts. Volstad held the Dodgers to one run on five hits and a walk, while striking out six. The rallied for one run in the 9th and Jeff Kent sent a ball to the warning track with a chance to tie the game, but the ball didn't have enough power to go out, and the Dodgers fell short.
The Dodgers have two more games to salvage a split with the Marlins in this series, but despite falling to three games below .500, they still remain a game back in the standings as Arizona lost today. With today's loss, the Dodgers are assured of entering the All-Star break with a sub-.500 record.
The Dodgers take the rubber match of the series and have now won three series in a row.
Brian Falkenborg got the win, he's 1-1. Matt Cain took the loss, he's 5-7. Takashi Saito picked up his 16th save.
Eric Stults started the game and was shaky, giving up seven hits and two walks over four innings. He did, however, only allow two runs (one earned). Brian Falkenborg came in in the 5th inning to relieve Stults who got into some trouble and got out of the inning unscathed. Hong-Chih Kuo pitched two scoreless innings and Jonathan Broxton added a perfect 8th. Saito came in for the 9th and got into some trouble, giving up one run before setting down the Giants and closing the game.
The Dodger offense was pretty good throughout the game as well. James Loney collected three RBIs on two hits (both doubles) and Andre Ethier continued his hot hitting scoring two runs and knocking in one on three base hits. Collectively, the Dodgers had 10 base hits on the day.
The Dodgers will head home to take on the Braves tomorrow, and congratulations to Russell Martin, who was named to his second All-Star game.
The Dodgers scored one quickly, but were shut down the rest of the way by Roy Oswalt and the Astros.
Roy Oswalt won, he's 7-8. Eric Stults lost, he's 2-1. José Valverde picked up his 22nd save.
Stults had his worst start of the year, albeit, that is only out of three starts. He went just 5 and 1/3 innings, giving up four runs on five hits and three walks. Ramon Troncoso, Joe Beimel, and Cory Wade were scoreless in relief after Stults was removed from the game.
As far as hitting for the Dodgers, they did get 11 hits on the day, but were only able to score one run, and that came on only one hit in the first inning. Andre Ethier doubled, Oswalt hit the next two batters, and James Loney hit a sac-fly to left to score the only run on the day for the Dodgers. In total, the Dodgers left 23 runners on base throughout the game.
The Dodgers didn't look too good tonight, but help might be on the way. Rafael Furcal, Nomar Garciaparra, and Andruw Jones were all on rehab assignments tonight at Las Vegas. If they can come back and play to their full abilities, things might get a little better on the Dodger front. The Dodgers will play game two of this four game series tomorrow at 5:05 L.A. time.
Eric Stults makes his second straight excellent start to propel the Dodgers to a 5-0 win over Chicago.
Eric Stults got the win, he's 2-0. Gavin Floyd takes the loss, he's 8-4.
Stults made his second start of the year and pitched very well, shutting down the White Sox for the full nine innings picking up the second complete game shutout on the year for the Dodgers. Stults gave up just four hits and a walk over the nine innings, while striking out three. Most importantly, he threw strikes, getting 81 out of 116 pitches over the plate (69.8%).
Offensively the Dodgers were able to get across a few runs. They scored two in the 1st inning and three in the 4th inning to amount to the five total runs in the game. They collected six hits, each by different Dodgers including a single from James Loney, who extended his hitting streak to 12 games.
The Dodgers will try tomorrow to win the series against the White Sox in the rubber match of the series. Clayton Kershaw will take on John Danks. Interesting that Eric Stults since coming up from Las Vegas has made two starts and won both while Kershaw in his six starts since his call-up has yet to get his first. He'll try again tomorrow.
Behind a strong pitching performance from Eric Stults and offense from James Loney and Matt Kemp, the Dodgers get the win and complete the three game sweep of the Reds.
Eric Stults gets the win in his first start of the year after being called up, he's 1-0. Aaron Harang takes the loss, he's 3-10. Takashi Saito picks up his 10th save.
Eric Stults, just up from Las Vegas went six innings, striking out five, and giving up just three runs, only one of which was an earned run. The Dodgers got in some trouble in the seventh inning, but got out of it giving up only four runs. Jonathan 
Broxton pitched a scoreless eighth, and Saito pitched a scoreless ninth for his tenth save.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers were able to mount some good offense. Matt Kemp went 2-5 with a double and a homerun, knocking in three runs. James Loney continued his hot hitting, going 3-4, with a walk and a double. Everyone in the starting lineup had a hit today, including the pitcher Stults. Andre Ethier and Ángel Berroa each had two hits. Altogether, the Dodgers collected six extra-base hits on the day.
The Dodgers outscored the Reds 16-6 in the three game sweep, and won a series for the first time since the last time they played the Reds (May 19-21). They'll try to take some momentum with them into the weekend when they take on the Cleveland Indians. The first game is tomorrow, starting at 7:40 L.A. time.
