Getting back in the swing of things. I'm glad I got back to town just in time to see the Dodgers start playing .500 baseball again.
They went 3-3 this week ... although, silver lining: they did it in such a nice pattern - L, W, L, W, L, W.
Alright, so, what happened this week?
Clayton Kershaw Continues To Regress
Admittedly, he looked shaky at times this week, but he made two starts and the final box score shows:
-6.0 IP, 0 ER (1 Run), 4 Ks
-5.0 IP, 2 ER, 9 Ks
So, you can obviously see his future is bleak.
Ryan Dempster Practices Voodoo
... It's the only way to explain how he can shut down the Dodgers so consistently. In 22 career games (12 starts) spanning 93.2 innings against the Dodgers, Dempster's ERA is 2.31. I mean ... seriously.
Notorious Dodger slayer Jake Peavy has a 2.27 career ERA against the Dodgers in 158.1 innings. Tim Lincecum's career ERA against the Dodgers is 2.96 in 48.2 innings.
Dempster is a guy, by the way, who has a career ERA of 4.39. His 2.31 mark against the Dodgers is 2nd lowest amongst all NL teams (Dempster has a 2.00 ERA against Florida, in 27 IP) and the lowest in his career against any team he's pitched over 30 innings against.
I know a pitcher's ERA versus a team over their career is a skewed stat because of all the variables (changes in lineup, changes with the pitcher himself) ... all I'm getting at is this: why in the world can't the Dodgers beat Ryan Dempster?
Ryan Dempster, seen here owning the Dodgers.
Andre Ethier Is Almost Back
... and I'm giddy like a school girl.
After being shutout twice by the Cubs (Tuesday vs. Dempster and Thursday vs. Ted *cough* cheater *cough* Lilly ... I kid. But seriously ... cheater.) the Dodgers could use him back in the lineup.
Whatever The Opposite Of A Gold Glove Is, Rafael Furcal Wins It For This Week
Furcal came off the DL this week, and apparently forgot how to play defense while he was away.
Here's a quick list of the days this week in which Rafael Furcal started a game and did not commit an error: Friday.
Seriously. This was his week:
Two errors Tuesday, one error Wednesday, pinch hit on Thursday and didn't play the field, error-less Friday, one error Saturday, and one error Sunday.
At this point, you start to wonder if it's a mental thing. Doubt that he can't make a simple play might have gotten in his head and it's screwing with him.
Or maybe it's just rust and maybe he just shakes it off. I guess we'll see...
...and finally:
The Dodgers Can't Win When Vin Scully Doesn't Call The Game
The Dodgers record in all games in Denver or West of Denver: 23-9
The Dodgers record in all games East of Denver: 5-13
I mean, it's good to be able to win at home (15-8), and it's definitely good to be able to beat up on the other NL West teams (15-5), but at some point you have to be able to get past the fact the Steve Lyons is announcing and win in a foreign land (The Dodgers play another 24 games east of Denver, plus more if we get to the playoffs).
Sorry guys, I have two papers due this week, so needless to say, my writing mind is a little preoccupied this week.
Therefore, I'm not going to really do a week recap.
Well, ok, how about a small one?
We swept the Pirates. Yay.
Took two out of three from the Giants. Beat Tim Lincecum. Good stuff.
Our magic number is 8. We have seven games against the Nationals and Pirates. Destiny is in our hands.
Ok, now, back to my analytical paper.
The Giants hold off the Dodgers to take the rubber match of the series and win the last game of the season.
Tim Lincecum got the win, he finishes the season 18-5. Chan Ho Park took the loss, he finishes the season 4-4. Brian Wilson picked up his 44th save of the season.
Hiroki Kuroda started for the Dodgers, and pitched five innings of scoreless ball. He gave up only two hits over that span and struck out three, cementing his place as "Game 3 Starter" in the playoffs. Clayton Kershaw pitched a shaky but scoreless inning out of the bullpen. The bullpen struggled though. Chan Ho Park gave up two runs in only 0.2 innings of work and Cory Wade gave up a run in his 0.1 inning of work.
The Dodgers weren't too impressive at the plate, though that's due to the large amount of players used in the game. 
Also due to the fact that Tim Lincecum gave up only one run over seven innings of work while striking out 13, probably well on his way to picking up a Cy Young award. For the Dodgers, Andre Ethier had the best game at the plate. He started and went 2-2 with a double and an RBI off Lincecum before leaving for a pinch runner. Juan Pierre went 1-4 scoring a run and stealing a base (his team leading 40th of the season). Other than that, there's not much to note.
The Dodgers will now travel home to get ready for the Chicago Cubs, their opponents in the first round of the playoffs. They'll play the first two games of the series in Chicago.
Also: With the loss, the Dodgers finish their season six games over .500 (84-78)
Opinion: Aw shucks, couldn't get that 85th win. Oh well, there's bigger fish to fry now. The Chicago Cubs will be our first round opponents in the playoffs. We were swept by the Cubs in a three game series in Chicago in late May, then split a four game series against the Cubs in Los Angeles in early June (for a 2-5 record against them). The important thing to note is that all seven games were played pre-Manny Ramírez, and the Dodgers lost by no more than two runs in each of those five losses. Well, we got a little bit more offense this go around. This match-up is going to be interesting...
The Dodgers beat down the Pirates for their second straight win.
Derek Lowe got the win, he's 14-11. Jeff Karstens took the loss, he's 2-6.
Derek Lowe tried to, and almost matched Hiroki Kuroda's performance from yesterday. He went seven innings, giving up just one run on five hits, while striking out three. Chan Ho Park pitched a scoreless 8th, and the bullpen gave up a run in the 9th before ultimately closing out the game.
Casey Blake had an excellent offensive game for the Dodgers. He went 3-5 with a homerun, a triple, two RBIs, and two runs scored. 
He fell just a double short of the cycle. Manny Ramírez had a good game as well. He went 3-5 with a double and an RBI. Blake DeWitt went 2-4 with a sac-fly, an RBI, and a run scored. Russell Martin had an interesting game. He went 1-3 with a walk, a stolen base, a sac-fly, an RBI, and a run scored.
The Arizona Diamondbacks are currently scoreless through the 1st inning, playing against San Francisco in Arizona. For now, the Dodger lead in the NL West is five games.
Also: With the win, the Dodgers move up to seven games over .500 (79-72)... With the win, the Dodger Magic Number is now 8.
Opinion: The Magic Number is starting to get awfully small... I like it. I'm glad the Dodgers are still taking care of business against the Pirates. Two games down, two to go. 
I don't want to get too ahead of myself, because I find that making predictions never seems to end too well. Chances are that you end up wrong, and if you, by chance, end up right, you often just look lucky. That said, I'd like to say that the Dodgers will clinch the division by Sunday. We have two more games against the Pirates, then three against the Giants back at Dodger Stadium. In all honesty, we should (read: should) win these next five. That brings the Magic Number to 3. Arizona plays San Francisco three more times, including tonight. Then they play Colorado, in Colorado over the weekend. I'm going to go ahead and make the prediction that they will lose three of those games. I'm thinking two in Colorado, and the Giants, behind Tim Lincecum on Thursday, should take care of them. Again, predictions never seem to work out, but hey, it doesn't hurt to hope... Los Angeles Dodgers: 2008 NL West Champions (Sunday, September 21st, 2008). I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty good to me.
EDIT: Diamondbacks beat the Giants, so back to a 4.5 game lead for the Dodgers and no ticks off the Magic Number... til tomorrow...
Ryan Dempster, seen here owning the Dodgers.
